13 Novella 6

Suns

The Tardis shakes and whirres underfoot as you grimace and grip the console, swinging around and fighting to remain on your feet.

Maybe you should give The Doctor more credit.

The Tardis seems to be working hard, groaning and thrumming as though in pain. She gives another lurch and your knees collide painfully with the grilles on the deck.

"Ow! Slow down!" You cry but she doesn't, possibly even picking up more momentum as she struggles with her decided destination. You had no idea where she was taking you, but it felt important.

At that moment the gravity seems to change and you are lifted off your feet, shrieking as you hold on for dear life. The box shudders and tips, a huge crunch occurring through the whole ship as you finally land, bruises already forming and her almost panting with exhaustion.

"Where are we?" You ask quietly as she creaks, but whatever is out there, she isn't willing to give you a hint. However you found small comfort in the fact that whatever it was couldn't be too dangerous, she would never do that you. You rise and stagger to the exit, a dull chill gripping your spine as you pull the door towards you slowly.

Orange sunlight streams in and you blink as your eyes adjust, stepping out and closing the door behind you. You don't know what you were expecting, but a desert wasn't it. Everywhere is orange and yellow sands, three suns burning low on the horizon already building a sweat on your back and forehead, the mountains in the distance bathed in soft and dazzling evening light. It was beyond beautiful.

"Why have you brought me here... what do I need to see?" you whisper into the silence, looking around furtively. Movement catches you eye and you step away from the box, noticing your feet leave no trail. You dig your foot into the sand and lift it but there is no footprint. You can't explain it, it's like your not really here.

You snap your head up as two children run over a sand dune towards you. They look straight at you and you open your mouth to explain.

"I'm sorry, don't worry I won't hurt you, I just need to know where-?" You start but they have passed you. You get the strangest feeling they didn't even see you.

"Um, hello?" You call as they sit at the top of a dune a couple of feet away, chuckling. Neither look back. Slowly you walk over, stopping beside them but they don't turn to you. You reach out experimentally but your hand doesn't make contact. That confirms it if nothing else does. You theorise you were in a projection, or you were the projection...? Your thoughts are cut off when the girl with her long red hair starts talking.

"Well what did you see? Please tell me!" She begs and the other child, a boy with worn brown clothes and dusty hair shakes his head, smile fading. He draws his legs up to his chest and you feel the urge to comfort him.

"I told you, I don't want to talk about it" he mutters and she reaches for his hand.

"Please?" She begs and he looks at her carefully.

"It was... horrible. There was only noise, and flashes, and fire. I wanted it so badly but it wouldn't come to me. One day I'll take it" he says wistfully. You look down at them silently as she withdraws her hand.

"What noise?"

"A sort of drumbeat. Beats of four" he mutters and she shuffles slightly closer, placing her hand back on his and squeezing.

"And... and what will you do?" She whispers. You get the feeling this was a much bigger question than she wanted to admit.

He turns to her and smiles, but it isn't the warm smile he gave her when they were talking. This smile was... wrong on his young face.

"You and me... all those planets, all the noise. It will be ours" he hisses and she recoils, blinking in hurt.

"No, no please no..."

"We can share it. We'll leave here and they'll be ours. The people are all so weak, it would be almost too easy"

"If they are weak then we can help to heal them. That's what I am, a healer" she says quietly, red hair blowing softly in the wind. And now you get it.

"Healer? Or conquerer? Choose" he presses and she frowns, biting her lip.

"You've made your choice and I've made mine. This time next year you will look into the vortex and you will choose this path. I will be waiting" he says, getting to his feet without looking back. In a matter of minutes he has disappeared behind a sand dune, presumably back to the glass dome in the distance. You've never noticed how big it was.

You supposed it did contain an entire race of Gallifreyans.

You look back down at the girl as she draws her legs up and buries her head in them. You want to comfort her but it is so impossible. Unless you were mistaken, and you half hoped you were, this was a younger version of The Doctor, much younger. And maybe, just maybe the boy was Missy, or The Master as he was known as his male self.

"It's going to alright" you whisper, but of course she doesn't hear you. "Everything turns out alright in the end, if it's not right, it's not the end" you say before turning to leave. That's when you catch the song she has begun to hum.

You whip round to face her back and watch as she traces patterns in the sand, still humming a soft melody that you've not heard before. Instant tears spring to your eyes as she works, and you try to distinguish the shape in the sand. You recognise it as writing and read the words carved deep before she rubs them away and gets to her feet, brushing the sand from her soft dress. She looks once more at the setting suns before taking the path the boy took home.

She is gone within minutes and you turn back to The Tardis, still mulling over the words she had chosen to write.