CHAPTER 12
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SHIP OF DOOM PART 1
Clara was standing at the console imagining what it would be like to have a TARDIS of her very own when she suddenly felt a presence behind her. She didn't think anything of it at first because she assumed that it was either the Doctor or Polly. She never even turned around to see who it was.
Then she heard an unfamiliar voice say, "Hey, Clara. What are you thinking about? When did the Doctor change the Console Room? I don't like this one. He should change it back."
Clara spun around to see a young girl about eighteen with blonde hair and green eyes smiling at her. She looked at her as if she knew her, but Clara had never seen her before in any of her lives. What was going on here?
"Who are you?" Clara asked as she backed away from her in alarm.
"What?" the girl asked confused.
"I want to know who you are. How did you get in here?" Clara demanded.
"Are you feeling okay? It's me, Mikaela. You know. Your friend? We go traveling together with the old man? Any of this ring a bell?" the girl said as she looked at her like she was insane.
"I've never seen you before so tell me another one," Clara said.
"You're starting to scare me, Clara. Please tell me that you're just joking. It's a prank, right?" Mikaela asked in a nervous voice.
Clara started to really wonder what was going on here now as it seemed as if this Mikaela was genuinely upset. She didn't think that she was acting.
"Mikaela, what year do you think this is?" Clara asked as a sudden suspicion came to mind.
"We travel in time so it's kind of relative. What year do you think it is?" Mikaela asked.
"2014," Clara said.
"What? Are you kidding?" Mikaela asked completely shocked.
"No, I'm not. You're from the future, aren't you?" Clara guessed.
"If you think that this is 2014, then I must be. What's going on? I haven't been sent back to the past, have I? How? I mean just five minutes ago I was in my bedroom. I just left it and came in here to find a different Console Room. That's when everything went downhill. So that means that I haven't been born yet? Why is this happening?" Mikaela said as she began to get even more upset and started hyperventilating.
Now Clara believed her completely and said in a calm soothing voice, "It's okay. We'll figure this out. I'm sure that the Doctor can take you back to the right time. Don't worry. Just calm down."
"Clara, I – I can't breathe," Mikaela said as she started to gasp for breath.
Clara immediately sat her down in the Captain's Chair and looked her straight in the eyes as she said, "Mikaela, listen to me. I'll make sure that you get back to where you belong. Okay? Stop getting so upset or you're going to pass out. Calm down."
"I'm trying. I just . . . my parents don't even know who I am in this time. They're not even married yet," Mikaela said.
"It doesn't matter. Just don't do anything to interfere with their relationship, and you'll still be born as far as I know," Clara said.
"Oh, God. I never even thought about that. What if I get erased from history now?" Mikaela said getting even more upset.
"Brilliant, Clara. Just brilliant," Clara said as she hit herself in the forehead.
"Careful, Clara. You'll wind up just like the Doctor if you keep that up," Rose said as she appeared next to her in a burst of golden energy.
"Rose. Oh, I am so, so glad to see you," Clara said as she hugged her tightly.
Rose smiled as she said, "I can already guess what you're so upset about, Clara. You've just met Mikaela here, and she's freaking you out."
"You know her?" Clara asked surprised.
"Sort of, yeah. She's from our future. I've had future kids visit me before but never future companions. This is a first," Rose said as she smiled at Mikaela.
"You know me then? Of course you do. You have all of those weird cosmic powers. You can send me back if anyone can, right?" Mikaela asked hopefully.
"I sort of know you but only what little that my future self told me about you. She didn't want to tell me too much for fear of altering the future. Don't be afraid of being erased by the way. So far you're still good. As for sending you back, well I, uh, I may have a bit of a problem with that," Rose said.
"What?" Mikaela asked as she began looking pale.
"It seems according to future me that you were supposed to come here today. You were accidentally sent back into the past by the TARDIS and stayed there for a certain amount of time. I can't interfere with that or I may create a paradox. You'll have to stay here with us for a while I'm afraid. It won't be so bad though, Mikaela. I promise," Rose said.
"I will get to go back though, right?" Mikaela asked.
