January Writing 06

[fardell24]

The Many Time Lords
Prologue
Susan III’s TARDIS, in the Vortex
Felicia Lovell entered the console room, where Susan and her other companions were, observing the TARDIS’s progress through the vortex, the TARDIS had been going off course as of late, for the last (‘month? 2 months 3 months? One could never quite tell in the TARDIS’ Felicia thought), it hasn’t been going where Susan wanted it to go.
Felicia had washed following their last adventure, in which a Terileptil had attempted to interfere with history in Ancient Rome. She had spent some time washing, as she had gotten dirtier than the other companions. She then had wandered the TARDIS corridors, reflecting on her time with the Time Lady.

“There you are,” Susan said as she entered.

“Are we off course again?” Felicia asked.

“Of course we are, it seems the console destination input circuitry, has joined the chameleon circuit in being broken,” one of her fellow companions, Daniel Hadley, said.

“That is not why we are going off course,” Susan said with a slightly disapproving tone.

“Do you know what the reason is then?” Sigrun Friorikadottir asked.

“The reason is that the TARDIS is going off course, is that it wants to go off course, remember that the TARDIS is alive, so to speak,” Susan explained.

“But why would the TARDIS want to go off course, and why did it take a few months for you to determine that?” Sabrina Davis asked.

“No it didn’t take me months, I found out almost immediately,” Susan said.

The companions thought for a moment, they knew that Susan had some sort of connection to the TARDIS.

“So, where are we going now?” Sigrun asked.

“If the TARDIS is going off course, we won’t know until we land, won’t we Susan?” Daniel said, half to Sigrun, and half to Susan.

“The coordinates I input were for somewhere in Britain in early 2034; however we have already gone off course, and are no longer aiming for Britain, but for Ireland, and may be arriving earlier, around 2021. Not much of a course deviation compared to earlier ones,” Susan said.

Then they watched the console, were not that much surprised when the TARDIS materialised in the Azores, sometime in 2018.

“2018. Not a bad year,” Susan said.

“A rather peaceful year,” Sigrun said.
Chapter 1 - Azores
29 September 2018, The Azores Autonomous Region, Portugal, just outside the city of Ponta Delaga
The TARDIS had materialised in a forest. Sabrina emerged from the TARDIS first. Though she came from an era when world travel was commonplace (but not as commonplace as later) she had never been to the Azores. She breathed in the air, she smelled hardly any pollution. “It is peaceful,” she said.

“You know that can change very quickly, Sabrina,” Susan said as she followed her out of the TARDIS.

“It is not that likely that aliens would start invading the Earth here or many experiments that would go wrong.”

“But those things are unexpected,” Susan said, knowing that Sabrina would continue to argue the point.

Daniel exited the ‘timeship’, as he called it, to see Sabrina and Susan arguing, again!
They were arguing about whether they would find events/actions that Susan “Why do you always have to argue with each other?” he asked.

“We are not arguing,” Sabrina said.

“Maybe we are, Daniel, , but things can change very quickly, as you know,” Susan said.

Daniel agreed with that, at most of the places he had been since he had joined Susan in her travels a few years ago (relatively speaking), things had changed very quickly. Peacefulness and then, an invasion or an experiment gone wrong, or even an old enemy of Susan (or her mysterious grandfather) trying to take advantage of the situation to get back at Susan.

“I agree with that,” Daniel said.

Sigrun exited the TARDIS next, after having changed into clothing appropriate for the era, it being prior to her time of origin she knew what the fashions were. She saw however that Susan, Sabrina and Daniel were not dressed for the period, looking as anachronistic as the TARDIS’s police box exterior, Susan dressed as she always did, in clothes from a decade after the the TARDIS disguise.

Sabrina was dressed in clothes from her native period approximately a decade prior to the current time, including a t-shirt with a catchphrase from one of her favourite science fiction television shows. Daniel’s mode of dress being somewhere between the two.

“Sigrun, there you are. We are discussing the possibility of something happening,” Susan said.

“It is most likely that something will certainly happen,” she said.

“Told you, she usually agrees with me,” Sabrina said, with a cheer in her voice.

“For certain,” Daniel said as an afterthought. Sigrun walked over to them, and waited with them for the others.


Jia’hale re-entered the console room, with agitation. Again with Earth! The TARDIS hadn’t been to her home planet since before it began going off course! She hoped that situation would change soon. She had just been to the wardrobe, and had been pleased to remove the toga she had to wear in Rome, she would have had been happy to leave the TARDIS with nothing, however Susan had said that the majority of places most certainly didn’t like that sort of behaviour.

