Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
The Bells of Saint John – Part One
The Doctor looked up from dusting the console as Charlotte and Laura walked in, mobile phones in their hands. "Feel better?" he asked Laura, who wiped a few stray tears away from her cheeks.
"Yeah, I prayed for forgiveness and I feel much better now" she nodded with a small smile. Charlotte held up her mobile phone and inquired, "We were wondering if you could give them universal roaming? You know, so we can call each other if we get lost or something". One by one, they handed their phones over for the Doctor to sonic; he handed them back and asked, "So, do you want to tell me where you think Clara is?"
Laura shrugged a bit and explained, "We don't know exactly where she is, we just know that she was staying at a house in London; it belonged to the Maitland family".
"We know it's not much to go on" Charlotte added apologetically, "The show never mentioned the address, but we figured the TARDIS could track down the house owner…his name is George, I think" she recalled. It was a bit vague, but she was pretty sure...at least she hoped she was. The Doctor moved to the other side of the console. "You're both having me run a lot of searches" he remarked, not unkindly.
Both Whovians glanced at one another. "I um, I don't suppose you've had any luck…?" Laura inquired hesitantly. He shook his head and informed them, "There's no sign of any breaches that could lead to another universe…which is a big place, mind, and the multiverse is even bigger".
Charlotte sighed. "Yeah, should've known it'd be too soon…are you using the Kepler Conjecture?" she asked curiously. The Doctor raised an eyebrow; she quickly explained "I don't know much about it; just that it's some kind of mathematical theory. If the universe is spherical, and there are other universes around it, only twelve other universes would be…linked, I suppose, at points specified by the Golden Ratio…of course, that's just one theoretical model for the structure of the multiverse. It's probably not really like that, is it?"
"Well, it's a good…guess" – the Doctor trailed off, as a phone began ringing. It wasn't coming from the console, however, but from outside the doors. He sighed and went out, picking up the phone from the outside of the TARDIS. Charlotte wondered why he'd ever rerouted the phone line in the first place.
"Hello?"
"Ah, hello. I can't find the internet" the young woman on the other side reported. The Doctor frowned in bewilderment. "Sorry?"
"It's gone, the internet. Can't find it anywhere, where is it?"
"The internet?" he asked incredulously. Laura's eyes widened, realising who it must be. "Doctor, who is it?" she asked hurriedly, wanting to confirm her suspicion. He looked at them helplessly, lowering the phone and replying "Somebody looking for the internet, apparently…what do I say?"
"Oh for goodness sake, give it here" Charlotte said with a roll of her eyes, taking the phone from him. She put on a smile and spoke into it, "Hello, my name is Charlotte, how can I help you? And apologies for the previous person…he's new".
"Oh! Right, yeah…So, uh, why don't I have internet? Shouldn't it just sort of…be there?" a familiar voice asked…it was Clara alright.
"Okay, listen. In the bottom right corner of your screen, there should be a symbol, it probably looks something like three or four semi-circles; if you hover your mouse over it there's a label saying 'Wi-Fi' or 'internet connection'".
"…Got it; a menu came up, what do I do?"
"Look for one you recognise and click on it" Charlotte explained patiently. She wondered how Clara managed without knowing the ins and outs of the internet…then again, she was a veritable Wi-Fi addict, so she was probably biased or something.
"This makes no sense; it's twelve oh seven!" the Doctor insisted, referring to the time period he'd landed in, Cumbria to be exact. Charlotte shushed him, but Clara had overheard. "Twelve oh seven? I've got half past three…am I phoning a different time zone?"
"Technically, yes" Charlotte replied, amused.
"Will it show up on the bill?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure. Have you found a Wi-Fi connection yet?"
"Yeah, but now it's asking me for a password" Clara explained; Charlotte was about to suggest asking someone in the house for the password, when the Doctor took the phone back from her. "How did you get this number?" he demanded, a bit rudely.
