The TARDIS materialized inside a quiet and orderly refinery. No guards
milled around the entrances, and no alarm had been raised.
They stepped out of the TARIDS, having returned to the moment in time just before their escape from the Time Lord assembly. Since they technically hadn't escaped or stolen anything yet, there wasn't any danger of being discovered, or even hunted for. Or so the Doctor said. Sarah, following nervously a few paces behind, wasn't convinced.
The Doctor set down the note and paused to take one last look around.
Somewhere in the Tower, a renegade Time Lord was walking into a room to find something he'd foolishly left behind long ago.
In the TARDIS docks, fifteen separate time machines were about to disappear.
And here in the refinery sat a small, well-worn, hopelessly outdated TARDIS, alone and looking almost forlorn. Inside it was another TARDIS, with another inside that, and another inside that..fifteen deep, each a few seconds off from the next, like a stack of blocks balanced on their corners.
Probably, the Time Lords would figure out what had happened before the old TARDIS was destroyed. Possibly. They didn't have any reason to go inside it, and any links they had to the fifteen missing machines would be showing some confusing images.
Even if they did figure it out in time, the process of pulling the whole stack apart would take a long while, (none of the other Time Lords had quite the grasp of math that the Doctor did) and would have to be done very, very carefully. He didn't think anything cataclysmic would happen if any part of the stack was pushed too hard. At least, he was fairly sure about that.
Adjusting the note so that it was propped up next to the TARDIS, he patted the machine fondly, then pulled out the little chain with the key he always carried. The Doctor locked the TARDIS for the last time and, with a sharp tug, snapped the key off in the lock.
One more thing for the Time Lords to deal with.
"Ready?" Sarah asked the Doctor, who was smiling brightly and swinging the broken key by its chain.
"All done."
"Good. I think we should get out of here before.."
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
They turned around slowly, Sarah saying ugly things under her breath. The Doctor was most annoyed.
"Really, this is most annoying," he told the two guards who had burst into the room with their weapons drawn. "I had no idea that everyone on this planet had gotten so good at being difficult."
This was ignored with typical Gallifrean lack of patience. "That's far enough, 'Doctor'. We have orders from Sergeant Vasc to keep you from reaching your TARDIS in the event you escaped from the Tower."
"Sergeant Vasc ordered that, did he? That's rather selfish of him, I must say. I certainly hope he gets clubbed to the ground by his own troops. Well whatever you're going to do you'd better make it fast," he said as the guards raised their weapons, "because we're escaping from the Tower as we speak."
An escape alarm split the air.
"Yes, and we've just taken a few of your time machines," Sarah put in helpfully.
The alarm took on a new, slightly desperate note.
Weapons still raised, the guards looked from the Doctor to Sarah, bewildered. The transceivers clipped to their belts were shouting what would have been some very confusing orders, even if they could have been heard clearly through all the noise.
"Now please don't worry," the Doctor said in his most reassuring tone. "It's all right. Your superiors will completely understand how you could have let us escape, especially if you tell them about..THIS."
Sarah had just enough time to cover her eyes.
* * *
At least an hour would have to pass before the guards could do anything besides scrabble blindly for their weapons on the floor. They'd been standing closer to the flash-powder explosion than the Time Lords had been earlier.
"Doctor," They could just barely hear Sarah's voice trailing off in the distance, "How could we have moved the TARDIS's if they vanished now?"
"Because they hadn't vanished then."
"But they're gone now."
"Which they wouldn't be, if we hadn't taken them then."
"Ooh, I give up. It's enough to make anyone's mind hurt."
"Would it help to think of it as a loop in time that we've traveled on and passed, but which doesn't exist now for anyone else?"
"No as a matter of fact that doesn't help at all!"
The sound of a TARDIS dematerializing rose over their voices and then faded. Soon only the helpless noises from the alarms were left.
* * *
Certain things about the new TARDIS were going to take some getting used to.
The Chameleon circuit, for one. It had been broken for so long in the old machine that the Doctor had completely forgotten the thing even existed.
