Ticks & Tocks
Art by aimsleydale (LJ | e-mail | comment) and Neth Dugan (LJ | e-mail | comment)
Chapter 5
Mal and Zoe ran down the last flight of stairs, continuing to look over their shoulders. They were certain no one saw them leave the forty-second floor, but they couldn't take any chances. The door to the lobby opened and they scampered behind a nearby wall to hide.
"Please, remain calm, ladies and gentlemen. Everything is in order; one of the boilers is acting up, that's all," Proctor's voice echoed over the speakers. The loud conversations and crying could be heard from the lobby. The abrupt shoot out with Proctor's men and the... whatever they were, had not gone unnoticed.
Darting through the lobby, they entered the back room, passing upset waitresses crying into their sleeves. Exiting the back door, Mal noticed several of the cooks standing outside, smoking hand rolled cigarettes, their hands shaking. Of course they would be more frightened; unlike the attendees, they were aware of the reality of the situation.
They weaved around the other parked ships, slowing to catch their breath. Finally, the pair came upon the shuttle. Sitting beside it was Jayne, the crate with him. Mal sighed, relieved at the success of the job. As they approached, Mal looked at Jayne, and immediately noticed something was missing.
"Where's Kaylee?" He asked before Jayne could even stand. The mercenary looked around Mal, an uneasiness creeping over his features.
"I lost her in the ruckus; I thought she went on back to you-"
"I told you two specifically to stick together!" Mal shouted, his neck flushing red with anger as he stepped closer to his crew member.
Jayne squared up to him, exhaling gruffly. "I was getting shot at left, right, and center, Mal; I couldn't go running back for her. She's been on jobs before; she knows what to do."
"Not when there's a brawl a happening! I ain't paying you for your brain, but really, what were you thinking?" Mal was livid. Kaylee was the sister he never had; only matters involving her could get him that upset.
Zoe placed her hand on Mal's shoulder, perfectly calm. "Sir, 'Nara is on Beaumonde for the next two weeks; she's agreed to help us, you told us yourself. Kaylee knows to go to her."
"And how in the hell is she supposed to get herself out of that? Kaylee knows engines, not fighting!" He spat. Groaning, Mal ran his hands through his hair. "This is what we're gonna do-"
Before he could finish his sentence, Zoe grabbed the back of his head and slammed it into the side of the shuttle. Mal fell limp onto the ground, knocked out cold.
Jayne stared at her. "Ain't that mutiny?"
"Jooh koh. Captain wasn't in the right state of mind. Get him and the stone on board," she ordered.
BOOM!
The deafening sound of an explosion caused the ground to shake. Zoe and Jayne looked up to the large pagoda; black smoke billowed from the upper half of the building. It had to have come from the forty-second floor; there was no question about it.
Zoe clicked in the code for the shuttle's door. "Let's hit sky now, Jayne." The door moved open and Zoe ran aboard directly to the cockpit. Sitting down, she several buttons on, revving up the engine.
She pulled down the speaker. "Wash, we're back on the shuttle, over."
There was a brief interval before the radio finally crackled. "I can see smoke coming from the building; did everything go okay?" Wash answered, concerned.
"It's a mite complicated, sweetie. I'll explain once we've boarded Serenity." Zoe looked to the back on the shuttle; Mal lay on the floor, still unconscious, while Jayne set down the crate, closing the door. She turned back to the controls, turning on the security field.
Zoe tugged on the controls, lifting the shuttle off the ground slowly. Setting the coordinates for the gap in the security, the shuttle coasted over the other parked ships. It was on the other side of the landing area, but they were through the worst of it.
A loud beeping went off on the control panel, and Zoe leaned closer to the source. The shuttle was picking up another ship, active and flying. She read the information below it; 'NO SHIP INFORMATION FOUND' flashed repeatedly.
"Rung tse fwo tzoo bao yo wuo muhn," The first mate muttered, accelerating the shuttle's speed. She grinded her teeth together as another warning beeped in a lower tone. As a pilot's wife, she knew that sound; the ship had locked onto them. She turned on the viewer; it was a large ship, the design more round and flowing than the angular structure of Serenity, and it was hot on their trail.
