Not This Time

Chapter 2

The TARDIS whirrs loudly, making Dan's ears hurt. It feels like the ground underneath him is trembling. He'll never get used to this.

The doctor just smiles and begins pressing all kinds of buttons, speaking in a language neither of them understand. "We don't understand all these science-y words" says Yaz but her voice is drowned out by the noise of the TARDIS.

Dan grabs at the walls in an attempt to steady himself but ends up falling to the ground. He rubs his knee. "That's gonna leave a bruise in the morning"

Yaz, frantically trying to grab onto something as she's tossed around by the TARDIS, grabs onto one of the levers. She leans on it to try to get her balance but it's no use, the TARDIS is moving too fast.

Yaz pulls on the lever, if she doesn't she'll get thrown to the other side of the room. She pushes the lever down and the TARDIS lets out a low groan.

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE" yells the doctor. She can't believe Yaz would try to tamper with the TARDIS.

Neither Yaz nor Dan are used to the doctor shouting. A stunned silence descends upon the group. But the doctor doesn't have time to apologise for her outburst because the TARDIS is becoming unstable and rearing off course.

The doctor frantically starts pressing buttons to try to bring the TARDIS back to the intended timeline they were suppossed to be going to. But it's no use.

Yaz and Dan are being pushed back against the wall by the gravitational pull of the ship. The doctor herself has to grab onto the control panel tight to make sure she doesn't join them.

"I've lost control of the TARDIS" the doctor says, worry and excitement mingling in her voice "we're being pulled into a parallel universe, a pocket dimension" her hands dance in the air as she speaks.

Yaz and Dan just look at her blankly. Sometimes Yaz wishes the doctor would tell her and Dan a bit about the mechanics of the TARDIS so they won't be totally lost whenever she starts talking about this kind of thing.

The TARDIS tremors again, sending shockwaves rippling through the metal interior of the ship. Dan stares at the doctor. He knows she will have a plan, she always does. She managed to save the universe just three days ago, a malfunction of the TARDIS should be no problem for her.

"Whats the plan, doc?" he asks uncertainly.

The doctor rubs her temples and stares at the control panel as if it were her worst enemy. "There's nothing I can do" she whispers "if I try to interfere now then the TARDIS will be torn apart by the force of time and space. The pull is too strong for me to do anything about it. In fact, there's a very high probability the TARDIS will fall apart before we even get to this other dimension"

The TARDIS lets out an almighty roar that reverberates on the metal walls long after it has died down. The ship shakes even more and for a second it really does feel like it is going to tear itself apart.

The doctor pats the control panel "Interdimensional travel always puts a strain on the TARDIS. It's not built  for this"

Dan can barely speak from the force of gravity pushing him against the wall but he manages to ask a question that has been lingering on his mind for a while.

"Doctor?"

"Hmmm" she says, holding on to the control panel for dear life.

"Have you been to a parallel universe before?"

The doctor stops dead and in the process she lets go of the control panel and gets pushed against the wall beside Dan and Yaz. But she doesn't really care.

The truth is she has been to a parallel universe before, but it was lifetimes ago. Still, she can't help thinking of Rose Tyler and all the broken promises she made.

What if?

No. She shuts that thought down before it can even fully form in her mind. The chances of the TARDIS travelling to that parallel universe are one in three million. There's billions of universes out there, there's no way she would somehow land in Rose's one.

Yaz looks at the doctor as the TARDIS makes ungodly noises around them. She thinks she saw something in the doctor's eyes when Dan asked her if she had ever been to a parallel universe. Something like regret. But she knows better than to ask. She's never asked the doctor about personal stuff before, she respects her privacy.

The TARDIS shakes with the force of an earthquake and Yaz is thrown to the other side of the room. It feels like the sky is falling down around her. Bits of metal from the roof rain down on her and cut her arms and face.

The doctor stares, horrified. It's agonising to take even a few steps forward but she has to get to Yaz. Dan looks on as bits of the wall crumble around him.

The doctor runs towards Yaz even though every step requires a herculean effort. Gravity is surrounding the TARDIS and crushing it from the inside. But she keeps running towards Yaz because if she doesn't then someone else will be dead because of her. She won't let that happen, not this time.

Eventually she reaches Yaz and throws herself in front of the falling debris to protect her. "Run back to Dan" the doctor says. She knows that there is nowhere Yaz can go where she will be safe. The TARDIS is tearing itself apart. All the doctor can do is prolong the inevitable.

Yaz tries to run but she can't move, she is frozen in place by gravity. A big piece of metal shoots towards Dan and narrowly misses his head.

Even worse than death to the doctor is the thought that her friends will die but she will be able to regenerate. In a last-ditch attempt to get to the pocket dimension before the TARDIS breaks, the doctor pulls a lever at the side of the control panel that will speed up the TARDIS.

Suddenly they are moving ten times faster than the speed of light. Flashes of white take over Dan's vision. He thinks he is going to die here and he would have been right. But then everything stops.

No movement, no flying objects. The TARDIS could use a few repairs but it's still in one piece. There is a strange stillness in the air.

"We made it!" yells the doctor "we actually made it"

She cries tears of relief as she hugs Dan and Yaz.