"Captain Who" Serial 1A: Timelines - Episode 2 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... B O O M ! ! ! The TARDIS shook violently as displays and keypads blew out with a large thundercrack, sparks flying everywhere. A split second later the central column exploded in a tremendous fireball, spraying perspex everywhere and hurling me against the wall of the console room. I crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The interior lighting gave out, leaving the room lit only by a chain-reaction of smaller explosions that went off around the console, arcs snapping across the broken console intermittantly, the entire TARDIS interior still pitching and heaving wildly. * * * A young man of around 14 sat in the back of a limo as it traveled down a nondescript stretch of highway. The boy watched the scenery go by with an expression somewhere between sneering and pouting. His eyes narrowed a bit as his eyes focused on something. He pressed his hands to the glass and his jaw dropped as a large dark green box approximately 10 foot high, 6 feet wide, and 6 feet long half faded, half flickered into sight with a stuttering wheezing-groan a few dozen feet from the road. His curiosity was piqued. He jabbed the button to activate the limo's intercom. MONTANA MAX (barking into the intercom) Stop the car, Jeeves, now! The limo screeched to a halt, and before the chauffeur could get open the door for his employer, it flung open and Max dashed toward the unusual object. * * * A green anthropomorphic duck gazed out the window at his surroundings just outside of his hut at the edge of a body of water, as if searching for something. A blue anthropomorphic rabbit sat across from him impatiently for a few seconds, tapping his pen on the table the two of them sat at, then frowned. BUSTER BUNNY (impatiently, then fed up) Plucky? PLUCKY! Plucky refocused his attention. PLUCKY DUCK What, what already? BUSTER Plucky, you said you wanted me to come over and study for tomorrow's big math test with you, and ever since I got here you've done nothing but goof off. Now are we gonna study, or what? PLUCKY (defensively) Well, yeah, but... Didn't you hear that noise? BUSTER It was just thunder, Plucky. Plucky shot Buster a look. PLUCKY Thunder? You're the one with the sensitive ears, and you call that thunder? BUSTER Okay, Poindexter, what do *you* think it is? Some alien spacecraft come to wreak havoc on Acme Acres? Plucky ponders this for a few seconds. PLUCKY Well, it *sounded* like something landing... Buster rolls his eyes and tosses his pen on the table. BUSTER (exasperated) Look, I've just about had it with you for today, Plucky. Maybe you don't really care if you pass this test, but I *do*. PLUCKY I *do* wanna study, but... Buster raises an eyebrow. PLUCKY (continuing, increasingly excited) ...What if it was a plane crash? A car wreck? What if somebody is laying out there *gasp* dying or something? Plucky chews on his fingers, having just whipped himself into a nervous frenzy. Buster throws up his hands. BUSTER (at the end of his rope) Okay, look, if I go with you to take a quick look around and make sure nobody's hurt, *then* will you settle down and study? Buster and Plucky walked out of the hut into the late afternoon sun. Plucky stopped long enough for Buster to inherit the lead. PLUCKY (quietly, now frightened/nervous) You can go first, Buster. Buster rolls his eyes. BUSTER (muttering) I don't know why I let you talk me into these things... * * * I awoke with a start, and at first, I thought I had been blinded by the carnage. But slowly my eyes adjusted to the dark shadows of the normally bright console room, lit only by the soft glow from phosphorescent particles imbedded in the walls. My eyes focused on something large on the ceiling. The console? A look at the "ground" explained it. The TARDIS was upside down, and I was on the ceiling. I picked bits of console components off of me, and crawled to a standing position. With effort I climbed up the wall to the floor, and with a leap of faith, grabbed the shattered console. With some nimble fingerwork, I found the manual attitude adjustment controls on the underside of the console. I pushed the button in as hard as I could, and the interior of the TARDIS lurched, tipping to a 45-degree angle. I released the button, and then slowly pushed it again. The interior slowly righted itself, and I breathed a sigh of relief. All of the debris slid down to one corner, leaving me a fine mess to clean up. I walked over to one of the alcove closets, and got a crank handle from it. I inserted it in a small hole near the door hinges, and turned. The huge double doors slowly crept open. I sunk to the floor and leaned against one of the doors, dazed, but grateful for a dose of natural light and air from outside. * * * Max watched as part of the box slid outward with a soft whirring noise. He backed up a few steps, unsure what to make of it. He thought for a moment, then turned to his servant standing just behind him. MAX Jeeves, go and take a look inside that thing. Jeeves hesitated. MAX (impatiently) Well? Jeeves sighed and walked over to the opening of the strange object. * * * After a moment's rest, I realized I was in pain, the adrenaline surge gone. I rested for a little while longer, then slowly got to my feet. I stumbled across the room to the door leading to the TARDIS interior, and pushed it open. I stepped into the corridor and turned right, then limped down the dim corridor. I heaved against the door, and fell into the power room. The room was almost completely dark, and I had to look to find a softly glowing switch. I reached out and toggled it, and the TARDIS interior lit up to around three-fourths its regular intensity. THE CAPTAIN (to himself) Good ol' emergency power... I smiled weakly, relieved that the storage cells didn't seem to be damaged, then stumbled back against the doorframe. * * * Jeeves peered into the opening of the box, and quickly withdrew his head to look at the outside of it, as if to size it, then looked back inside. After a time turned around, a shocked, confused look on his face. Max looked at his servant's face curiously. MAX (unsympathetically) What the heck's the matter with you? Jeeves gestured to the box. JEEVES (totally out of it) It's... it's... inside... it's... Max huffed. MAX (mostly to himself) Geez, does a millionaire have to do everything himself these days? Max strode up to the box and looked inside for himself. His jaw dropped. * * * I wearily limped back down the corridor of the TARDIS interior. THE CAPTAIN (mumbling) Must rest... must... rest... I heaved myself against another door to stumble into my quarters. I flopped onto my bed, and knew no more. * * * Buster and Plucky came up over a hill to see a familiar black limo sitting in the middle of the road, with an odd-looking box-shaped object not too far away. PLUCKY (not understanding) Isn't that Monty's limo? BUSTER (thinking aloud) Yeah... I wonder what he's doing here. PLUCKY C'mon, let's find out! Plucky grabbed Buster's arm and pulled him toward the scene. BUSTER Hey..! The pair approached the box to see Max peering inside the opening. Monty turned as he heard them approach, and eyed them narrowly. PLUCKY Hey Monty, what's going on? BUSTER Yeah, where'd the box come from? Max took on a defensive stance at the opening, the look on his face and the gleam in his eyes making his intentions clear. MAX (defensive, turning defiant) This thing just appeared out of nowhere, but I found it, and it's *all mine*! * Copyright (c) 1993, 1996 Wildcat Productions (Rev 06-23)