Zoe kept her eyes on the sky as the shuttle soared toward the glitch. However, it could only go so fast; the other ship would catch up in a matter of minutes. The control panel buzzed, informing Zoe that the specified coordinates were rapidly approaching. The glitch would close soon, Kaylee said that they only had short amount of time to get through it. She could almost hear the roar of the other ship's engine, looming behind them.
"Zoe, there's a rumbling, and it ain't us," Jayne began, hearing the other ship clearly. She decided it was better to ignore him; a scared Jayne was not a pleasant Jayne.
Pulling the controls, Zoe steered the shuttle upward, sweat beginning to accumulate on her hands. Kicking it up faster, the shuttle gracefully passed through the hole in the security, not a knick in the structure. She looked down at the viewer; the ship was still following them. However, it came to a sudden stop, waves rippling off from the point where the ship had impacted with the security shield. The ship's front crumpled slightly, and it bounced backward.
With the other ship stopped in its tracks Zoe leaned back in her chair, breathing a huge sigh of relief.
Kaylee gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. She had expected nothing more than a dark, old box that would have a funny smell inside. The golden light of the interior illuminated the features of her face. It was a room- not as large as the one she had just been in, but most certainly too big of room for a box that size to hold. The walls were bronze, large rows of bolts going up toward the ceiling. Six beams, which held up the domed curve of the roof, swerved and looped. They were the same color as the wall.
Her green eyes then focused on the center of the room, where she was immediately drawn to a great big console. A large cylinder was perched atop a round piece of machinery that rose from the metal paneled floor. The mechanism glowed turquoise, the light flooding the area around it. Inside of it were wires and more devices. Approaching it, Kaylee ran her hand across the slabs of bronze metal. She touched one of the objects within the glow, and smiled.
Next to Serenity, she had never seen anything more beautiful in her life.
Looking up, Kaylee moved to the other side of the machine. She reached in, picking up a spherical object made up of tiny silver pieces. Rotating it in her hands, she ran her thumb over an indent that encircled the entire object. Placing pressure at both ends, the ball easily opened, revealing a mass of wires and unlit light bulbs.
"Oh," she said involuntarily. Whatever it was, Kaylee could easily tell that it hadn't been working in quite a while. Just as she was about to close it, however, she noticed several unplugged wires. Carefully, she inspected the end of each of them, noticing that all were unique. The tip of her finger inspected the inside of it until it found three deep inputs in it; each input was shaped differently from the other. She plugged several of the wires, a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as they fit in perfectly. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out a tiny screwdriver and began tightening the small bolts inside of it.
A chorus of beeps and boops began, with little lights flashing rapidly. Kaylee's smile widened and she closed the sphere, reaching back into the machine. Before she could set it down, however, something caught her eye. Placing the round object aside, she studied the interior below where it was supposed to be. Like its round counterpart, it hadn't been working in awhile.
Ain't nothing working? She thought to herself. Kaylee leaned in, checking all of the ports and lines. Her fingers felt a small object, and gripping it tightly, she tugged it from the port. She brought the object into view; it was a rubber duck, bright yellow with big, black eyes and a matching red bow tie. Kaylee squeezed it, and yelped when it quacked. Placing the duck in her bag, she ran her hand against the metal; it was bent. She pulled out her hammer, and carefully, banged the port several times before the dent was nearly gone.
Beaming, she clicked the sphere back into its place. She was excited-no, it was so much more than that. Adrenaline was coursing through her veins; it happened every time she fixed one of Serenity's parts successfully. Looking at several other pieces of equipment, she noticed they, too, were not working. But her screwdriver or other tools wouldn't be of any use; several things needed to be welded, rewired, or even replaced.
Bending down, Kaylee noticed a panel built inside the stand. She opened it easily, and "aaahed" at the thick black cables that hung like vines and the odd shaped gadgets that mounted inside. Serenity was wonderfully complicated and beautifully intricate, but it didn't hold a candle to what was before her now. Her hand felt for her bag, and she dug furiously inside as she crawled back under the console- she needed a flashlight. She wanted to pull everything apart very slowly before putting the pieces meticulously back together-
"What are you doing?"
Kaylee's heart skipped a- no, several- beats and she straightened herself, only to hit her head against the metal underside of the machinery.
