"The Benevolent Doctor"
3. Stowaway
Inside the TARDIS
When Santana had felt Brittany grab hold of her hand with both of hers, she didn't question it. She squeezed back, promising she wouldn't let anyone get to her.
"So is this place yours then?" she spoke loudly and firmly, to assert some kind of power. "It's really weird, I mean… How is it bigger on the inside?"
"Well, actually, there's a fairly simple explanation for… No, hold on, I'll be asking the questions here if you don't mind," the man looked like he was about to say something very amusing, right before he'd given a solid shake of the head and flung his hand about in their direction. Something about him must have clicked with Brittany, because in the next second, she wasn't holding on nearly as tight, and Santana was sure she'd heard her laughing.
"But how did they get in, I saw you lock the door when we left, you specifically said you didn't want tourists getting in," Martha pointed out.
"Yes," he nodded to her. "Yes, I did lock the door," he looked up at the large column sprouting from the console, with an air not unlike accusation. "Are we letting in strays now, is that what we're doing?"
"Who's he talking to?" Brittany mumbled to Santana.
"Maybe we should start over," Martha took a step forward, deciding these were after all a couple of innocent teenage girls and would require a more reassuring approach. "My name is Martha… Martha Jones, and this is the Doctor," she pointed over her shoulder.
"Doctor who?" Brittany dared to ask.
"Just that, just the Doctor. You'll get used to it," Martha nodded. The Doctor cleared his throat. "So, how DID you get in here?"
"We got bored," Brittany replied.
"We were with a group, a trip with our school," Santana clarified. "Our guide was five seconds from putting us to sleep."
"I think I did sleep," Brittany added.
"We thought about just walking around for a bit, and then she saw the box. It was kind of out of place, I guess, and she opened the door. We didn't think anything by it, we didn't know it would be… well… all of this, I mean there were other rooms back there, how…"
"So you just wandered in?" the Doctor interrupted.
"Wouldn't you?" Santana frowned at him.
"He would. He has," Martha agreed, staring back at the Doctor, who was suddenly very interested with the console. Just then, the TARDIS gave another shake, not so violent as to throw them off their feet, but enough to make them remember the previous shake.
"Okay, what's that?" Santana asked.
"That…" Martha started, realizing now the one thing, the very crucial piece of information that had suddenly slipped away the moment they'd spotted the girls: they were in flight. They had left Earth, had left the year 2008… with the girls. "I'm sorry, I never got your names."
"I'm Brittany, that's Santana."
"Right, well…" Martha started, but then the Doctor had come along and nudged her away from the girls so they could talk.
"Don't go and get attached, I'm taking them home, the sooner they're gone, the less…"
"Doctor, we can't. What about Brannigan?" He stared at her, the debate playing itself across his face before he looked to the girls, back to Martha, and then the girls again. Rather than to answer her, he'd stepped up toward the girls, straightening his suit. The girls looked like they were half a second from taking a step back.
"Let's make one thing clear, as soon as this is done, I am taking you straight home, understood?" They didn't move, but they nodded, so he smiled. "Good, so as Martha has just told you, I am the Doctor, hello," he bowed his head. "Now, we don't have much time, because we will be landing soon…"
"Landing?" Brittany asked.
"Things you'll need to know, let's see… This place, this box you've wandered into, it's no ordinary box, is it? You already know it isn't, but you don't know why, so I'll tell you… This is my ship. It's called the TARDIS. Space, time, you name it…"
"And you chose the Grand Canyon?" Santana frowned.
"With good reason," the Doctor looked just shy of stung.
"You don't seriously expect us to believe this stuff?"
"Ah, this one needs convincing," the Doctor took a step back. "Fine, go ahead, try and walk out, please," he indicated the door.
"Come on, Britt," Santana took her hand and hurried for the door as though she expected either of them to try and grab hold. She pulled one door open… and nearly fell right out into space, would have, too, if Brittany hadn't had a hold of her hand and pulled her back. They stood in the doorway, frozen, hand in hand… They were not at the Grand Canyon anymore.
"Convinced yet?" the Doctor called out to them. Brittany turned around, smiling. Santana was still in too much of a shock to have any sort of reaction.
"How come you have a spaceship?" Brittany asked them.
"Not me, just him," Martha explained. "I'm human like you." That snapped Santana out of it.
"What do you mean, like us? Then what's he?" she pointed to the Doctor.
"Alien, good kind… No probes," Martha promised.
"Probes?" the Doctor repeated, but then had to focus on the controls. "Woah, that's enough." With one last tremor, they had stopped.
"We got a call from an old friend," Martha told the girls. "He needed the Doctor's help, so here we are. Just stay with us and everything will be alright."
"And where… where are we?" Santana asked.
"The city of New New York," the Doctor ushered them out the door, and Santana and Brittany froze, looking around in amazement.
"This is so much better than the tour," Brittany breathed.
"Long way from the Motorway I see," the Doctor looked, too, noticing the changes.
"How long do you think it's been?" Martha asked, remembering the last time they'd been there.
"Doctor?" a voice called, and they turned. "Doctor!" The man that came toward them, to Brittany's wonder and Santana's shock, was a cat. He reached them and quickly put his arms around the Doctor. "Never in my life… What brings you back to our city?" The Doctor frowned.
"You called… We came."
"Call you? I'm afraid you're mistaken, Doctor, I would have remembered."
TO BE CONTINUED (FRIDAY)