"Now that is excessive." The Doctor glared with distaste at the TARDIS, which had disguised itself as a lamp, a potted fern, and a section of red- and-gold wallpaper. "Just a wasteful amount of effort. Vulgar frivolity. Why it's no wonder the whole lot turned so lazy and complacent."
A well-dressed man and woman coming around the corner were treated to the sight of a solitary figure who was standing in the middle of the hallway and saying rude things to the wall. Without a word the couple turned about and went to find a more normal hallway to walk in.
A moment later Sarah stepped out from behind the lamp. This was a neat trick, as the lamp was about a fifth her height and bolted to the wall besides. "I say!" She looked around in delight. "I can remember some times when that would have come in handy."
"Wouldn't have been worth it, really. Encourages all sorts of bad habits."
Well you've already got two thousand years worth of good habits built up, so I shouldn't think you need to worry."
"True, true."
If anyone had chanced to walk by they would have seen the Doctor carefully locking a section of the wallpaper pattern. He pocketed the key (very similar to the old one, which was now a trinket on a chain around Sarah's neck) and took his companion's hand. "Let's have a look around."
At first glance the passage they were in had all the marks of a high- class hotel: thick burgundy carpet, old-fashioned wall scones for lamps, waiters hurrying to and fro. Closer inspection, and the faintest trace of movement in the floor, revealed it to be something slightly different.
They had landed on, of all places, a ship.
Sarah didn't know much about ships, but she could guess that this was a large one, and years before her time. It appeared to be one of the grand floating palaces that used to carry the very rich (and a lower deck full of the very poor) across the Atlantic.
They drew a few stares from the aforementioned rich as they made their way outside. The two of them did make an interesting picture: the Doctor in his comfortably simple clothes, and Sarah still wearing her gray robe (which she was surprised to find she rather liked). What the other passengers must think Sarah couldn't imagine, but no one made any comment. The Doctor hadn't lost any of his charm or self-assurance, and if there's one constant on any planet, it's that people will accept the most remarkable things rather than get into an argument they know someone else will win.
* * *
Sunset is arguably the best time to be at sea, especially aboard an ocean liner like the one the Doctor and Sarah found themselves on. Look behind, and one can see the ship towering above, its lights just coming on, about to turn into a floating, sparkling castle. Look ahead, and there's the sun drifting down to meet the endless water, pulling along behind it a drift of rose-colored light, the blue-black night sky, and a glittering net of stars.
"So where are we?" Sarah asked as they stepped outside to the ship's rail. The Doctor took a moment to answer, savoring the clean air and the last traces of the sunset.
"Well I set the randomizer, so I'm not entirely sure." At Sarah's panicked noise the Doctor hastened to add, "I did set a couple of limits. Earth, and in the late 1800's, so there's enough technology to be comfortable, and no major wars. History calls it a Golden Age, although," here he nodded towards the few well-to-do persons lingering on the promenade, "you did have to be of a certain class to enjoy it."
"Shouldn't be any trouble for us. I seem to remember you being able to invite yourself into any class you pleased."
"There's always room for a couple more guests. Although come to think of it, it might be a bit more difficult here, since the guest list is already set once the boat leaves the dock. At any rate, I thought we could do with a quick holiday before I brought us home."
He glanced sideways for approval at the use of the word "us". Sarah grinned impishly up at him.
"And where will home be then? I can't imagine you're done traveling, and I'm having a hard time picturing you quietly settled down in South Croyden with me and K-9."
"Dear old K-9, how is he doing?"
"Oh he's fine. Actually he's a bit tired, if you can use that word in relation to a robot dog. There aren't many people who can do maintenance on someone like K-9. Not in my time anyway."