"Ita-ta-tai!" She cried, rubbing the back of her head. Standing up properly, Kaylee turned and saw a tall, lithe man at the doorway. He was dressed in a brown pinstriped suit, with a brown trench coat worn ovate top. His brown hair was standing up, and if she wasn't in such a state of shock and hadn't had a heavy pounding centered on the back of her head, she would've been laughing.
The man stepped toward her. "Are you all right?"
"Oh, I'm shiny!" She said quickly, smiling weakly. Looking down, Kaylee quickly shut the open panel. "I'm sorry I intruded! There was some rumbling going on, and I ain't much for rumbling. I hope you don't mind, mister...?"
"The Doctor."
"Doctor...?"
"Just... the Doctor," the man answered, returning a soft smile.
Kaylee's smile faded slightly. "You ain't got a name?"
"I do. But I very much prefer being called the Doctor."
She nodded her head. "What kind of doctor are you?"
"Oh, a doctor of many things," the Doctor stated, a hint of mystery in his voice. However, he quickly lost interest as he approached the console, walking passed Kaylee. "Now, what was it you touched?"
Kaylee turned away. "Just that shiny ball thing over yonder," she answered, "Oh, and the stuff it's hooked up to!"
The Doctor circled the console, his hand stroking the metal lightly. Kaylee could swear she heard him talking to it. Despite whatever awkwardness there was, she couldn't help but like the mysterious Doctor. He continued until he found the object Kaylee had been playing with before. Picking it up, he examined it closely until he finally opened it. His brown eyes widened as he watched the lights and sounds go off.
"You fixed the proton reformulator," he mumbled in disbelief. The Doctor looked directly to her. "How did you know what was broken?"
Kaylee walked closer, pointing to where the Doctor was standing. "See underneath? Them parts wasn't aligning properly, so I tinkered around until they was fitting all correct. Turns out there was just something jamming the engine. What does it do?"
He glanced back at the console, lifting the round part of the proton reformulator to inspect her work. "It's a part of the chameleon circuit; it repairs and smoothes out the particles of the landing area of the TARDIS, specifically when it has changed-
He paused, staring back at her. "Are you meaning to tell me you fixed a highly advanced piece of equipment and you don't even know what it does?" The Doctor eyed her, stepping away from the machinery.
Kaylee shrugged her shoulders. "Be lying if I said otherwise."
The Doctor stared at the girl, looking back at the proton reformulator before returning his gaze to Kaylee. "What training have you had?"
"Just working at my pa's shop. Everyone does machine work on Kiyome, and I just... picked stuff up. I love working with anything that ticks 'n' tocks, and clicks 'n' clocks," she answered honestly, proud of herself.
Rubbing his chin, the Doctor delved into thought. "Curiouser and curiouser ..." He trailed off. The girl was able to fix his ship just by looking at it. A human shouldn't be able to that. Nyssa and Turlough could, but they weren't human. Maybe Liz, or even Mel. But the girl showed no indication of any of the training they went through. In fact, she looked like she just stepped off the farm. That girl, that girl, that girl...
"I'm sorry, what was your name again?" He asked sheepishly.
"I didn't say it in the first place," she teased. "Kaywinnet Lee Frye, but folks just call me Kaylee."
The Doctor nodded. "Well, Kaylee, I hope you've found my ship quite comfortable. But tell me, how did you come to find it?"
Kaylee's green eyes lit up. "Ship?" she squeaked, immediately taking in the coral interior. It was easy to see now why she had been so captivated; her parents always said she had a way with machines, and she loved space ships. But she had never seen one quite like this.
"Yes, it's called a TARDIS, but I really need you to answer my question," he urged. Normally, he could go on and on about the TARDIS, and had the feeling that Kaylee would hang on to every word, but finding someone working on the console was unsettling, to say the least.
"Oh, it was in the middle of the room, and it was powerfully warm. Got curious."
"Funny. That room was sealed off completely; you even needed a key to use the lift. How did you get in there?"
"Oh, it ain't hard," Kaylee laughed. The Doctor was being awfully nosy, and she couldn't risk the job; everyone was counting on the money from it.
Nodding, the Doctor took a step backwards. "Very interesting. Would you mind showing me?" He began approaching the door and saw her expression change; she have been a great mechanic, but she was a terrible liar. "Stuff like that fascinates me, y'know? Always a mystery, but that's how I am; I can't get enough mystery in my life!"
