Short - Only Good Girls Get TARDIS Rides

I suppose it is about time I share with you one of my earliest attempts at nudging a cosmos' timeline away from what I knew would develop. It was not a very serious nudge but I'd done it out of some hope that it'd work.

I had decided to give my dear Companions a winter wonderland celebration. After some examination I decided to take them to a planet I knew would be covered in delightful snow. It would be rather new to me as well; on Earth my region never sees the stuff.

So we set course for the planet Tharkad.

As luck would have it there was an official state parade running through the small city on Tharkad's southern temperate region where we arrived. With everyone bundled up and Janias' hologram projector active we set off for the VIP seats. The nice gentlemen in infantry armor allowed us to pass with but a glance at my psychic paper.

And so we settled in and watched the floats and vehicles go past. "Lovely, isn't it girls?", I said. Mist came from my breath.

"It's cold," Janias complained.

"A little bit of cold never hurts." I winked. "I'm sure there will be some hot cocoa in our future, though. The Tharkadische have been dealing with this weather for centuries. It's an interstellar capital world, you know. Capital of the Lyran Commonwealth for ages, throne world of House Steiner. Not as impressive as Coruscant, I grant."

"I'm just glad it's not Dromund Kaas."

"I'd be hard-pressed to think of a world nastier than that place, my dear." My eyes scanned out at the passing vehicles. One vehicle in particular was approaching with markings on it. Two children wearing traditional Lyran suits were waving to the adoring crowds. One was maybe six and the other no older than four; a boy and a girl with matching hair and eye colors.

"Ah, the young heirs now," I remarked. "Prince Victor and Princess Katherine."

"You'd think they were twins."

"Victor was always a little on the short side," I answered, practicing British understatement to go with my English accent and throwing in a bad pun for the hat trick. "A shame, they end up hating each other you know. Nasty civil war and all. That's what happens when royals have family squabbles."

"Doctor..." I could hear concern in Janias' voice and followed where she was looking. One man was edging rather close to the barrier, equidistant between two police.

I let out a sigh. "Of course, can't have a day of peace."

The man pulled out a pistol and leveled it toward the children. "Free Skye!"

I already had the sonic out by that point. I turned it on and watched the pistol explode in sparks from its power packs. "There'll be none of that!", I shouted.

Of course, that was all I could do before pandemonium broke out. The Inner Sphere was no stranger to the concept of political assassination after all. Guards came from all sides. I raised my psychic paper as troops rushed in. "Alright lads, LIC. Had warning of an attack, barely made it in time. You really should have done better with the crowds..."

My bluff worked long enough, until the military officer in charge of the bodyguards made his way to me. "You don't look like Lohengrin to me."

"Really? Is it my sunny disposition?", I asked. "I'm sure the witnesses have confirmed I acted to protect Their Highnesses."

"We'll sort it out when we have you all in custody."

"I'll do you one better," I answered. "You'll take me to the Archon and we'll sort this all out that way." When he glowered at me I glowered right back. "Don't push it too far there, Kommandant."

The glower became a snarl. "Very well. This way."

It was a short and highly boring ride by DropShip and VTOL to Tharkad City and the main palace there. We were escorted into the presence of Archon Katrina and her daughter Melissa with a hefty escort. Victor and Katherine were sitting by their mother Melissa. A child was in her arms, Peter I remembered. Two Griffin BattleMechs stood on either side of the throne. They were a sufficiently intimidating presence. Somehow I doubted that the sonic screwdriver would avail me against them.

My companions and I bowed respectfully. "Your Highness."

"This is the man who stopped the assassin, Kommandant?"

"Yes."

Katrina looked straight toward me. "Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor, Archon, and these are my Companions Janias and Camilla. I am, despite my appearance, not Human, but rather Time Lord."

"You caused a laser pistol to explode from a distance?", Katrina asked.

"Clearly a trick, Highness."

"Sonic screwdriver." I held it up and directed it toward the holotank beside the throne. At a push of a button the holotank activated, showing a ComStar news feed. "Does everything. Overloads laser pistol powerpacks, makes medical scans, changes the channel." I clicked it again and switched it to a local Tharkad station playing a drama of some sort. "Never did care much for that lot. Too many robes, horrible fashion sense."

"I think that will be enough." Katrina stood and walked up to me. "You saved my grandchildren, Doctor. I will give you my patience. But I must know just what it is you are."

"As I said, Archon, I am a Time Lord. I travel the six dimensions experiencing the wonders of the many cosmoses of the Multiverse and occasionally getting involved in nasty business such as today's attack. And if I may end the skepticism in the room..." I reached into my pocket, gripped my TARDIS key, and activated the remote.

The VWORP of my TARDIS engine filled that hall as it materialized into view behind us. At a snap of my fingers the doors opened. Katrina walked up and entered it. After looking around on the inside she stepped back out and looked upon it again. "It's bigger on the inside."

I never get tired of that.

Well, that opened the flood gates. There was a wonderous examination of the TARDIS by Melissa and the children next. Janias and Camilla were rather flustered given the bewildered and thus hostile-by-default attitude of the guards. A rigorous questioning was to be had and I pulled out every story I had yet. The zombies, the world of the sentient ponies, the restaurant at the end of the universes where one must never order the meat...

"Seriously," Camilla said for emphasis to them. "We should have never asked about the meat."

"I warned them not to," I remarked. "I said try the salad, try the fish, for Heaven's sake do not ask to Meet the Meat." The girls shuddered. "But oh no, what does the Doctor know after all?" I leaned toward the children and, with the back of my right hand next to my mouth and facing them, gave a conspiratorial whisper of "Everything".

They giggled.

And that was when I got my chance.

"Can I ride in your magic box?", little Katherine Steiner-Davion asked.

I looked down at that innocent toddler face, totally ignorant of the shaking of her mother's head. I thought of what this sweet child would become. She would gain a hunger for power that could not be satiated and would rip her parents' dream asunder. She would spread lie after lie about her brother, trying to tear down a man out to protect everyone from the threat that even now gathered its strength in the worlds of the Pentagon. She would order murder after murder in the name of her own power. The mother who now looked at her with loving eyes would be among her first victims.

I hated that woman with every fiber of my soul. A matricide and traitoress, damned to the ice of Lake Cocytus, that is how I saw her. But here... that woman was not present. She was just a child. A sweet little child who had just met a magical man with a magic box that could go everywhere. And she wanted a ride.

Why not? Why couldn't I use this opportunity to nudge this child in another direction? To give her an incentive to deny the craving for power that would arise within her soul?

I leaned down to face Katherine directly and smiled my sweetest smile. "Your Mama and Grandmama would be very cross with me if I took you now, little one. But I make you this promise. I will come back when you are older. And if you have been a good girl, a very good girl, generous and kind and loving to your brothers and your parents, a model princess... I will take you to see things you cannot imagine. The Amethyst Cliffs of Jeli. The Lost City of the Ancients of Pegasus. The Crystal Spires of Tuzanor. The City-World of Coruscant. You'll see them all. Just remember... only good girls get to ride the TARDIS."

And that was the highlight of my visit. We left the capital for a quiet spot in Tharkad's ski resorts so the girls could see the snow and I could ponder my thoughts on this meeting.

I gave a nudge. I exploited a child's wonder in the hope that by making her want to be a loving sister she would ignore the call of ambition. I made my bid to prevent the rise of Katherine Steiner-Davion, the Ice Queen who destroyed her parents' legacy in her lust for power.

Only time would tell if it worked.