"Is that the new guy? Actually, never mind; the woman in the shop wrote it down. It's a help line, isn't it? She said it's the best help line out there. In the universe, she said".
"What woman? Who was she?"
"I don't know, the woman in the shop. Hang on a mo…" the Doctor waited impatiently – he heard someone else talking in the background – and then Clara spoke again, "Run you clever boy, and remember, one, two, three".
The Doctor's eyes widened; it was Clara, how could he have missed that? He was getting old. "What did you say?!"
"Don't shout. Now you've made me type it wrong. It's thrown me out again. What do I do? How do I get back in?" Clara asked frantically; but the Doctor was too busy sonicking the phone and putting it back on the hook. He ran to the console – he could trace the call and find Clara straight away, never mind searching for some George person.
Laura and Charlotte clung on tight as the TARDIS sped through time and space. "You're really bad at recognising voices!" Charlotte called over the noise of the engines.
"I know, I know!"
"I mean I'm not that good either, but you're setting a consecutive record!" she laughed.
"Oi!" the Doctor grumbled, mock offended. The TARDIS landed with a thump; he quickly checked the co-ordinates. They were in London, on Earth, just as Laura had said. He ran for the door and out into the street, hurrying up to the door of a detached suburban house and knocking enthusiastically. Charlotte and Laura followed at a more leisurely place, wanting to just watch the scenario unfold…it was probably going to be hilarious.
Impatient, the Doctor pressed the doorbell button a few times. "Hello? Yes, I hear you" he heard Clara call exasperatedly from inside. She opened the door to see a young man with floppy brown hair and dark green eyes, wearing a tweed jacket and a bow tie, rather old fashioned clothes... "Hello" she greeted, eyeing him oddly.
"Clara" he beamed, "Clara Oswald".
"Hello…"
"Clara Oswin Oswald!"
"Just Clara Oswald; what was that middle one?"
"Do you remember me? Us?" he asked, stepping aside and gesturing to two young women behind him. The one on the left was a bit round, with short blonde hair and blue eyes behind glasses; the one on the right was thinner, with longer brown hair and dark blue eyes. Clara had never seen any of them in her life. "No, should I? Who are you?" she asked.
"The Doctor, Laura, Charlotte" the Doctor introduced them all, pointing to each one in turn. Clara showed no sign of recognition. "No?"
"Doctor who?"
"Just the Doctor…actually, sorry, could you start all that again?"
"Could I what?"
"Could you just ask me that question again?"
"Doctor who?"
"Okay, just once more".
"…Doctor who?"
Charlotte and Laura stifled sniggers as the Doctor danced a bit, badly, on the spot. "Ooh, yeah, ooh – do you know, I never realised how much I enjoy hearing that said out loud" he told them with a grin, before turning to Clara and saying, "Thank you".
"Okay" she said bluntly, before shutting the door in his face. The happy smile vanished, replaced with a look of consternation. "Hey, no, Clara, please. Clara, I need to talk to you. Listen. Please" he pleaded, knocking on the door again, but to no avail. He turned to the girls behind him and asked them, "Why did she do that?"
"Most people get weirded out if a stranger turns up on their doorstep and says he knows them…and nobody's stranger than you" Charlotte joked. The Doctor pointed at her, opened his mouth, and then closed it again. He looked from the door to her and back. "You should talk to her, she'll recognise your voice" he suggested brightly, tugging her up to the door.
Charlotte pulled her arm out of his grip. "She probably recognised you as well, as the strange new guy at a call centre who kept interrupting me" she remarked, "And besides, won't she be confused if she does recognise me and wonders what I'm doing here?"
"Well, you can't confuse her any more than she is already".
"Hmm, fair point. Fine, but this probably isn't going to work".
"It's worth a shot" the Doctor insisted, watching anxiously as Charlotte rang the doorbell. Clara didn't answer the door, probably because she thought it was the Doctor, so Charlotte leaned in and called, "Clara? It's Charlotte, we were talking on the phone earlier?"
