"Just the Doctor" he replied "and I have a very, very important question"

"Ask ahead" Kate said though she doubted that she would know the answer as her memory was atrocious.

"Do you know," he began, "where I can buy a fez?"

Kate wanted to laugh but she couldn't tell if he was being serious or not so she decided against it. "What d'you want a fez for?"

"Well I think it goes well with my bow tie but - oh never mind"

"Oh yeah, about that why do you wear a bow tie? The only person who wears one of those things these days is my grandad."

The Doctor put on a strange face, as if she had insulted him.

"Because bow ties are cool."

"Whatever. Where am I?"

She took this chance to look around. There was a sort of platform in the middle with lots of knobs and buttons. There were cables everywhere. There were a lot of screens about as well. It was like something from Star Trek. "This," the Doctor interrupted her train of thoughts, "is the TARDIS and you have seen a bit too much already. So I'm going to have to throw you out if you don't mind."

"I'm not going anywhere. There was people chasing me out there. So what is this TARDIS thing anyway?"

"TARDIS stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. It's a sort of spaceship."

"You travel in space? In a police box? Where are all the lasers and stuff if this is a spaceship?" This is quite a lot to take in thought Kate.

The Doctor took the silence as an opportunity to analyse Kate. The lights in the TARDIS made her auburn hair look more red. She had clear blue eyes that sort of sparkled as she talked. The girl had a sort of mischievous look about her and looked about fourteen years old. Her clothes were casual but were rather dirty, like she had been rolling about in dirt. He decided he liked her. She didn't overreact when she entered the TARDIS.

"Well, it isn't really that sort of spaceship more like a space machine. Oh and did I mention it's also a time machine?"

"Really?! That's soooo awesome! Can you take me to the moon? Please?!" Kate sounded like a child asking for a puppy.

"Wellll... Ok but just one trip and then I'm taking you home. I could take you to somewhere much more exciting than the moon."

"Surprise me." Kate felt excited but also daunted by the fact that this machine could take you anywhere in the universe. Anywhere. It could take you to places where scientists had been trying to get to for years, in a few minutes.

"Doctor?" She asked.

"Yeah?"

"Are there aliens out there? In space - I mean?"

"Oh yes, there are millions of other living species in the universe. More than you can imagine"

Millions. And Earth had managed to stay relatively safe. That actually seemed like quite an achievement.

"Are you an alien?" The thought sort of popped into her head.

"Yes. Sort of. I won't kill you though. I usually save humans. I'm a Time Lord, the last one left." He seemed sad when he said this, as if there was more to the story but he wasn't telling.

The whooshing noise started again. Kate wondered if it always made that noise, or if it was broken. It seemed like a stupid question so she kept quiet. Suddenly the TARDIS started to shake. She sat on the sort of seat that was there and held on. The Doctor managed to stay on his feet. Maybe the rides were always this rough.

"Right! New Earth year five billion and sixty-three."

"New Earth?" She questioned. Was this the future of humankind?

"Go and look." He urged her.

Gingerly she opened the door of the TARDIS and gasped.