Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who
Journey to the Centre of the TARDIS - Part One
Everything had been going brilliantly. After they'd picked up Clara and gone out for some banana daiquiris, which didn't taste as much like banana as they'd all hoped, the Doctor had taken them to see Dynamo live at the First Direct Arena. It had been a brilliant day, until a conversation in the console room led to the Doctor discovering what Clara had called his beloved ship during their adventure at Caliburn house. Needless to say, he was rather indignant, and had decided that Clara and the TARDIS needed to talk things out. "You said"-
"I know what I said" Clara rolled her eyes, "I was the one who said it".
"You said she was looking at you funny".
"I was tired, overwrought. I didn't mean it. It's an appliance. It does a job" Clara acknowledged, patting the console once.
"It's a pretty cool appliance; we're not talking cheese grater here!"
"You're not getting me to talk to your ship, that's properly bonkers".
The Doctor stroked the console and murmured, "It's okay, it's okay…"
"Aww, d'you wanna be alone with her?" Charlotte asked with a teasing grin, and all three of his companions giggled. The Doctor shot them all a deadpan 'very funny' glare and went back to…whatever it was he was doing.
"You're like one of those guys who can't go out with a girl unless his mother approves" Clara commented.
"It's important to me you get along" he insisted, before suggesting, "I could leave you two alone together".
"Now you're creeping me out".
"Why is Clara the problem?" Charlotte questioned, "Maybe you should have a good long talk with your sentient time machine about how to deal with one's feelings getting hurt". The TARDIS hummed a bit louder at that; she looked up at the ceiling and pointed out, "Complaining is only going to make my point for me, Sexy".
"No, no, no, you don't call her that, I call her that" the Doctor insisted a bit possessively, before hitting on an even better idea, in his opinion. "Take the wheel" he said to Clara, "Not the wheel. I'll make it easy. Shut it down to basic mode for you".
"Basic?" Clara looked indignant, "Because I'm a girl?"
"No" said the Doctor, turning a key in the console. The lights in the console dimmed briefly.
"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked Laura, "I mean, won't lowering the shields put the TARDIS at risk?"
The Doctor looked at her and pointed out, "I never said that it would lower the shields". Laura blinked, and then face-palmed. So much for being subtle, she thought.
"Wait, hang on, is this – is this an episode?" Clara realised, "Have you seen this happen before?"
"'Fraid so" Charlotte replied, "But the whole mess can be avoided if you just put the shields back up, Doctor" she insisted.
He held her gaze for a few moments, before nodding and saying, "Okay, I'll trust you on this". He made to turn the key again, when the whole room shuddered and the power went out completely, leaving only red emergency lighting.
"What happened? What's going on?" Clara asked frantically. The Doctor struggled to turn the key, or even to make any of the controls do something.
"Err, okay… All the electrical impulses are jammed. I can't get the shields back up. She's completely vulnerable" he realised worriedly.
"Oh, it's too late" Charlotte groaned, "Just hang on tight, and if anyone sees a silver egg shaped thing rolling across the floor, grab it!" she instructed, moments before the console went Bang!
A lot of yelling and explosions ensued. "Magnetic hobble field!" the Doctor called out, "We're flying right into it; stay close, you three" he instructed.
"Easier said than done!" snapped Charlotte, bracing herself against the railing as the TARDIS shook violently. Clara hung on for dear life and said desperately, "Please tell me there's a button you can press to fix this!"
"Oh yes, big friendly button!"
"You're lying".
"Yep"
"To stop me freaking out?"
"Is it working?"
"Not so much" Clara admitted; she heard a clanging sound and looked down just in time to see a silver, grenade like device rolling across the floor – just as Charlotte had described. She made a grab for it, but it was scalding hot, and she winced as it burned her hand, dropping it again.
Charlotte saw the device roll away and her eyes widened in alarm. "Wait, no! Someone grab it again!" she yelled, letting go of the railing and lurching forwards just as another big explosion rocked the console room. The entire TARDIS seemed to flip over, sending all four passengers flying – there were screams and smoke and hard surfaces and then – everything went dark.
/
Owww… was the only coherent thought percolating through Charlotte's mind as she regained consciousness…with a groan, she tried to get her bearings without actually having to open her eyes. She was lying on her back on something hard, and the back of her head felt like it had been split open; her limbs didn't seem to be broken, or at least she took the fact that she wasn't in agonising pain, merely aching all over, as a good sign…she could smell smoke…
Her eyes snapped open in alarm. She was lying on the lower level of the TARDIS, underneath the console platform…her addled mind tried to dredge up memories of what had just happened, and she came to the conclusion that she'd lost her balance and slid, or been tossed, off the platform to the lower level and lost consciousness when she hit her head on the ground below – which would explain the splitting headache.
