71. The History of Chloe's Tardis.
Disclaimer: I don't own Doctor Who, or the character, and I gain no income from these stories, just the pleasure of playing with writing. None of my stories are "canon" – they don't fit in to any previous place in the TV series, but they do use a lot of canon background. The Doctor in these stories is designed to be a future Doctor, as if it might one day come to pass. .
This story touches on the origins of the Doctor, an area not touched on much in the TV series except in episode "The Timeless Child".
The scenarios the characters find themselves in are hopefully humorous. I hope you enjoy reading these stories as much as I enjoyed writing them! .
1. Daring Negotiations.
Recovery Time.
Chloe goes to the Tardis kitchen and makes herself a hot drink to recover.
She wonders where else she ought to park her Tardis.
She knows the Tardis door will only open to her touch ... or her sister, or the Doctor, or her mother...
She wonders if it would still open to any previous occupant or traveller? .
Suddenly she hears the familiar zizz of her Tardis travelling! She's aghast! Someone else is using her Tardis!
Someone else got in!
Oops!
Who is it?
What will they do?
A Skaro Experience.
Chloe watches in horror as a woman, unknown to her, pilots the Tardis manually, skilfully landing on a space battle cruiser above Skaro!
Chloe misses the start of the conversation, but the Daleks aren't negotiating.
"Exterminate!"
The woman runs for the Tardis door.
A weapon blast brings the woman down. She falls before she reaches the Tardis.
Three Daleks begin dragging the woman towards a ground level space hatch port. Then they push her to the edge of their space hatch. The woman then floats slowly away into space and the space hatch door closes...
A while earlier.
Contents. .
Chloe hadn't known all of what was in her mother's Tardis when she inherited it. .
She knows about the Wardrobe rooms where she can enjoy dressing up for at least some occasions, and the kitchen - probably added by an earlier traveller in the Tardis.
There are corridors, and corridors off corridors, all with many rooms off them.
She suspects that there must be any number of rooms with things in them, but what those things are or might be now intrigues her.
Who used Chloe's Tardis before her mother acquired it? Are there any things left in the Tardis from before her mother got it?
She goes looking into other rooms in her Tardis.
Chloe finds a room stacked with gold. Where might that be from? Whose was it? She suddenly feels immensely rich. She's found a large bounty ... but what rules apply in a Tardis? .
What was the history of the Tardis before her mother, Crystelle, rescued it - as she put it (ref. 12)?
How might she find out?
Where have you been?
Chloe stands at her Tardis Console, thinking.
"Tardis," she says, hesitantly, "show me where you've been in your past."
She expects the Console screen to show images, but oddly her Tardis zizzes - its own travelling sound. It must be going to take her there! .
On the Console screen she sees what's outside. She sees the inside of the Library on Gallifrey - where else to look up to find out about something!
"Gallifrey!" Of course, her Tardis would have been on Gallifrey, but as she pans the scene around, she sees another similar Tardis parked just behind where she's landed.
"That's funny," she says, but it sets her wondering. Somehow, she recognises that Tardis! What's odd about that other Tardis? She wonders. .
The Tardis Console screen then shows two devices to her; a tiny camera and a viewer, linked on the screen by some sort of signal type that she doesn't know.
A pouch opens in the Console, noisily; earnestly attracting her attention.
Curious, Chloe looks in and picks out a tiny camera and a remote viewer. She feels the Tardis is giving this to her to use, but how should she use it?
Looking around in the Tardis Console room, she sees a busy-looking place to put the tiny camera, so it won't be noticed. Then she wanders through to the kitchen to make herself a cup of Something before going out.
On the viewer she can see the Console room and what's on the monitor screen.
Handy! She thinks.
Happy with her new toy viewer, she pockets it and returns to the Console room.
Somehow the Tardis door seems inviting. Maybe she can explore the library information, and discover something? She steps to the door. More than anything else just now, she wants to discover where the gold came from. Might it belong to someone, or might it be hers for the keeping?
Chloe ventures from the Tardis. Surely, she won't be away long. .
