As we left the room, Maen and I headed back to our rooms. But as we were going, the Doctor himself headed toward the console room. It could have been just my imagination, but he had that look on his face. The look that told me he knew more than he was letting on.
"Doc, what is wrong?" I asked.
"I'm not sure." he said.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Maen asked, "You've been pretty vague tonight."
The Doctor looked at her, then back to where he was going: "There have been stories."
"What kind of stories?" I asked.
"About creatures, similar to Time Lords, to whom time is like a bucket of plasticine."
"A bucket of what?" Maen didn't understand the term.
"It's like clay, which you can mash to form whatever you want, whenever you want." I explained.
"A rather crude description, but yes." the Doctor said.
"So are you saying there are things out there who can... play with time?" Maen wondered.
"They're just stories." the Doctor reminded her, "But even mythologies have some basis of truth."
"Don't I know it." I replied, being reminded of some of my earlier adventures.
As we got closer to the console room, a loud knocking became more audible.
"Suddenly, I heard a tapping." the Doctor said, much to Maen's puzzlement.
As soon as we arrived at the console room, the Doctor ran to the other side as fast as he could. Someone was knocking on the main doors? How was that possible? According to the Doctor, there was this sort of filter that made the Tardis unnoticeable by anyone.
The Doctor opened the door: "Hello? How can I help..."
"Are you the owner of this box?" a voice, that sounded cockney, spoke.
"I am indeed." the Doctor replied, "Why? Is this a no parking zone?"
"I have here a warrant." the voice replied.
A warrant? That sounded serious.
"Why is that?" the Doctor asked, "These boxes have been decommissioned, so I'm not using it illegally."
"I'm only following orders." the voice replied.
"Alright." the Doctor said, "Come right in."
Whoever that voice belonged to, its owner walked in. As soon as he entered, not only did I recognize that uniform of his to belong to the police, I also saw how he reacted to the fact that what looked like a box on the outside, was as large as a house on the inside. He stood there, frozen stiff, eyes wide open, and skin getting paler by the second. He screamed, then turned around and ran.
"What's the matter with him?" Maen asked.
"Try not to understand Earthlings." I told her, "I'm from the planet myself, and I can't begin to understand them."
"Well, that should take care of him, for now." the Doctor said, "Come along."
The Doctor stepped out, and Maen and I followed.
Once outside, the Doctor locked the door behind us. He then turned around and shifted his head.
"What are you looking for?" I asked him.
"Anything that doesn't belong." he said.
"Like ourselves?" Maen asked.
I looked around. Looking at the dress code, the cars, this city's idea of night-life, and the lack of any cell-phones, I deduced we weren't in my own time.
"When are we?" I wondered.
"We're still in 1992." the Doctor replied, "Because of what you two did, I could only transport us through space."
That would explain why I could see the Big Ben. We were no longer in Saint-Tropez.
"Is that a Tardis over there?" Maen pointed at something.
I looked too. She pointed at the remains of something blue, which was inside a glass box, displayed in the center of a small park. There was a plaque that read "Remembering the incident of 1978." Only the Doctor and I knew what that was about. This prompted the Doctor to tell Maen about our little adventure that happened... Two days ago, as far as I was concerned, but fourteen years ago for all the Earthlings. As he explained this, a man walked along, throwing a newspaper in a nearby bin. I picked it up, and took a look in it. I didn't look at the headline, as it probably referenced events I don't remember anyway. Still, just looking at the front page, where it said the date was August 10, 1992, and the paper in question looked brand new, it was still hard to believe that I was this far back in time.
"I don't believe this!" the Doctor shouted.
I turned to him: "What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?" the Doctor looked at me with wide eyes, "Can't you read?"
I wasn't even looking at the headline, so of course I didn't notice. I read it out loud: "First colony to arrive on Mars... Huh?"
"That's not supposed to happen until decades from now." the Doctor said.
"Would these people even want to go to Mars?" Maen asked, "I mean, if what you said is true, and people from Mars have attacked Earth on several occasions..."
"You wouldn't believe how relentless the humans of this planet can be." the Doctor explained to her, "The can break their limbs on eight places, and yet they would return to those places every chance they've got."
I rolled my eyes as I heard him say that. How could he be so optimistic about my people? But as my eyes rolled, I was looking up. In doing so, I noticed something. I couldn't be sure, so I looked up into the sky. The night-sky looked normal at first, in so far that it can be considered normal to see so few stars in the sky (what with London's city-lights). Still, at the very least the moon was visible, as was... something else. Something that shouldn't be, but yet it was.
"Doc, remember you asked us to look for something that doesn't belong?" I asked.
"Yes." the Doctor replied, "Why?"
I pointed at the sky, and the Doctor looked. I couldn't see the look on his face, as I was still looking at what I was pointing, but I can imagine what expression must have formed on his face. In the sky, next to the white disc of the moon, was something else. At first I thought it was an optical illusion, but there was nothing to indicate that. Next to the moon was another disc. Its size was smaller, its color slightly different, and the craters had a slightly different form, but undoubtedly, it was a second moon.
"What? What's wrong with those moons?" Maen asked.
I crinched as she spoke, but the Doctor could explain to her before I could say anything: "Maen, this planet has only one moon. It always had."
I looked at her. Her mouth formed an "O", as she realized the problem.