Said headache was not helped by the clanging of the Cloister Bell, and worsened by the sound of something heavy thumping on the doors. Charlotte groaned and covered her ears, mentally swearing. I hope Laura and Clara are okay she thought worriedly, trying to summon the energy to stand up and go looking for them – or the Doctor – or the salvagers, just so she could punch them in the face – a few blissful moments of silence were shattered by a rather high pitched humming noise…it took a moment for her to recognise it as the sound of a laser.
Scowling, she slowly rolled onto her stomach, and slowly moved into a sitting position…her head was killing her…she raised a hand and carefully felt the back of her skull, wincing but feeling relieved when she only felt a large bruise, and no blood. A bitter taste invaded her mouth and she coughed hard; the console was damaged, of course, and leaking dangerous smokes and gases…without really expecting it to work, Charlotte forced words out of her dry throat and called, "Extractor fans on".
Much to her surprise, and even bigger relief, the whirr of fans filled the air and the smoke began to clear. "Thanks…" she told the ship, panting. Okay, she was sitting up, now to try to standing…taking it slowly, Charlotte shuffled up to the platform above her and used the edge to haul herself up, forced her aching legs to move up the steps…there was no sign of Laura, and she hoped her best friend was uninjured, or better yet with Clara…though given what was lurking in the TARDIS now, she'd rather they were both safe here…
Eventually, with several breaks to close her eyes and wait for her head to stop spinning, she made it to the doors. Charlotte opened the left hand door, leaned out, and said to the four men staring at her, "I hate to be rude, but could you keep the fucking noise down?"
"Charlotte!" The Doctor ran over and helped her down off the pile of cables and junk the TARDIS had been dumped on. "Look at me" he instructed, cradling her head in his hands, "…You've got a minor concussion. Here, chew this" he said, pulling what looked like a gumdrop out of his pocket and handing it to her. Charlotte gave him a suspicious glance, but popped it in her mouth nonetheless. It began to dissolve like sherbet – it actually tasted vaguely like sherbet – and she felt her headache clearing almost immediately.
"Thanks" she said gratefully.
"You're welcome" the Doctor smiled, before turning to the three salvagers and explaining, "As I was saying, I'm the Doctor, and this is my companion, Charlotte…" he suddenly remembered he had two more companions, and urgently asked Charlotte, "Where are Laura and Clara?"
"I dunno…they must've got thrown out of the console room…after this lot damaged the TARDIS with their stupid outlawed hobble field" she replied, shooting a glare at Gregor…what kind of stupid name is that, anyway?
He frowned at her and insisted – or rather lied – "We found you drifting out in space; your ship was junked up pretty bad".
"Yes, as Charlotte said, by your magno-grab" the Doctor replied coolly, holding up the grenade shaped device he'd pickpocketed from Gregor. "Found this remote in your pocket. Outlawed in most galaxies, this little beastie can disable whole vessels unless you have shield oscillators… which I turned off so that Clara could fly, damn it".
"Never mind that; let's just get back in there and find the others" Charlotte insisted, walking back towards the TARDIS.
Tricky called out, "No, wait. The pod is leaking fuel. If they're still in here, they're dead" he insisted.
Charlotte turned, stared at him and said bluntly, "I already took care of the fumes…and don't you dare try to tell me that my best friend has died. Doctor, come on" she said impatiently, climbing back up onto the door of the TARDIS and rummaging in her pockets for her key. The Doctor turned to the salvagers' and said urgently, "Help us get our friends out, please".
"Oh, no, no, no, no, no" Charlotte interjected swiftly, "We do not need them. Doctor, you know perfectly well that they captured the TARDIS on purpose, and you're just going to let them on board? Trust me, they'll be nothing but trouble" she declared, before turning back to her search for the key.
There was a pause, and then Gregor inquired, "What sort of fee are we talking?"
"I won't punch you in the face" Charlotte offered sarcastically. She'd found her key at last and was now attempting to unlock the doors. It would be going a lot faster if the Doctor would just snap his fingers.
"Oi" he hissed, "Charlotte, we can't find Laura and Clara on our own. Please, I know what I'm doing" he insisted, before turning to Gregor and revealing, "If you help us get them out, you get the machine, all the scrap, yeah?"