"Deng deng!" She cried, running from the console. Barely slipping past the Doctor, Kaylee leaned her entire body against the door, smiling nervously. For all she knew, those terrible monsters were still outside, waiting; she didn't think she could handle facing them a second time. "I can show you later! I promise! I swear I ain't gon' go back on it!"
The Doctor nodded. "That's what I thought." He clicked his tongue. She was frightened out of her wits, her body trembling- she had to have seen the Kluvians. This meant, if he was guessing correctly, that she was in the room before the bodyguards and, most likely, the Kluvians even arrived. It wasn't hard to guess that she wasn't alone. The room contained priceless fortunes and was guarded heavily. There were others, and she was covering for them. Kaylee was most likely involved with thieves, looting Proctor's little treasure-trove.
At that moment, all he could see was the giant screen reading the date. Something important happened that day, something the Kluvians were interrupting. It had something to do with the bandits Kaylee was a part of and what they were stealing, he knew it. The Doctor desperately attempted to remember back to his history lessons at the Academy, but it did no good. He'd have to do this the old fashioned way.
"Kaylee, I need you to answer my questions honestly; no skimping details, yes?" He asked, very serious. She nodded, her eyes flickering back at the door behind her; she was frightened that he would open the door, allowing her to be at the mercy of the Kluvians. "I know others were with you, and you were stealing some of Proctor's artifacts-"
"I'm sorry, Doctor, but it ain't like-"
"Kaylee, I'm not going to turn you in to the police, and I'm not going to drag you out to the Kluvians! I just need to know what you took!" The look she gave him as her face crumpled tugged at his hearts. She wasn't a bad girl- in fact, he was sure she had a proverbial heart of gold. He felt like a bully, yelling at a girl who was so terrified. Never mind that his past selves would've done the same; in fact, they would've driven her off the ship. He was older now, and should've known better.
She whimpered. "The, er... Roselita Stone- we was hired to grab it," Kaylee confessed. Tears blurred her eyes; the crew would label her a snitch, she knew it. The captain and the rest of the crew would have to face off against Proctor, who'd risk his pride and sell out Simon and River. She bit her bottom lip, holding up what was left of her pride from trickling down her cheeks.
The Doctor raised his eyebrows. His expression wasn't stunned or aghast; rather, he was... confused. "Roselita Stone?" He repeated, turning around and walking back to the console. "Roselita Stone, Roselita Stone, Roselita Stone..."
"ROSETTA STONE!" He yelled suddenly, facing Kaylee. His eyes were wide and his arms flailed about.
Kaylee nodded her head, pointing at him. "That's it!"
"Oh dear," The Doctor muttered, taking off his brown trench coat and throwing it on the nearby chair; he knew he only needed a small reminder. Things were always bad when Kluvians were around, but in this case, they were much worse. "Did you manage to steal it?"
She nodded, walking away from the door. "Jayne- he does all the missions with the Cap'n and Zoe- got it out... I hope."
"You hope? Kaylee, I need to know."
"I ain't sure! I got left behind, remember? I couldn't see nothing with those weird... things running 'bout!"
"You saw Kluvians. I can tell you all about them, but not until I know whether your crew has the stone or not."
For a solitary moment, she was silent. As far as she was concerned, that wasn't a fair trade off. Then, Kaylee brightened. "We could send them a wave! They won't say outright if we got it- not in front of folks we don't know- but they'll let me know!"
The Doctor scratched his wild hair. "A wave?"
The mechanic pointed at the screen installed in the console. "You know, talk to them over yonder and let them know I'm shiny?"
It dawned on him, his mouth gaping open and he nodded. "Oh, right! A wave, a wave." He lunged for the console. "I'll need your ship's coordinates, of course."
Twisting her mouth, Kaylee leaned down and pulled open the panel. She grabbed a handful of wires and glared at the Doctor. "You hornswoggle me, and you'll be spending the next year trying to put all these back into place," she warned, her voice wavering. Kaylee hated doing any damage to ships, especially to one as nice as the Doctor's, but she was already putting the crew in danger; leverage was key.