There was a buzzing sound, and Clara's voice emerged out of an intercom. "That was you on the phone?" she asked. Charlotte moved to look at the small screen and replied, "Yeah, it was me".
"What are you doing here?"
"We just happened to be in the neighbourhood" the Doctor interrupted, "I was just on my mobile phone" he added, pointing at the TARDIS behind him.
"When you say mobile phone, why do you point at that blue box?"
"Because it's a surprisingly accurate description" the Doctor retorted; Charlotte pushed him aside and said to Clara, "Ignore him. Listen, can we come in? I promise we're not dangerous or anything".
"I might let you in, if you tell me who you are".
"I'm Charlotte, this is my best friend Laura, and the other guy is the Doctor…we're his carers" Charlotte explained, ignoring the Doctor's indignant shout of "Oi!"
"Carers?" Clara asked sceptically. Charlotte weighed her options, and then sighed. "I'd love to tell you the truth, but to be honest it's more ridiculous than a lie would be" she admitted.
"Try me".
"If you insist…we're not technically the Doctor's carers, and yes, that is his actual name. I don't actually work in a call centre, either; I just go on the internet a lot, I know how to find it".
"So where do you work?"
"At a manufacturing firm…I'm on holiday right now" Charlotte explained; it was sort of true. "Look, I know this all seems odd, but I swear, we're not dangerous or anything. Can we come in?" she asked hopefully. If Clara just let them in, they could save her from the Spoonhead without altering the timelines too much. Clara seemed to consider it. "Wait there" she said finally, switching off the intercom.
She turned to go up the stairs and fetch her laptop, but then she heard a creak and the sound of a door closing. That was odd; she was sure she'd been alone. "Angie? Angie, you upstairs? Angie, you still here?" she called, assuming that the girl had come back to fetch something she'd forgotten. It wouldn't be the first time.
Someone came down the stairs, but it wasn't Angie; it was a strangely familiar young girl, dressed in a white frock, her brown hair tied back and smooth against her head. She stared at Clara with an impassive expression.
"…Hello".
"Hello".
"Are you a friend of Angie's?"
"I'm a friend of Angie's".
"What were you doing upstairs?"
"I was upstairs".
Clara eyed the girl, realising there was something odd about the way she spoke…no normal child talked like that. She seemed so familiar… "I know you, don't I?"
"You know me, don't you?"
Suddenly, Clara recalled where she'd seen this girl before – on the cover of Summer Falls, the book Artie had been reading. She gasped as the girl stiffened, her head slowly revolving one hundred and eighty degrees. The back of her head was just a concave dish; before Clara could do anything, even cry out for help, a burst of light struck out of the dish and engulfed her.
Outside, Charlotte was starting to get worried…Clara was taking a while. She examined the intercom and pressed what she thought was the 'on' button. "Clara? Clara, can you hear me?"
"Hello?"
"Is everything alright?"
"I don't understand…" Clara said slowly, and Charlotte realised what must have happened. She looked at the Doctor and said urgently, "Open the door!"
"What? Why?"
"Cos she's in trouble!" Charlotte exclaimed, pressing the intercom button again. "I don't know…" Clara's voice emerged, "…Where I am. I don't know where I am. Where am I? Please tell me where I am. I don't know where I am!"
"The Spoonhead's got her!" Laura cried in dismay, hurrying forwards. The Doctor sonicked the lock and went in, finding Clara lying unconscious on the floor. He scanned her quickly; her brainwaves were wiped, her body operating at the bare minimum – she was dying.
"Look!" Laura gasped, pointing at what looked like a girl with a concave dish in the back of her head. Clara was visible in the dish, looking around her in alarm. "I don't know where I am. I don't know where I am. I don't understand. I don't know where I am! I don't understand. I don't know where I am" she said frantically, over and over.
