Scientists like to describe space-time as a rubber sheet, similar to a trampoline. Place a bowling ball on the trampoline and it warps space-time. Roll a tennis ball across the trampoline and the bowling ball attracts it because of the depression it makes on the surface of the trampoline. This is a pretty good analogy of how gravity works, put a heavy enough object on the trampoline and it forms a deep well. Scientists believe that if you could fold the rubber of the trampoline and pass from one side to the other, you could travel across the universe in the blink of an eye and possibly travel through time as well.
Scientists!
If only they knew.
TARDIS internal chronometer
September 2007
The TARDIS was travelling between the folds in space-time. This remarkable blue box could not only fold space-time; it could do origami on it and make a flapping bird if it wanted to.
TARDIS stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space, and what that means is, a large volume can exist within a smaller volume when it is in a parallel dimension.
Inside the little blue box was a large interior that resembled a Gothic church with the builders in. The fact that it was larger on the inside made your brain hurt if you tried to work it out.
The owner of the TARDIS was a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey on the far side of our galaxy. The Time Lords used to be the guardians of time, the 'time police' of the galaxy, watching events unfold and ensuring that nothing interfered with the natural flow of cause and effect.
This Time Lord called himself the Doctor, and owner isn't the right word to use, since he stole it in the first place… Well, stolen is a bit harsh really, since the TARDIS chose him as the owner.
It's an old, decommissioned and derelict TT Type 40 Mark 3 capsule that the Doctor saw in a museum on his home planet. The Doctor unwittingly formed a telepathic bond with the 'soul' of the TARDIS and borrowed it for a while… a very long while.
In the TARDIS with the Doctor was a young female called Rose Tyler. She was from Earth's 21st century. The two occupants had just left Earth after the closing ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Just before that they had used the Olympic flame and its associated psychic good will from the inhabitants of the planet Earth to help an alien entity called an Isolus find its way back to its family.
The Doctor, however, didn't enjoy the games as much as he should have. A feeling of foreboding was nagging at him; something was coming slowly through time and space. It was unstoppable and inevitable, but he didn't know what it was, where it was coming from or when it would arrive.
"So where is it we're going?" The Doctor came out of his reverie. Rose was rummaging through her back pack looking for a holiday outfit.
"I told you: Risa. It's THE place to go on holiday in this part of the galaxy, and I think we deserve a holiday." He hoped a rest and a bit of relaxation would make the feeling if not go away then at least make it less worrying.
Rose looked at the Doctor with doubt in her eyes. She had been on journeys with him before and ended up in completely the wrong time and place. "Does this planet have a beach, by any chance?" she enquired.
He looked across the TARDIS console with his boyish grin. "Miles and miles of white, sandy beaches, crystal caves, beautiful forests, hundreds of miles of ski slopes and a night-time view to die for."
That got her attention. "Tell me more."
The Doctor put on his serious face. "I couldn't possibly spoil the surprise."
"Oh, go on," she pleaded.
"No, honestly, a description just doesn't do it justice. You have to see it to believe it." The Doctor adjusted a few controls and inspected the readouts. "Here we go, return your chairs to the upright positions and fasten your seat belts we're about to land."
"Where and when?" Rose asked. "I remember when you tried to take me to the Ian Dury concert in Sheffield in 1979. Queen Victoria was not amused."
The Doctor looked up at Rose. "Hush, you'll hurt the old girl's feelings. She does the best she can." The Doctor often referred to the TARDIS as the "old girl"; after all, it was a living entity.
"You're telling me that the TARDIS is to blame for your inability to land in the right place at the right time?" Rose asked.
"It's not easy navigating a path through the swirling vortex of time and space you know. Also, the TARDIS has a built-in chronometer that remembers where and when you've been and paradox avoidance software so that you can't accidentally bump into yourself. Did you ever wonder how you could call your mum and it would be the same time for her as it was for you since you last saw her?"
Actually, Rose had, the first time she phoned her mum. She had been billions of years in the future, yet the passage of time had been equal for both. The TARDIS acted as a telephone exchange and adjusted the time to match.
The Doctor made a few more adjustments in preparation for landing as he tried to explain. "Imagine being on a unicycle that is on a board, balancing on a ball, rolling along a high wire. At the same time you are juggling an egg, a bowling ball and a ping-pong ball. It's a sort of team effort, I'm on the unicycle and the TARDIS juggles the balls. I work out where and when we want to go and the TARDIS works out the best and safest way to get there."