"It's not worth the risk" Bram decided, "Four feet of metal? Nah".
"What if I can guarantee you the best haul you've ever had?"
"I've got it" Charlotte grinned triumphantly, shifting so she could open the door. She looked back up at the others and announced, "The Doctor and I will be leaving now, thank you".
"Charlotte, why are you being so difficult?" the Doctor demanded in exasperation.
"I'm trying to stop you from making a huge mistake" she insisted, "…but why bother? I'm going to go help my friends. Have fun with your new ones" she said witheringly, before opening the TARDIS door and sliding in. She picked herself up off the floor, shut the door behind her (ignoring the Doctor's shouts) and ran for it, down the corridor nearest to where she'd fallen. Laura and Clara had been on that side of the console, so it was a pretty safe bet that they'd be down there.
/
Clara moaned in pain as she awoke, and coughed. She was lying in one of the corridors, underneath a twisted piece of metal that had fallen against the wall next to her. She had also, fortunately enough, landed on some plastic piping of some kind. Clara pulled herself out from underneath it, relieved to find herself uninjured except for a burnt hand, and looked around. She spotted Laura lying a few feet away and hurried over, checking her friend's pulse. It was steady, and she managed to rouse Laura as well.
The two of them got to their feet, steadying one another, and looked around. "What now?" asked Clara, "Haven't you seen all this before, in your world?"
"Yeah" Laura nodded, "Um…we need to find the console room. It's the safest place in the ship…" she looked worriedly at Clara and said, "I hope Charlotte and the Doctor are alright".
"They'll be fine" Clara gave an encouraging smile, "So, console room, yeah?" She winced and looked at her palm.
"Maybe we'll find the med bay on the way" Laura suggested. A light attracted their attention, and they walked up to a closed bulkhead door with a red light flashing and beeping above it. "We probably shouldn't open that" Laura commented.
"Why, what's behind it?"
"An explosion" Laura replied bluntly. No sooner had she spoken, than a reverberating and rumbling noise rushed towards them; Laura turned and hurried down the way they came. Clara followed her, and they ducked into another corridor, shutting the first bulkhead door they came to behind them.
"Oh...this foreknowledge thing is really handy, it's a shame you can't use it more often" remarked Clara. Laura chuckled a bit, but it soon faded at the sight of something on the wall…long, black claw marks. They heard something growling, a snarling rasp, and they couldn't tell if it was near or far. "What was that?" Clara whispered.
"I don't know" Laura lied; of course she knew, she just didn't want to say anything.
"Really?"
"Yes!" Laura hissed, "That other door will hold back the explosion. Let's go back and find another way" she suggested. They opened the door, and Clara reached around to hit the button and close it behind them.
/
"I don't get it, I thought it was lying on its side" Gregor said in confusion, as they followed the Doctor into his ship…the Doctor hadn't actually wanted to bring them along, but if he was going to find Laura and Clara – and now Charlotte as well – he'd need all the help he could get.
"The TARDIS is special. She has her own gravity. I'd explain if I had some charts and a board pen".
"It's…it's…it's bigger…"
"On the inside" the Doctor finished for him, "Do you know, I get that a lot".
"Whoa" said Tricky, the youngest of the three salvagers, who was apparently an android and yet needed protective gear… "Awesome" he grinned.
"Well put, whoa and awesome" the Doctor agreed, nodding. They heard footsteps approaching down one of the corridors…a few moments later, Charlotte appeared in the entrance, with a confused and very annoyed expression on her face. She took one look at them, glowered and spun on her heel to walk back out. "Wait!" the Doctor cried, hurrying over.
Begrudgingly, Charlotte turned to face him and asked "What?"
He hesitated at the sourness in her voice. "Charlotte, are you mad at me?"
"Oh no, why would I be mad at you?" she rolled her eyes. Seriously, how could a man from a species so intelligent be so dense? "I came back because I…I thought you could use some help" Charlotte explained. That, and she didn't want to be alone in the TARDIS with those creatures running amok. "I didn't think you'd bring them along as well".
"What's your problem with us?" Bram demanded to know; it was irritating, constantly being glared and sniped at.
"I don't trust you" Charlotte replied bluntly, "…Except maybe you" she added to Tricky, "You're not as bad".
"Um…thanks?"
"Guys, we don't have time for this" the Doctor insisted, getting them back on track. He pulled out his sonic and began scanning for any trace of Laura and Clara; Charlotte rolled her eyes and pointed out "Doctor, they probably ended up somewhere down this corridor", she pointed to the one she'd just come out of, "Let's just send these guys on their way and go find our friends".
