Chapter 2
Please review (otherwise in Chapter Three there's going to be slash, and I don't mean the cool Inara/Kaylee or River/Jayne stuff…)
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The next morning…
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It was time for take-off. Most of the crew sat in the lounge area, buckled into their seats, except for Mal, Wash, and The Doctor, who were in the cockpit. Wash sat in his seat, the Doctor and Mal were in fold-down seats behind him.
"Absolutely fantastic," The Doctor grinned, slipping on his 3D glasses
"I've never seen a man so happy to be on a cargo flight," Mal confessed, "there's something strange about you, Doctor that I just can't put my finger on."
The Doctor was about to reply, but then he reached into his jacket, and took out his metal tube. It was whistling again.
"And what exactly is that?" Book asked
"It's a Gallifreyan multi-functional radar silent laser-tracker lock picking instrument with a quantum compression module and a custom handgrip."
"Huh?" Mal asked
"Sonic screwdriver," the Doctor simplified, "it picked up something for a moment. Never mind."
"OK…" Wash turned around to his controls, "Guidance systems in place. Launching in five, four, three, two, one…"
"Allons-y!" The Doctor pointed out to space
Wash slid the inertia brake off, and the ship took off. The twin side engines exerted all their force, and lifted the ship off. The Doctor's grin factor increased. They shook violently, but Wash knew it was normal.
"Activating firelight," Wash continued
The rear engine kicked in, allowing the ship to ascend. They rocketed through the skies, breaking atmo in under a minute…
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"Well Doctor, I'm setting auto pilot," Wash said, "the exciting part is over."
"Oh, far from it," The Doctor grinned, "we're in the black now! Floating through space, the most beautiful vastness of nothingness in existence! I feel like a kid on Christmas!"
"I'm glad to see your enthusiasm, Doctor," Mal said, "it's a welcome change for a passenger, a lot better than the usual 'what was that are we going to die?'."
"Thank you," The Doctor replied, "Now, how about you join me for a drink?"
The Doctor reached into his overcoat, and took out a liter bottle of coke.
"Where did you get that?" Wash gasped
"Well, it started out when I was meeting a Judoon captain on the moon at a bar called Zoon…"
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The Doctor continued talking whilst Wash and Mal escorted him to the kitchen.
"…and then I said 'roh moh shoh coh loh toh doh moh coh'," The Doctor replied
The Doctor laughed at his own joke; Mal joined and, and signaled to Wash to do the same. At the rate this guy was paying, Mal would have laughed at a 'dead browncoat' joke…well, he wouldn't have killed him for it.
"Sir, can we get dressed now?" Zoe asked
Zoe, Kaylee, Inara, and River stood in the kitchen wearing only black robes; they had woken up hung-over and naked by their campsite, and didn't have time to change before launch.
"OK, but be back soon, The Doctor's got a treat for us," Mal said
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The girls left to get dressed; but as soon as they were out of sight, they changed directions. Kaylee walked to the engine room with Zoe, and they began to perform some alterations. River and Inara went to the flight deck and altered the navigation equipment. They had no idea what they were doing, they were under hypnosis.
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"…and one for you," The Doctor poured Jayne a glass
"So this stuff has zero percent alcohol, ninety percent sugar, and a flavor from some nut in a long gone earth world," Jayne said, "and you want me to drink it?"
"Try it, you'll like it," Mal said
Jayne tried it, and did like it.
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Two hours later…
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A warning light flashed on the Wash's watch; it was a warning from Serenity he had built to detect Reavers; it could detect unshielded radiation in ships and excess exhausts. Wash checked it out; they were on a collision course to a Reaver gathering.
"No, no, no!" Wash exclaimed, "How could this have happened?"
Desperately, Wash tried to disengage the auto pilot, but nothing worked. He couldn't even switch off the engines, or call for help.
"Captain!" Wash yelled
At once, everyone was on the bridge, trying to get things to work.
"Worst case scenario, we shut off the engines and call for help," Mal said
"Tried it," Wash said, "doesn't work."
"Um, these Reavers," The Doctor said, "remind me, who are they?"
"They're space savages," Zoe said, "if we go pass through their territory and they capture our ship, they'll screw us to death and eat our flesh, in that order if we're lucky"
"I see."
The Doctor took out his sonic screwdriver, and aimed it at the controls.
"Deadlocked," The Doctor muttered, "that's weird. Deadlock seals aren't found in this part of the galaxy. Not for three hundred years."
Mal ignored the comment.
"So you can't fix it?" he asked
"I'm afraid not…"
"What if they don't detect any life?" The Doctor proposed, "what if there's no one on board?"
"Then they'd let the ship drift by, but we can't fake it to their scanners."
"I think I have just the thing."
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Everyone followed The Doctor downstairs; they didn't have any other plans. They watched him climb into the blue box of his.
