nce again Ace wasn't quite sure what was going on in the TARDIS. For the past few days the Doctor had been more than usually sombre, spending a good deal of his time wandering apparently aimlessly up an down the various long and winding corridors which littered the ship. However, no matter how far he went he always managed to find his way back to the control room which always irritated her, for on more than one occasion she had found herself lost down a corridor she had mistaken for another ( a very easy thing to do ) and having to call for rescue.

 

From what she could tell, the Doctor seemed to spend his wanderings muttering to himself and, most worrying of all, frequently answering himself in a slightly different roles. At times, these 'conversations' would develop into mild arguments as if he were debating something in his mind over and over again.

 

Much to Ace's relief the debate seemed finally to have ended when one Tuesday (or was it Friday?), as he hung over the TARDIS console, the Doctor announced:

 

‘We're going on a little trip, Ace.’

 

‘Where to, Professor?’ she exclaimed, ‘Skaro, Blackpool, Castrovalva...not Iceworld I hope!’

 

He looked up at her and smiled, ‘No, none of those places, just a small quiet town I happen to be acquainted with and, before you start protesting it isn't Perivale! I just hope you won't be too bored there. Now, if I can just get the co-ordinates right we should be able to make a perfect landing.’

 

Standing back from the controls after making various minor adjustments to the settings, the Doctor looked contented. ‘There,’ he said, ‘that should be right.’

 

Ace couldn't be fooled however, and she knew for a fact that he had his fingers crossed behind his back the whole journey and he definitely couldn't hide the look of relief on his face when they both stepped from the TARDIS still all in one piece.

 

Ace had always wondered why small towns and villages were often described as being 'sleepy' but now she knew. This place was so peaceful and damned quiet that it could have the possible distinction of being more boring than Perivale (a fact indeed). She wasn't sure whether to scream out loud to wake things up or yawn and eventually decided on neither reaction and instead asked the Doctor where exactly they were going, a fair enough question to ask and one which she almost continually seemed to be asking recently.

 

Turning around, he gazed at her curiously as if he had only just noticed she was still with him and replied: ‘Well, I'm going over there,’ he pointed to a large grey structure in the distance which for some reason gave Ace a cold chill when she looked at it, ‘while you can get something to eat and drink in that shop down there and wait.’ He now pointed in the opposite direction while digging deep into one of his many pockets with his other hand.

 

Producing a couple of grubby looking coins he gave them to her, saying, ‘There, that should do.’

 

Staring at the pieces of dark silver in her hand, Ace laughed. ‘Two shillings! What do you think this is, the dark ages? Alright, I'll see what I can get with them. Hopefully the old dear serving behind the counter will be half blind so she wont notice what I'm giving her.’ A thought suddenly struck her and she spoke again. ‘By the way, if you don't mind me asking what are you planning to do over there?’

 

‘It's personal,’ was the only response she got so she had to make do with it as they headed their different ways.

 

The truth of the matter was, that the Doctor did have some up to date currency on his person but was saving it for a very special purchase.

 

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