"We need them to help" the Doctor insisted.
"No, we" – Charlotte shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Once she'd calmed down, she opened her eyes and gave the Doctor a smile that clearly didn't reach her eyes. "Okay, I trust you. I will concede to your obviously superior judgement, they can help find Laura and Clara…what do you think, one hour?" she suggested idly.
"One hour sounds good. You hear that, guys?" the Doctor spun to face the salvagers, "We have one hour to find Laura, find Clara, fix my ship and go on our merry ways" he declared, moving over to the console.
"What makes you think we'll help?" Bram asked selfishly.
The Doctor just showed them a countdown on the scanner, reading 59:59:10. "I just activated the Tardis self-destruct system. One hour until this ship blows" he announced. Bram made a run for it, but the Doctor raised his sonic and deadlocked the door shut. "Don't try to leave. The Tardis is in lockdown".
"You crazy lunatic!"
"My ship, my rules"
"You'll kill us all!" Gregor protested.
"They might die if you don't help me" the Doctor retorted, "Don't get into a spaceship with a madman, didn't anyone ever teach you that? Okay, a little gently persuasion. Say thirty minutes" he suggested, flicking a switch. The countdown jumped to 29:59:10, 9, 8…
"They'll die even quicker now!"
"We all perform better under pressure. Anybody want to go for fifteen?"
"Whoa!"
"Whoa!" Gregor and Bram protested frantically as the Doctor reached for the switch again. He straightened up and stared them down. "It's your own time you're wasting. Salvage of a lifetime…you meant the ship. I meant my friends".
/
Clara and Laura were making their way through the corridors, trying to figure out which way the console room might be, but mainly getting hopelessly lost. They came across a stone arched door, and Clara paused, looking at it curiously. "Hey. What do you think is in here?" she asked.
"Uh, I dunno…" Laura replied hesitantly.
"You must know…I thought all this was part of the episode?"
"Well, uh…it's just a storeroom" she said, trying to make it sound boring without having to say that one of the creatures was lurking inside. Rather than dampen Clara's curiosity however, her remark just increased it. "Storeroom for what, I wonder?" she mused, pushing on the door. It wasn't properly shut, and that ought to have rung an alarm bell, but Clara's curiosity got the better of her and she stepped inside. "Clara, wait!" Laura hissed, "Come back!"
The room was full of all sorts of odds and ends; a wooden cot with a star mobile (had the Doctor had kids once?), a paper model of the TARDIS, a black umbrella, a humanoid with glowing red eyes…Clara cried out in alarm and ran out of the room, shutting the door behind her. She and Laura took off running down the corridor. "Why didn't you just say that there was a monster in there?!" demanded Clara.
"Well, I…look, never mind that, just run!"
"What is that thing, anyway?"
/
The Doctor led the way through the corridors, followed by Charlotte, Tricky, Bram and Gregor…the latter hung back, taking out his handheld computer and muttering to it, "Report. What's on board this thing?"
"Dynomorphic generators, conceptual geometer, beam synthesiser, orthogonal engine filters" the computer's programmed female voice intoned. Gregor didn't have to know what any of that was, to know that getting his hands on it would make him…and his brothers…rich beyond their wildest dreams. He caught up with the others and suggested hastily, "Guys, guys, look, I think we should split up. It's our best chance of finding the others. You know it is".
The Doctor hesitated; Charlotte watched him, perhaps he'd say no, insist on them sticking together so he could keep an eye on them…but instead, all he said was "Don't touch a thing. The TARDIS will get huffy if you mess".
That's an understatement she said to herself, thinking of the maze they'd end up in.
Gregor nodded in agreement (she was amazed he didn't cross his fingers behind his back) and told Bram and Tricky, "Stay in radio contact, alright?"
Tricky nodded; he and the Doctor went down the corridor, and Charlotte hesitated briefly before following them. Sorry, TARDIS she thought apologetically, hoping the telepathic time machine could hear her somehow, but I need to help Laura and Clara…and teach the Doctor a lesson she thought bitterly. Speaking of the Doctor, he murmured to her, "D'you have any idea where they might be?"
"What, you want my opinion now?"
"Charlotte, what's wrong?"
"I'd have thought it was obvious" she grumbled…she knew she was being petty, but really, everything would work out in the end… "They might be near the library" she murmured at last.
