"MAIDEN JAUNT"

RATING: G.

FEEDBACK: Oh yes please, even if you hated it. I want to know. Just drop me a line at tanyajoy74@hotmail.com

DISCLAIMER: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC and since they, in their infinite wisdom, have decided to do nothing with him I thought I'd have a go. Katie is my creation and cannot be used without the author's permission. This is an exercise of love and no money is being made from it.

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The intrepid adventurer, Katrina Rosalind Summers, turned to her faithful sidekick, the Doctor, and explained in a patient voice.

"Do you see that?" she said. "Up there is the fabled [something exotic sounding] Diamond. It is supposed to be cursed."

"Really?" the Doctor quaked at the thought. "Maybe we should leave it alone, then?"

"Nonsense," Katrina replied. "I'll be damned if Indiana Jones is going to bet me to the treasure this time."

 

Katie put down her pen and laughed to herself. She scrunched up the sheet of paper and tossed it in the general direction of her wastepaper bin, where it came to rest with all the other balls. She then looked over at Harold, who was perched on her bed.

"It's official, I'm bored," she told the bear. "I wonder if the Doctor is ready to go yet?"

Katie listened to the hum of the TARDIS and sighed. By her watch she had been here two days now, not that she was complaining. Those two days had been full of exploring the TARDIS and long intriguing chats with the Doctor. But he had promised her new worlds and maybe even some adventures.

Last night he had told her of his plan to visit some planet and introduce her to the wonders of the Catkluk tree. But she hadn't heard the ship take off so Katie wondered what was happening.

"Only one way to find out," she said as she headed for the door. "Time to beard the lion in his den and ask him."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Katie was just entering the Console Room when she bumped into the Doctor coming out.

"Excuse me," he said as he rushed past.

"Where you going?" Katie called after him.

"Just forgot something, won't be a minute," he stopped in mid rush and turned around. "Don't touch a thing!"

Katie poked her tongue out at his disappearing back and walked into the room. "Don't touch this, don't do that," she muttered to herself. "I've only been here like five minutes and already he's giving me lectures."

She walked over to the console and deliberately flicked a switch. Nothing happened for about ten seconds then the glass rotor in the middle stopped moving with a significant thud.

"Oh crap," Katie stepped backwards in horror, stopping only when her back hit one of the metal girders. "I broke it. He's gonna kill me."

She made a flying dash for the relative safety of the armchairs as the Doctor walked back in carrying two plastic raincoats.

"It's not my fault," Katie explained. "It just stopped." She finally noticed what the Doctor held in his arms. "What are they for?"

The Doctor hung the coats up on a nearby hat stand before walking over to the console. He flipped some switches and twiddled some knobs before looking over at his new companion. "What's not your fault?"

Katie pointed at the hexagonal console. "That isn't my fault. It just broke, I didn't do nothing."

"Actually I believe the correct term is 'I didn't do anything' and yes you did," he pointed to the exact switch Katie had messed with. "You touched that."

Katie cautiously wandered over to stand near the Doctor. "How the hell could you know that?"

"I know everything, remember?" the Doctor said. "But don't worry you didn't break the TARDIS," he patted the console fondly. "The old girl is much sturdier than that. All you did was change the writing outside into Arabic." He watched, as Katie's wide eyes grew even wider and grinned. "No, you didn't do anything but I ask you not to mess with the console for a reason you know."

"Yeah, okay, lesson learnt. I'm really sorry," Katie looked around, desperate to change the subject. "What are the coats for again?"

"In case of rain," the Doctor replied as he leant closer to his new friend. "We've landed, you know."

"What?" Instantly Katie was all action as she bounded around the console to peer at some readouts. "We have? Where are we again? When did we leave?"

"Yes we have, Lutan IV and last night. I told you I thought we'd start off on an uninhabited planet. Just to get you used to the idea before we meet any actual aliens."

"Oh boy, oh boy, this is so exciting," Katie skipped around the console to the Doctor's side. "Can we see what's outside?"

"Of course," the Doctor nodded. "I'll activate the scanner."

"Ooh lemme do it." Katie's hand started creeping towards a switch on the console. It had 'scanner' written underneath it, on some masking tape, in the Doctor's elegant writing. Katie had noticed that quite a few of the console's workings now had taped messages beneath them. Most of them consisted of the theme 'don't touch' but a few had actual instructions. Like the scanner and the handle that operated the TARDIS's doors.

She glanced up and caught the Doctor's glare. Feeling a touch embarrassed Katie folded her hands behind her back and stared at her shoes.