"Come on," The Doctor said, "get inside!"
"Late quantum state phenomenon," River said, "Gallifreyan. Only way to fit thirteen million Daleks in one Genesis Ark."
"Doctor, quit fooling around," Mal said, "you can't…"
Mal opened up the blue box, and gasped. Inside, there was an entire room, much bigger than Serenity's cargo bay. It was bronze on the inside, with coral-like support structures holding up the hexagon-paneled walls. The Doctor stood next to a green glowing column in the center of the room, which was surrounded by a tan-console that had an eerie green glow.
"How…?" Mal began
"Simple trans-dimensional engineering," The Doctor tossed his sonic screwdriver in the air, "now, do you want to get the rest of your crew in here?"
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Everyone came inside, all equally amazed and shocked.
"So we hide in here until the Reavers pass us by?" Jayne asked
"Well, we could," The Doctor said, "or I could just travel forward in time until we've passed the Reavers?"
"Doctor, be serious," Mal grinned, "a warehouse in a box is one thing, but time travel? Come on…"
"OK," The Doctor nodded
He flipped a couple of switches on his console, and hit one with a hammer. Suddenly, the column in the middle of the room started to ascend and descend, making a strange whirring sound.
"What's going on?" Jayne asked
"Oh, nothing," The Doctor said, flicking a few switches
The column stopped moving.
"Wash, take a look outside, would you?" The Doctor asked
Wash reluctantly opened the door; to his surprise, there was a Tyrannosaurus Rex standing outside in a humid jungle. He closed the door.
"Yep, definitely a time machine," Wash muttered
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Very quickly, the Doctor took them back to their ship, only later; there were a few Reaver spikes in the hull, but no serious damage.
"You guys are now twelve hours out of sync with regular time," The Doctor grinned, "Molto bene."
"Doctor, there's one thing I don't understand," Shepherd Book said, "if you have a machine that can travel anywhere through time and space, then why go on our ship?"
"Well, it's like with visiting Paris. There are tall buildings back home you could be walking up, but it's more fun to go up the Eiffel tower."
No one knew what an Eiffel tower was, but they didn't say it.
"OK, Doctor," Mal said "I'd better call the port authorities, tell them we'll be early,"
"I've got to set a new course," Wash said
"Can I watch?" Doctor asked
"Of course."
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"Port Base, this is Malcolm Reynolds," Mal said
No reply.
"Port Base, come in."
Still nothing. Then there was a faint blip.
"Wash, can you boost that signal?"
"Hold on…"
Wash flicked a switch, and the blip became louder.
"Reyn…Reyn…Reyn…" the same syllable kept repeating
"No…" The Doctor said, "Not now…"
Wash checked some other devices; the space-sonar was on a loop, so was the wave-network, and even the verse-clock.
"Doctor, could your machine have done this?" Mal asked
"I might have landed in a time trap," The Doctor theorized, "it's a fixed point in time that repeats itself continuously so someone can't escape. Like a temporal speed trap."
"Why would one of those be on Serenity?" Kaylee asked
"Only one reason I could think of. Remember that friend I told you I was looking for?"
Suddenly, a screen flickered to life, showing The Master.
"Doctor…" he grinned
"Master…" The Doctor breathed, "What are you doing here?"
"I'm planning to usurp control of the Alliance of Planets," The Master replied, "And I can't do it with you interfering."
He held up his laser screwdriver at the screen, and suddenly, he was in the cockpit.
"Wait a minute, this is wrong," The Doctor said, "that incarnation of you hasn't met this incarnation of me yet!"
"Au contraire, Doctor," The Master grinned
He held up his laser screwdriver, and flicked a dial; he switched from the form of a classic villain to a less impressive thirty-something guy with bleached-blond hair in a cheap suit. The only thing that remained was the sleazy grin.
"Regeneration cycler," The Master grinned, "allows me to move within time completely undetected."
"What's your plan, Master?" The Doctor asked
"Doctor, do you really expect me to tell you my plan if there was any chance you could stop it? I did it thirty-five minutes ago."
"What did you…hang on, that's from Watchmen!" The Doctor realized
"I didn't know you read it," The Master said
"Yeah! Loved it! Rorschach and Nite Owl!"
The Doctor imitated Rorschach's fighting style, emitting a few 'Hurms'.
"Why do you think I wear this?" The Doctor tapped his overcoat, "found a copy of the comic after I regenerated, had to have the overcoat. I would have worn the mask, but Rose wouldn't let me."
"Remember that time I hit you with a dinner tray?" The Master said, "Where do you think I got the idea?"
"Why do you think I let you do it?"
They realized they had momentarily engaged in comradeship.
"Um, anyway, I'm going to take over the Alliance and use it to rule over the universe, nothing you can do to stop me."
The Master reached to his screwdriver, and turned on of the many dials. Suddenly, he disappeared.
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