"Yes, you will. I can't tell you when though or how. Sorry," Rose said.
"It won't be a long time like years will it?" Mikaela asked.
"No, nowhere near that long. A couple of months at the most. Don't worry," Rose said.
"Months?! I can't stay here that long. I want to go home," Mikaela protested.
"I have no choice. I'm sorry," Rose said.
"You can do anything, Rose Tyler. I know you can. You just forget about this paradox stuff and send me back now. Right now!" Mikaela shouted.
"What's with all of the shouting? Has Shouty returned?" the Doctor said as he came into the Console Room.
"Who are you?" Mikaela asked shocked.
"What do you mean who am I? I'm the Doctor. Who are you and what are you doing in my TARDIS? Rose, what's going on here?" the Doctor asked as he began to pout.
"This is Mikaela, Doctor. I'm afraid that she's going to be stuck traveling with you for a while," Rose said.
"Oh, no! I'm not traveling around with Baby Face over here. I'm going back to my Doctor. The Old Man. I like the Old Man. I don't want Mr. Bow Tie," Mikaela protested.
"Ah, I see. You're from my future. I hate it when that happens. I'm always meeting people out of order. So you travel with Eyebrows, do you? I met him once or twice. I wasn't impressed. He's nowhere near as cool as I am. You're actually better off sticking with me. I bet you'll learn to like me much better. Maybe I can get you to change your outfit and make you look more hip and with it like I do," the Doctor said happily.
"Please send me home. Please!" Mikaela begged.
Clara laughed as she said, "It seems that you just rub her the wrong way, Chin Boy. Eyebrows must not be so bad if she likes him so much."
"I'm much cooler I assure you, and I'll make her see that too given enough time. Everyone always falls for my charm sooner or later," the Doctor said smugly.
"Is that why you have so many enemies, Doctor?" Clara asked.
"Shut up," the Doctor said smiling to let her know that he didn't really mean it.
"Who is this?" Polly asked as she finally came into the Console Room.
"Polly. I didn't know that you'd be here. Why aren't you in the future?" Mikaela asked.
"Am I supposed to be?" Polly asked confused.
"Not yet," Rose said in a low voice as the Doctor said, "Don't worry about that. Polly, it seems that we're being visited by a future companion here today. Meet, uh, what was your name?"
"Mikaela," Mikaela said in an annoyed voice. She really didn't like this Doctor at all. She wanted hers back.
"Mickey Ella? That's an odd name for a girl," the Doctor said.
"Mikaela. Mikaela! Are you being this dense on purpose?" Mikaela said in frustration.
"No, it's just the way that he is. You get used to it," Clara said laughing. She liked Mikaela now. She had a feeling that they were going to get along just fine.
"How about I just call you Fred? Would you like that? I once had a companion named Fred. No, that's not right. Her name was Romana, but she insisted on being called Fred for some reason. I never understood that," the Doctor said babbling.
"Doctor, you called her Fred, and she hated it," Rose reminded him.
"Oh, yeah. I don't see why. Fred is a perfectly cool name for a girl," the Doctor insisted.
"How do you keep from strangling him with that bow tie?" Mikaela asked in extreme irritation.
"We just can't do it. It would be like killing a baby giraffe," Polly joked.
Everyone burst out into laughter except for the Doctor who now began pouting yet again.
"Is that supposed to be funny because I am not amused? That's not cool, Polly. Not cool at all," the Doctor said.
"Maybe not but it's certainly funny," Rose said.
"It is not," the Doctor said pouting even more.
"I can't believe that the Doctor was ever this childish," Mikaela said in disbelief.
"I'm not being childish. Rose, can you take her home?" the Doctor asked.
"Sorry, I can't. She's supposed to be here for a while. A couple of months I think," Rose said.
The Doctor looked horrified as he said, "I wonder if I could rig up a self-destruct for the TARDIS. I don't think I can take months of her."
"Ditto," Mikaela said.
"It'll be okay, Doctor. I'll occupy all of her time as much as I can. You'll barely even know she's here," Clara said.