"A little worn out, is he? I suppose he's had a lot to do keeping up with Miss Smith, field journalist extrordinare. That is assuming you've become the successful writer and reporter you set out to become." At Sarah's shy nod he went on, "Always knew you would be. You'll have to bore me to death with the details some time. Ow." Sarah had poked him in the side. "No, honestly I'm looking forward to it. And don't worry about K-9, with a little work he'll be as good as new. As to settling down in South Croyden, well you never know. I've never been a homeless wanderer. The TARDIS is my home, and the rest of the universe is just outside the front door. Including South Croyden."
"When you can find it."
"Yes, well, with a new TARDIS that won't be quite so difficult. I wouldn't want to drag you all across space and time with no way of getting you back. You have your own life to lead.."
"Doctorrrr.." Sarah gave him another warning poke.
"Ouch. As I was saying, you have your own life to lead and so do I, so we'll just have to figure out how to combine the two." He looked out over the water and then said softly, "I mean, if you'd rather, that is."
Sarah could count on one hand the number of times the Doctor had asked for something, really asked, rather than just assuming someone would go along with him. She could just barely see his face from where she stood, and there was something in his expression, something a little lost and a little scared, that was almost more than she could bear. She put an arm around his waist. "Silly. You don't even have to ask."
They stood quietly for a while and watched the stars slowly cover the sky.
After a long moment Sarah asked, "Are you still worried about, well I mean.."
"Always," he said in a deep voice. Then he squeezed her shoulders in a quick reassuring hug and continued, much more cheerfully, "But then that just means I have no more guarantees about the future than anyone else in the universe. And it's about time I realized it. There's no sense in giving one's life over to worrying about things that may happen." He stood musing for a while, then said thoughtfully, "I don't think I'll be quite so careful now as I've been."
Sarah guffawed at this. The Doctor gave her a wounded look. "Careful with people, I mean. Was I really so reckless with everything else?"
"Only everyday!" She relented, seeing the Doctor's slightly hurt expression. "Oh it wasn't so bad. I know I used to complain about all that aimless wandering, never knowing where we'd end up next, or who'd be mad at us when we got there, having to put up with your smugness, and your silly remarks, and your bad manners, and your awful clothes, ouch, that tickles. Don't!" She shrieked and tried to pull away, but the Doctor had his hands locked around her waist. "Let go you bully!"
"There had better be a "however" tacked onto that sentence," he growled.
"HOWEVER," she gave up trying to pull loose and simply grabbed his shirt collar and dragged his face close to hers. "I would rather have all that, and you, than not. In fact I don't think you're going to be able to get rid of me. Not ever."
The Doctor let go of her waist and took her face in his hands. "Beautiful Sarah, you have to be the most amazing creature in the entire universe."
"Next to you, of course."
"Of course."
He tilted her head back and kissed her, long and deeply, and all the well- dressed people around them pretended not to stare.
* * *
Cold, and the rising fog from the ocean, eventually drove them back indoors.
"It really is a lovely old ship, don't you think, Sarah?" They were wandering the decks at this point, hand-in-hand. This resulted in Sarah being dragged about as the Doctor went from one point of interest to another, but she was in much too good of a mood to care. "I'd almost say it looks like a ship from the White Star Line."
"Not the 'Titanic' I hope," Sarah said with a shudder.
"Posh. Of course not. It's too small, and it's too old by at least a couple of decades. Excuse me." The Doctor snagged a passing waiter by the arm. "Could you tell me what ship this is?"
Several possible excuses for this odd question went through Sarah's mind. Most of them involved senility, or drug-induced confusion. Instead she found herself saying with a winning smile, "Only you see we've come a long way and some of these ships are so hard to tell apart, don't you agree?"
The waiter transferred his bewildered stare from the Doctor to Sarah, then back to the Doctor. "This..um..this is the Holland-America ship 'Veendam'."
The Doctor scratched his head in puzzlement. "Well that doesn't help a bit. The 'Veendam'? No, doesn't ring a bell."
With the poor man's expression growing more and more confused, it looked like a good time to leave.
The waiter continued to stare blankly after them as they walked away. The Doctor called out, "Thanks anyway. You wouldn't happen to know what year it is?" just before Sarah said, "Shush!" loudly, and hustled the Time Lord out of the hallway.
