A Christmas Carol
After we dealt with the Egyptian Goddess loose on the Orient Express in space. We gave Amy and Rory a special honeymoon. A trip on a cruise spaceship. It was billed as a nice ride through the planets of a simple solar system. The Ponds loved the idea and accepted our gift. Before we left them I gave Amy an emergency beacon in case something happened. It turned out is was a good thing I did…
We had just finished Christmas dinner with my adopted family, when my iPhone buzzed. I took my phone out of my pocket and looked at it. It was a distress call from Amy and Rory. We said our good byes and headed to the TARDIS parked in the back yard.
The ship Amy and Rory were in was trapped and going down in a turbulent cloud system around a planet. Because of the clouds, we couldn't land in the ship. During our scans we found out that the force controlling the clouds wasn't natural, so we tried find the source of the disturbance. But first we sent a message to Amy and Rory to let them know were where there. It was a simple one, "Come Along, Pond."
"Any luck finding the source of the disturbance?" asked The Doctor.
"Got it!" said Annabelle, "Setting coordinates now." Then she threw the lever and a short time later we landed. We found ourselves on the roof of a large Victorian style manor with a large spire on top, shooting an energy beam into the clouds.
I walked up to the spire and scanned it with my sonic, "We can't shut it down from hear. We have to find the controls."
"I know where to start…" said The Doctor. I turned and saw my uncle run toward a chimney and jump down.
"I don't know about your uncle sometimes, Mom." said Annabelle as we walked over to the chimney and looked down.
"He's your uncle too, Annabelle…"
"I know…" she said with a sigh.
I laughed and then dove in after my uncle. When we landed at the bottom of chimney we found ourselves, in a large sitting room there was a family of four standing there an old man sitting in a chair and a few servants, "Ah! Yes, blimey. Sorry! Christmas Eve on a rooftop, saw a chimney, my whole brain just went, 'What the hell!'" said The Doctor, as we started to dust ourselves off. He walked over to the children, "Don't worry, fat fella will be doing the rounds later. we're just scoping out the general...chimney-ness. Yes." he leaned against chimney, "Nice size, good traction... big tick!"
"Fat fella?" asked the father of the family.
"Father Christmas," I said, "Santa Claus…
"or, as we've always known him, Jeff." said The Doctor.
"There's no such person as Father Christmas." said the boy.
"Oh, yeah?" said The Doctor, he pulled out a black and white photo, "Me, Teddy, Annabelle and Father Christmas, Frank Sinatra's hunting lodge, 1952. See him at the back with the blonde...Albert Einstein. The five of us together...hrrroom! Watch out! OK? Keep the faith, stay off the naughty list. Ooh! Now, what's this? And I love this, a big flashy lighty thing - that's what brought us here." He pointed to a large control panel covered with knobs, buttons and flashing lights. We walked over to it, "Big flashy lighty things have got me written all over them. Not actually, but give me time and a crayon." The Doctor sat in the chair at the control panel and turned to look at the old man, "Now, this big flashy lighty thing is connected to the spire in your dome, yeah, and it controls the sky."
"Technically, it controls the clouds," said Annabelle, "which are really clouds of tiny particles of ice."
"Ice clouds, love that." said The Doctor.
I saw a cryo-chamber with a woman in it I pointed at it and asked, "Who's she?"
"Nobody important," said The old man.
Us Time Lords looked at each other and walked up to the chamber, "Nobody important? That's not possible." I said, "In almost 200 years in traveling in time and space, I've never met anyone who wasn't important before."
We went back to the console and The Doctor started to adjust the controls, "Now, this console is the key to saving that ship, or I'll eat my hat... if I had a hat. I'll eat someone's hat. Not someone who's using their hat - I don't want to shock a nun, or something. Sorry, rambling, cos...cos this isn't working!"
"The controls are isomorphic – one to one - they respond only to me," said the old man.
"Oh, you fibber... Isomorphic! There's no such thing."
The old man walked over and flipped a switch that shut the machine off. Then he turned it back on. The Doctor, Annabelle and I all tried the same switch and nothing happened. The Doctor ran his sonic screwdriver over the controls and then the old man. He checked the readings. And said, "These controls are isomorphic!"
"The skies of this entire world are mine. My family tamed them, and now I own them." said the old man.
"Tamed the sky?" I asked, "What does that mean?"
"It means I'm Kazran Sardick. How can you possibly not know who I am?"
"We're easily bored, I guess," said Annabelle, "So, we need your help, then."
"Make an appointment," said Kazran.
"There are 4,003 people in a spaceship trapped in your cloud belt," I said, "Without your help, they're going to die."
"Yes."
"You don't have to let that happen."
"I know, but I'm going to. Bye-bye. Bored now. ..Chuck!"
One of Kazran's servants walked up to The Doctor and grabbed him by the shoulders to escort him out. The Doctor got out of Chuck's grip and stood in front of Kazran who was sitting in a chair.
"Ooh, look at you, looking all tough now," said Kazran.
"There are 4,003 people we won't allow to die tonight. Do you know where that puts you?" asked The Doctor.
"Where?"
"4,004."
"Was that a sort of threat-y thing?"
"Just remember, "I said, "Whatever happens tonight... you brought it on yourself."
"Yeah, yeah, right. ..Get them out of here. And next time, try and find me some funny poor people."
We were all forced to the door. Then the young man picked up a lump of coal and threw it at Kazran. It hit him on the head. Kazran stormed over to the boy and got ready to backhand him.
"Stop!" I said.
"Don't you dare!" said the boy's father, "You leave him!"
Kazran lowered his hand, "Get him out of here! Get that foul-smelling family out of here! Out!"
The family was taken out room and the son said, "We're going!"
Kazran headed back to his chair but stopped when saw we were still there, "What? What do you want?"
"A simple life. But you didn't hit the boy," said The Doctor.
"Well, I will next time!"
"No, you see, you won't. Now why? What am I missing?" We walked past Kazran and started looking around.
"Get out! Get out of this house!"
After a few moments of looking Annabelle smiled, "It's the chairs!"