Laura wrung her hands. "It's uploading her, Doctor, what do we do?"
"Get the laptop!" Charlotte declared, squeezing past the Spoonhead and running upstairs. She found the attic bedroom, just as it was on the show, with the laptop on a desk and grabbed it. When she hurried back downstairs, the Spoonhead had its disguise stripped away. The Doctor reached past the robot and took the laptop off her. "Oh, no you don't" he muttered, typing in commands at a rapid pace.
Clara was still repeating "I don't know where I am, please tell me where I am. Where am I?"
Distressed and feeling helpless, Laura looked into the robot and tried to call to her. "Clara? Listen, it's alright! We're going to save you!"
"I don't know where I am, please tell me where I am. Where am I? I don't know where I am…"
"Laura, I don't think she can hear you" Charlotte told her, "I think she's just looping". Laura looked at the Spoonhead once more, and then knelt down beside Clara's prone form, holding her hand. Charlotte carefully moved past the Doctor and knelt down next to her.
The Doctor kept tying, trying to reverse what had been done to Clara. Other commands began flashing across the screen; whoever wanted her wasn't giving up without a fight, but neither was he. "Oh, no, no, no, no, no" he declared, "Not this time, Clara, I promise". More and more commands were typed, but he knew computer tricks that would make any Bill Gates envious…he'd given Bill Gates tips, for goodness sake.
At last, his commands cancelled out the others; a stream of energy beamed out of the mobile base station on the stairs, and entered Clara's head. She gasped and shifted, but didn't wake up. "It's alright, Clara" Laura smiled, "You're safe now".
Charlotte gave a sigh of relief and smiled at Laura, then at the Doctor. "Nice speed" she complimented, high fiving him. Then she looked at the robot and asked, "What do we do with that thing?"
The Doctor flashed the sonic at it – the screen in its 'head' went dark and it slumped forward a bit, obviously de-activated. "I want to find out how that works, but first…" he took the laptop and sent a message to the people who had tried to upload Clara's mind. 'UNDER MY PROTECTION – The Doctor'.
/
Laura and Charlotte helped the Doctor take the base station robot into the TARDIS, for him to examine later; then he carried Clara to bed, telling them that she'd be fine; she just needed some time for her synapses to heal after the intrusion. He put a jug and glass of water on her bedside table, flowers, and some Jammy Dodgers for a snack. He bit into one, savouring the taste, and put it down on the plate.
"You can't leave her a half-eaten one" Charlotte hissed at him, but the Doctor was distracted by a book entitled '101 Places to See'. Tucked in between the first and second pages was a pressed maple leaf; the Doctor looked at quizzically, and then licked it. He stuck his tongue out – it was just a leaf, which was a bit disappointing – and put it back.
Later that night, the three of them were sitting around a small table outside the TARDIS. The remains of the base station robot lay on the table, and the Doctor had Clara's laptop. "Hello?" Clara called, and they looked up to see her leaning out of the attic window, looking down at them. The Doctor jumped to his feet, smiling at her. "Hello! Are you alright?"
"I'm in bed".
"Technically, you're at your window" Charlotte couldn't help but riposte. Clara rolled her eyes a bit and replied, "Okay, butI was in bed. Don't remember going..."
"It's alright if you don't" Laura called, wanting to reassure her in some way. Clara hesitated, and then inquired, "What did I miss?"
"Oh, quite a lot, actually" the Doctor informed her, pulling a small notebook out of his pocket. "Angie called. She's going to stay over at Nina's. Apparently that's all completely fine and you shouldn't worry like you always do. For god's sake get off her back. Also, your dad phoned, mainly about the government. He seems very cross with them, I've got several pages on that. I said I'd look into it. I fixed that rattling noise in the washing machine, indexed the kitchen cupboards, optimised photosynthesis in the main flower bed and assembled a quadricycle" he finished.
Clara blinked at this torrent of information. "Assembled a what?"
