The Cosmic Mystery

Chapter 18: The Sontaran Strategem Part 1

In a rare moment of weakness, the Doctor had finally agreed to allow Donna and I to fly the TARDIS, under his very very strict supervision of course. We had been on the cool down after the emotional rollercoaster that was the Ood planet, spending time onboard the TARDIS, and making small trips to places of peace. Donna and I had gotten the idea of flying the TARDIS one night alone in the console room, while the Doctor sat in his library, avoiding our pestering I presume. It had started as a joke about the way he dances around the console room, both of us commenting that it was a bit dramatic at times.

After about two more glasses of wine we were convinced we could fly the TARDIS without making it look so damn hard. So we had been bothering him for a solid 24 hours at this point, and finally we had wore him down.

"I can't believe we're doing this!" Donna laughs, her face is wide with a cheek splitting grin as she looks over at me and I nod, much more focused on my job.

"Oh neither can I." The Doctor groans, borderline twitching from his want to jump in and do it himself. "Oh careful!" He sweeps past me, gently grazing my back as he reaches for his little pallet, before hitting it against an item and smacking an button as the TARDIS jolts. I'm entirely too caught off guard by the zip of electricity I experienced in that small touch to anticipate the jolt and nearly embarrass myself by loosing my grip on my handles. "Left hand down. Left hand down! Getting a bit too close to the 1980s." He says pushing my left hand down on the lever and I laugh, far too nervously for the Doctor to have much faith in my flying skills.

" What am I going to do, put a dent in them?" I ask to moving past that awkward moment, I watch the Doctor's smile twitch before he begins to respond.

"Well someone did." He responds grinning at me joyfully. I grin back, for a moment holding eye contact. Allowing myself to take in that smile directed at me once again, before a shrill ring invades the mostly quiet space of the TARDIS. I blink and look toward the middle of the console. I see the phone Martha gave the Doctor ringing, and I frown. It must be serious if she's calling him directly, I think, as my eyes glance past my own phone in the same holder, screen dark. The Doctor seems to share the same thought as his eyes darken as he walks toward the phone.

"Doctor..." I begin, unsure, of what I don't know, but I have an eerie feeling it's not good, as the hairs on my body stand to attention as it rings again, and he grabs it.

"Hold on that's a phone." Donna says at the same time, "not Emeralds phone. Whose phone is that?" She asks again, becoming more confused by the minute. "You've got a mobile? Since when?" She asks, voice shrill in disbelief that the Doctor really does carry a phone with him.

"It's not mine." He says before answering it and waiting a moment before uttering a simple. "Hello?" I hear the voice on the other side and a small part of me relaxes when it is in fact Martha's voice I hear quietly over the phone. I let go of my controls; assuming it's safe to do so when the TARDIS and Doctor don't freak out the second I let go, the TARDIS having begun to guide itself as it usually does. I watch the Doctors face as he talks, responding to Martha's request for our speedy return to Earth. He becomes more concerned with every word she utters as he begins to guide the ship while on his phone.

I find myself zoning out, mentally preparing for whatever shitshow we're about to enter. I lean my head on the coral shape column supporting the wall. I close my eyes for a moment, allowing myself to open up to the TARDIS. For a moment, I hear a whisper, that's all. A gentle voice reaching out, and in my shock the voice slips away. My eyes snap open back into the console room, where I find the same scene of the Doctor flying the TARDIS, no one else having heard the mysterious voice.

I blink, daring myself for a moment to wonder if I nearly heard the TARDIS's voice again. I had moments, where I could feel my gift begin to rise once more: but never like this. Never something so, potent? If that's the right word. I search the space, as if begging the TARDIS to give me a sign that it was her I had heard, and not some rising symptom of mania I had developed from my time on board. I see nothing in my search, no flashing lights or weird noises. Nothing, it must've been a fluke. Maybe I began to fall asleep standing up, I've done weirder things. I'm summoned out of my thoughts by the TARDIS' soft plunk as it landed. I took a deep breath, shaking off my racing heart from my close call and look to the Doctor. He looks concerned, but seemingly now it's directed at me. Not trusting my voice, I simply nod and offer him a small smile before he hesitantly does the same and heads to the doors explaining what Martha had told him, which was basically nothing.