Bad Wolf From Space

16. Captain Jack

I started the new day with my 'happy day outfit'.

As I came into the console room, a smile was already on my lips as I looked down at my star stitched jeans, glow-in-the-dark galaxy jacket and my shirt with 'live long and prosper' in golden print.

Today was going to be a good day.

I fell as the whole TARDIS rocked to the side before shaking and rocking to the other.

The ship was careening after something at top speed.

"What's the emergency?"

"It's a mauve."

"Oh that bad then."

When I had breakfast this morning in the library observatory the TARDIS had kindly supplied me with some interesting guides to the universe.

I had only perused a couple but I remembered 'mauve' was bad, worse than Earthlings 'red alerts'.

I held onto the bars surrounding the centre and pulled myself towards the Doctor. When I made it to his side he pointed to a screen showing a cylinder-like thing hurtling through space.

"We are locked on now, wherever it goes we go."

"Is that safe?"

"Totally!" The Doctor flipped a switch only for the TARDIS to retaliate with sparks. "Ok, reasonably; should have said reasonably."

I looked at the screen, "An emergency pod of some sort?"

"No idea!" The Doctor continued to turn dials and move down levers.

"Alright then; its mauve and we're chasing it."

"Pretty much." The Doctor cranked a lever beneath the switchboard. "No! It's jumping the time stream." His eyes widened, "It's 30 seconds from the centre of London!"

A door in my mind whispered, 'Be ready.'

When we landed we were in an alley.

"So how much earlier did it arrive?"

The Doctor raised an eyebrow.

"What you said it jumped the time stream which means it could have arrived long before us, right?"

"Not that long, only a month."

"What's the plan then? Can the TARDIS scan for alien tech?"

The Doctor shrugged, "I'm going to ask someone, it must have made a big bang, hard to miss."

He gestured with his psychic paper but all I saw were the golden symbols I'd seen before.

As if thinking I was disappointed he gestured to my shirt, "Might not be Spock enough for you, but it works for me."

The Doctor started picking a lock with his sonic, while I got distracted when a sound from the alley drew me towards it.

"Mommy? Mommy?"

Shivers ran down my spine as I looked up to see a kid with a gas mask.

'Follow' the door whispered.

I went down the alleyway and up an apartment's staircase then up a ladder.

When I reached the top of the apartment building, the kid was still found higher.

The night made it hard to see but I found a rope that dropped near the kid. I pulled my jacket's sleeves down hoping it would protect my palms from rope burn before climbing the rope.

I neared the boy as I climbed up the rope.

"Hello, I don't think your mum is up here." I tried to swing the rope closer using my momentum.