I looked around the room and smiled at how smart my daughter was, "Of course, It's the chairs!"
"Stupid me, the chairs!" said The Doctor, "Nice work…" as he and my daughter high fived.
"The chairs?" asked Kazran.
"Of course," said Annabelle, "There's a portrait on the wall behind us. It looks like you, but it's too old, so I'm guessing it's your father."
"All the chairs in the room are angled away from it," I said, "I'm guessing your father past away about 20 years ago. But you still can't get comfortable where he can see you."
"There's a Christmas tree in the painting, but none in this house, on Christmas Eve," said The Doctor, "You're scared of him and you're scared of being like him. And good for you, you're not like him, not really. Do you know why?"
"Why?" asked Kazran.
"Because you didn't hit the boy," I said, with a smiled, "Merry Christmas, Mr. Sardick."
"I despise Christmas!" said Kazran.
We started to walk away and The Doctor said, "You shouldn't. It's very you."
"It's what? What do you mean?"
"Halfway out of the dark." Then we walked out of the room as the servants returned from escorting the family out.
"Get her downstairs with the others. Clean up this mess!" when heard Kazran yell to them.
As we got down stairs my iPhone rang. I saw it was Amy, I put it on speaker said, "Yes Amy."
"Have you got a plan yet?" asked Amy.
"Yes, we do," said The Doctor.
"Teddy, is he lying?"
"What do you think?" I said.
"Don't treat me like an idiot, Doctor," said Amy.
"Was he lying?" we heard Rory ask Amy.
"No, no." she said.
We walked into the street and I said, "OK, the good news. We've tracked the machine that unlocks the cloud belt. We could use it to clear you a flight corridor and you could land easily."
"Oh, hey, hey, that's great news," said Amy.
"But we can't control the machine," said The Doctor.
"Less great."
"But we've met a man who can," said Annabelle.
"Ah, well, there you go!" said Amy.
"And he hates us." said The Doctor.
"Were you being extra charming and clever, Doctor?"
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"Lucky guess."
The father of the family from inside the Sardick house walked up to us, "Sir... Miss…"
"Hang on," I said as I took the phone off speaker.
"I've never seen anybody stand up to Mr. Sardick like that," said the man as shook our hands, "Bless you all and merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas," said The Doctor, "Lovely. Sorry, bit busy."
"You'd better get inside, sir. The fog's thick tonight, and there's a fish warning."
"Oh, right, yeah," I said, "I'm sorry did you say fish?"
"Yeah. You know what they're like when they get a bit hungry."
"Yeah, fish, I know fish. Fish?" said The Doctor.
"It's all Mr. Sardick's fault, I reckon. He always lets a few fish through the cloud layer when he's in a bad mood. Thank you. Bless you once again, sir." then the man and his family walked away.
"He did say fish?" asked Annabelle as I put the phone back on speaker.
The Doctor and I nodded and then Amy's voice came over the phone, "The Captain says we've got less than an hour… What should we be doing?"
We looked up at a nearby streetlight and saw a small group of small fish swimming around it like moths.
"Fish…!" exclaimed The Doctor.
"Sorry, what?" asked Amy.
"Fish that can swim in fog," I said with a smile, "I love new planets."
"Teddy! Doctor! Don't get distracted! Annabelle Please let them get distracted!
"Now, why would people be frightened of you tiny little fellas?" said The Doctor as he held up his hand up to the light. The fish swam around his fingers, "Look at you, sweet little fishy-wishies."
"Fish in the fog, so the cloud cover has…" I said then I spoke toward the phone, "Amy, be careful up there."
"Oh, great, thanks, Teddy, because there was a real danger we were all going to nod off!" said Amy, "We've got less than an hour!
"We know," said The Doctor as a nearby clock struck 11. Then, "Ding Dong Merrily on High" began to play over the loudspeakers.
"Doctor?" asked Amy, "How are you getting us off here?"
"Give us a minute," I said.
"OK we can't use the TARDIS, cos it can't lock on," said The Doctor.
"So that ship needs to land," said Annabelle, "but it can't land unless a very bad man suddenly decides to turn nice, just in time for Christmas Day!"
"Teddy, I can't hear you," said Amy, "What is that? Is that singing?"
"It's a Christmas carol," I said.
"A what?"
"A Christmas carol," said The Doctor and I together.
"A what?"
"A CHRISTMAS CAROL!" said all three of us Time Lords together.
"Annabelle!" said Amy
Then us Time Lords looked at each other and we smiled, "Kazran Sardick!" said The Doctor.
"Teddy!"
"Merry Christmas, Kazran Sardick!" I said.
"Doctor!"
Some time later, we were watching as Kazran slept in his chair. Then, I started a projection device and a black and white video started to play on the wall. In the video a boy was playing in his bedroom. He looked into the camera and said, "Hello. My name is Kazran Sardick. I'm 12½, and this is my bedroom."
Kazran mumbled in his sleep, "Top secret special project."
"This is my top secret special project," said young Kazran, "For my eyes only. Merry Christmas."
Just then Kazran's father Elliot yelled from off screen, "Kazran, Kazran!" I could tell Kazran woke up when I saw him jump a little. Then his father came in the room, "Kazran, what are you doing? What are you doing?!" He looked into the camera.
Kazran stood up and backed away in fear, Then, Elliot turned to his young son on screen, "I've warned you before about this, you stupid, ignorant, ridiculous child!"
"I was just going to make a film of the fish," said young Kazran.
"The fish are dangerous!"
"I just want to see them."
"Don't be stupid, you're far too young!"
"Everyone at school's seen the fish."
"That's enough! You'll be singing to them next, like gypsies."
"The singing works! I've seen it. The fish like the singing."
Kazran walk closer to the wall that the video was playing on. Elliot then said, "What does it matter what fish like?"
"People say we don't have to be afraid of the fish," said young Kazran, "They're not really interested in us."
"You don't listen to people! You listen to me!" then Elliot backhanded young Kazran.
Kazran reached up to his cheek and young Kazran said, "Ow! I'm sorry, Father."
"This is my house!" said Elliot.