The Doctor nodded solemnly. "You have my word."
Standing up and setting herself right next to the Doctor, Kaylee left the panel open and focused on the screen. "Her name's Serenity, Firefly class interstellar salvage ship number 844-092056."
The Doctor's fingers pounded against the keyboard, hitting the 'Enter' key with his pinky.
This time, Mal was sure he didn't have a hangover. Stirring, his eyes fluttered open, the bright light disorientating him. Despite the pounding in his head, Mal quickly realized that he wasn't outside of the shuttle on Proctor's property. He was in the infirmary, laying on one of the cold, hard slabs in the center of the odorless room. Running his hand through his hair, he began recollecting the events of the past day. They had performed the job successfully, he remembered, when some weird... he couldn't describe them, but they gave his crew a heaping of trouble. However they'd got the stone, and were meeting at the shuttle when-
"Zoe," he growled, sliding off the slab as he finally recalled his head colliding against the shuttle courtesy of his first mate. Mal's neck reddened as he stormed through the corridor, concentrating solely on getting the cockpit where Zoe would most likely be with her good-for-nothing husband.
"Captain!" Simon's faint voice called out, running behind him. "Captain, you've only just woken up. If you could return-
"I'm starting to forget just who gives the orders around here. Now, head on back to the infirmary," Mal yelled, passing the entrance to Kaylee's room. The usual spill of light from under the door was absent; even the string of fairy lights was turned off. He immediately started walking faster until he reached the ladder leading to the cockpit.
Just before he climbed it, Mal turned around to yell at his doctor. "And get your sister out of my engine room! What happened to respecting a captain's authority?" He climbed the ladder, easily reaching the cockpit where Zoe and Wash sat, staring at the black. Had he really been knocked out that long?
It didn't matter as he approached them, his brows firmly set. "Zoe, I aim to trust you the best I can, but I'm awful curious as to why you felt that I wasn't doing my job properly, especially in front of Jayne! That's giving him ideas!"
Zoe sighed and stood up from her seat on her husband's lap. She looked the captain directly in the eyes. "Not a planned move on my part, sir. However, your worries over Kaylee were affecting your ability to perform the job, so I felt it was better to remove you until you were able to do so properly."
Mal nodded. "And what about Kaylee? Inara contacted us at all yet?"
Wash rotated his chair. "Nothing. She's probably busy with customers still."
"So we have the stone? As in, none of the usual double crossing happened?" Mal asked, doing his best to sound authoritative.
A small smile creased Zoe's lips. "Packed and waiting to be dropped off at Kiyome." After a moment, her features darkened, her eyebrows pressed together. "Right after you were knocked out, we were tailed by another ship. We couldn't pick up what make it was, but we lost 'em, thanks to the glitch Kaylee set up."
"Proctor's men?"
"I don't reckon so."
Mechanical beeps interrupted them, Wash checking the panel. He glanced back his wife and the captain. "There's an incoming wave from an unidentified ship," he announced. Mal and Zoe looked at each other, silent.
Finally, Mal turned away. "Send it through."
Walsh did nothing for a moment, hesitating. Finally, he pressed several buttons, the screen flashing on.
"Ni hao!" Kaylee's bright voice greeted them. Her smile was wide, her face up close to the screen. All worry Mal had now dissolved; Kaylee was the type of girl who couldn't hide her emotions even if she tried, and by the looks of things, she was in no danger.
Mal exhaled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Wu de ma, Kaylee. My hair is a shade grayer on account of you. Are you okay? Did they hurt you-"
Kaylee laughed. "I'm shiny, Cap'n. No, they didn't get me. I-" She paused, thinking. "I hid on a ship, so they missed me. The owner's real swell! He's letting me stay aboard!" Reaching off screen, Kaylee pulled at something, or rather, someone. A male voice protested, only to be encouraged by the mechanic.
With a tug, Kaylee pulled a man into sight. He was young, perhaps a bit younger than himself, Mal deduced. He smiled nervously at the crew, waving weakly. "Hello! It's very nice to meet you all!"
Mal nodded. "I'm Malcolm Reynolds, captain of Serenity. I can't be more grateful that you're looking after little Kaylee, mister...?"
"The Doctor," the man answered.
"Doctor who?"