"I doubt that. Why would you want to subject yourself to that kind of torture for, Clara?" the Doctor asked.
"Hey, I like Clara. I think we'll get along just fine. I actually like that idea. If I'm going to be stuck here, then I'd much rather spend time with someone that I like," Mikaela said.
"It's agreed then. Come on, Mikaela. I'll show you around this version of the TARDIS. I'm sure that the Console Room isn't the only thing that's different," Clara said as she led her out of the Console Room.
"Are you sure you can't send her home?" the Doctor asked Rose.
"I'm afraid not. She won't be that bad, Doctor. The future you likes her. I'm sure you will too," Rose said.
"Eyebrows obviously has no taste then. Then again I already figured that out even before this. Maybe Clara can keep her busy and out of my hair I hope. So, Rose, where do you want to go?" the Doctor asked as he tried to change the subject.
"It doesn't matter to me. All that matters to me is that we spend some time together. Clara and Polly have been hogging you too much lately," Rose said as she kissed him.
Polly smiled and then turned away to give them some privacy. She was therefore the first person to notice the blinking light on the console.
"Doctor, what does this blinking light mean?" Polly asked worried.
"Blinking light?" the Doctor asked as he and Rose both looked at the light with alarm.
"It's a warning. There's a pocket of temporal instability around us," the Doctor said.
"Rose, can you explain that to me in English?" Polly asked.
"It means that we've entered an area that's out of sync with this time and place. It could be a time fissure that leads to another time. That might explain how Mikaela got here. Maybe she was sent through it from the future. That can happen sometimes and vice versa," Rose explained.
"Does that mean that we might get yanked away too?" Polly asked.
"No, the TARDIS will protect us. The other end must be in Ella's time, and she was shifted by the TARDIS from the future version of her to this one in order to protect her from it. People can be trapped in time fissures sometimes," the Doctor said.
"Does that mean that the future TARDIS is in this same area then in the future?" Polly asked.
"Probably. That would make sense. Eyebrows must have come here too in order to make sure that I meet Ella because it had already happened for him. Hopefully I won't be bumping into him too. I hate that. Meeting other mes is even worse than meeting future companions who hate me," the Doctor complained.
"I don't think she hates you, Doctor. She just isn't used to your little . . . quirks yet," Rose said tactfully.
"Quirks? I don't have any quirks. Have you been been talking to the Dream Lord again?" the Doctor said indignantly.
"Shouldn't we get out of here before someone or something less friendly than Mikaela shows up?" Polly asked warily.
"I agree. Let's go, Doctor," Rose said.
The Doctor attempted to dematerialize but nothing happened. He tried again and still nothing.
"Something's keeping us here. It's blocking all of my attempts to leave," the Doctor said alarmed.
"What could do that to the TARDIS?" Polly asked.
Rose's eyes started to glow with power as she said, "There's something keeping the TARDIS here. It's some kind of jamming device nearby."
"That's ridiculous. Nothing can jam the TARDIS," the Doctor protested.
"Apparently something can, Doctor, and it's nearby," Rose said.
"It must be on that ship," Clara said as she reentered the room with Mikaela.
"What ship?" the Doctor asked.
"The one on the monitor that we're about to crash into!" Clara said in alarm.
"I have to try to change direction," the Doctor said as he raced to the controls.
"There's not enough time. Let me handle it," Rose said.
She glowed with the power of the Vortex as she and the TARDIS momentarily linked minds, and she steered the TARDIS safely inside of a docking bay on the massive ship that Clara had spotted on the monitor. Rose sat the TARDIS down as the Doctor checked the outside environment.
"The ship's capable of supporting human life so that's good. I am reading multiple lifeforms on board though. Millions of them as a matter of fact," the Doctor said looking worried.
"Where are they? I don't see anything on the monitor. It looks deserted," Clara said.
"How many humanoid lifeforms are there?" Rose asked.
The Doctor adjusted his instruments and now said, "Just the five of us."
"So whatever's in this ship isn't human then?" Polly asked.
"I'm afraid so," Rose said.