"I found a disassembled quadricycle in the garage".
"I don't think you did".
"That's what I said" Charlotte nodded, "But he didn't listen".
"…I invented the quadricycle, ha!"
"What happened to me?" Clara inquired, getting back on topic. The last thing she remembered clearly was seeing the girl from a book cover standing on the stairs…everything after that was oddly fuzzy.
"Don't you remember?"
"I was scared; really scared. Didn't know where I was".
"Do you know now?"
"Yes…"
"Well then, you should go to sleep. Because you're safe now, I promise. Goodnight, Clara".
"Yeah, goodnight, sleep well" Laura smiled up at her. Clara retreated back into her bedroom, and the two Whovians mentally counted. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1- "Are you guarding me?" she asked, sticking her head out of the window again.
"I suppose you could say that" Charlotte agreed. They were technically guarding Clara from another Spoonhead attack, and she'd been periodically looking around the street for any sign of trouble. Vigilance, that was the key word here.
"Are you three seriously going to sit down there all night?" Clara asked her incredulously. She shrugged and replied, "Probably; Laura and I caught up on our sleep earlier, we're going to be jet lagged later on but it's worth it".
"We promise we won't budge from this spot" the Doctor said firmly.
"Well then" Clara decided, "I'll have to come to you". She closed her window, went downstairs (after checking up on Artie, who was fast asleep in bed) and found a note on the kitchen table from Mr Maitland, confirming that Angie was staying at her friend's house for the night. Once she'd made herself a cup of tea, she took the mug and a chair out to sit with the Doctor, Laura and Charlotte.
"I like your house" the Doctor remarked, trying to make 'small talk'. It was odd, really – he almost wasn't sure what to say to Clara, he wanted to thank her for saving his life twice, but she didn't remember any of it…or it hadn't happened for her yet, same difference. He didn't understand what she was, how she could be…she was a mystery and his interest was well and truly piqued.
She sat down on her chair and explained, "It isn't mine. I'm a friend of the family".
"But you look after the kids" he pointed out, before realising, "Oh yes, you're a governess, aren't you, just like"- he cut himself off, and it wasn't because Charlotte had nudged his leg with her foot. He didn't need reminding that this was a different Clara to the one they'd met previously…even if she did look and sound identical.
Clara raised an eyebrow and asked, "Just like what?"
"Just like…we thought you probably would be".
Laura held a hand out; she wanted to hug Clara, and apologise profusely for everything she'd done, but she knew it would be rather pointless. "I didn't really introduce myself before" she explained, "My name's Laura Seamer. It's really nice to meet you".
"Likewise" Clara nodded, shaking their hands and then inquiring, "Are any of you going to explain what happened to me?"
"There's something in the Wi-Fi" the Doctor began, something in his tone arresting Clara's attention.
"Okay…"
"This whole world is swimming in Wi-Fi. We're living in a Wi-Fi soup. Suppose something got inside it. Suppose there was something living in the Wi-Fi, harvesting human minds, extracting them. Imagine that. Human souls trapped like flies in the world-wide web. Stuck forever, crying out for help".
Clara mulled that over a bit, and then jokingly remarked, "Isn't that basically Twitter?"
Laura and Charlotte snickered a bit at that; the Doctor just looked dismayed, and worried. "What's that face for?" Clara asked, noticing his less than amused expression.
"A computer can hack another computer. A living, sentient computer - maybe that could hack people. Edit them. Re-write them" he said seriously.
"Why would you say that?"
"Because a few hours ago you knew nothing about the internet; and you just made a joke about Twitter" he pointed out.
Clara blinked, and then her brow creased slightly in consternation. "Oh. Oh, that's weird. I know all about computers now in my head. Where did all that come from?"
"Whoever uploaded you, they must have added something extra" Laura explained, "And something tells me they might want it back" she finished nervously.
