Over the rings of Saturn, where dust and rocks and gases swirl slowly, all is calm. However, echoing close by, in space where there is no sound, was a faint THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. The TARDIS whizzed past the planet at high speeds. Inside, a set of speakers was playing loud music. However, Alex was not on deck to adjust the music. Underneath the deck where the controls are, Alex was making some repairs to the shelling around the mainframe. With nothing but a T-shirt, jeans and a blowtorch, he lowered his visor and made his arc. He stopped, then reached inside. He took hold of two wires and intertwined them, then fused the wires together with the blowtorch. He grabbed the end of the wires and shoved them into the control panel in their proper positions. He closed the panel and stood up, removing his visor. His face was covered and soot and his hair messy from the work.
He clapped his hands twice and said: "Pause music." The music stoped abruptly, leaving the room filled with only one noise: the sound of a ringing telephone. Alex dropped his tools and ran up the stairs. He ran to the doors and opened it. He opened the small door and answered the telephone. "Hello?" A feminine, familiar voice spoke on the other end. "Sweetie! Answering your phone? That's not like you." Alex leaned against the door and spoke with some noteable amusement in his voice. "River. How nice of you to check in. What are you up to?"
Several light years and a few thousand years away, River, disguised as a Mobianite skunk with long white hair held her communicator in her right hand as she received a pedicure on her left from a next generation Equestrian unicorn with a white coat and a long blond mane. River answered her husband. "I'm getting a pedicure from Clarisse here. Say hello Clarisse." "Hellooo." Clarisse said cheerfully. "And what is my husband up to today?" Alex coughed and answered. "I'm making repairs to the TARDIS circuits." "Wow. Did you consult the manual for that?" River said, playfully mocking the Doctor. "I had that manual memorized before I took my flight exam." "Which you failed." Alex rolled his eyes with a grin. "I'll manage. Anything else?" "I'm on Instalaventium." "That market planet in the Quell quadrant?" "Yes. I'd like to do some shopping with you, if you're not busy." River's eyes slowly drifted to her right, where Clarisse had been relaced by the tall, menacing figure of a Zygon. Her eye twitched as Alex said "I'll make room in my schedule." "The Lord of Time has a schedule now?" "Just making a joke. See you soon." "Bye darling." River ended the call. Clarisse stood on her hind legs and swung River's chair around. "How do you like your hair done?"
***
Alex stood in his manipulation room, which simply looks like an endless white room. He spread his arms out as K-9 made its way around him in a circle. "Are you going, Master?" "I told you to call me Doctor, K-9, and yes I am going." "Master, may I remind you that you have a meeting with the Prime Minister in 2037, and that the flesh creature is still out there." "River's in danger, K-9." "How do you know?" "She'd never call me unless it was life or death." "With all due respect Master, don't you think you're assuming too little of your wife?" "A lot of paradoxes could happen when two time travelers make calls the way she just did. I mean she literally knows not to call unless its serious. I'm going." A light consumed Alex, and when it faded standing in his place was a Mobianite hedgehog. His fur was a dark gray, with black highlights in his quills. His shirt and jeans had been fitted to his size. A huge black diamond was on his chest, but it could not be seen through his shirt. K-9 continued. "Then I shall come with you." "Can't. I'm going undercover." "What should I do then, Master?" "Guard the TARDIS. If there's trouble, you know how to drive." Alex reached in his back pocket and pulled out a set of dog tags on a chain. On the tags read: "The Doctor." He put the chain around his neck and the tags under his shirt. "Not a scratch K-9. Not a scratch."
***
In the back room of a an ice cream shop, on the market planet, at the exact same time the Doctor was leaving his TARDIS, the figure of River stood in front of a mirror attached to a dresser. She pulled her hair back behind her shoulders, and buttoned up her dark blue sweater jacket. Underneath she had on a white blouse and blacked jeans tucked into a pair of black racing boots. Clarisse made her way to River, standing on her hind legs and placing her front hooves on the dresser. She slid a necklace over to her. Attached to it was a pendant in the shape of a star. "Keep this on and stay with him at all times." Clarisse instructed. "What will you do with him?" "Don't worry. We only need his TARDIS. Once we have it, River Song and the Doctor can live happily ever after." "He won't let that happen." "Oh sweetie, it won't be his decision. Don't you worry your pretty little head. Say hello to the spouse for me." Clarisse said, smirking slyly.