* * *
"Strange, I could have sworn this was a White Star Line ship. Oh well, not important. The ship's Captain should be able to sort out a cabin situation for us, if we ask him nicely. We'll go hunt him up in a minute. I want to see if there's some kind of sitting room about; maybe it'll have a recent newspaper. Let's see, something like that would be on this deck, down this hall I think, through here, blast it, there's a dance going on. Well they'll just have to let us play through."
"Doctor.." Sarah halted at the doorway to the ballroom, a little daunted by all the jewels and severe expressions. "Maybe we should.."
"Oh no, no more 'shoulds' Sarah, no more 'oughts'." Pulling her along by the hand, he marched through the center of the room. "There's no time for any of that." He suddenly took both her hands and spun her along with him in a dance that had little to do with the stately music being played. "There's still so much to do," he cried merrily, "and the tea's still getting cold!"
Sarah could only laugh helplessly, not having the faintest idea what the Doctor was talking about, and not caring. They danced a reckless path through the room, forcing the other dancers to jump out of their way. No one thought to complain. Sarah Jane Smith and the renegade Doctor were so obviously happy in their own little world, it would have been a shame to disturb them.
* * *
No one can predict the future; no one can plan for every variable. And really, why would anyone want to? The very unpredictability of life is a gift.
Just don't be too put out by the occasional mistake.
"Well of COURSE I knew what was going to happen, I just..misplaced the information for a while. It was an easy mistake to make, what with the White Star Line chartering the ship out, and selling it, and changing its name twice. Not many people could keep up with all that. I mean honestly," he said as they ran towards the TARDS through the hallways of the sinking ship, "They went and named two of their ships "Baltic". How could anyone be expected to remember on short notice which one was which?"
She was cross with him about that for days afterward.
End
"The best way to secure future happiness is to be as happy as is rightfully possible today." Charles W. Eliot
[Author's note: My first submission to fanfiction.net, and I couldn't have asked for a better response. Thank you to everyone who left feedback.]
They stepped out of the TARIDS, having returned to the moment in time just before their escape from the Time Lord assembly. Since they technically hadn't escaped or stolen anything yet, there wasn't any danger of being discovered, or even hunted for. Or so the Doctor said. Sarah, following nervously a few paces behind, wasn't convinced.
The Doctor set down the note and paused to take one last look around.
Somewhere in the Tower, a renegade Time Lord was walking into a room to find something he'd foolishly left behind long ago.
In the TARDIS docks, fifteen separate time machines were about to disappear.
And here in the refinery sat a small, well-worn, hopelessly outdated TARDIS, alone and looking almost forlorn. Inside it was another TARDIS, with another inside that, and another inside that..fifteen deep, each a few seconds off from the next, like a stack of blocks balanced on their corners.
Probably, the Time Lords would figure out what had happened before the old TARDIS was destroyed. Possibly. They didn't have any reason to go inside it, and any links they had to the fifteen missing machines would be showing some confusing images.
Even if they did figure it out in time, the process of pulling the whole stack apart would take a long while, (none of the other Time Lords had quite the grasp of math that the Doctor did) and would have to be done very, very carefully. He didn't think anything cataclysmic would happen if any part of the stack was pushed too hard. At least, he was fairly sure about that.
Adjusting the note so that it was propped up next to the TARDIS, he patted the machine fondly, then pulled out the little chain with the key he always carried. The Doctor locked the TARDIS for the last time and, with a sharp tug, snapped the key off in the lock.
One more thing for the Time Lords to deal with.
"Ready?" Sarah asked the Doctor, who was smiling brightly and swinging the broken key by its chain.
"All done."
"Good. I think we should get out of here before.."
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!"
They turned around slowly, Sarah saying ugly things under her breath. The Doctor was most annoyed.
"Really, this is most annoying," he told the two guards who had burst into the room with their weapons drawn. "I had no idea that everyone on this planet had gotten so good at being difficult."
