The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor

Chapter 9

They stepped out of the TARDIS on to what appeared to be a ship.

"Doctor, are you sure we're in the right place?" Rory asked.

"This is where the distress signal lead."

They found a hatch and the Doctor knocked. He pushed it open and a group of pirates stood there. "Yo ho ho!" he said, excitedly, "Or does nobody actually say that?"

The Captain and a couple of his crew members took them to the Captain's quarters and the Doctor explained why they were there.

"We made no signal," the Captain said.

"Our sensors picked you up. Ship in distress."

"Sensors?"

"Yes. Okay, problem word. Seventeenth century. My ship automatically, er, noticed-ish that your ship was having some bother."

"That big blue crate?"

Elise glared at the Captain. The TARDIS was not a crate.

Rory hit her on the shoulder and she stopped.

"That is more magic, Captain Avery. They're spirits. How else would they have found their way below decks?" his first mate asked.

"Well, er, I want to say multidimensional engineering, but since you had a problem with sensors, I won't go there. Look, I'm the Doctor. This is Amy, Rory, and Elise. We're sailors, same as you." He stepped forward and punched Avery's shoulder. "Ooo arrr." When he turned around, Avery was pointing a gun at him. "Except for the gun thing. And the beardiness."

"You're stowaways! Only explanation. Eight days, we've been stranded here, becalmed. You must have stowed away before we sailed," Avery said.

"Now what do we do with 'em?" the first mate asked.

"Oh, I think they deserve our hospitality."

They took them all up on deck.

The Doctor was standing on the plank as the pirates laughed.

Elise was struggling against the pirate that held her.

"I suppose that laughing like that is in the job description. Can you do the laugh? Check. Grab yourself a parrot. Welcome aboard," the Doctor ranted.

"Stocks are low. Only one barrel of water remains. We don't need three more empty bellies to fill. Take the doxies below to the galley. Set them to work. They won't need much feeding," Avery ordered.

"Rory? A little help?" Amy asked as she and Elise backed away from the pirate in front of them. Elise wished River had given her a blaster or something.

"Yeah. Hey, listen, right? She's not a doxy and neither is Elise," Rory asked.

"I didn't mean just tell him off. Thanks anyway."

The pirate shoved Elise and Amy below deck.

"Now what?" Elise whispered.

Amy looked around and found a crate full of swords. She grabbed one and handed a smaller one to Elise.

It was more of a dagger than sword.

Next, Amy grabbed a coat and a hat and they made their way back up on deck.

"I suppose the rest of them are hiding some place, and they're going to jump out and shout boo," the Doctor said.

"Boo!" Amy yelled.