Us Time Lords then walked in the room and behind Kazran. In the video, Young Kazran had his head down on the desk and was crying.
I put a hand on Kazran's shoulder and said, "It's OK. It's OK."
Kazran jerked away, "What have you done? What is this?"
"We found it on an old drive," said Annabelle, "Sorry about the picture quality, I had to recover the data using quantum enfolding and a paperclip."
The Doctor sat down in Kazran's chair and picked up the newspaper and said, "Oh, I wouldn't bother calling your servants, they quit. Apparently they won the lottery at exactly the same time, which is a bit lucky when you think about it."
"There isn't a lottery." said Kazran.
"Yeah, as I say, lucky."
"There's a fog warning tonight," said Elliot, "You keep these windows closed, understand? Closed!"
"Who are you?" asked Kazran.
I smiled, "Tonight, we're the Ghosts Of Christmas Past."
"Mrs Mantovani will be looking after you tonight," said Elliot, "You stay here till she comes. Do you understand? Do you understand?"
"Did you ever get to see a fish back then, when you were a kid?" asked The Doctor.
"What does that matter to you?" asked Kazran.
"Look how much it mattered to you," I said
"I cried all night, and I learned life's most invaluable lesson."
"Which is?"
"Nobody comes. Get out! Get out of my house!"
"OK. OK," said The Doctor, "But we'll be back. Way back. Way, way back."
We ran downstairs and into the TARDIS. We arrived on the Christmas Eve when Kazran made the video. We landed outside young Kazran's window. We looked inside and saw young Kazran look up and The Doctor said, "See? Back!" then he opened the window.
"Who are you?" asked young Kazran.
"Hi. I'm The Doctor. These are my nieces, Teddy and Annabelle. We're your new babysitters." Then we jumped into the room.
"Where's Mrs Mantovani?" asked Kazran.
"You won't beleve this," I said, " Mrs Mantovani won the lottery!"
"There isn't any lottery."
"I know," I said, "I told you, that you wouldn't believe it!"
"If you're my babysitters, why are you climbing in the window?"
"Because if we were climbing out, we'd be going in the wrong direction," said Annabelle.
"Mrs Mantovani's always my babysitter," said Kazran.
"Times change," said The Doctor as he peered into the camera,' Wouldn't you say? You see... Christmas Past."
"Who are you talking to?"
"You. Now, your past is going to change. That means your memories will too. Scary, but you'll get the hang of it.
"I don't understand."
"I'll bet you don't!" I said with a smile, "I wish I could see your face." I pointed at young Kazran and then the camera.
"Right, then," said The Doctor, "Your bedroom. Great! Let's see, you're 12 years old, so we'll stay away from under the bed. Cupboard! Big cupboard, I love a cupboard." he ran to the cupboard and opened it, "Do you know, there's a thing called a face spider. It's just like a tiny baby's head with spider legs, and it's specifically evolved to scuttle up the backs of bedroom cupboards…" he closed the door, "Which, yeah, I probably shouldn't have mentioned. Right, so what are we going to do? Eat crisps and talk about girls? I've never actually done that, but I bet it's easy. Girls! Yeah?"
I rolled my eyes and resisted the urge to smack my uncle upside the head, "Are you really babysitters?" asked Kazran.
"I think you'll find we're universally recognized as mature and responsible adults," said The Doctor as he showed Kazran his psychic paper.
"It's just a lot of wavy lines."
I looked at the paper, "You finally did it. A lie so big you shorted it out." I looked at Kazran, "OK, so we're not really babysitters, but it's Christmas Eve. You don't want a real one, you want us."
"Why? What's so special about you?
"Have you ever seen Mary Poppins?" asked The Doctor.
"No," said Kazran.
"Good," said Annabelle," Because that's horrible comparison."
"Fish in the fog, fish in the clouds," said The Doctor as he walked to the open window, "How do people ever get bored? How did boredom even get invented?"
"My dad's invented a machine to control the cloud belt," said Kazran, "Tame the sky, he says. The fish'll be able to come down, but only when we let them. We can charge whatever we like."
Annabelle and I joined my uncle at the window, "Yeah. we've seen your dad's machine," she said.
"What? You can't have."
"Tame the sky…"said The Doctor, " Humans beings, you always manage to find the boring alternative, don't you?"
"You want to see one?" I asked, "A fish. We can do that. We can see a fish."
"Aren't you going to tell me it's dangerous?" asked Kazran.
"Dangerous?!" laughed The Doctor, as he stepped back into the room, "Come on, we're boys! And you know what boys say in the face of danger."
"What?"
"Mummy!"
We took The Doctor's sonic screwdriver tied it to a string, hung it from a pulley we attached to the ceiling then we went into Kazran's closet and waited. The Doctor had the string looped around his finger, "Are there any face spiders in here?" asked Kazran.
"Nah, not at this time of night. They'll all be sleeping in your mattress," said The Doctor.
I slapped my uncle upside the head, "Just no would have been sufficient." I looked at Kazran, "So why are you so interested in the fish?"
"Cos they're scary," said Kazran.
"Good answer." said The Doctor
Kazran looked at The Doctor, "What kind of tie is that?"
"A cool one."
"Why is it cool?"
"Why are you REALLY interested in fish?"
"My school. During the last fog belt, the nets broke and there was an attack. Loads of them, a whole shoal. No-one was hurt, but it was the most fish ever seen below the mountains."
"Were you scared?" asked Annabelle.
"I wasn't there. I was off sick," answered Kazran.
"Ooh, lucky you. Not lucky?" said The Doctor.
"It's all anyone ever talks about now, the day the fish came. Everyone's got a story."
"But you don't… I see."
"Why are you recording this?"
"Do you pay attention at school, Kazran?" I asked.
"Sorry, what?"
"Because you're not paying attention now."
Just then the string started tugging The Doctor's finger, "Ssh!" The Doctor stood and went to open the cupboard door.
"Doctor, are you sure?"
"Trust me," he said.
"OK," said Kazran.
"Oi! Eyes on the tie. Look at me. I wear it and I don't care. Trust me?"