She approaches a large Library Reading device - an access point to the masses of information stored in the Library. She hesitates, feeling guilty thinking about the gold - already coveting what might or might not be hers. As she hasn't earned it, then it seems logical that it isn't hers to keep, but whose is it ... or whose was it? She's excited!
Chloe's hesitation might look like a lack of confidence. She's distracted! .
The Head Librarian.
Head Librarian, Gwendoline, notices Chloe as she leaves her Tardis, double-parked. This alerts her to issues that need resolving before the traveller in the Tardis parked behind returns! .
She follows Chloe to the reading device area but stays at a distance, almost out of sight, observing.
Chloe seems much less confident than other Gallifreyans and that attracts Gwendoline's attention.
When a Gallifreyan has been selected to time travel, they have shown confidence in many situations which has then been boosted by further training.
Something seems wrong here. This girl seems unconfident and therefore likely to be untrained and so might be untravelled, yet she has emerged from a Tardis on her own! Most Gallifreyan trainees stay with their protectors, while they develop their confidence. .
Chloe's hesitant behaviour is likely just due to her distraction and guilt feelings about the gold! .
Chloe's almost furtive hesitation clinches the need for immediate action. Gwendoline approaches. .
As she approaches, she doesn't detect another Gallifreyan presence. She feels certain that something is amiss here. .
Chloe becomes aware of someone standing near her. She turns and sees a smartly dressed middle-aged lady with a name tag - Gwendoline. She recalls her mother telling her about someone called Gwendoline who had helped her (ref. 9), but is unlikely to know anything about Chloe in this earlier Old Gallifreyan era. .
"Can I help you?"
Chloe almost freezes. She's been thinking far too much about the gold. Her covetousness is bound to show! Gwendoline is bound to notice! .
"Where are you from?" The words are spoken kindly enough, yet they press gently for information.
Chloe breathes deeply, desperately trying to ground herself. Her mind starts to return from her pursuit of the owner of the gold.
"I'm from Tinsel," she says truthfully. It is her home planet - an Earth colony of a few decades, certainly not even founded at this early point in time! .
Chloe wonders what Gwendoline's current purpose is here – an authority figure commanding respect. What might she own up to and what isn't safe? The gold might not be safe to reveal, but she hadn't thought of a cover story. She feels caught out on the back foot.
But then Gwendoline gently wants to know what Chloe's doing there...
"So, what are you doing?" It seems a straightforward question, but it seems to defeat Chloe.
To break the apparent impasse, Gwendoline feels she must make an offer, mostly to make a more relaxed space to chat to discover what's happening.
"I'd like to treat you to a drink in the canteen, but there's a more pressing problem."
Chloe worries it might be to do with her purpose for being there, still thinking of the gold. She now feels sorry for ever having thought about it! .
"What's that?" Chloe asks, her words stumbling out. Sometimes, she feels, it's better to simply ask straight out than to guess.
"It's where you parked your Tardis," Gwendoline says with a gentle smile.
Chloe feels guilty. Will she get a parking ticket? . A fine to pay? . Might her Tardis be taken off her? . All sorts of things might be possible in this earlier age of Gallifrey. .
Then she feels a rush of indignation. It must be alright to park there! The Tardis had selected it automatically, not her! .
But then, everyone else wouldn't use Voice Control. Maybe there's some imperfection in the Tardis' automatic choice of where to park? Maybe it's never been noticed and addressed?
"Sorry, what's wrong with parking there?" she asks, quivering.
"You've blocked access to the Tardis behind. The owner might not be able to get to it. You'd better go and move it before the owner returns."
Gwendoline seems kindly enough, and she has a point.
"Thank you, I'll move it just now." A wave of relief courses through Chloe briefly – her gold is still her secret! .
Chloe reluctantly retraces her steps to her Tardis.
Entering her Tardis, she knows she's on Tardis Internal Time, where time outside passes much more slowly. She begins to relax.
Tardis Internal Time - we've seen the Tardis land and immediately they emerge fully prepared for their new location. Yet it must take a while to prepare themselves before emerging.