"Oh, don't get him into that," Kaylee interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I just wanted to send a wave over making sure everyone's shiny. Y'all get me a-scared."
For a moment, Mal stood there, confused before catching on to what Kaylee had said. "Yes, yes! The crew? They's all fine, so fret not. My only concern was about you."
"Aww, xie xie, Cap'n. Say, do you think we can meet up? I've been yearning to see my folks, you know."
"I don't know, Kaylee. I'd prefer if you stayed in one-"
"Really, Captain Reynolds, it's no trouble," the Doctor interjected. "What Kaylee failed to tell you is that as soon as she snuck aboard, she started fixing my ship! I'd be happy to bring her over to meet up with you; it would be the least I could do for her as proper payment."
Biting his lower lip, Mal thought to himself. He knew nothing of the man who had taken Kaylee aboard and wanted him nowhere near their business dealings. What if he was an agent for the Alliance? Mal had his share of their disturbances.
"We'll be hitting soil on Kiyome. It's about two days' time from Beaumonde, so we'll most likely be there by morning, but if you can't make it in time, we'll stick around for you," he offered. He was hesitant on this, but would feel better with Kaylee aboard. If the Doctor decided on double crossing them, it could be taken care of at another time.
"Oh, don't worry. We'll be there," the Doctor replied, grinning.
Mal nodded. "All right. I appreciate you taking care of Kaylee, Doctor. See you then."
Both Kaylee and the Doctor waved, continuing even as Wash ended the transmission.
The Doctor sighed, backing away from the screen. "Well, then. Seems like you're nice enough pirates."
Kaylee giggled, closing the panel of the console with her foot. "We ain't pirates; we're legitimate criminals. Don't take nothing we ain't hired to rob," she rebutted, very proud of herself.
"Comforting." The Time Lord crossed his arms, leaning his back against the console. His mind thought over the ship Kaylee was responsible for, Serenity. "Firefly class ship. They were beauts, weren't they?"
Kaylee immediately beamed at the mention of her ship. "Oh, they're more than that, especially Serenity. I worked on lots of ships with my pa and uncles, but none of them could even compare to her." She paused, staring back at the bronze interior of the TARDIS. "Well, yours runs a close second."
The Doctor raised his eyebrow at her. "Second? The TARDIS is second to no other ship," he defended, rubbing his nose with his hand.
The mechanic scoffed at him, walking away from the console. "You ain't seen my baby in action. She's outrun the Alliance and Reavers more times than you can count on two hands."
"Child's play," the Doctor replied, running his hand across the edge of the console. He liked this, bantering about ships. As much as he enjoyed 21st century humans, they had a long way to go technology wise, and he missed having a good discussion about ships and all their functions. "The TARDIS is like no human ship."
"Nothing you can say will sway me otherwise," she challenged him, her own arms crossed. She gave him a mischievous smile. For a girl as innocent in appearance as she was, she was much craftier than she let on.
Placing both hands on the console, the Doctor smirked. "What if I told you that the TARDIS... was grown?"
"I'd say you were spouting lies. That's something a child would come up with."
Standing up straight, the Doctor approached Kaylee. "I told you that I don't lie, and I'm not. This TARDIS was grown many, many years ago in a place very far from here," he told her in a hushed whisper, standing face to face with her.
Kaylee gave a weak chuckle, studying the coral beams around her. "Ships ain't grown," was her only response.
"This was, and hundreds of others like it. Grown and cultivated, it does things that Serenity can only dream of."
"Like? She can travel to other worlds."
"The TARDIS can travel to other worlds in other dimensions. And that's just the tip of the iceberg." The Doctor leaned down, his face a breath away from hers. "She can travel in time."
Kaylee stepped away, running her hand through her hair. "You're fibbing! That ain't possible; its science fiction go se."
The Doctor stepped backwards. "Really? Science fiction, eh?" He turned around and dashed for the console, twisting knobs and flicking on switches. "Let's test that. Kiyome, two days from now? Done."
Kaylee stood motionless for a moment, staring at the Doctor's back. Clenching her fists, she walked over to him. She watched as he punched in several coordinates before he looked up to her. "Ready?"
"For nothing? I'm eagerly anticipating it."
