"Captain Who" Serial 1A: Timelines - Episode 1 A lone figure walked out of the shadows of a dark night, striding through an open chain-link gate and into a nearly empty parking lot alongside a small- town high school. The lights of the parking lot illuminated the figure as he passed into their glow: a young man, 6 feet tall, perhaps 190 pounds. The figure is dressed in a white turtleneck and maroon football jersey with the number 18 emblazoned on it, a pair of deep-blue jeans, and tennis shoes. He is adorned with a dark brown rainhat, a maroon and tan letterman's jacket, and last but not least, a 14-foot long multicolored scarf around his neck. That person was me. I glanced quickly over my shoulders. No one. I looked ahead. No one. I slid my hand into my coat pocket and pulled out a set of keys as I approached my 1965 Buick Wildcat. I slipped the key into the lock and scanned the area again. With a flick of the wrist, the lock popped up, and I pulled the key out. I opened the door and placed a foot inside the car. As I did so, the foot seemed to disappear. I ducked inside the car, my image disappearing inside, until only my left arm remained, pulling the car door shut behind me. I stepped through the hologram of the interior of the car and into the large, white control room of my TARDIS. I walked to the console, and typed out a series of coordinates on a keypad on the console, and with the flick of a switch, the cylindrical column in the middle of the console begins to rise and fall, the complex structure of tubes and indicators slowly rotating inside. I watched satisfactorily as the status lights in the Time Rotor one by one changed from amber to green. Outside the TARDIS, a wheezing, groaning, grinding noise rose and fell rhythmically, and the Buick slowly faded from sight. I glanced at the communications console, and notice a flashing indicator denoting a waiting message. With the tap of a key, the Main Viewscreen activated to project the image of an a friend and mentor: a small dark-haired man in a question-mark sweater. THE DOCTOR Ah, Captain... I need a favor, if it's not too much trouble. Get in touch with me when you can. Thanks! He lifted his hat off his head, put it down again, and then the image faded. THE CAPTAIN (to himself) Looks like that trip to 1973 will have to wait... I punched in a sequence on the communications console, and turned to face the viewscreen. THE CAPTAIN (to viewscreen) Captain to Doctor... Are you there, Doc? The image of the Doctor appeared on the screen. THE DOCTOR Doctor here. There you are, Captain, that was quick! THE CAPTAIN I must have just missed you. THE DOCTOR Ah, well. That's always the way, isn't it? I nodded. THE CAPTAIN Yeah... Anyway, you mentioned something about needing a favor. What's up? THE DOCTOR Well, the Celestial Intervention Agency is looking for someone to look into a time travel experiment being performed on Earth, you know, check for alien intervention and such. THE CAPTAIN (thinking) Hmm. That doesn't sound too difficult. THE DOCTOR Perhaps. You know how CIA investigations go. THE CAPTAIN That's true. Okay, I'll do it. THE DOCTOR Oh good, thank you. I had planned on looking into it myself, but since you were already in the area, I thought you might be interested. THE CAPTAIN No problem. It's been awhile since I've been on a mission anyway. THE DOCTOR I'm transmitting the data packet now... The Doctor tapped out a sequence on his console. I looked down to my console to see the file come up on the database screen. I looked over the information. THE CAPTAIN Got it. I'll be in touch then... THE DOCTOR (cordially) Good luck! THE CAPTAIN Talk to ya later. Captain out. I terminated the connection, and reset the coordinates on the navigation console for 1985 Earth. The central column began to rise and fall again as the TARDIS changed its direction. A few moments later, the central status light in the time rotor changed from green to amber. I flipped a switch, and the column halted its descent. I moved to a different panel, and called up a scan of the landing site, which appeared on a screen on the Operations console. THE CAPTAIN (musing, pointing at landmarks) No, that won't do... No, not that... Ah! That will do nicely. I disabled the lock on my chameleon circuit, and toggled the control holding the TARDIS' flight in hover mode. The central column resumed its rise and fall for a moment, when the status lights turned to red, and I watched the meters on the console carefully as the materialization sequence began. In the parking lot of Twin Pines Mall, a faint wheezing-groaning sound echoed through the night air, and a Photomat booth seemed to shimmer for a moment. A poster taped to the side of the hut fell loose and drifted to the ground, and all was still again. Back inside my TARDIS, I watched the Photomat booth fade into existence in an alcove of the control room, and smiled satisfactorially. The lights in the time rotor assembly turned to green and then faded as a thin "boink" sound emanated from the console. The column fell to its lowest point, and stopped, the time rotor still slowly turning in a clockwise direction. With that, I walked into the interior of the TARDIS. * * * As the night deepened, a truck pulled into the lot not far from where the TARDIS stood. A man in a radiation suit climbed out of the truck and looked around, as if to make sure no one else was about. A shaggy dog