The Doctor sighed. "Would you like to activate the scanner?"

Katie's head snapped up. "Could I?"

The Doctor indicated the switch. "Be my guest."

Katie reached across and flicked it. A television flickered into life above their heads.

"You know," Katie said as she looked up at the screen. "We've invented colour where I come from."

The Doctor sniffed and thumped the console. Slowly the black and white screen dissolved into colour to reveal a pleasant hillside complete with fluffy clouds, which scudded across a deep turquoise sky.

"Well, looks like we won't be needing the raincoats," the Doctor said. He switched off the scanner. "Ready?"

Katie turned from the blank screen and looked at the Doctor. "Now you're sure we're on another planet? That picture wasn't someplace on Earth, cause it sure looks like it."

The Doctor took Katie by the shoulders and gently shuffled her around the console. "Look," he pointed to the readouts. "What does that say?"

Katie peered at them. "Lutan IV."

"Right, so now are you ready?"

After a few minutes thought Katie finally nodded. "Yeah, let's do it."

The Doctor turned the handle that opened the TARDIS doors and started across the room, after a minute Katie followed.

They both came to a stop just inside the huge metal doors.

"After you," the Doctor said.

"Okay," Katie looked from the Doctor to the rectangular snapshot of scenery she could see through the door. "This is one small step for Katrina, one giant leap for science fiction fans everywhere."

With that statement Katie took a huge jump out through the doors.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

She landed outside and instantly fell to her knees with a startled 'oof'. All of a sudden Katie found herself feeling heavy, like someone had just dumped a pack full of rocks onto her back.

"You wouldn't be on your knees giving thanks for landing safely, would you?" Katie turned her head and stared at the Doctor's shoes. "Because for your information I'm not that bad a pilot."

Kate sat back on her heels and stared up at the Doctor. "I feel heavy. Why do I feel heavy?"

He bent over to look more closely at her. "Gravity," he replied. "You've spent your entire life on one planet, Katie. Now you're on another one, different planets have different levels of gravity." He helped her up. "It's all perfectly normal."

Katie brushed at her knees. "You could have warned a person," she complained.

"What and ruin your first experience?" the Doctor breathed in. "Smell that?"

Katie sniffed deeply. Her face contorted, as a sickly scent hit her nostrils, and she hurriedly covered her nose with her sleeve. "What is that?" she spluttered.

"Hmm," the Doctor looked around until he caught sight of what he was looking for. "Wait here."

She watched him scamper off down the hill and stop under a tree, it was obvious that the gravity wasn't bothering him. He stared up into its depths and then proceeded to jump up and down. For a minute Katie couldn't figure out what he was doing until she noticed the small purplish objects that were growing on the low-hanging branches.

 

The Doctor looked up at his friend and waved madly. "Still feeling heavy?" he called up at her.

Katie nodded. "Yeah," she yelled back.

"Do this then," the Doctor started swinging his arms and stomping in an exaggerated manner. "You'll soon get used to the change."

The figure on the hill threw her hands into the air and started stomping, unenthusiastically.

"Right now, Doctor," the Time Lord muttered as he peered up into the tree. "Lets see if we can get some of this fruit down, shall we?"

He spotted a likely group of the spiky purple objects and stared at them. "Yes, they look about right."

The Doctor took three steps to his right and judged the distance from the ground to the branch before springing into the air. All he received for his effort was a handful of leaves. Dropping them onto the ground he calculated the distance again then he took one tiny step to his left. This time he crouched until he was almost sitting on the ground before leaping straight up.

"Aha," he exclaimed as he came down holding three of the fruit. "Gotcha."

 

Katie looked up when she heard the Doctor cry out. Not seeing any murderous creatures about to devour him whole she figured he was all right. Giving up marching on the spot she slumped onto the ground and lay back, staring up at the clouds.

If it wasn't for this gravity lark, Katie thought. I'd swear we were still on Earth. Everything looks the same. What happened to the entire alien scenery and weird life forms anyway?

Something bright blue wobbled past her line of sight causing Katie to sit up suddenly. "That was the weirdest bumble-bee I ever saw," she muttered.

It was about six centimetres long, had two sets of wings set closely together and four legs that ended in sharp looking little spikes. Instead of buzzing it gave off a clicking noise and now Katie had noticed it she realised that the surrounding trees were covered with the things.

"Look what I have," the Doctor appeared, back from his excursion down the hill, carrying something in his hands. The stench that had assaulted Katie earlier came back, only this time much more intensified, causing her to gag.

"What the hell is that smell?" she asked.

