Doctor Who: Genetics (12th Doctor Adventures Book One)

Chapter seven

"Get these doors open now!" Dr Samantha screamed at the very top of her lungs, her sentence finishing with her having to huff and puff to draw more oxygen back to her significant organs. It had been five minutes and the soldiers had been fiddling with the wiring of the doors, trying to override its circuit so the doors revert to their original programming. It took another minute for their meddling to be a success, the doors shooting open with a spark lit between wires.

"Out! Out!" The General thundered with his arms waving all over the place, himself and Samantha both jogging out from the room.
"I want him dead! Remember, the girl must not be harmed otherwise the Doctor won't be the only one to die!" Samantha threatened with her eyes ballooning out from her skulls and her hands tightly clenched into a fist. The Anchor men began their march back down to the cafeteria, the whereabouts of the Doctor's blue box. The one he had plopped out of.

"You know, I'm not one to gloat much but-" the General was not granted permission to finish his sentence with Dr Samantha interrupting before he could finish,
"Shut it." The tine was blunt and dead as she begun her strut down the corridors behind the soldiers.

The Doctor and the escapee test subject were now sprinting down the same corridor. The girls pace beating that of the old Doctor who was constantly glancing behind his shoulder to witness the oncoming wave of oceans. The pair skidded into the cafeteria, trying to slow themselves before they crashed into the box.
"Where do we go?!" The girl cried, scurrying across the room, circling around the box to find some sort of hiding place.

"Tell you what, let's hide in this box." The Doctor responded, stabbing his key into the lock and twisting it until a slight click could be heard, he nudged the door open and gestured for the girl to walk in.
"You want to hide in a wooden box? A big blue box. Bit conspicuous..." The girls words drowned away with the sight of the orange lit interior, slowly stepping up onto the walkway. The Doctor followed from behind, shutting the doors behind him.

"This... Is... Wonderful! It's so big, how is that even possible?!"she took in a deep breath, trying to smell her surroundings, she had wandered up to the console with its time rotor emitting the orange light, peculiar shapes plastered across the walls with bookshelves underneath them, "Smells just so right! How does it work? Did you make it? Is it your house?" So many rapid questions being fired at the Doctor just as the bullets that had started to repel off the TARDIS shields once again.

The Doctor shuffled towards the console of the TARDIS, steam rising up from the cool metal that was now under the duos feet.
"All very excellent questions! And yes, in a way," the Doctor put his hands onto a metallic lever, "it is my house!" He exclaimed, tugging on the lever to pull it downwards which, in result of the lever being pulled, meant that the Time Rotor started its movement up and down. Lights flickered in a circle around the interior, a boing noise echoed across the room.
"Did I make it? Don't be daft," pressing buttons and flicking switches while he answered the questions that had been asked, "no, I stole her." Pride was the distinct feature of his face after declaring what he had done to get ahold of his ship, he thought it made him sound tougher than he actually was.

"What is she?"

"The TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. You can call her home, for now. If you'd like." The Doctor was obviously inviting her to stay on board with him, she had nowhere else to go or be so why would she ever turn it down?

"Home. I love it." She stated, the Doctor seeing the innocence and youth on the young Time Lady's face. He smiled for her, still piloting the TARDIS.

"Now all you need to do is find yourself a name."
"Is One not a name?"
"It's a number, not a name. A name gives a sense of identity, a number takes that away. So what will it be?"
"You call yourself the Doctor, that is your name? You chose a name with a meaning. I've always had a fascination with machines so I shall be known as... The Mechanic." She announced to the Doctor, him looking a little bored with the name.
"Bit of a mouthful, wouldn't you say? What if I need to call for you? You'd be dead..." The Doctor slowed with his speaking realising the conversation sounded oddly familiar to him, one that he had once held with Romana on their first meeting.

"Ok. Fair point about the name. Hmm. I was given this book in the labs, the title heroine being this brave girl who would conquer her own demons and fight for what she believed was right. Her name was Elspeth. Elspeth? Yes, I like that." She smirked at the name she had chosen, she finally felt... Safe and at peace by the Doctors side.

"Well, Elspeth," the Time Rotor had frozen and the Doctor hopped over to the door, pulling on it to bring it inwards, "welcome to the universe." Elspeth walked up next to him, her eyes inflating at the sight before her.
"We- we've moved." She struggled to get the words out as the sight befell on her, the sight of a star being birthed.

"Probably should have mentioned she's a spaceship and that she can travel through time. Always forget to mention that first thing, you'd think its the most important information." The Doctor explained, taking more notice in a bullet mark on the blue wood of the door than the sight before him, his thumb rubbing the wood. It was nothing he hadn't seen before but when he looked at Elspeth's face he couldn't help but see the same excitement and wonder he had in his own when he first saw the sight.
"It's beautiful." She said, the Doctor reeling himself back inside of the TARDIS interior letting her to continue observing the scene.

Eventually, she withdrew herself from the sight. Shutting the doors but keep ahold of the knob, her breathing had hastened.
"So where to?" The Doctor asked, circling back around the console and putting his hand on the nearest lever.

"Far away, where they can't find me."

"Can do." He pulled down on the lever and smiled, looking to Elspeth as they hit a bit of turbulence. She fell back into the railing and grasped ahold of the metal bar, her smile hadn't left since she had boarded.