This was ignored with typical Gallifrean lack of patience. "That's far enough, 'Doctor'. We have orders from Sergeant Vasc to keep you from reaching your TARDIS in the event you escaped from the Tower."
"Sergeant Vasc ordered that, did he? That's rather selfish of him, I must say. I certainly hope he gets clubbed to the ground by his own troops. Well whatever you're going to do you'd better make it fast," he said as the guards raised their weapons, "because we're escaping from the Tower as we speak."
An escape alarm split the air.
"Yes, and we've just taken a few of your time machines," Sarah put in helpfully.
The alarm took on a new, slightly desperate note.
Weapons still raised, the guards looked from the Doctor to Sarah, bewildered. The transceivers clipped to their belts were shouting what would have been some very confusing orders, even if they could have been heard clearly through all the noise.
"Now please don't worry," the Doctor said in his most reassuring tone. "It's all right. Your superiors will completely understand how you could have let us escape, especially if you tell them about..THIS."
Sarah had just enough time to cover her eyes.
* * *
At least an hour would have to pass before the guards could do anything besides scrabble blindly for their weapons on the floor. They'd been standing closer to the flash-powder explosion than the Time Lords had been earlier.
"Doctor," They could just barely hear Sarah's voice trailing off in the distance, "How could we have moved the TARDIS's if they vanished now?"
"Because they hadn't vanished then."
"But they're gone now."
"Which they wouldn't be, if we hadn't taken them then."
"Ooh, I give up. It's enough to make anyone's mind hurt."
"Would it help to think of it as a loop in time that we've traveled on and passed, but which doesn't exist now for anyone else?"
"No as a matter of fact that doesn't help at all!"
The sound of a TARDIS dematerializing rose over their voices and then faded. Soon only the helpless noises from the alarms were left.
* * *
Certain things about the new TARDIS were going to take some getting used to.
The Chameleon circuit, for one. It had been broken for so long in the old machine that the Doctor had completely forgotten the thing even existed.
"Now that is excessive." The Doctor glared with distaste at the TARDIS, which had disguised itself as a lamp, a potted fern, and a section of red- and-gold wallpaper. "Just a wasteful amount of effort. Vulgar frivolity. Why it's no wonder the whole lot turned so lazy and complacent."
A well-dressed man and woman coming around the corner were treated to the sight of a solitary figure who was standing in the middle of the hallway and saying rude things to the wall. Without a word the couple turned about and went to find a more normal hallway to walk in.
A moment later Sarah stepped out from behind the lamp. This was a neat trick, as the lamp was about a fifth her height and bolted to the wall besides. "I say!" She looked around in delight. "I can remember some times when that would have come in handy."
"Wouldn't have been worth it, really. Encourages all sorts of bad habits."
Well you've already got two thousand years worth of good habits built up, so I shouldn't think you need to worry."
"True, true."
If anyone had chanced to walk by they would have seen the Doctor carefully locking a section of the wallpaper pattern. He pocketed the key (very similar to the old one, which was now a trinket on a chain around Sarah's neck) and took his companion's hand. "Let's have a look around."
At first glance the passage they were in had all the marks of a high- class hotel: thick burgundy carpet, old-fashioned wall scones for lamps, waiters hurrying to and fro. Closer inspection, and the faintest trace of movement in the floor, revealed it to be something slightly different.
They had landed on, of all places, a ship.
Sarah didn't know much about ships, but she could guess that this was a large one, and years before her time. It appeared to be one of the grand floating palaces that used to carry the very rich (and a lower deck full of the very poor) across the Atlantic.
They drew a few stares from the aforementioned rich as they made their way outside. The two of them did make an interesting picture: the Doctor in his comfortably simple clothes, and Sarah still wearing her gray robe (which she was surprised to find she rather liked). What the other passengers must think Sarah couldn't imagine, but no one made any comment. The Doctor hadn't lost any of his charm or self-assurance, and if there's one constant on any planet, it's that people will accept the most remarkable things rather than get into an argument they know someone else will win.
