Mbea's Trickster numéro sept, 'The TARDIS'. Quite a short one this time, Myra finally steps inside the last remaining TT Capsule, and is greeted by a small slice of home.

Disclaimer - I do not own Doctor Who. Or the TARDIS. Which I think we all know would be awesome...


Chapter 7 - The TARDIS

The Doctor's pace was fast, not quite running yet, but he was getting near it. Myra kept the pace, keeping by his side, and, as they neared the door, she didn't stop. He took her hand, and the anthromorph immediately retreated. She stepped straight out into the sunlight, looking around her at the busy, cobbled streets, a smile moving onto her face. The Doctor shot her a grin, and then they were running.

He pulled her onwards, dragging her around corners when she tried to stop and glance at the scenery, the one big spire shadowing the crooked streets, "Is that Chichester Cathedral?"

"Come on, you can play tourist later! We gotta get to the TARDIS and synchronise before he jumps again!"

"The TARDIS..." she paused, feeling the flitters of anticipation move through her, "Well, I'm looking forward to this..."

They kept running, covering streets in no time, until the Doctor shuddered to a halt, doubling back on himself and grabbing hold of a small wall. A grin spread on to his face, "Ha! There she is! Knew she was around here somewhere."

Myra skidded to a halt, doubling over, putting her hands on her knees and battling with her breathing, "You always forget where you park? God, you're worse than my dad!"

"Oi! D'you mind?" he pulled a key out of his trouser pocket, pushing the trench coat back, and then brought it up. The click of a lock going home sounded sharp in the air and then a creak as he pulled open the door.

Myra managed to pull herself together, and straightened up. She froze. The six blue panels, the too-small windows, the framed light... POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX... it was the TARDIS. The real TARDIS, here she was, standing in front of the TARDIS!

She pulled in another breath, shaking her head, slowly. She reached out a shaking hand, and then ran it down the wood. She glanced round the side, her hand feeling out the corner.

"You alright?"

She started, reflexively moving back a step. The Doctor kept his eyes on her, his head tilted down slightly, eyebrow raised.

She shook her head, immediately, "I'm fine."

"Do you know what's inside."

She drew in a breath, "There's hearing and there's seeing." She paused, looking at the door, where he was.

He pushed the door open a bit more, not quite enough for her to see inside, and then nodded to his left, "Come on."

He moved back, silently. She looked at him. She knew she was shaking, but she didn't care. Slowly, she took her first step. She glanced up at him, and he nodded, encouragingly. She took a breath. And then stepped inside.


Myra looked around her. Curved pillars snaked up to the roof, grew past the panelled walls, and the time rotor stood tall in the middle of the room, already moving, preparing for launch at the return of its master. The floor under her feet was a red-tiled ramp, leading up to the main platform. The whole place whistled and cooed, and on the console lights shone and faded, motors whirring and ticking over. The whole place was just... alive.

Myra stayed frozen by the door, her hand brushing the metal railing beside her.

"So." The Doctor said, quietly, drawing her attention momentarily away from the machine, "Questions?"

She shook her head, amazed, looking around her, "No. This is the TARDIS. The last TARDIS in existence. Grown on Gallifrey, the Shining World of the Seven Systems. A living organism."

He moved his head back slightly, him too leaning back on the railings, "Okay. So what d'you think?"

"I think..." she looked around her again, letting her eyes move up to the roof and then down to the levels below. Then she shook her head, and moved her eyes back to his. She paused, and then a smile spread onto her face, "I think it's fantastic."


The Doctor looked at her for a second, and then echoed her smile, "Really?"

"Oh, she's beautiful!" Myra walked up the ramp, quickly, pulling herself round to the console and looking at it, completely awed, "I mean, this is just... amazing."

She reached out a hand to touch it.

"Hey!" she stopped, immediately, glancing at him, "You touch the wrong button and you rip apart the whole space-time continuum."

She paused, and then remembered where she was and nodded, slowly, "Right... Okay then." She backed off, raising her hands in a sign of retreat and then putting them firmly behind her back.

She kept looking it over, though, circling the console with an interest and enthusiasm she had never felt before, her eyes scanning over buttons, switches, monitors, smiling slightly as she recognised the instruments without thought.

"You actually have a hammer? Oh my God, you actually have a hammer!"

He frowned at her, teasingly, "You got a problem with that?"

"No! I mean... well, I never believed it!"

He smiled again, and then snapped back into action, shrugging off his coat and throwing it casually onto a gap in one of the coral pillars, striding over to her, "Right, now then, let's get moving!"

He took the small scanner from his pocket and plugged it into something that looked like a VHS player and the console responded with a few beeps and ringing chimes, "Good, we've still got him, just synchronising..." three bells sounded and he nodded, satisfied, "There! Now, off we go!" he flicked a switch up by the rotor and pressed down a pedal on the base with his foot, "Myra, circular blue button to your left, keep it down, and the lever in front of you, level it at six."

She moved forwards immediately, doing as he said, having to lean right over the console to reach properly, "Yes sir!"

The Doctor grinned and shot her a wink before quickly returning to the console, turning a knob fully to the left, "Now!" he glanced back at her, still smiling, "What d'you think? What next?"

She looked at him, raising an eyebrow, "How would I know?"

"You know quite a lot of things you're not supposed to know, Myra Hull." He nodded at the console, "Impress me."

"Okay..." Myra paused, thinking hard, and then shook her head, "Gravitic Anomalizer?"

He smiled, "Right in one." He yanked a lever up, clicking it into place, "Next?"

"Oh, wait, don't tell me... Helman Regulator?"

"Helmic Regulator."

"Helmic, of course..."

He slid a button into place, pressing it down with his thumb and using his wrist to force another into place, "Well done, Myra Hull." He looked at her, smiling again, "You're good. Very good."

She smiled, "Thankyou."

"Now, destination: Mbea, Sarian System, say the year... 52000." He pushed a button with a flourish, grabbing hold of a circular strap attached to the console, wrapping it around his wrist and keeping his grip tight, "I'd grab a hold of something, if I were you. This is likely to be a rough trip." The Doctor glanced up at her, his smile now almost manic, a mischievous glint in his eyes, "No-one's survived flying through the Blockade before. No-one. It's supposed to be impossible."

"Since when have you let that stop you?" She replied, keeping her smile, wrapping her wrist likewise around the nearest hand strap, tightening her hold.

His eyes glittered, "Ready?"

"Set?" she replied, raising her eyebrows, teasingly.

"Go!"

He yanked the handbrake down and the TARDIS rocketed into action, throwing Myra back against the railings, "Whoa!"

"Blimey!"

She laughed, shaking her head, "Fantastic!"

"You're telling me!" he moved round, levelling switches, pressing button, pushing her hand down onto a lever when it started moving out of place, "You know what, how about a little background music, hey? Let's see... maybe... oh yes!" he looked up at her, grinning, "Track five!"

A low bass line punctured over the whirring of the rotor in remarkable surround-sound, a drummed-up, electric feel, what Myra's mother would have called classic cyber-rock, and she started smiling, "Wait a second... This is..."

He smiled, "Oh yes!"

"ELO!"

"Ha!"

"Fantastic!"

Sun is shinin' in the sky, there aint a cloud in sight.

He started moving around the controls, flipping switches, singing along in a low bass, an almost remarkable likeness of Jeff Lynne himself: "It's stopped rainin', everybody's in a play and don't you know -"

Myra smiled, "It's a beautiful new day! Hey!"

The Doctor threw back his head and laughed.