His hearts pounding, the Doctor yanked the large switch on the side. The column began pounding up and down, its distinctive cry screeching. Kaylee yelped, jumping away from the console. However, her eyes never left the long central column, its blue glow illuminating her delighted face. Every ship was different, and the Doctor's was no exception. The howl of the TARDIS wasn't frightening or anything bad. To Kaylee, it was better than the finest musical composition in all the 'Verse.
Suddenly, the control room began to shake, the coils attached to the console springing out. The Doctor groaned, running to the other side. "Not this again! I can barely keep up with you!"
"What needs to be done?" Kaylee demanded, her hands against the console as she began to lose her balance.
The Doctor looked around the column. "There's a lever near you. I installed it for just this sort of thing. Keep cranking it whilst holding up that green switch."
Nodding, Kaylee immediately put herself to work, grabbing the lever despite its gold leaf chipping off onto her hand, and began cranking the gear. Her spare hand pushed the nearby lime green switch which dwarfed her small palm. The TARDIS continued to shake violently, knocking the Doctor off balance several times. Kaylee gasped when he fell to the floor, only to be hushed by him as he pulled himself up. The shaking dulled, though the ship began swaying.
The two grinned at each other. "Not bad, Miss Frye," the Doctor called.
She continued to crank the lever. "I know," she said sweetly.
Suddenly, the vibration and tilting stopped at once. The Doctor and Kaylee held to the console tightly, afraid of anymore sudden movements. It took a moment for either of them to realize the silence consuming the room, the hum of the engine absent. They looked up at the column at once; it was no longer moving back and forth, its glow softened to the point of blinking out.
"Doctor... what's going on?" Kaylee squeaked, staring at the idle column.
The Time Lord gulped silently. "I... I'm not-"
A ripple went through the control room, but not from the machinery. A loud bong reverberated throughout the room, followed by an identical one. Kaylee swore they sounded like the church bells back home that concluded mass every Sunday. She flinched every time it rang, clutching the console.
"The cloister bell?" The Doctor muttered to himself, scrambling up. "What's the meaning of this?"
He circled the console, reaching where he marked in the coordinates. His eyes widened and he observed it closer. "We've stopped."
Kaylee nodded. "I get that."
"No, no," the Doctor replied. "The TARDIS has been sent on a detour. We're still in your time period, your galaxy, but something stopped us several hours before our destination at Kiyome, something so great, it sounded the cloister bell."
Pulling herself up, Kaylee looked from behind the Doctor at the coordinates. They were meaningless to her, but if the Doctor was right... "What's a cloister bell?" She asked.
"The TARDIS' emergency system. If anything serious is wrong, it lets me know."
Kaylee nodded, understanding. "What could knock the TARDIS off course like this?"
The Doctor looked up from the console, sighing. "Quite a bit, actually; girl's a bit old," he mused, stroking her once. "But no one in this time period should have the technology to do that, not for quite awhile."
A faint crackling sound arose from under the rings of the bell. They turned to the screen where the white snow fluttered on the screen. Various clips of sound bled through briefly, barely making sense. Annoyed, the Doctor pounded his fist against the top of the screen.
"Crew members... of the Mark I Type 40 TT Capsule... if you wish to live, leave your ship immediately. Death is otherwise inevitable," a deep bass voice announced, breaking through the distorted sounds.
Kaylee felt her stomach tighten, clenching her fists. "Doctor, is that-"
"Kluvian," he answered. The Doctor stepped away from the console, nearing the path to the door. "Seems we have no choice."
Kaylee stood perfectly still, staring back at the Doctor. She said nothing, swallowing dryly.
"Kaylee-"
"I don't wanna go- I can't go." She shook her head, turning away.
"Kaylee." The Doctor extended his hand; all smiles and bright eyes were gone, several aging lines stretched across his forehead. He motioned her over. "Please."
She stared at his hand for what seemed like hours. Kaylee was frightened, too frightened to even cry. However, she raised her shaking hand, placing it in his large palm. The Doctor tightened his hand around hers, giving a humorless smile.
"Ready whenever you are," Kaylee stated, her entire body trembling. She was sure that she would literally fall apart before they even left the ship.
He nodded, leading her along from the console and down the walkway. The Doctor never turned around, watching Kaylee very carefully. "Good."