/
Laura and Clara soon lost the creature, which seemed to be mercifully slow, but they kept running, not wanting to risk it catching up. They ran past the observatory (it was amazing how many galaxies one could see through that giant telescope), and the swimming pool (in which Laura had begun to conquer her long held fear of drowning, she was pretty proud of herself for that), and finally, ducked into the first room with a closed door – the library. Six stories of shelves of books… "Now that's just showing off!" Clara remarked jokingly.
/
Bram cut and prised off a console – to his bewilderment, indistinct disembodied voices filled the air, apparently emerging from within the ship. Some of the sentences were clearer than others.
"I made up the name TARDIS from the initials, Time And Relative Dimensions In Space".
"The TARDIS is dimensionally transcendental".
"What does that mean?"
"That's trans-dimensional engineering. A key Time Lord discovery".
"The assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't get through that door. Believe me, they've tried".
"We are in space!"
"It can move anywhere in time and space?"
/
Gregor brought up the rear as the small group of four made their way through the corridors. He was paying more attention to his handheld computer…they passed one door, and his computer announced, "Everything".
"What?" he asked in bewilderment, "Report".
"Everything, behind that door" it explained.
"Everything?"
"Sensor detects everything you could possibly want".
Naturally, he pushed his way into the room. In the centre stood what looked like a mechanical tree, with lots of glowing spheres or bulbs on the end of trailing cables. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before. "Everything" the computer repeated, scanning the tree-machine.
"I don't understand" he said, "Give me a price tag".
"Incalculable".
"What?"
"More valuable than the total sum of any currency" the computer explained, "Living metal. Bespoke engineering. Whatever machine you require, this system will build it".
Now that was just too tempting. Gregor put the computer away and hefted the laser cutter to remove a cable or two, but just as he set blade to cable, the Doctor, Charlotte and Tricky ran in. "No! No, no, stop! Please, don't. Don't touch it. Please" the Doctor begged, "She won't let you touch it. I can feel a TARDIS tantrum coming on" he said worriedly.
"What the hell is this place?" Gregor demanded to know.
"Architectural Reconfiguration System. It reconstructs particles according to your needs".
"A machine that makes machines?"
"Yes, basically" the Doctor nodded, and then asked in alarm, "What are you doing? No, no, don't. Don't!"
Gregor had grabbed hold of one of the glowing spheres, ready to pull it off. "If you walk out of here with that circuit, the TARDIS will try to stop you" the Doctor warned him, "Now listen to me. Look, the clock is ticking. We must find Clara and Laura".
"Just leave that circuit alone, it isn't yours to take!" Charlotte protested, wanting to at least make an effort to defend the TARDIS, even if it would ultimately prove fruitless.
The greedy salvager didn't listen; he yanked the sphere off, and the all the others dimmed briefly, a roar echoing throughout the room. Gregor ignored it and headed for the exit…only to find that it had disappeared.
"What the – where's the door gone?"
"Ever seen a spaceship get ugly?" asked the Doctor.
"Yeah, maybe if you put down the circuit you've nicked, it'll come back" Charlotte suggested.
"The TARDIS won't relinquish it" the Doctor warned, "Her basic genetic material".
Unconcerned with the warning, Gregor pulled a device out and tossed it to Tricky. "Torch it" he ordered, but Tricky hesitated, "I said, torch it".
"Can't you feel it, Gregor? The ship, the ship's in torment, like it's a living thing. You can't hurt it" Tricky protested. Charlotte liked him for that, but she couldn't help wondering how he could sense the TARDIS' pain if he wasn't actually an android. Maybe he was just in tune with machines more? Considering how his brothers acted, she didn't really blame him.
Gregor put the circuit in his backpack, and the door reappeared. "What's the matter, TARDIS?" he sneered, "Scared to fight me?"
He walked out of the room; Tricky and the Doctor decided not to comment on the rude gesture Charlotte made at his retreating back. Tricky gave them an apologetic look and followed his brother out…Charlotte looked over her shoulder and said to the Doctor, "I hope you're happy", before she too left the room. The Doctor patted one of the other spheres gently, silently apologising to his beloved ship for getting them into this mess. Charlotte had been right from the start, but he hadn't listened…and it didn't look like she was going to forgive him any time soon.
/
Laura and Clara walked further into the library, thinking that they'd just lay low there for a bit and then try to sneak out…Clara spotted a large book, lying on a stand on its own. She went closer and read the title, 'The History of the Time War'. "I don't think you should read that" said Laura, making her jump, "It might be private".
