The next day, Miriam ran round the corner. The Matron had fallen perfectly for the 'doing the weekly shopping' and the sweet smile and now she was free for two hours. Hurtling down the street, she skidded to a halt by the alleyway she had heard the noise from. Whatever had caused it was probably nothing, and no longer there, but it was worth a try. Looking down the alley, it was dark. Well, that's what you'd expect. But no-one would really expect to see… just what was it?
She took a few tentative steps forward. As her eyes adjusted to the gloom, she could make out a shape. Tall, with a pointed roof. She blinked. It was bright blue. A light winked on above her head. She looked up. It read 'Police Public Call Box'. That rang a bell. But why.
She blinked again as she remembered a history lesson. The teacher had been talking about… telephones! Now she remembered.
"Police telephone box." She recited softly "Used to call the police for assistance when the caller, or a friend of the caller was in trouble. These were mainly used in the mid-twentieth century, but their numbers declined after a couple of decades." What she had just said puzzled her. If they had stopped being used around 1960, then why was one standing there in the year 2206?
She noticed a door in the blue wood. Slowly, she reached forward and opened it. Stepping inside, she let out a gasp.
0-0-0
The Doctor was wondering how to introduce himself to his great-great granddaughter when the view on the outer scanner changed. He shifted his position so he could see better.
At the end of the alleyway, there stood a girl. Intrigued, the Doctor watched intently as she walked toward the TARDIS. Now she stood facing the door. As he turned the microphone on, he also pressed the species scan button.
He stood silently as she recited a textbook description of a police box. The species scan bleeped. He looked over.
'SCAN COMPLETE.' Read the message on the screen 'BEING IS FEMALE. TWELVE YEARS OF AGE. DNA PART GALLIFREYAN, PART HUMAN.' A massive grin spread over the Doctor's face. Bingo! He had found her.
He heard the door open behind him. His great granddaughter let out a gasp as she entered. Despite himself, he rolled his eyes. Humans- why were they always like that?
He turned to face her. Her ice-blue eyes stared back. They studied each other for a moment. She had dark brown-black hair and a face that reminded him- painfully- of Susan, her mother. He gave himself a mental shake, and his grin returned.
"Hello, I'm the Doctor!"
0-0-0
Several minutes later, Miriam stood in a daze. After the usual introductions and obvious questions, the Doctor was rabbiting on about space-time and vortexes and relative space but she wasn't really listening. One of the words he'd begun with had triggered her memory.
What was the TARDIS? And where had she come across that word before?
The next moment was as though someone had switched on a light in her head. Of course! It had been in her mother's diary- she had supposedly traveled in it. And there had been mention of the Doctor too- but she usually called him…
"Erm, Doctor?" she asked, interrupting his above Einstein-level explanations "My Mum mentioned someone called the Doctor in her diary, but she described him different to you. And she called him grandfather too- how's that possible?"
He didn't look too taken aback by the question. "Knew we'd get onto that- well, here goes…" and launched into another explanation about something called regeneration. Miriam listened intently.
"So you're not human, then?" she asked when he had finished "You're an alien?"
"You figured it out quick"
"Wasn't too hard. When you talk about humans like that, it follows that you're either alien or you belong in an intensive brain care ward. The latter," she continued, as he looked outraged at the mere thought of his being brain damaged "would be rather unlikely, given the technology in here." She indicated the massive room they were standing in.
He smiled. "Want a tour? There's more rooms than this, you know." She accepted, and the two of them went off to explore the rest of the TARDIS.
As they went down the second corridor, a door opened to their left. The Doctor smiled knowingly. "I think the TARDIS wants you to go in there." He said, motioning toward the room beyond.
Miriam was a little taken aback "The TARDIS wants me to go in there? But the TARDIS isn't alive, is it?
He laughed "Yes, actually she is. And it's she not it, 'kay?"
"Alright" replied Miriam. She stepped through the door and let out a gasp of astonishment. There in front of her was her dream room- totally different to the drab Orphanage dormitory. Small lamps illuminated the room with a soft golden light. A four-poster bed stood opposite the door, white covers turned to soft oranges and yellows in the light. A wardrobe stood by another wall, mirrors on both doors. "Wow," was all Miriam could say.
"So you're coming with me then?" Miriam was broken out of her trance by the Doctor's voice.
"What? What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"Well, usually the TARDIS only makes rooms for people if they're staying." He explained "This is actually a ship, you know."
"A spaceship?"
"Sort of. Except that it travels through space and time."
"Time?"
"Oh yeah. I say I can take you anywhere in the universe and people are like, oh that's nice, but as soon as I mention time…"
"Well, yeah they would, I mean," Replied Miriam "Humans have been traveling through space for a couple of hundred years now, but time. That's something most people only ever dream about!"
"Yeah, you have a point, but the couple of centuries bit depends on when you are." He grinned "Like to finish the tour?"
"Um, if this place is so big, do you have, well, like a library or something?"
"Course- want to take a look?"
"Ready when you are."
0-0-0
"I'm beginning to wish I hadn't shown you this bit." The Doctor grumbled after half an hour in the library "I'll never get you out!"
Miriam grinned. "Just one more chapter, please?" she wheedled.
He rolled his eyes. "I don't know- I was going to take you to another planet, but now…"
"Ok, ok, I'm coming!" she scrambled to her feet, putting 'A Complete History of Planet Earth' back on the shelf and following the Doctor into the console room.