Rose had to admit that she hadn't considered the complexities of time travel. "When you put it like that, it's amazing that we finish in the right galaxy."
"Well, we're definitely in the right galaxy now. We are about 90 light-years from Earth, in the resort of Suraya Bay, its mid-morning, 32 degrees, hot and sunny. I think beach wear is the order of the day."
The Doctor disappeared into the wardrobe, leaving Rose to finish rummaging in her back pack for a summer outfit.
* * * January 2378 * * *
Risa is an M-class world slightly smaller than Earth in a binary star system, called Epsilon Ceti B.
Originally a dismal, rain-soaked, and geologically unstable jungle planet plagued by violent earthquakes, the native Risans transformed their world with a technologically advanced weather control network that provided nearly constantly desirable weather, and seismic regulators to end the geological instability for the best tourist comfort.
Known for its beautiful tropical resorts and abundance of pristine beaches, Risa is famous as a place of tourism and recreation. It got the reputation as a "pleasure planet" because of its constant, stable climate, its attractive landscapes, and most of all, it's very friendly staff.
Years of tectonic activity resulted in the planet's surface being fragmented into ten small continents, all about the same size, and all located around the equator.
As for the climate, Risa has warm temperatures and tropical humidity tempered by mild breezes and light rains. The planet has two very small ice caps which gave it a hint of natural coldness.
Rose had found a white bikini over which she wore a white blouse tied at the front, a wrap around skirt, sandals and a floppy straw hat to protect her from the suns.
The Doctor appeared from the wardrobe in a loud Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts, his usual red trainers and a Panama hat. Rose couldn't help but laugh at the apparition in front of her.
"What do you look like?" she giggled.
"A tourist, I hope," the Doctor replied in a matter of fact tone. He took Rose by the hand and headed for the door. "Come on then, the holiday starts here."
Rose held her breath as she expected to step out into an arctic blizzard or worse. They actually stepped out into a dimly lit, narrow side street bazaar. To their right, through an archway was the sunny town square of Suraya Bay, built into the side of a semi circular cliff on three levels.
A forest topped the cliffs and to the north of the town a waterfall cascaded down and the river ran under a stone foot bridge to the sea. Rose felt it had a Mediterranean feel to it, with white-walled buildings and colourful awnings.
The Doctor donned a pair of sunglasses that would have made Timmy Mallet envious, where as Rose went for more of an Audrey Hepburn look from 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.'
The TARDIS landed between two shops in the bazaar selling metal urns and pots, and didn't attract any attention due to the perception filter which meant you would look at it but not really see it.
The bazaar and square were busy with tourists of all shapes, sizes and colours. Market stalls set out in the square were selling a bewildering array of goods.
"This is what I imagined a bazaar in Cairo would look like." Rose's eyes were wide in wonder, like a child in a sweet shop with money to spend. Except that she hadn't.
"I don't suppose they take English pounds or Euros, do they?" she asked, looking up into his eyes with a pleading look.
"I don't suppose they do," he replied distractedly. He was searching his pockets for something.
"Do they barter or trade? Maybe I could find somethin' in my back pack," Rose suggested.
"I think some of them do, ah, here it is." The Doctor produced a red plastic card from the pocket of his shirt. "Most of them tend to use these."
"That's not what I think it is, is it?" she asked suspiciously.
"A Galactic Express card, that should do nicely." He grinned and held it out for Rose.
She took the card and looked at it, trying to assess its validity. "How did you get a credit card? Don't you need a job? Or money?"
The Doctor looked at the sky and around the square. "Well, usually, yes, I suppose you do," he started. "But you see, there was this man who was about to have his brains sucked out through his ears by a particularly nasty alien parasite."
Rose screwed up her face in disgust.
"He was really grateful and gave me this card as a sign of that gratitude. I've never had a use for it. I don't even know how much credit is on it."
The child in the sweet shop smile returned. "Can I try it?" she asked.
"It's yours." He laughed. "Have a blast."
"Woo hoo! You're the best!" she exclaimed, kissed him on the cheek and disappeared into the crowded market.
The Doctor smiled to himself and, shaking his head, set off into the crowd after her. He caught up with her at a bric-à-brac stall where she was speaking with a short orange alien with large ears and pointed teeth. Rose was holding a golden conical object in the palm of her hand.
The peddler was giving his sales pitch. "It goes cold when it's going to rain and warm when it's dry. Risans used it before they had a weather control network; it's a bit of a relic."
The Doctor came up beside her, and she showed him the trinket. "Oh, bazoolium alloy," he announced.