in a makeshift radsuit of his own jumped to the pavement, and sniffed about. The man checked his watch. DR. EMMITT BROWN (to the dog) Well, Einey, it's ten after one... Marty should be here soon! Dr. Brown turned to climbed back into the truck. DR. BROWN (to himself) I hope he remembered to bring the videocamera... * * * I looked at the image of the truck parked just outside of my TARDIS with some curiosity and a twinge of apprehension. I turned off the viewscreen and put on my hat and jacket, leaving my scarf on the coatrack for the sake of inconspicuousness. I ventured out of the TARDIS, and approached the vehicle. I stopped in my tracks as Einstein trotted toward me. THE CAPTAIN (whispering, to Einstein) Nice doggie... Good doggie... Einstein stopped about a yard away from me and sniffed at me. To my relief, he didn't bark, but instead simply eyed me curiously. I smiled at him. THE CAPTAIN (quietly, to Einstein) Yes, that's a good dog... The sound of skateboard wheels refocused my attention, and Einstein turned and padded to behind the truck. I crouched in front of the large vehicle, and waited. MARTY McFLY (to Einstein) Einstein! Hey, Einstein, where's the Doc? As if on cue, the back of the truck lowered and a ramp appeared. A 1981 DeLorean rolled out and onto the pavement. I crept up to the driver's side door of the truck and slid it open, then stepped inside to look around. Inside the truck was a hodge-podge of equipment of varying sophistication, and I scanned over it carefully but quickly. THE CAPTAIN (muttering, to himself) Well, everything seems to be in order... (looking about) Ah! Schematics! I unrolled a set of blueprints and schematics detailing the project, and poured over them deliberately for a time, checking the current pathways and circuit layouts. After a time, I put them away and looked over the remaining odds and ends, rummaging here and there, until I heard the screech of spinning tires. I looked out of the passenger side window, and watched the DeLorean lurch forward and race toward the scientist and teenager standing next to him. The car accellerated quickly, and as it got nearer, a bright light flared inside the vehicle, and blue flame shot from what appeared to be a grid around the bumper and fenders. With a flash of blue and white, the car vanished, leaving a pair of flaming tracks leading on in the car's path. The scientist began jumping up and down wildly. DR. BROWN (ecstatically) 88 Miles An Hour! I watched the spectacle in awe, then suddenly remembering that I was on a mission, stepped out of the truck. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a meter for measuring various spectra, and took readings from the direction in which the car had been a few seconds ago. The device showed a large field of stray radiation across a number of spectra, and I did some calculations in my head. THE CAPTAIN (muttering, to himself) Yes, yes that's consistent... A sudden flash of light took my attention back to the the car, which had suddenly reappeared with a kind of poofing-wooshing sound. I checked the meter again. All indications pointed to a successful attempt at time travel. Looking up again, I saw the scientist's dog trotting back toward the truck. Deciding not to chance giving my presence away just yet, I crouched behind the vehicle for a bit, then snuck back to my TARDIS. Once back inside, I fed the data I had collected with the portable spectrometer into the TARDIS databank for relay back to Gallifrey. Curious as to what was going on outside, I activated the viewscreen. At first, neither the car nor the two individuals were visible. Then, it appeared that one of them may have been lying on the ground. THE CAPTAIN (perplexed) What the..? I took a spectral reading. THE CAPTAIN (muttering) They didn't leave that way... I looked up at the viewscreen, and saw the DeLorean racing toward the TARDIS, pursued by a blue microbus. I stared incredulously for a moment at what was unfolding as I watched, then feared the possibility of a collision. And while such a collision would be of little consequence to the TARDIS, I concluded that it just might be to the driver of the DeLorean. I slammed down the red lever controlling the door mechanism, and the doors began to close. My fingers played the console like a concert pianists' as I prepared for a transference jump. I jabbed my thumb at the master switch. The time rotor roared to life, its status lights blazing from green to red. A deep thump reverberated through the console room as the drive systems engaged. THE CAPTAIN (fearful) I'm not gonna make it... I stared at the viewscreen, and my eyes widened in horror. Blue flame began to leap from the front of the car, and I understood the implications instantly. Two objects in close proximity in temporal flux... THE CAPTAIN (screaming) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I stabbed desperately at the emergency override, trying to disconnect the time vector generator. But it was too late. The booth in the alcove of the console room was already disappearing, returning to the extradimensional world. Furiously I attempted to disconnect everything and anything, hoping to avoid an overload. THE CAPTAIN (commanding, to himself) Hang on, Captain! I grabbed hold of the edge of the console and braced for the worst. To my horror, a fireball erupted from the console... * Copyright (c) 1993, 1996 Wildcat Productions (Rev 06-23)