Child of the Doctor

The Pilot Part 3

"Doesn't make sense, then."

He raised his eyebrows at her. "What doesn't?"

"TARDIS. If you're from another planet, why would you name your box in English? Those initials wouldn't work in any other language!"

He frowned. "People don't generally bring that up."

"It looks like a phone box."

"Yes. Er, well, that's the cloaking device. It sort of hides itself," he said proudly.

"It's hidden itself as a box with 'pull to enter' on the front?" she pointed out.

The Doctor nodded awkwardly. He was beginning to realize that Bill still had her mother's knack for making him feel like an idiot. "Uh-huh. It's stuck. It's supposed to blend in, but it's-- it's broken."

He moved towards her, smiling, and she let out a laugh. She stepped towards the sink before freezing. He looked up. Drops of water were forming on the mirror. She backed up quickly.

"Doctor . . ." Bill said.

A face was beginning to form, coming straight out of the mirror. Spinning around, the Doctor shoved the door open and ran into the restaurant.

"Out, out! Everybody out!" he yelled. "Shark attack!"

Suddenly, the door burst open again and Heather came out, her mouth open in a shrill scream. Everyone began running for the exits. The Doctor and Bill followed, making for the TARDIS. As soon as they were inside, he entered coordinates and pulled the lever. The ship began shaking as they took off.

"Where are we going?" Bill asked.

"As far as we can," he told her. "She made Australia in a minute. Let's see what she can really do."

"Sir, we're leaving Earth," Nardole observed. "What about the vault?"

"Oh, we're fine," he said, waving a hand in his direction. "If there's any trouble, I'll get a message on this." He pulled his psychic paper out of his pocket and showed it to him with the message, Leave me alone, and don't say anything about Bill.

Nardole scowled just as the TARDIS shook once more.

"Let's see how long it takes her to get here," the Doctor said. He pushed up the lever and the shaking stopped.

"Where are we?" Bill asked.

"Other end of the universe," he replied. He moved around her. "Twenty-three million years in the future." He grinned at her and made his way to the doors where he turned to find her still staring after him. "Oh, yes, it's a time machine too."

She began to smile so he grinned again before opening the doors and stepping out of the TARDIS. They had landed on a desert-like planet. Huge rock formations surrounded them, forming arches at the top. All the rock glittered as the crystals in it caught the sun. The air also seemed to shimmer. Bill stepped out after him, looking around in awe. He watched her.

"So this is somewhere else? This is a different planet?" she asked. "Not Earth, a different one?"

He scratched his ear, trying not to grin at her so much. He was failing. "That's the general idea."

"That's different sky? Is it made of something different?" She turned to him. "What is sky made of?"

The Doctor had turned to look up at the sky, trying to imagine what it must be like for her. "Lemon drops," he joked.

"Really?" she laughed.

He turned back to her. "No, but wouldn't that be nice?" He made a mental note to go over the different atmospheres of the planets in the solar system with her.