"This will be perfect for my Mum when she wants to hang out the washing." She turned back to the stall holder. "I'll take it."
She handed over the card and the little orange alien placed it on a hand-held key pad. Rose leaned over and looked at the card reader. "Err, how much credit do I have left on that card?" Rose asked nonchalantly.
The alien, who was from a race of galactic traders called the Ferengi, tapped the buttons on the card reader. His eyes went wide in disbelief. "999,998."
Rose's jaw dropped and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. "Is, is that as much as it sounds?" She was feeling decidedly faint.
The Ferengi smiled. "You could buy every item in every shop and stall, including the buildings, and still have plenty change."
Rose slowly turned to the Doctor, mouth still open; the Doctor looked nonplussed. "Who was this man you saved?"
"Didn't I say?" He inspected some of the items on display. "He was the ruler of a kingdom on a planet about twenty light years from here."
Rose recovered some of her composure. "No, you didn't say. And here was me worried about havin' to find some jewellery to barter with."
The Doctor put his arm around her and pulled her close. "And now you don't have to." He grinned. "Come on, let's go and try that card in the coffee shop over there."
They spent the rest of the morning exploring the town. They strolled up to High Town where the view out over the bay was spectacular. There where mainly restaurants and clothes shops on this level and more market stalls.
They walked down to Low Town where there were more specialist outlets, diving gear, boat hire etc. The market place down here extended south to form a jetty where boats moored. The pair walked north, over the simple stone foot bridge and on to the silver sands.
Rose slipped off her sandals and the Doctor removed his trainers. They wandered down to the water's edge, the sand felt good between their toes as. Rose dipped her toes in to the incoming wave.
"Ooh, that feels great!" she exclaimed.
The Doctor stood beside her and wriggled his toes in the water. "Mmmm, this requires more immersion."
He walked back up the beach and dropped his trainers on the sand. Rose followed and put her sandals next to them. He removed his shirt, hat and sunglasses. Rose stripped down to her white bikini and hand in hand they ran in to the surf.
For nearly an hour they behaved like children, splashing one another. Dunking and wrestling in the surf and body surfing through each others legs. It was mid afternoon when they ran up the beach and collapsed on the sand giggling.
They lay side by side in silence, listening to the beautiful alien bird songs coming from the forest above the cliffs. The warmth of the two suns soon dried their wet bodies and they just lay there enjoying the moment.
Rose turned her head to look at the Doctor. He was already looking at her, smiling. She mouthed the words "thank you," afraid that if she made a sound the spell would be broken and the magic of the moment would disappear.
Beyond the horizon, dark storm clouds were gathering and a warm breeze blew in off the ocean.
Near the jetty in Low Town was a little tavern that specialised in preparing and cooking food brought in by the fishermen. The Doctor and Rose were sitting at a table outside, enjoying lunch. Rose couldn't believe the taste of the food, it was the best thing she had ever tasted.
Through the open door of the tavern, the Doctor could see a view screen behind the bar showing a 24-hour-news channel. A breaking news story was attracting some attention.
When the waiter brought the bill, the Doctor asked him what was happening.
"One of the major environmental control stations has gone off-line. This one not only controls the weather, it also controls the gravity stabilisers. Apparently, if they don't get it back on-line in the next half hour there will be hurricane force winds and a storm surge hitting the coast, and the risk of a major quake and tsunami."
Rose looked at the Doctor and saw that look on his face. They would be heading for the TARDIS.
"Here, put these waterproofs on, it'll be pretty unpleasant out there," the Doctor told Rose, handing her the yellow oil skin jacket and trousers.
The environmental control platform was a 200-metre-tall pyramid structure of girders, pipes and cables, sat on pillars anchored to the ocean floor. The Doctor landed the TARDIS on the deck of the platform, near the large, arched entrance.
They stood inside the TARDIS by the doors. "Ready?" he asked her.
She nodded and they rushed out in to, afternoon sunshine and blue skies. "What?!" the Doctor said in confusion. A group of men in hi-vis jackets and hard hats were chatting as they walked out of the pyramid.
A man in uniform was heading towards the Doctor and Rose, who felt decidedly over dressed. "You two, what are you doing here? This is a restricted area."
The Doctor thought quickly and produced a wallet from his pocket. "Doctor John Smith, environmental engineer, and this is my assistant Miss Tyler."
The man in uniform looked at the blank paper and saw the Doctors credentials from the United Federation of Planets, Technical Advisory Board. The psychic paper was blank, but people saw what they expected to see on it, a kind of hypnosis or auto suggestion.