"Yes."
"That's why it's cool."
The Doctor went into the room while Annabelle and I stayed in the closet with Kazran. We heard him said, "Hello, fishy. Let's see. Interesting. Crystalline fog, eh? Maybe carrying a tiny electrical charge. Is that how you fly, little fishy?"
"What is it? What kind? Can I see?" asked Kazran.
"Just stay there a moment," said The Doctor.
"Is it big?"
"Nah, just a little one. So, little fella, what do you eat?"
"How little?" asked Kazran.
"Erm…" said The Doctor. I put my ear to the door and heard some strange noises.
"Doctor?" asked Annabelle, "What is going on? Should Mom and I come out?"
"No, no. Maybe just...wait there for a moment." he said
"What color is it?" asked Kazran.
"Big. Big color," said The Doctor, as he rushed back in the closet and braced the doors closed with his back as something tried to force it's way in.
"What's going on?" I asked.
"Well, concentrating on the plusses, Kazran's definitely got a story of his own now. Also, I got a good look at the fish, and I understand the fog, which'll help us land a spaceship and save a lot of lives. And I'll get some readings off my sonic screwdriver when I get it off the shark in the bedroom.
"There's a shark in the bedroom?!" shouted Annabelle, Kazran and I, all together.
"Oh, fine, focus on that part!"
Just then the banging stopped, "Has it gone? What's it doing?" asked Kazran.
"What do you call it if you don't have any feet, and you're taking a run-up?"
I grabbed Kazran and Annabelle and pulled them from the door just as the shark broke through the doors. The four of us were on the floor of the closet in the far corner, out of reach of the shark for the moment. The doors of the closet were small so the shark was current stuck in the doorway with its mouth wide open. We could see the green glow of The Doctor's sonic inside.
"It's going to eat us, it's going to eat us, it's going to eat us... Is it going to eat us?" asked Kazran.
"Maybe we're going to eat it, but I don't like the odds," said The Doctor, "It's stuck, though. Let's see. Tiny brain. If I had my screwdriver, I could probably stun it."
"Well, where's your screwdriver?" asked Karran.
"Well, concentrating on the plusses... within reach," said The Doctor, "There's a real chance, the way it's wedged in the doorway, of keeping its mouth open."
"There is?"
"Agree with me," said The Doctor, "'Cos I've only got two goes, then its Teddy's turn, then Annabelle, and then it's your turn."
My uncle as if he had grown a second head that looked like his 10th incarnation The Doctor, "I'm not reaching my hands in there…"
"This is your dishwashing liquid, you soak in it!" said Annabelle.
"Two goes?" asked Kazran.
"Two arms. Right, then! OK. Geronimo! Open wide!" The Doctor got up and headed for the shark.
A short time later were all on the patio outside Kazran's bedroom. The shark was lying on the ground as Kazran knelt beside it. I was scanning it with my screwdriver while The Doctor was examining his sonic. "What's the big fishy done to you? Swallowed half of you, that's what. Half a screwdriver, what use is that? Bad, big fishy." said The Doctor.
I shook my head at him and looked at the readings on my sonic, "She's dying."
"Half my screwdriver's still inside, but yeah, I think so," said The Doctor, "I doubt they can survive long outside the cloud belt. Just quick raiding trips on a foggy night."
"Can't we get it back up there?" said Kazran with a sniff, "We were just going to stun it. I didn't want to kill it."
"She was trying to eat you," said Annabelle.
"She was hungry."
"I'm sorry, Kazran," I said, "We can't save her."
"We could take her back up there, but she'd never survive the trip," said The Doctor, "We need a fully functioning life-support."
"You mean like an icebox? OK," said Kazran.
Kazran then took us downstairs and down to the basement. We looked through a small window and saw a room lined with containers, similar to the one that contained the young woman we saw when we first met Kazran..
"What is this?" I asked.
"The surplus population," said Kazran, "That's what my dad calls it." We tried to turn the wheel on the door to open it but it wouldn't turn, "Oh, it's not turning! Oh, why won't it turn?"
"Must be locked," said Annabelle. "Here…" she walked over to a keypad. "What's the number?" she asked Kazran.
"I don't know," He said.
Annabelle and scanned it with her sonic and said, "There's too much security to just simply override with one swipe of the sonic. We need to know the number."
"I'm not allowed to know until I'm older," he said.
The Doctor ran out of the room and returned a few seconds later, repeating to himself, "7258. 7258." He entered the number into the keypad. The wheel unlocked and we opened the door.
It was cold in the room and there was a layer of fog on the floor of the room, "Ah, there's fish down here, too." said The Doctor.
"Yeah, but only tiny ones," said Kazran, "The house is built on a fog lake. That's how Dad freezes the people." Kazran stopped in front of one of the units, "They're all full, but we could borrow one." He pointed at it ,"Yeah, this one."
I held up my flashlight to the window and saw the same woman we saw before, "Hello again." said The Doctor.
"You know her?" asked Kazran.
"Why her?" asked Annabelle," Is she important?"
"She won't mind. She loves the fish." Kazran tapped a number on the keypad on the side of the container and a video started to play in the window.
"My name is Abigail Pettigrew," said the woman, "and I'm very grateful for Mr. Sardick's kindness. My father…"
"She starts to talk about the fish in a minute," said Kazran.
"…but I would not allow it. I could not have chosen this path were it not for the compassion and generosity of the great philanthropist and patron of the poor, Mr. Elliot Sardick, but I'm also surrounded by the fish, the beautiful, iridescent, magical fish…"
As Abigail spoke, us Time Lords walked down the row of containers, peering into some of them, "Why are these people here?" I asked.
"..they catch the light as they dart through the fog…" said Abigail's video.
"What's all this for?"
"My dad lends money," said Kazran, "He always takes a family member as... He calls it security."
"Hard man to love, your dad," said The Doctor, "But I suppose you know that."
"..I am not alone, and I am at peace," said Abigail's video.
Kazran hit a few more buttons on the side of Abigail's container and the lights inside her container turned on. Kazran walked up to us and looked at the Doctor, "What's wrong?"
