DOCTOR WHO
Interlude on Alcazar
Chapter 1
Somewhere in the infinite and swirling Vortex of Time, the TARDIS was traveling rapidly through it. Outwardly the Time/Space craft bore the appearance .of an old fashioned English police call box. But the interior was very different as well as being many times larger than the exterior. A product of the ancient and advanced Time Lords of Gallifrey it had the ability to travel anywhere and everywhere that the Vortex of Time allowed.
Inside the main control room, two figures stood around the central console. One was the owner of the TARDIS, a very amazing and mysterious Time Lord known mainly as the Doctor. The other was his current traveling companion, a very pretty young English journalist named Sarah Jane Smith. At the moment the Doctor was impeccably dressed and elegant as usual while Sarah appeared to be covered from head to toe in a slimy smelly and very clingy greenish/grey mud.
The young woman, who had been leaving muddy footprints every time she moved, now stood staring at the Doctor with folded arms and a very angry expression. "My appearance may have been somewhat amusing. However I am not amused and you didn't have to laugh," she said accusingly.
The Doctor removed his cloak and hung it on the nearby hat rack. "My dear Sarah, I'm not laughing now," he calmly replied, stifling a smile at the memory of her climbing out of the mud bog. If looks could kill, then he and the others in the surrounding vicinity would be very dead by now.
His companion merely made her way to the door with as much dignity she could summon up and announced. "If you need me, I am going to be taking a bath and changing clothes."
"Be careful of handprints, Sarah," the Doctor called out as he turned his attention to the console readings.
Sarah made her way along several corridors, flights of stairs and levels until she reached the bathroom. Pushing open the door she saw an enormous antique claw footed tub that could easily fit several persons. Hanging from a rack beside it were several large and very fluffy towels and a colorful Chinese robe. Approaching the tub, she saw that both faucets showed identical markings and she turned both on, shaking her head as cold water flowed over her hand. Guess its better than nothing, she sighed and quickly stripped off her muddy clothing leaving it in a heap on the floor Now to find some soap, she mused and opened up the nearby linen closet to reveal a shelf full of the ubiquitous hotel soaps and randomly selected one, reading the label. Sontayos Solar Flare Palace. Now that sounds like a fun place. Essence of Wilbara. Well, it can't make me smell any worse than this mud. Grabbing several bars and what appeared to be a shampoo bottle, also bearing the same label, she carried them over to the tub. Quickly climbing in she noticed that to her surprise, the cold water had changed to a pleasantly warm temperature.
The Doctor had finished adjusting the console and straightened up. Now where did she run off to? He wondered aloud and walked over to on of the varied wall cupboards where he began searching around. Finally from the jumbled assortment of miscellaneous articles he found what he was looking for; a large squirt bottle and hose with attached dust bag. "Professor Marvel's Magical Cleanser. Guaranteed to work every time I knew I had some of that yet. Never found a better cleanser yet," he said, squirting a little on the closest set of footprints. Almost instantly the cleanser went to work and transformed the mud into a fine grey powder that could be easily vacuumed up. Once that was completed, he went onto the next.
The Essence of Wildbara soap had a pleasant fragrance, not unlike lavender and lemon and the shampoo had made her hair feel amazingly soft and silky. "Ahh, feels so good to be clean again," she said as she luxuriously finished her bath and toweled off. Slipping into the Chinese robe, she wondered if the Doctor had anything she could use on her muddy clothes.
Once the control room was cleaned to his satisfaction the Doctor had began to follow the trail of muddy footprints and a few defiantly placed hand prints, pausing to clean up each one. Once he reached the bathroom, he tapped on the door and asked, "Sarah, is it okay for me to enter?"
"I'm decent," Sarah answered and opened the door, an ornately carved ivory hairbrush in one hand. "That Essence of Wildbara is marvelous stuff. Does it work on clothes by any chance?"
"Try this. Professor Marvel's Magical Cleanser. It works every time," the Time Lord replied holding out the bottle.
"You sound like a commercial for it. How does it work?" Sarah asked, her mood much improved from earlier.
"You squirt a wee bit on what needs cleaned and it immediately turns to a fine grey powder which can be easily vacuumed up," the Doctor explained. As he spoke, he was demonstrating the cleanser's amazing prowess.
"That was my favorite blouse that ended up in the mud bog and I'm not ready for it to be the latest addition to your rag bag," Sarah told him taking the bottle and vacuum cleaner.
"You'll be happy then to know that we've left Vrallus," the Doctor said and turned to leave.
"Good. I hated that place. No offense, Doctor, but aren't there a lot better places in the Universe to visit?" she asked.
"Yes. But you should have seen the when I last visited," the Doctor hastened to explain. "When Old Vandry died, the people just lost interest in keeping the planet beautiful. That was about 600 or so of your Earth years ago and the place has been going downhill ever since."
"What's our next destination?" Sarah asked.
"No where in particular. We're doing what I believe is called cruising if I recall the correct slang term," the Time Lord replied.
"You got it correct. Now run along so I can finish cleaning my clothes and find something to wear besides this robe," Sarah replied.
"There's a clothing closet about six doors down the corridor. I'm sure you can find something to wear in there. Then meet me back in the control room with the cleanser and vacuum," the Doctor told her and stepped out, shutting the door behind him.
The cleanser made short work of her muddy clothes but for good measure she rinsed them out in the tub and hung them on the rack to dry. Then vacuum and cleanser in hand, she headed for the closet.
Closet was definitely an understatement Sarah was quick to decide once she stepped into a room that was easily bigger than her bedroom back on Earth. Long racks help every type of garment imaginable while shelves contained shoes hats and other accessories. Making a mental note to return when she had more time, Sarah set about locating an appropriate outfit complete with undergarments. Finally she decided on a pair of comfortably loose fitting black silk trousers and rainbow colored silk tunic. A pair of low cut black leather boots completed her attire and she headed back to the control room.
While he was waiting for Sarah, the doctor had decided to pass the time by rearranging one of the cupboards into alphabetical order. He was returning to a shelf a stack of leather bound journals from the Science Academy on Chalkis when he heard the door open. "I'm just doing a bit of straightening up. Be finished in a minute," he said.
"Need any help?" Sarah asked, handing over the cleanser and vacuum cleaner.
"I can manage. I see you found the clothing closet without in trouble," the Doctor replied.
Sarah began naming off objects that were still spread out on the floor, "A metronome, rabbit's foot, faded silk scarf-"
Hand me the green fluted bowl," the Doctor told her. "It's lying beside the book by Dr. Charles Eppes. A fascinating book although rather simplistic in nature."
"You know finding things in the TARDIS is almost as good as a scavenger hunt,: Sarah commented. She clutched the bowl as the Time/Space craft abruptly made the all too familiar wheezing sounds as they dematerialized from the Vortex and settled with a none too gentle bump onto a surface.
The Doctor quickly got to his feet and began checking the console's co-ordinates. "Ah, we've landed. A nice little place called Alcazar. I've read about it but never had the chance to visit until now," he said, quickly checking the atmospheric and other planetary conditions. "All readings are acceptable to both humans and Time-Lords"
"Is it better than Vrallus? Sarah asked skeptically.
"Oh, much much better," the Doctor replied cheerfully as he reached to operate the door controls.