"We've got company" Charlotte warned, getting to her feet. The Doctor jumped to his, following her gaze to a man beneath a lamp-post, very still, too still. "All of us, inside that box, now" he instructed. Laura and Charlotte immediately moved to do as they were told, but Clara of course had no idea what was going on. "I'm sorry?" she demanded, none too happy with being ordered about and not getting any real answers.
"Just come inside, Clara, please. You'll understand once you're in" Laura begged her.
"I bet I will. What is that box, anyway? Why have you got a box? Is it like a snogging booth?"
"Clara!" the Doctor said impatiently, but then he frowned, "A what?"
"Is that what you do, bring a booth? There is such a thing as too keen" Clara commented. Charlotte resisted the urge to laugh at their conversation. "Not now" she muttered to herself, looking around at the lights turning on in windows, "I think we've got bigger problems" she said aloud.
"What's going on?" asked Clara, "What's happening? Is the Wi-Fi switching on the lights?"
"No, people are switching on the lights" the Doctor replied, as if it should be obvious, "the Wi-Fi is switching on the people".
Laura was standing in the doorway of the TARDIS, anxious; she looked over at the robot beneath the lamppost and saw its head rotating. "Doctor!"
He spun around at her cry and flashed his sonic at the robot, blocking the signal so that it couldn't upload them. Clara stared at it in disbelief. "What is that thing?"
"A walking base station, you saw one earlier".
"I saw a little girl…"
"It must have taken an image from your subconscious, thrown it back at you. Ah! Active camouflage" the Doctor realised, "They could be everywhere".
Clara didn't understand, but before she could ask what he meant, Charlotte said, "Doctor, the lights, behind us". They all looked past the Maitland home to the streets beyond; the lights of those houses were being turned off. It was the same everywhere they looked; the lights were switching back off, except the ones in that street. "What's going on?" Clara frowned in bewilderment, "Our lights are on and everyone else's off. Why?"
"Shh" Charlotte hushed quickly; they listened, and heard a distinctive roar…the sound of an aeroplane engine. "Some planes have Wi-Fi…" the Doctor realised.
"I'm sorry?"
"He means this street is about to become an impromptu landing strip" Charlotte announced tensely, her gaze on small lights blinking in the sky, heading right for them at a worrying speed. The Doctor pulled her by the arm towards the TARDIS, saying "You three, box, right now!"
"Yes, it's a spaceship" he said once they were all inside, speaking to Clara, "Yes, it's bigger on the inside. No, I don't have time to talk about it!"
"But, but, but, but it's…" she stammered, staring wide eyed. The cup of tea she was holding sloshed in her grip; Charlotte briefly noted that in the actual universe, Clara had not managed to go the whole time without spilling any of her drink, and suggested "You might want to put that down".
"Shut up, please" the Doctor insisted, "Short hops are difficult".
"But it's bigger, on the inside, actually bigger!" Clara exclaimed, dumbfounded. Some tea leaked from the mug, and Laura took it from her, holding one hand over the top to stop it from spilling. She winced a bit as the hot tea splashed on her palm when they landed with the usual thump.
"Right, come on" – the Doctor rushed from the console, grabbing Clara's hand and pulling her towards the door.
"We're going to go back out there?"
"We've moved. It's a spaceship, we flew away".
"Away from the plane?"
"Aha, not exactly!" he grinned, pushing the door open and stumbling out into the aisle of the aeroplane; which unlike the TARDIS, was lying at a definite downward slope. Clara and Charlotte followed him out; Laura paused to place the mug of tea on the now still console, before hurrying to catch up.
"How did we get here?" Clara demanded, clinging to the headrests for balance.
"It's a ship, I told you. It's all very science-y!"
"This is the plane? The actual plane? Are they all dead?"