"Just my half a screwdriver trying to repair itself. It's signaling the other half." said The Doctor.
My eyes went big, "The other half's inside the shark."
"Yeah. Sounds like she's woken up. OK. So it's homing on the screwdriver…"
All of the sudden the shark appeared above us, and dove at us. Us Time Lords fell to the floor as Kazran ran to get away from the shark. We stayed down then we started to hear a woman singing. "In the Bleak Midwinter".
We got up and followed the singing. We saw the door to Abigail's container open. We saw Kazran standing at the end of the aisle. We walked up behind him and saw Abigail keeling on the ground, singing to the shark and stroking it, "It's not really the singing, of course." said The Doctor.
"Yes, it is," said Kazran.
"Nah."
"The fish love the singing, it's true."
"Nah. The notes resonate in the ice, causing a delta wave pattern in the fog," The Doctor slapped the back of his neck, "Ow! A fish bit me." he said.
"Shut up, then!" said Kazran.
Abigail turned and looked at us, "Of course!" said Annabelle, "That's how the machine controls the cloud belt. The clouds are ice crystals. If you vibrate them at the right frequency, you could align them…"then she slapped the back of her neck, "Ow! Why do they keep biting us?" she asked.
"Can't you two take a hint?" I said.
"Look, the fish like the singing, OK?" said Kazran "Now shut up!"
The Doctor made a face, "OK
"Fine…" said Annabelle.
A little while later, The Doctor brought the TARDIS into the ice vault. While us Time Lords loaded the shark into Abigail's container. Kazran and Abigail looked into the TARDIS from the doorway, "It's bigger on the inside." said Kazran.
"Yeah, it's the color," said The Doctor, "Really knocks the walls back." he tapped the container, "Shark in a box, to go."
We loaded the container into the TARDIS and once Abigail and Kazran were inside we headed up to the clouds, "This is...amazing!" said Abigail.
"Nah, this is transport," said The Doctor, "I keep amazing…" he ran to the doors and opened them, "out here." We were up in the sky and we could see schools of fish swimming amongst the clouds.
The Doctor headed back to the container and said, "Come on, then, let's get this shark out." He punched in a code to start the defrost and a few moments later the shark burst our of the container and it flew out the doors.
"Hey, look at her go!" cheered Kazran.
The Doctor and I closed the container and on the front I saw a counter with a long line of 0s followed by a single 8, "Abigail, what does this number mean?" I asked.
"It pertains to me, ma'am, not the fish," she answered.
"Yeah, but how?" asked The Doctor.
She looked at him, "You are a doctor, you say? Are you one of mine?"
"Do you need a doctor?"
A sad look came on the young woman's face and we were about to ask why when a bell chimed on the console, "Ah! Sorry!" I said as I ran to the console, "Time's up, kids!"
"Why?" asked Kazran.
"It's almost Christmas Day!" I said.
We took Abigail back to the ice vault and helped her back into the container.
"If you should ever wish to visit again…" said Abigail.
"Well, you know, if we're ever in the neighborhood…" said The Doctor.
"They come every Christmas Eve," interrupted Kazran, "Yeah, they do, every time. They promises!"
"No, we don't…" said The Doctor as Kazran closed the door.
Well needless to say Kazran convinced us to come back the next Christmas. So we went into the TARDIS and went ahead one years. The four of us were once again in front of Abigail's container wearing Santa Claus hats and we opened it and said, "Merry Christmas!"
"Doctor! Teddy! Annabelle!" said Abigail. I helped her out of the container and we followed my uncle as he walked down the aisle carrying a harness. "What are we going to do?" she asked.
"The Doctor's got a great plan!" said Kazran, "Wait till you hear!"
"Great plan is debatable…" I said.
We were outside Kazran's house watching The Doctor hook the harness to a a two-wheeled open carriage.
"You are out of your mind," said Abigail, "This will never work!"
"That's what Mom and I have been telling him," said Annabelle.
"Oh, don't think shark, think dolphin," said The Doctor as he lifted Kazran onto the seat.
"A shark isn't a dolphin!" said Abigail.
"It's nearly a dolphin," he said.
"No, it isn't." I said.
"That's where you're wrong, because…" said The Doctor. Then he looked at me and saw me standing there my arms folding across my chest glaring at him, "Shutting up…." Then he pointed his sonic into the sky.
"It could be anywhere," said Kazran as he got down from the carriage, "Will it really come?"
"Not a chance." I said.
"Completely impossible," said Annabelle.
"Except at Christmas," said The Doctor.
The next thing I knew we were flying through the sky in shark-drawn carriage! "How are we going to get back?" asked Kazran.
"I don't know!" said The Doctor.
"Do you have a plan?" asked Abigail.
"Of course he doesn't" I said.
We all laughed and cheered as we flew around the city.
We took Abigail back to her container, "Best Christmas Eve ever!" she said.
"Till the next one!" said Kazran, as he closed the door.
We visited Abigail and Kazran for several more Christmases. It looked like our plan was starting to work. Kazran was now in his late teens. We opened the door to Abigail's container and said, "Merry Christmas!"
"Kazran!" said Abigail
As we walked into the TARDIS I heard Abigail and Kazran talking, "You've grown." she said.
"Yeah," he said.
"And now you're blushing."
"Sorry."
"That's OK."
They walked up to the console and Kazran asked, "So, Doctor, where this time?"
"Pick a Christmas Eve. I've got them all right here." said The Doctor as he patted the console.
"Might I make a request?" asked Abigail
"Of course," I said.
"This one."
Soon, we were standing outside a small house looking in a window watching a the family we saw earlier getting ready for Christmas. Abigail was wearing a hooded cloak.
"Who are they?" asked Kazran.
"Her family," I said, "The lady is Abigail's sister. We met her once, when she was...older."
"Abigail's crying," whispered Kazran.
"Yes," whispered The Doctor
"When girls are crying, are you supposed to talk to them?"
"Yes…" whispered Annabelle and I together.
Kazran walked over to Abigail, "My sister's family," she said, "They're so happy."
"They look very poor," said Kazran.
