working order, and the Doctor was
snatching forty winks in a large cane chair that he had moved into the
console room and then - WHAM! The TARDIS had hit something very
powerful, which blew its main drives and was plummeting out of control.
A scream
that accompanied the unexpected starfall gradually rose in pitch, and
Mel, who had virtually crawled to the console room fell backwards, hands
on ears, scream on lips. The Doctor was faring little better. Haven
been brutally woken, and then forcibly pushed from his chair, he was now
clinging on to the console for dear life as smoke and sparks burst from
the console and rose in grey and yellow pillars to the ceiling.
Blindly
stabbing at controls, his eyes seared by the acrid fumes, the Doctor
hit a large yellow control, and the TARDIS levelled out to its normal
upright position, throwing the Time Lord to the floor. But still the
TARDIS fell like a stone in a lake, the main drives blown, its power
fading fast, the Doctor staggered to his feet and made his way to Mel,
who was lying unconscious, a pool of blood dripping onto the floor from a
head wound. Wrapping his arms around, the Doctor had just started
muttering a Gallifreyan prayer, when they hit Arillios.
3. The Problem Begins…
he Doctor’s eyes flickered open, glanced left then right and then upwards. The blackened TARDIS ceiling stared back.
‘Good grief, what a
mess…’ he muttered when he saw the ruined console, melted metal and
plastic hanging like blackened stalactites from the underside of the
console. Shaking his head to assemble his thoughts into some logical
order, he turned his attentions to Mel, who was starting to stir,
congealed blood in a long jagged stream down her face.
‘What happened, Doctor?’ she asked faintly.‘Sshh, keep quiet, I’m just going to get the medi-kit.’
He replied, before he vanished past her into one of the many doors. He
emerged with the box, and washed and covered the wound. ‘There, as good
as new,’ he said and grinned.