"Artemis Constantine, Senior Supervisor," the man said, holding out his hand.
The Doctor shook his hand, saying, "I saw on the news that you were having trouble and came to lend a hand."
He was looking a bit puzzled and embarrassed. "That's very kind of you, but it's all under control. I've got a good team of technicians on the case, and the news channel love to build a story." He looked up behind the Doctor to where a remote news camera was hovering.
"Oh, right. You don't need my help then," the Doctor asked. The official shook his head. Rose looked at the Doctor, he looked positively disappointed.
"Come on; let's get back to our holiday. You'll be chasin' ambulances next." She linked arms with the Doctor, smiled at the official and steered the Doctor back toward the TARDIS.
Rose was finding the situation amusing. "Well, that's a first; you rush to save a world, and a load of men with hard hats and a bag of spanners beat ya to it," she joked. "Is there any night life on Risa?" she asked the Doctor, to change the subject.
Before he could answer, Artemis Cornelius called after them. "You want to head for the capital Nuvia, they've got some really good night clubs there." Rose waved a thank you as they entered the TARDIS.
They had landed in a small park in the middle of the city, in a pedestrian area with trendy bars and cafés. Rose had changed in to her little black dress that she wore for clubbing on a Saturday night. The Doctor had his usual suit with his red trainers.
Rose had been to the West End of London on a Saturday night, this though was something else. She had seen Time Square and Las Vegas in films and on TV. Mix them all together with a bit of Hong Kong and Singapore and you started to get the picture.
Rose squealed with delight and excitement. "I wonder where the 'in' place in town is." She was turning in circles looking up at all the advertising displays.
"In my experience on any planet, find the longest queue and you've found the most popular venue."
Rose looked at him in amazement. "In your experience?" she asked. "You never said you were a clubber."
"I have been known to dance the night away, but I was talking about museums, but the principle's the same," he told her.
Rose laughed. "It's a brilliant idea anyway."
"That's me." He grinned. "Brilliant." They set off across the street towards a crowd of people waiting outside the 'hottest' place in town.
"We'll never get in there," Rose complained. "There are a hundred people here at least."
The Doctor reached into his pocket. "They don't have psychic paper." He waved the little wallet in front of Rose, grinning.
"Come with me, my dear," he said jokingly, holding out his arm for her to take.
They walked up to the doorman, a six feet tall alien with dark skin and a series of ridges on his forehead. He was a Klingon, a warrior race highly sort after as security operatives. Their reputation meant that no one in their right mind would mess with them. He looked down at them with an expressionless face.
"Yes?" he growled, that one word saying so much.
The Doctor smiled his disarming smile. "Health and safety inspector for the Bureau of Tourism." He held out the wallet at arm's length in the door man's face.
The doorman saw an official identity card on the blank paper. "Health and safety?" Three more words that said so much.
The Doctor was about to respond when Rose piped up. "Yes, do you know the traction coefficient of the dance floor?"
The door man straightened up with a puzzled look on his face. Rose wasn't sure if he was frowning or if it was the ridges on his brow.
"And if someone spills a drink on the floor, how does that affect the coefficient?" she continued. Now Rose thought the door man looked concerned.
"I don't know," he responded. Rose was on a roll; the Doctor looked on in admiration.
"We need to do a bit of dancin' and have a few drinks for my colleague here to calculate the fluid dynamics." The Doctor winced at that one; the doorman, however, seemed to have believed every word.
"You had better come in." And with that, he unhooked the red rope and let them through.
Hours later, they emerged from the club, both slightly tipsy. Giggling, Rose went up to the door man to report. "The floors are safe," she confided.
He looked down at her. "Good!" He really knew how to use those words.
"Right, where's that card then?" The Doctor looked towards Rose and she opened her bag to have a look. Her small designer bag seemed to hold more than she remembered. She didn't know that the Doctor had made it bigger on the inside. Eventually she found the red card.
"What are you goin' to buy at this time of night?" she asked as they started to move down the street, arm in arm.
"Well, if we're on holiday, we might as well make it a five-star holiday. See that tall building over there." He pointed unsteadily to a beautiful alien building about 200 metres away.
"The one that looks as though it's been grown and not built?" she asked.
"That's the one. It so happens that it's the best hotel on Risa and we are going to rent the penthouse suite."
She squealed with delight again. This holiday would be one to remember. As they entered the hotel, the Doctor looked up. All the street lights and advertising displays meant that you couldn't see the night sky. 'Good,' he thought, that was a sight he wanted to save for another night.