* * *
Sunset is arguably the best time to be at sea, especially aboard an ocean liner like the one the Doctor and Sarah found themselves on. Look behind, and one can see the ship towering above, its lights just coming on, about to turn into a floating, sparkling castle. Look ahead, and there's the sun drifting down to meet the endless water, pulling along behind it a drift of rose-colored light, the blue-black night sky, and a glittering net of stars.
"So where are we?" Sarah asked as they stepped outside to the ship's rail. The Doctor took a moment to answer, savoring the clean air and the last traces of the sunset.
"Well I set the randomizer, so I'm not entirely sure." At Sarah's panicked noise the Doctor hastened to add, "I did set a couple of limits. Earth, and in the late 1800's, so there's enough technology to be comfortable, and no major wars. History calls it a Golden Age, although," here he nodded towards the few well-to-do persons lingering on the promenade, "you did have to be of a certain class to enjoy it."
"Shouldn't be any trouble for us. I seem to remember you being able to invite yourself into any class you pleased."
"There's always room for a couple more guests. Although come to think of it, it might be a bit more difficult here, since the guest list is already set once the boat leaves the dock. At any rate, I thought we could do with a quick holiday before I brought us home."
He glanced sideways for approval at the use of the word "us". Sarah grinned impishly up at him.
"And where will home be then? I can't imagine you're done traveling, and I'm having a hard time picturing you quietly settled down in South Croyden with me and K-9."
"Dear old K-9, how is he doing?"
"Oh he's fine. Actually he's a bit tired, if you can use that word in relation to a robot dog. There aren't many people who can do maintenance on someone like K-9. Not in my time anyway."
"A little worn out, is he? I suppose he's had a lot to do keeping up with Miss Smith, field journalist extrordinare. That is assuming you've become the successful writer and reporter you set out to become." At Sarah's shy nod he went on, "Always knew you would be. You'll have to bore me to death with the details some time. Ow." Sarah had poked him in the side. "No, honestly I'm looking forward to it. And don't worry about K-9, with a little work he'll be as good as new. As to settling down in South Croyden, well you never know. I've never been a homeless wanderer. The TARDIS is my home, and the rest of the universe is just outside the front door. Including South Croyden."
"When you can find it."
"Yes, well, with a new TARDIS that won't be quite so difficult. I wouldn't want to drag you all across space and time with no way of getting you back. You have your own life to lead.."
"Doctorrrr.." Sarah gave him another warning poke.
"Ouch. As I was saying, you have your own life to lead and so do I, so we'll just have to figure out how to combine the two." He looked out over the water and then said softly, "I mean, if you'd rather, that is."
Sarah could count on one hand the number of times the Doctor had asked for something, really asked, rather than just assuming someone would go along with him. She could just barely see his face from where she stood, and there was something in his expression, something a little lost and a little scared, that was almost more than she could bear. She put an arm around his waist. "Silly. You don't even have to ask."
They stood quietly for a while and watched the stars slowly cover the sky.
After a long moment Sarah asked, "Are you still worried about, well I mean.."
"Always," he said in a deep voice. Then he squeezed her shoulders in a quick reassuring hug and continued, much more cheerfully, "But then that just means I have no more guarantees about the future than anyone else in the universe. And it's about time I realized it. There's no sense in giving one's life over to worrying about things that may happen." He stood musing for a while, then said thoughtfully, "I don't think I'll be quite so careful now as I've been."
Sarah guffawed at this. The Doctor gave her a wounded look. "Careful with people, I mean. Was I really so reckless with everything else?"
"Only everyday!" She relented, seeing the Doctor's slightly hurt expression. "Oh it wasn't so bad. I know I used to complain about all that aimless wandering, never knowing where we'd end up next, or who'd be mad at us when we got there, having to put up with your smugness, and your silly remarks, and your bad manners, and your awful clothes, ouch, that tickles. Don't!" She shrieked and tried to pull away, but the Doctor had his hands locked around her waist. "Let go you bully!"
