Who's Who

Chapter The Third: A Really Old Cellphone

Jan yawned and looked at her watch. It was almost midnight on the night she had promised the books to be ready. Mrs. Singer, her boss, would no doubt lectur her about reliability and the "edicit" of customer service. Jan sighed. Ah well, it was too late to call now.

Jan stood up and collected her things. Reaching into her back pocket for the keys her fingers found the flip phone. She paused. Perhaps it would be fine to call The Doctor. The bags under his eyes could indicate insomnia. Jan pulled out the phone. Again she hesitated. Just about everyone had bags under their these days. But if he was a time traveler...

Jan flipped open the phone and found the right keys. It rang for what seemed eternity. Just before Jan gave up The Doctor's voice came through.

"Hello?"

"Erm, hi," said Jan, "this is Jan from the bookstore. Your books are ready."

"Right, um, would you mind doing something - oof - particular for, erg, hang on a moment."

Several odd clangs and wirrs came through before The Doctor continued, "Ok! I need you to put all the books in the - whoah! In the, erm, waaagon."

Jan waited a moment then rushed to do as he had said.

"Ok all the books are in the wagon."

"Perfect, now... Pull the wagon about four paces before the shop door."

"Done."

"Now stand on the wagon -aaahhhh oof"

"Um ok." Jan situated the books so that there was room for herself then stepped into the wagon.

The air about her seemed to change. Her ears popped and a very interesting sound began. Her vision went funny and she blinked hard. When Jan opened her eyes everything had changed.

Jan jumped off the wagon and spun around. She was in a large room with a few doorways. In the middle of the room was a platform with a large round consul. A double door was behind the wagon. She jumped over the wagon, pulled open one door and gasped. She turned to The Doctor, back to the open door, and back to The Doctor. He grinned while pointing a funny tool at lever.

"I know," he said, "it's big-"

"Flying through space!"

"Well... That works too."

"This is a space ship!" Jan looked out and down. "How is it flying?"

The Doctor frowned, "Space ship?"

"Is there some sort of invisible jet stream? Or are we being pulled by a tractor beam to an enemy ship?!"

"Invisible jet stream?" He shook his head. "Don't let's be silly. This is not a..."

The "space ship" jerked. Screaming, Jan flew out the door barely getting a hold on the side of one. The Docter pointed his tool at the door until it made a wizzing sound, and it swung shut. Jan tumbled to the floor.

After about ten seconds - during which a lot of jerks and jolts occurred - the "space ship" came to a hault. The Doctor let out a sigh of relief and sat on the floor. A moment later he jumped up and ran to Jan.

 Jan was holding her head in her hands and sounding like she was crying. The Docter put a hand on her arm.

"Hey, you're okay," he tried to sooth. "It's alright. You're..."

Jan lifted her head to reveal an absence of tears. She was in fact laughing.

"I...I...ha-ha... How?..." She bursted out in a fit of giggles.

"Ok," The Docter mused, "You're prone to laughing in the face of danger."

Jan subdued her laughter. "How in the world did I breath out there?"

"Well-"

"Wait, no..." Jan shook her head regaining seriousness, "What I want to know is how I got here."

"Ah," The Docter said rubing his hands together, "I landed the TARDIS around you."

"You landed the what?"

"The TARDIS. This 'space ship' is really a Time And Relative Dimension In Space."

"So... It's a dimension... In space. And something to do with time... So is it a time machine?"

The Doctor held a hand out to Jan. She accepted and he pulled her to her feet.

"Yes, Jan," he said, "It's a time machine."

Jan hugged the man and squealed. He imediatly pulled back covering his right ear.

"Sorry," Jan muttered. "It's just... I'd always dreamed... But... Wow just wow. Haha ya know, this is kinda a really old cellphone that's actually a very new one."

The Doctor grinned again then walked to the consul. He pulled some levers and knobs untill the interesting sound began. In less than a second it came to a hault.

"Well that's not right," muttered The Doctor. He pulled out the strange tool and pointed it a the consul.

"What's that?" Asked Jan.

"Sonic Screwdriver."

He mumbled inaudably and pulled more levers and knobs before sighing and jumping off the platform. He started to crawl under it when the TARDIS shook.

"Oh, come on!"

It landed with a thump, and he took to the door. The Doctr began to open it, but spun around and commanded, "Stay put!" He then left.

Jan, of course, followed.