"They are very poor. Doesn't mean you can't be happy."
"And then why aren't you?"
Her brother in law closed the curtains then Abigail said, "Because this is the life I can never have."
"Why not?" asked Kazran.
Abigail took Kazran's hand in hers, "I think you're blushing again," she said.
Just then the curtains opened again and The Doctor was there and waved us in, "Come in…"
I shook my head and we all went inside.
Annabelle, The Doctor and I were sitting at one end of the table with Abigail's nephew. Abigail and her sister were sitting at the other end of the table talking quietly. Kazran and Abigail's brother-in-law were decorating.
"Pick a card, any card at all," said The Doctor as he fanned out a deck of cards. The boy picked a card and The Doctor said, "Memorize the card, put it back in the deck. Don't let me see it." The boy put the car in the deck and The Doctor shuffled it. Then he pulled a card out of the deck, "The three of clubs."
"No." said the boy as he shook his head.
"You sure?" asked The Doctor, "I'm very good at card tricks."
"No," said Annabelle, "You're horrible at card tricks."
The Doctor gave me a look and then the boy said, "It wasn't the three of clubs."
"Well, of course it wasn't," said The Doctor. He threw the card away, "because it was the seven of diamonds!" he pulled the card from his inside jacket pocket.
"No." said the boy.
"Oi, stop it, you're doing it wrong."
"That's right," I said as I rolled my eyes, "He's doing the trick wrong…"
Just then Abigail's sister stood up and announced, "Tomorrow's dinner is cancelled, as my sister refuses to attend."
"Isabella…" said Abigail.
"Instead...we'll have it tonight."
After dinner we were sitting around the table opening crackers. "Three! Two! One!" counted the Doctor, "Pull!"
Everyone cheered and laughed as the boy pulled a playing card out of his, "How did you do that?" he asked.
"Your card, I believe." said The Doctor.
"No!"
"Oh, shut up!"
"Er, Merry Christmas." toasted, Kazran
"Merry Christmas," we all said together.
Back at the Ice Vault, we were saying our goodbyes again to Abigail, "Best Christmas Eve ever." she said as she hugged us Time Lords.
"Ah! Till the next one," said The Doctor.
"I look forward to it. Now, I'd like to say good night to Kazran."
"Of course," said The Doctor as he just stood there, "Well, on you go." Kazran gave him a look, "Oh! Oh, yes, right! Sorry, we'll, um, we'll go, then." He looked at Abigail, "Good night." Then he looked at Kazran, "Good luck...night! Good night!" He backed into a container, "Sorry."
Then we started to walk away, "Smooth…" I said
"Doctor!" called Kazran, as he rushed over to us. We stopped and when he caught is he said, "I, er, I think she's going to kiss me."
"Yeah, I think you're right," said The Doctor as he nudged him back toward Abigail.
"I've never kissed anyone before. What do I do?"
The Doctor put an arm around Kazran's shoulder"Well...try and be all nervous and rubbish and a bit shaky."
"Why?"
"You'll be like that anyway. Make it part of the plan. Off you go, then!" then The Doctor nudged him away again."
"What, now? I kiss her now?" asked Kazran.
I looked him in the eye, "Kazran, it's this or go to your room and design a new kind of screwdriver. Now, go!"
Then the three of us walked out of the Vault and headed to the next year. Kazran told us the next time we saw him that him and Abigail kissed that night…
Our last trip with Kazran and Abigail took us to Hollywood, California 1952. We were all having a great time talking to some the biggest stars in Hollywood. Annabelle and I were getting something to eat from the buffet when my uncle came running up to us… "We're leaving NOW! Where are Kazran and Abigail?"
"I saw Abigail head toward the pool a little while ago…" said Annabelle.
"Come on!" said The Doctor as he grabbed Annabelle's arm and pulled her toward the pool.
We got to the pool and saw Kazran and Abigail kissing, "Guys, we've really got to go quite quickly. I just accidentally got engaged to Marilyn Monroe." The Doctor stopped for a second and looked at them, "How do you keep going like that? Do you breathe out your ears? Hello?" He tapped Kazran on the head, "Sorry, hello? Guys, she's phoned a chapel, there's a car outside, this is happening now!"
"Yoo-hoo!" called Marilyn.
"Yoo-hoo," The Doctor called back. Then he looked at me, "Teddy!"
I rolled my eyes and said, "Fine…. I'll save your bacon again…" I walked toward Marilyn and said, "So, Marilyn, what's this I hear about you going out with Joe DiMaggio?"
I was able to talk Marilyn out of marrying my uncle and we headed back to the Ice Vault, Kazran took Abigail back to her container. "Good night, Abigail." said Kazran.
"Good night, Kazran." said Abigail as she sounded like she was going to cry.
They slowly let go of each others' hands as they backed away from each other. Kazran closed the door to Abigail's container then we walked over to him, "There we go. Another day, another Christmas Eve. We'll see you in a minute, eh? I mean, a year."
"Doctor... Listen, why don't we leave it?" said Kazran.
"Leave what?" asked Annabelle.
"Oh, you know. This. Every Christmas Eve, it's getting a bit old."
"Old?" said The Doctor.
"Well, Christmas is for kids, isn't it?" said Kazran, "I've got some work with my dad now, I'm going to focus on that. Get that cloud belt under control."
"Sorry. we didn't realize we were boring you," I said.
"Not your fault. Times change," said Kazran then he walked away.
"Not as much as we'd hoped," said The Doctor softly. Then louder he said, "Kazran." Kazran stopped and we walked up to him, "I'll be needing a new one, anyway. What the hell…" He gave Kazran the remaining half of his sonic, "Merry Christmas. And if you ever need me, just activate it. We'll hear you."
"I won't need you." said Kazran.
"What happened?" I asked, "What aren't you telling us?"
Kazran didn't answer he just walked off.
"What about Abigail?" asked Annabelle.
"I know where to find her," said Kazran as he closed and locked the door behind him.