Sigrun had also had said that the Azores in 2018 were relatively conservative for the period. So she had dressed similarly to Sigrun and then left the wardrobe. As she entered the console room she saw Felicia wandering around the console in thought. She didn’t notice that she had entered. ‘Ok, I’ll just hop outside and wait for her with the others,’ she thought, as she approached the outer door.


“There you are, Jia’hale,” Susan said, as she saw her companion from Tossekia IV exit the TARDIS.

“So what are we going to do? Are we looking for trouble?” she asked.

“Possibly,” Susan said.

“Certainly, that is usually what Susan does,” Daniel said.

“Absolutely, that is what the Doctor does usually,” Daniel said.

“Most likely,” Sabrina said.

“We are going to find some kind of trouble then?” Jia’hale asked, knowing that the Azores probably won’t be peaceful for much longer. Susan had a thoughtful look on her face; she knew that she had spoken truthfully.

“Where is Felicia?” Sabrina asked a minute later, wondering whether she had wandered off without them, and possibly requiring rescue…

“She is still in the TARDIS, she was wandering around the console room in a thoughtful mood, when I passed through it,” Jia’hale said.

“We will wait a little longer, then I’ll go back and ask if she wants to come. It wouldn’t be the first time someone stayed behind,” Susan decided. So they waited a while longer.


Felicia was in thought, it seemed the TARDIS wanted to communicate with her, in some way, at a level which was different from the usual, different from when the TARDIS translated languages (she would know, with Sigrun and Jia’hale speaking different Earth languages, some or most of the time), she sensed that the TARDIS was disturbed about something.

She saw Jia’hale pass through the console room, exiting the TARDIS. Felicia continued to think for a few more minutes; all she was sure of was that the TARDIS was disturbed.

She left then left the ship, making sure to close the Police Box doors behind her, she knew the TARDIS didn’t like the doors being left open, anyone that could see through the perception filter could then enter.


Susan had been about to go back into the TARDIS when Felicia came out. She sensed her state of mind immediately and knew that the TARDIS had imparted (or had tried to impart) something to her. That was something that hadn’t happened since she had come into possession of the TARDIS. She looked at her other companions; she saw that all of them, more or less, knew that something was up with Felicia.

“Ok, don’t be all staring at me like that. Let’s go and see if anything is going to happen here, in the Azores” she said.

“Something is up” Daniel said to himself.

Felicia felt uneasy, feeling like going back to the TARDIS, but decided that everyone, probably would need her help.

Susan decided to try to talk to Felicia privately after they were underway into Ponta Delaga. “Let’s go, we can solve this mystery later,” she said. The others all agreed. Susan then used her sonic screwdriver to determine the direction of the city, and they went off in that direction.



Words: 1436


Mysteries of Lawndale: Esteem of the Investigator

“That’s great!” Quinn said.


Daria was walking with her new friend, Jane Lane. As they entered a Lawndale neighbourhood that appeared to date to the turn of the century Jane said, “So, then, after the role-playing, next class they put the girls and the guys in separate rooms and a female counselor talks to us about body image.”

“A classroom full of guys and a male teacher?”

It didn’t take a genius to guess, “Nocturnal emissions.”

“I don't get it, Jane. You've got the entire course memorized. How come you can't pass the test to get out?”

“I could pass the test, but I like having low self-esteem. It makes me feel special.”


Half an hour later, Daria relaxed as she and Jane recovered from their success at stopping a bank from foreclosing on the Lane’s. “So your parents, when did you last see them?” Daria asked.

“Let’s see, Mom a few weeks ago. She stayed for a couple of days. Dad at the beginning of summer. He just stayed overnight,” Jane said. She saw Daria’s concern. “Don’t worry, Trent and I can look after ourselves.”

Daria looked around at the rather untidy house and Jane’s lean figure. ‘The house needs attention, but she looks well nourished.’ She decided to change the topic. “So you said that you’re an artist?”

“Yes, but what is with the third degree, Daria?”

“Force of habit.”

“Habit?” Jane asked with a slightly worried tone.

“I find mysteries and I solve them. I have done so since I was seven or eight. I surprised some detectives, one of whom offered to help me hone my skills. I have lost count of the mysteries that I have solved.”

“Cool,” Jane said.

“For instance, yesterday I noticed something ‘off’ about the school,” Daria said. She told Jane her observations about the school, including the cameras, the advertising for the football team and her suspicions about Mrs. Manson. “...as I told my sister, Lawndale may not be an ordinary suburb.”

“I agree, they are obsessed about football here,” Jane said in response.


Words: 344

Total: 1780