"We have to get out of here if there are that many of them whatever they are," Mikaela said.
"We can't. We have to find whatever it is that's blocking us from dematerializing or we might never get out of this time fissure. We could be trapped here forever," the Doctor said.
"With you? I don't think so. Besides I know you're not trapped here or you wouldn't become my Doctor," Mikaela said.
"Time is always in flux, Ella. The future is constantly changing and nothing is set in stone," the Doctor said.
"No, we have to get out of here. We have to," Mikaela said.
"I don't think that I've ever had anyone that traveled with me whine this much before. I thought Tegan was bad, but you have her beat by a mile," the Doctor complained.
"Shut up, Chin Boy!" Mikaela said in anger as she stormed out of the room.
"Did you teach her that?" the Doctor accused Clara.
"Of course not. I never told her to tell you to shut up," Clara said trying not to smile.
"It doesn't matter right now, Doctor. We have to find out what's keeping us here and either shut it off or destroy it," Polly said as she tried to get him back on course.
"She's right, Doctor. Let's go. Let Mikaela stay in the TARDIS if she wants to," Rose said.
"I hope she gets lost in the forest," the Doctor said.
"Forest? There's a forest in the TARDIS?" Clara asked in surprise.
"That's a new one on me," Polly said.
"It's a bunch of now extinct plants from throughout time and space. The Doctor collected the last of all of their kinds. It's just like that zoo that he has with the Dodo Birds in it and the Passenger Pigeons," Rose said.
"You don't have a dinosaur on board, do you?" Clara asked.
The Doctor looked away as Clara said, "You do. You have a dinosaur."
"Well, Ushas had one on her TARDIS once, and I didn't want to be left out. It's completely harmless though. It's a plant eater and intelligent. I call him Smitty," the Doctor said with a grin.
"Smitty the Dinosaur?" Rose asked with a smirk.
"What? I think it's a good name for a dinosaur. He likes it," the Doctor protested.
"Let's go, Doctor," Rose said shaking her head at him.
"He's a nice dinosaur. He and I used to chat all the time. He loves tea and jammie dodgers," the Doctor said.
"Only the Doctor," Clara said laughing.
They all went outside except for Mikaela and shut the door behind them. As they traveled through the ship, they still saw no signs of life anywhere. All that they saw were darkened hallways filled with shadows.
"Aren't there any lights in this place? If we try to go any further, there we'll get lost because it's too dark to see," Clara said.
"It's not the darkness that worries me," the Doctor said.
"What do you mean? What's wrong?" Polly asked.
She knew that look on his face. It always meant trouble.
"I made a mistake by coming outside. This is a trap. Everyone count your shadows, and don't cross any shadow that you see. We're going back to the TARDIS before it's too late. We'll find some other way out of the fissure. A much safer way," the Doctor said in a very anxious voice.
"Doctor, it's them, isn't it?" Rose asked.
"Yes. This ship is full of them," the Doctor said in a grave voice.
"Full of what? What's going on?" Clara asked.
"Doctor, there you are. It took me forever to find you," Mikaela said.
"Oh, no! I was hoping she would have stayed inside," the Doctor said looking terrified.
"What's wrong? Why do you have that look on your face for?" Mikaela asked.
"I'm sorry, Mikaela, I really am. I think that I would have liked you," the Doctor said.
"What are you talking about? What's wrong?" Mikaela asked in fear.
"You have two shadows, Mikaela. I'm afraid that you have a Vashta Nerada attached to you. They're deadly killers, and once they have you they never let you go. I'm so sorry," the Doctor said.
"No. I can't have come here to the past to die. I just can't have. This can't be how it ends!" Mikaela said absolutely terrified.
The Doctor began to tear up as flashes of what happened to River in the Library went through his mind. He wasn't going to let it happen again. Not if he could help it. Not this time!
This time everybody was going to live.
Next: Will the Doctor save Mikaela or did she come to the past just to die? Who planted the jamming device on the ship and how did the ship get there in the fissure in the first place? Is this a trap by the Vashta Narada or are they just pawns of an even greater threat? All will be answered in the next chapter.