We went ahead a year, and watched Kazran as he walked into his room. We saw him go over to a desk drawer and open it. He took out the broken sonic screwdriver, he looked at it then he turned toward the window and saw us. Kazran walked over to the window, The Doctor leaned down. Then, Kazran closed the curtains.
"Time for part two," I said.
The Doctor nodded….
(Third Person POV)
Kazran went into his bedroom and opened the desk drawer. Inside, gathering dust, were souvenirs from his trips with the Time Lords. He took out the half a sonic screwdriver The Doctor gave him and pressed it against his cheek. Just then the phone rang.
He walked back into the main room and answered the phone, "Yes, what? Oh, Mr. President, we've been through this! It's not going to crash on my house, so what's it got to do with me? Yes, I know. 4,003. As some old friends of mine once took a very long time to explain, life isn't fair."
Kazran hung up the phone and looked down at the pictures on the floor. One was of a smiling Abigail. He took the half a sonic out of his pocket. Then all of the sudden a green hologram of Amy in her police uniform appeared in Kazran's sitting room, "Hello!" she said.
Kazran spun around with a gasp, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"Didn't think this was over, did you? I'm the Ghost of Christmas Present."
"A ghost? Dressed like that?"
Then, Rory, dressed as a Roman, pushed her aside and said, "Eyes off the skirt." Then Amy shoved him out.
"You turned into a Roman," said Kazran.
"Yeah. I do that. I also do this." Then Amy disappeared.
"Do what? What are you talking about?"
Then Kazran heard voices singing "Silent Night". He went looking for the voices and found himself in the ice vault. He looked in side and saw some holograms singing. He entered the code and the door opened. He went inside and stared at the singers. Then Amy reappeared, "They're holograms. Projections, like me."
"Who are they?" asked Kazran
"The people on the ship up there. The ones you're going to let die tonight."
"Why are they singing?"
"For their lives. Which one's Abigail? The Doctor told me."
"Did he now?"
"He doesn't hold back. You know The Doctor and his nieces."
"How do I? I never met them before tonight. Now I seem to have known them all my life. How? Why?"
"You're the only person who can let that ship land. They was trying to turn you into a nicer person. And they were trying to do it nicely.
"They changed my past. My whole life!"
"Time can be rewritten."
"You tell The Doctor and his nieces, tell them from me, people can't."
Kazran walked forward, through any holograms in his way. Then he stopped in front of Abigail's container and Amy follows.
"That's Abigail?" asked Amy
"I would never have known her if The Doctor and his nieces hadn't changed the course of my whole life to suit themselves."
"Well, that's good, isn't it?"
"No."
"Why is she still in there? You could let her out any time."
"Oh, yes. Any time at all. Any time...I choose," he put his hand on the window.
"Then why don't you?"
"This is what The Doctor and his nieces did to me. Abigail was ill when she went into the ice. On the point of death. I suppose the rest in the ice helped her, but she's used up her time. All those Christmas Eves with me. I could release her any time I want... and she would live a single day." Kazran turned to Amy, "So tell me, Ghost of Christmas Present, how do I choose which day?"
"I'm sorry," said Amy, "I really am. I'm very, very sorry. But you know what? She's got more time left than I have. More than anyone on this ship."
"Good."
"Rory, widen the beam."
The room flickered out of existence and Kazran found himself on the flight deck of the crashing starliner. Kazran was now a hologram, "Update on engine one…" said the captain to her crew.
"How did I get here?" asked Kazran to Amy.
"You didn't," said Amy, "It's your turn to be the hologram. Since you're going to let a lot of people die, I thought you might like to see where it's all gonna happen."
"The singing... What is it? I don't understand."
"Annabelle's idea," said Rory, "The harmonies resonate in the ice crystals. The fish like it. She thought maybe it would stabilize the ship. But it isn't working. It's not powerful enough."
"Why are they still singing, then?" asked Kazran.
"Because we haven't told them," said the captain as she walked over to them, "I understand you have a machine that controls this cloud layer. If you can release us from it, we still have time to make a landing. Nobody has to die."
"Everybody has to die."
"Not tonight," said Amy.
"Tonight's as good as any other. How do you choose?" asked Kazran.
"Teddy?"
(Teddy's POV)
"Yeah," I said over Amy's device.
"Are you hearing this?" she said.
"We can hear."
"They're here?" asked Kazran, "Where are they? Doctor? Teddy? Annabelle?"
Rory turned off the hologram and Kazran found himself back in the vault. Us Time Lords were leaning against a divider.
"Doctor!" said Kazran.
"I'm sorry," said The Doctor, "We didn't realize."
"All my life, I've been called heartless. My other life, my real life, the one you rewrote. Now look at me."
"Better a broken heart than no heart at all," I said.
"Oh, try it. You try it," said Kazran.
"I have…" I said as I thought of my relationship with Jack and my past boyfriend Spencer.
"Why are you here?"
"Because we're not finished with you yet," said Annabelle as we all walked forward, "You've seen the past, the present...and now you need to see the future."
"Fine! Do it! Show me! I'll die cold, alone and afraid," said Kazran, "Of course I will, we all do! What difference does showing me make? Do you know why I'm going to let those people die? It's not a plan. I don't get anything from it. It's just that I don't care. I'm not like you. I don't even want to be like you! I don't and never, ever will care!"
"And we don't believe that," said The Doctor.
"Then show me the future. Prove me wrong."
"We are showing it to you," I said, "We're showing it to you right now. So what do you think?" I looked over Kazran's shoulder. Kazran turned and saw young him in pajamas and a robe.
"Is this who you want to become, Kazran?" asked The Doctor.
The two Kazrans slowly walked towards each other. "Dad?" asked the young Kazran.
Kazran dropped his cane and lifted his hand to strike his younger self. He paused and started to cry, "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." he reached out of young Kazran who took a step back, "It's OK, don't be frightened." he put his hand on his younger self's shoulders and pulled him into a hug, "I'm...I'm so, so, so…"
"Kazran. We don't have much time." said The Doctor. Then we ran upstairs. The Doctor quickly contacted the starliner to let them know we had succeeded. Then he jointed us at the controls of the cloud machine. "We good to go, then?" he asked.