"There had better be a "however" tacked onto that sentence," he growled.
"HOWEVER," she gave up trying to pull loose and simply grabbed his shirt collar and dragged his face close to hers. "I would rather have all that, and you, than not. In fact I don't think you're going to be able to get rid of me. Not ever."
The Doctor let go of her waist and took her face in his hands. "Beautiful Sarah, you have to be the most amazing creature in the entire universe."
"Next to you, of course."
"Of course."
He tilted her head back and kissed her, long and deeply, and all the well- dressed people around them pretended not to stare.
* * *
Cold, and the rising fog from the ocean, eventually drove them back indoors.
"It really is a lovely old ship, don't you think, Sarah?" They were wandering the decks at this point, hand-in-hand. This resulted in Sarah being dragged about as the Doctor went from one point of interest to another, but she was in much too good of a mood to care. "I'd almost say it looks like a ship from the White Star Line."
"Not the 'Titanic' I hope," Sarah said with a shudder.
"Posh. Of course not. It's too small, and it's too old by at least a couple of decades. Excuse me." The Doctor snagged a passing waiter by the arm. "Could you tell me what ship this is?"
Several possible excuses for this odd question went through Sarah's mind. Most of them involved senility, or drug-induced confusion. Instead she found herself saying with a winning smile, "Only you see we've come a long way and some of these ships are so hard to tell apart, don't you agree?"
The waiter transferred his bewildered stare from the Doctor to Sarah, then back to the Doctor. "This..um..this is the Holland-America ship 'Veendam'."
The Doctor scratched his head in puzzlement. "Well that doesn't help a bit. The 'Veendam'? No, doesn't ring a bell."
With the poor man's expression growing more and more confused, it looked like a good time to leave.
The waiter continued to stare blankly after them as they walked away. The Doctor called out, "Thanks anyway. You wouldn't happen to know what year it is?" just before Sarah said, "Shush!" loudly, and hustled the Time Lord out of the hallway.
* * *
"Strange, I could have sworn this was a White Star Line ship. Oh well, not important. The ship's Captain should be able to sort out a cabin situation for us, if we ask him nicely. We'll go hunt him up in a minute. I want to see if there's some kind of sitting room about; maybe it'll have a recent newspaper. Let's see, something like that would be on this deck, down this hall I think, through here, blast it, there's a dance going on. Well they'll just have to let us play through."
"Doctor.." Sarah halted at the doorway to the ballroom, a little daunted by all the jewels and severe expressions. "Maybe we should.."
"Oh no, no more 'shoulds' Sarah, no more 'oughts'." Pulling her along by the hand, he marched through the center of the room. "There's no time for any of that." He suddenly took both her hands and spun her along with him in a dance that had little to do with the stately music being played. "There's still so much to do," he cried merrily, "and the tea's still getting cold!"
Sarah could only laugh helplessly, not having the faintest idea what the Doctor was talking about, and not caring. They danced a reckless path through the room, forcing the other dancers to jump out of their way. No one thought to complain. Sarah Jane Smith and the renegade Doctor were so obviously happy in their own little world, it would have been a shame to disturb them.
* * *
No one can predict the future; no one can plan for every variable. And really, why would anyone want to? The very unpredictability of life is a gift.
Just don't be too put out by the occasional mistake.
"Well of COURSE I knew what was going to happen, I just..misplaced the information for a while. It was an easy mistake to make, what with the White Star Line chartering the ship out, and selling it, and changing its name twice. Not many people could keep up with all that. I mean honestly," he said as they ran towards the TARDS through the hallways of the sinking ship, "They went and named two of their ships "Baltic". How could anyone be expected to remember on short notice which one was which?"
She was cross with him about that for days afterward.
End
"The best way to secure future happiness is to be as happy as is rightfully possible today." Charles W. Eliot
[Author's note: My first submission to fanfiction.net, and I couldn't have asked for a better response. Thank you to everyone who left feedback.]
