The Stowaway

Chapter 4: Corriander's Story

Corriander's P.O.V.

He told me that I would have to travel with him, whatever 'travel' meant. But I could take a guess. When I first popped up here, I noticed some writing in circular Gallifreyan on the round, button-covered thing in the center. Which led me to assume the man was a Time Lord. A Time Lord's ship is a TARDIS, so that's what I deducted I must be in, a TARDIS. As then I turned and I studied the man himself.

At first glance I didn't recognize him, he looked different than the last time I saw him. But I noticed a certain glint in his eyes. A certain sparkle I hadn't seen since God knows when.

And if you're wondering how I know all this; his race, the TARDIS, Gallifreyan writing, the Time Lords, it's because I am one. His daughter to be exact. Which is why my hearts broke when he couldn't figure out who I was.

I know some of the history of what happened to Gallifrey. I know that there was a Great War between the Time Lords and the Daleks, and I knew that Gallifrey had been destroyed in the process, killing off nearly all of the Time Lords. Now all that's left of our once great empire is me and my father. Except he doesn't remember me. He has convinced himself he is the last one. Which is why I'm having second thoughts about telling him who I am. What if he doesn't believe me and just chucks me out? Then what?

I bet you're also thinking of how I got in the TARDIS, and to be honest, I'm not so sure about that myself. But I'll tell you what I do know.

My village was being attacked by a fleet of Daleks, there must have been hundreds of them. My father and I had been separated, and all I could think about was finding him. The rest of my family, my mother and my two younger brothers... Well, the Daleks found them first. I was running through burning buildings and smoke-filled alleys, trying not to draw attention to myself, there were Daleks everywhere.
I tried to think of where my father could have gone, and then it hit me. The plan. His secret plan. About a week before the invasion started he gathered the family and confided in them an emergency evacuation he had contemplated, or so he called it. He knew that the Daleks would come eventually, so he had been working on these little devices, Sonic Screwdrivers, he called them. He said that when the Daleks attacked, to hit the button on the bottom twice, that it would transport us to him.

He continued to tell us that once we got to the place was at, run and follow him and don't look back. That part scared me.

But I, like an idiot, had left my sonic screwdriver in my room, somewhere within my wardrobe. In order to get get out of here safely, and to be able to see my father again, I needed it. Which meant I also needed to go back to my neighborhood, filled with Daleks, sneak into my burning home, filled with Daleks, and somehow get the screwdriver and get back out again.

Great.

I managed to get back to my house through the small alleys that ran by the backs of the buildings, hidden from view of the main streets. Once I reached my burning home, I hopped the fence and quietly snuck in.

Gallifreyan homes are very different from human houses. They are spherical and usually have three stories, one above ground and two under. The entrance to the two floors underground in my home was located right smack in the middle of the first floor, it was a circular trap door under a rug. My room was on the third floor, the furthest under the surface.

I looked around for any signs of Daleks, and I saw none. I made a dash for the trap door. I threw the rug off and unlatched the lock.

"STOP! FEMALE TIME LORD HAS INFILTRATED THE PREMISES! EXTERMINATE!" My breath fell short at hearing those deadly, robotic words. I flung open the door and dove in, and as quickly as I had opened it, I slammed it shut. I re-sealed the lock from the inside and just for good measure, I ripped a loose plank from the side of the wall and slid it through the handle. It was long enough to go to either end of the door, so if they got past the lock and tried to open the door, it wouldn't budge. Hopefully.

I began to run down the spiraling 'staircase' if you could even call it that. The were no stairs, it was just a winding, downward-sloping stretch of stone. I few turns down was the door to the second floor. I paused. That's where my brothers' bedrooms were. After a moments hesitation, I opened the door and walked in.

There was nothing but ash and rubble. The beds were charred, as well as the rest of the furniture. I was about to walk out when something caught my eye. A small toy was on the floor, covered by a plank of blackened wood. I kicked off the plank and examined the toy. It was my brothers' stuffed gauslun, an animal that inhabited Gallifrey at the time. It looks very similar to a bear, other than the fact it had six legs and three eyes.

As a tear formed in my eye, I snatched up the stuffed animal. This was all I had left of my brothers, and I wasn't going to lose it. I exited the room and continued back down the staircase. I reached the third floor, where my room and my parents' room were. I went into my parents' room first, where the state of everything was the same as my brothers' room. I walked to the bed and took a peek under it, and saw my mother's jewelry box.

I pulled it out and opened it. Inside, there was but one piece left, a silver chain necklace with a tear-shaped sapphire hanging from it. I took it and put it around my neck and tucked it under the collar of my dress. Then I continued to my room. I opened my door and the sight that came to my eyes utterly devastated me. All of my belongings were burnt to a crisp, including my robes from school, my books and all of my photographs of my family.

As I took it all in, I remembered what I had come here for. I rushed over to my wardrobe and dug through all my charred clothes. After a few seconds of searching, I found the sonic screwdriver in the pocket of my black cloak, which miraculously wasn't damaged. In its pocket I also found my fob watch. I grabbed that too, in case of an emergency. I slipped on my cloak and rearranged my closet to look like nothing had been touched. I even took a handful of ash and sprinkled it over the pile of blackened clothes. I took a deep breath and blew the ash on he floor and scattered it, to get rid of my footprints.

Just then I heard the Daleks' lasers firing and the sound of wood splitting. Which could only mean one thing. They had gotten through the door.

"FIND THE FEMALE TIME LORD! EXTERMINATE HER! DO NOT LET HER ESCAPE!" The commanding Dalek roared. I figured it was time to go. I looked around my room one last time, for this was surely the last time I would see it. I took out my sonic screwdriver and hit the button on the bottom twice. I closed my eyes and braced myself, but nothing happened.

In a panic, I hit the button again and again, but no response. Tears were streaming down my face. I didn't want to die here! I couldn't! If I died here then my father would be all alone. And that would crush him!

"Come on you stupid thing!" I whispered at it, "if you won't work for my sake, then please, work for my father's!"

"FEMALE TIME LORD LOCATED! SHE IS WITHIN THE THIRD FLOOR! EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" A Dalek shouted. Oh gods, oh gods, they had found me. It wouldn't be long before I joined the rest of my family. I looked down at the sonic screwdriver. I closed my eyes once more, held my breath and pushed to bottom button twice more.

This time it had worked. I felt a jolt of energy rush through my body as I was engulfed in a mild blue light. And then I was on the TARDIS. In front of my father, who looked different and didn't have a clue who I was. The teleport had worked and malfunctioned at the same time. It had done it's job, it had gotten me to my father, but somewhere in the process, I had become one with the TARDIS, as if we shared the same soul. Through this connection with the TARDIS, I was able to find out the fate of Gallifrey, but not how it had come to it's demise. That was the one thing she wouldn't reveal to me. But I assumed it had something to do with the Daleks.

But other than the fate of Gallifrey, I learned one more thing. That my father had started going by 'The Doctor' now.

As soon as I had seen him, I ran up to him crying, because the Dalek invasion had only happened a couple of hours ago for me, and I was horrified. But since he couldn't even remember me, that leads me to wonder how long it had been for him since the invasion. My time line had been distorted. I had skipped years, possibly centuries, into the future and I had no way of getting back to my correct time.

So here I am in the present, standing before 'The Doctor' as he is interrogating me. He asks what my name is. I just come up with Corriander Wilks, and when he asked where I lived, I said I didn't remember. Thank the gods he bought it.