"What else would it be?" Charlotte asked incredulously, just before the Doctor scanned one passenger and explained, "Asleep, switched off by the Wi-Fi. Never mind them!" he declared, getting to the front of the plane and sonicking his way into the cockpit. The pilot and co-pilot were both passed out, they were heading for the city at an alarming speed, and Clara was just freaking out. "What is going on? Is this real? Please, tell me what is happening!"
"I'm the Doctor, I'm an alien from outer space, I'm a thousand years old, I've got two hearts and I can't fly a plane! Can you?"
"No!"
"Pull that thing back!" Charlotte directed frantically, pointing at the yoke. The Doctor grabbed the stiff device and pulled back with all his might. The three women all tried to help pull it back further, and the four of them managed to get the nose of the plane up enough for it to sweep over the roof-tops and start regaining altitude.
"Whoo!" the Doctor grinned, "Would a victory roll be too showy off-y?"
"Do it in your own time, mate" Charlotte panted, patting him on the shoulder. She moved out of the cramped space as the pilot and co-pilot began waking up. "What the hell's going on?" the former demanded upon seeing a complete stranger in the cockpit. The Doctor flashed his sonic at some controls and explained, "Well, I'm blocking your Wi-Fi so you're waking up, for a start. Tell you what, do you want to drive?" he offered.
/
They returned to the TARDIS; Clara picked her tea up off the console and took a sip. "Okay. When are you going to explain to me what the hell is going on?" she demanded of the Doctor, since he seemed to be the one with all the answers. He landed the TARDIS, more smoothly this time since he wasn't trying to lock onto a moving target, and replied "Breakfast".
"What? I ain't waiting till breakfast".
"It's a time machine. You never have to wait for breakfast" the Doctor informed her, before stepping out of the TARDIS. The sun was shining, and a small crowd of passers-by were applauding. "Thank you, thank you! Yes, magic blue box", the Doctor pulled a fez out of his dimensionally transcendental pocket with a flourish, "All donations gratefully accepted. Roll up, give us your dosh. Pennies, pounds, anything you've got" he encouraged as people came and dropped coins into the hat.
He passed it to Clara and told her, "Keep collecting. We need enough for breakfast. Just popping back to the garage" he added casually, retreating back into the TARDIS. Clara's brow creased in bewilderment. "Garage?" she asked, looking at Laura and Charlotte, "He's got a garage in there?"
Charlotte shrugged, "Apparently".
More people dropped money into the fez, until they had quite a large amount. "So this is tomorrow, then. Tomorrow's come early" Clara commented.
"It hasn't really come early; we just took a short cut" Laura explained, moments before the Doctor re-emerged from the TARDIS on a motorbike, a sidecar attached to it. There were helmets in the sidecar that they donned, and then Charlotte genially let Laura sit in the side car. "Thank you, thank you; tomorrow, a camel!" the Doctor declared grandly, transferring the money in the fez to his pocket and dropping the hat onto the head of a little boy.
They sped off through the streets of London; at first Charlotte and Laura had their eyes firmly shut, the speed of the bike alarming them…but they gradually plucked up the courage to peek at the blur of buildings, vehicles and people whooshing past. Charlotte somewhat regretted letting Laura sit in the sidecar; she wanted her best friend to feel safe, but now she didn't feel particularly safe. Her knuckles were white from clinging onto some sort of handle on the sides of the bike, and when they swerved round a corner she couldn't help but scream a bit.
Fortunately, the others shrieked a bit as well, and the Doctor realised he'd been going much faster than he thought. "Sorry!" he called apologetically over the roar of the engines, slowing the bike down. "Better?"
"Y -yeah!" came the shaky reply from Clara; Charlotte was still too busy trying not to fall off. I swear, next time, I'm sitting in the sidecar. I hate motorcycles!
"If you've got a flying time machine, why are we on a motorbike?" Clara asked the Doctor.
"I don't take the TARDIS into battle!"
"Because it's made of wood?"
"Because it's the most powerful ship in the universe and I don't want it falling into the wrong hands. Okay?"
"Okay!"