Clara was about to ask why it would be left out if it were private…then it occurred to her that Laura had tried to tell her the storeroom was dangerous, and she did know some of what would happen, so Clara decided to trust her on this one. Something clanged, they heard a growl – they ducked behind one of the shelves, one with lots of stoppered bottles marked 'Encyclopaedia Gallifreyica'. Muffled sounds, like voices, emanated from the bottle. Clara pressed her back to the shelf and accidentally dislodged one of the bottles; fortunately, Laura managed to catch it before it could smash.
The creature roamed around; they peered at it cautiously through gaps in the shelf. It was rather short, and a just a little thick around the middle, with one hand fused to its hip. Laura felt a pang of fear as she guessed what…or rather, who…the creature was. It moved away from her and Clara; they sneaked out behind it, and made a break for the door.
/
Tricky, Gregor, the Doctor and Charlotte came to a junction…that looked identical to the one they'd just left. "It's the same" Tricky said in bewilderment, "It's just the same".
"The TARDIS is diverting us, spinning a maze around us. We will never reach them in time" he told Gregor pointedly, wanting him to just put the circuit down and leave it, the TARDIS could take it from there. The man ignored him, and walked away down the corridor ahead. "Hey! Hey!" the Doctor protested, following him, as did Tricky. Charlotte just stayed where she was, and sure enough, the three men emerged from the corridor behind her. "Enjoy your trip?" she asked Gregor sarcastically.
"It's just the same, again" said Tricky. Thank you, captain obvious thought Charlotte, but she didn't want to be rude, she liked Tricky. I wonder if he has a different name, a more human one she mused.
"No point in building walls" the Doctor reasoned, "You'll just know how to smash them down. It's found other ways of controlling you. Smart bunch, Time Lords; no dress sense, dreadful hats, but smart. If you want to get out of here, let that circuit go. It is creating a labyrinth".
Gregor had no intention of giving up what might be his ticket to being rich beyond his wildest dreams…but the weird goings on were starting to get to him, so he pulled out his radio and tried to make contact with Bram. "Bram? Bram, can you hear me?" he demanded, "Bram, the ship is alive. Get out of there. Bram, don't touch anything".
He vaguely heard Bram say, "You're just the sweetest thing ever", but he got the feeling Bram wasn't talking to him. He tried again and said "Bram? You've got to get out of there fast".
There was a thudding sound and what sounded like a scream on the other end, then just static. "Channel's dead" Gregor said, disgusting Charlotte with how unconcerned he sounded. She wasn't the only one. "We've got to help him" Tricky insisted, "Gregor, do something. Do something!"
"It's too late, he's gone. Let's just worry about the salvage".
"Oh for fuck's sake" Charlotte snapped, her patience reaching the end of its tether. "Get this through your thick head – there is no salvage! Salvage means it's junk, that no-one wants it – I'm pretty sure the Doctor still wants his ship! But you don't give a fuck about other people's feelings or property, do you? You self-obsessed, greedy piece of"-
"Shut up!" he shouted suddenly, "God, just shut up, you annoying little bitch!"
"Don't you dare speak to her like that!" the Doctor snarled, getting between them and glaring at Gregor furiously. "Charlotte was right – I should never have trusted you. I bet your brother went off to see what he could take, and now he could very well be dead or injured, and your concern for him is really touching, the android is more cut up about it than you" he said, letting his disgust show clearly in his voice.
He turned from Gregor to Charlotte and told her, "I'm sorry. I really am…I should have trusted you, I should have listened".
"Yeah…well, if you're listening now, we need to get out of here" she told him.
"Okay" he answered immediately, making her smile to see that he really was going to trust her, and then he asked "Why?"
"Cos there's err, something else here with us, coming down, erm…that corridor" Charlotte explained, pointing at the corridor behind Gregor…then she frowned and added, "Or is it…uh oh. I don't remember which one it is!"
"Remember what?" asked Tricky. The Doctor waved his question off – they didn't have time to get into details about Charlotte's home universe – and pulled out his sonic, scanning their surroundings.
"Multiple lifeforms on board the TARDIS with us" he gulped, "I am getting a massive signal".
"Where are they?" asked Tricky.
"Err, they're err…that way" he said, pointing the sonic down the corridor that Gregor was standing in front of. "Looks like you were right after all" he smiled at Charlotte.
"Yeah, yeah, we can celebrate later. Let's go!"
"Right, good idea" the Doctor agreed, taking her hand, "Tricky, Gregor, come on! That thing is getting closer!"
"But what is it?"
"Tricky, trust me, you don't want to know!"