"The controls won't respond." said Kazran.
"They're isomorphic," I said, "its tuned to your brainwaves, they'll only respond to you."
"They won't."
"That doesn't make sense, why wouldn't…" The Doctor tried the controls.
"Oh!" I said as the realization came to me.
"Oh, of course. Stupid, stupid Doctor!" said my uncle.
"What's wrong? Tell me, what is it, what...?" asked Kazran.
"It's you," said Annabelle, "We've changed you too much, the machine doesn't recognize you."
"But my father programmed it…"
"He would never have programmed it for the man you are now," I said.
"Then what do we do?"
"Um... Um... I don't know, I don't know," said The Doctor.
"There must be something!" said young Kazran.
Kazran took the half a sonic he had, "This! You can use this! I kept it, see?"
"What, half a screwdriver?" said The Doctor. Then an idea hit him, "With the other half up in the sky in a big old shark, right in the heart of the cloud layer."
I saw his train of thought, "We use the aerial to boost the signal and set up a resonation pattern between the two halves...That would work!"
"My screwdriver, coolest bit of kit on this planet. Could do it."
"Do what?" asked Kazran.
"The Doctor's screwdriver is still trying to repair itself," said Annabelle, "It's signaling itself. We use the signal, but we send something else."
"Send what?" asked young Kazran.
Us Time Lords just looked at each other. None of us wanted to tell Kazran.
"Well? What? What?" asked Kazran.
The Doctor looked at him and said, "I'm sorry, Kazran. I truly am."
"I don't understand."
"We need to send something into the cloud belt, something we know works," I said, "We need her to sing."
We went down to the ice vault and I continued, "Her voice resonates perfectly with the ice crystals. It calmed the shark. It will calm the sky, too."
"Could you do it?" asked Kazran, "Could you do this? Think about it. One last day with your beloved. Which day would you choose?""
"Christmas," said Abigail as she walked out of her container, "Christmas Day. Look at you." she put a hand on his cheek, "So old now. I think you waited a bit too long, didn't you?"
"I'm sorry," said Kazran.
"Hoarding my days, like an old miser."
"But...if you leave the ice now…"
"We've had so many Christmas Eves, Kazran. I think it's time for Christmas Day."
We ran wires from the machine outside Kazran's house to the half of sonic and set up a makeshift microphone. Abigail then sang into the sonic. The Doctor started to make some adjustments.
"Well?" asked Kazran.
"Well, the singing resonates in the crystals," said The Doctor, "It's feeding back and forth between the two halves of the screwdriver. One song, filling the sky. The crystals will align, I'll feed in a controlled phase loop, and the clouds will unlock."
"What does that mean?" asked Kazran, "What happens when a cloud unlocks?"
I smiled, "Something that hasn't happened in this town for a very long time."
As Abigail continued to sing, snow started to fall. Kazran walked up to Abigail and wrapped his hand around one of Abigail's. The people of the city came out to look at the snow and the children played in it. We took young Kazran over to the TARDIS as Abigail placed her hand against Kazran's cheek. When we reached the TARDIS saw they were looking up so we looked up and saw a shark swimming above us, "Hello, my old friend." said Kazran.
The Doctor looked at young Kazran and said, "Let's go."
The young boy went inside and then Us Time Lords looked back and Abigail and Kazran and we smiled. Then, we went inside and took the young man home… As we left we had a little Christmas present for Abigail and Kazran hidden behind the TARDIS. As the TARDIS dematerialized they would see the carriage and harness we used for the shark ride on our second Christmas Eve together.
We were making a snowman on the street while we waited for Amy and Rory. Just then we heard a familiar Scottish female voice call out, "You know, that could almost be mistaken for a real person. The snowman isn't bad, either."
We looked up and saw Amy and Rory walking up the street. Amy was dressed in her Police kiss-a-gram costume and Rory was dressed a Roman centurion costume.
"Ah, yes, you two! About time! Why are you dressed like that?" asked The Doctor.
"Ah, kind of lost our luggage. Kind of crash landed." said Rory.
"Yeah, but why are you dressed like that at all?" I said with a knowing smile.
"They really love their snowmen around here," said Amy as she changed the subject, "I've counted about 20."
"Yeah, we've been busy," said Annabelle.
"Yeah, yeah, you have." said Amy then she gave us each a hug, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," I said.
"No problem," said Annabelle.
"A Pleasure," said The Doctor, "Right, come on, then, let's go!" Then he started to head for the TARDIS.
"Got any more honeymoon ideas?" asked Rory.
"There's a moon that's made of actual honey." said The Doctor.
"It's not made of actual honey," I added, "And it's not really a moon."
"I know the place your talking about," said Annabelle, "If I remember correctly it's alive and a bit carnivorous"
"But there are some lovely views," said The Doctor as he unlocked the TARDIS.
"Yeah, great, thanks," said Rory as he went inside.
"Are you OK?" asked Amy.
"Course I'm OK," said The Doctor, "You?"
"Of course," Amy paused for a moment, "It'll be their last day together, won't it?"
I nodded, "Everything has to end some time, otherwise nothing would ever get started."
"So where are they? Kazran and Abigail."
We all smiled and Annabelle said, "Off on a little trip…"
"Where?" asked Amy.
"Christmas." I said
"Christmas?"
"Yeah, Christmas." said The Doctor.
Then Amy went inside. Us Time Lords looked up in the sky and we saw the shape of a carriage being pulled by a shark. The Doctor said, "Halfway out of the dark." Then we went inside and headed off on our next adventure…
A/N: It has been over a year since published the first chapter of this story. I never thought anyone would read this crazy thing but people are! I would like to thank you all for reading and keep reading. It's a good feeling to check my views and not see a zero for the last chapter. I'm looking forward to the next two chapters. The next chapter will be the mini episodes "Space and Time" combined into one and the chapter after that will be "The Impossible Astronaut" which is the start of Series 6 which will be a big Series for Teddy because we will find out who River is to the Time Lords… I would LOVE to hear your guesses… Send them to me via PM or review… I won't tell anyone if they are right until the end of Series 6.