"What smell?" the Doctor sat down cross-legged in front of her and deposited three small purple spiky fruit between them.

Leaning forward to better see what the Doctor had bought Katie realised where the smell was coming from.

"Pwoar," she waved her hand in front of her nose. "Those things reek. What are they?"

"Catkluk fruit," the Doctor explained. "And they don't smell that bad."

"You're kidding me right? They pong!" Katie poked a tentative finger at one of them. "Are you trying to tell me that people actually eat these things?"

"They are considered a delicacy around the galaxy."

"Only by people with no noses!"

"Who is the experienced inter-galactic traveller here and who isn't?" the Doctor demanded.

"You are," Katie said in a small voice.

"Right," the Doctor picked up one of the fruit and split it open. "So trust me when I tell you they are a delicacy."

He laid the two halves directly in front of Katie and picked up another of the fruit, splitting it open too. It looked a bit like a grape fruit inside. All pale yellow sections and glistening juice; it even had what looked like lavender pips.

"There," he licked some of the pale juice off his fingers. "Dig in."

Katie coughed and looked at the fruit in front of her. Maybe her nose was becoming adjusted to the smell, because the stink was definitely lessening.

"It won't bite you."

Katie looked up and caught the Doctor's amused glance.

"Alright," she said, picking up a piece. "I can do this."

She took a big breath and bit into the fruit. Two things came instantly to mind. One was the smell had entirely disappeared and the other was that this fruit was unbelievably delicious. It was like, Kate chewed and swallowed, well it was like nothing she had ever tasted before.

"Well?" the Doctor grabbed a half of the spiky fruit by the edges and pulled it inside out, to better get to the inside. "Am I right, or am I right?"

Katie was forced to nod, because her mouth was full. "What happened to the smell?" she asked, after swallowing.

"Ah yes, the smell," the Doctor wiped some juice off his chin before continuing. "The smell is a defence mechanism of the tree. It's used to ward off predators like us who would eat the fruit before it's ready."

"You mean it's not ready now?"

"Actually no, this is considered the unripe stage. When it's ripe," the Doctor pointed to the remains in his hand. "It tastes a lot worse than it smells and will make you very sick."

"Weird," Katie said as she picked up her other half of the Catkluk. "What on earth would want to eat that?"

"Well nothing on earth would but the Snagas just love it."

"Snagas?"

"Big blue bumblebees," the Doctor said, pointing towards one of the flying creatures Katie had seen earlier. "They take the fruit back to their nests and feed it to their young. The seeds pass through the Snagas's system, fall to the ground and start to grow. Everyone's happy!"

Katie nodded. "Propagation," she said. "Sounds kinda like the way they do it back home,"

"Well, why change a perfectly workable system," the Doctor replied. "Mother Nature knows what she's doing."

Katie finished her fruit and placed both rinds on the ground. "I suppose there is some sort of moral to all this, like 'Don't judge a fruit by its stinkiness'?"

"Or 'a Police box by its interior dimensions'?" the Doctor said. "Do you feel a need for a moral?"

"Well I did pre-judge the whole thing, didn't I?" she sighed. "I guess I have a lot to learn."

"The first step on the road to wisdom is admitting that you don't know everything and there is no time like the present to start learning."

"These things are really delicious," Katie said.

"Good thing I picked a few more, then," the Doctor replied, patting his bulging right jacket pocket.

"What's wrong with that one?" Katie pointed to the third fruit on the ground.

"That one is a bit over-ripe. I thought I might leave it for the Snagas." He looked over at Katie. "You ready to see the rest of the universe?"

"I think the real question, Doctor, should be: is the universe ready for me?"

The Doctor laughed. "I very much doubt it, but let's see anyway."

He stood up and pulled Katie to her feet. Bending over he picked up the rinds.

"No need to litter," he explained tucking them into a pocket. "Now stand back," he picked up the last fruit and ripped it open before throwing it to the ground, hurrying backwards a few steps to stand at Katie's side. "Watch."

The inside of the Catkluk was different to the others. This one had dark streaks throughout the pulpy flesh and the enlarged pips were a darker purple. Even from where they were standing the smell was unmistakably one of decay.

A clicking sound from Katie's left announced the arrival of a Snagas. It flew over their heads before landing on the fruit, its sharp legs sinking into the Catkluk's flesh. Then, lifting each leg, it moved its position, leaving behind little divots in the fruit. The little creature then proceeded to lap at the juice welling out of the holes.

Four other blue bumblebees appeared and hovered over the fruit. They, too, landed on the Catkluk and buried themselves in the flesh. Each one wobbled from side to side sinking itself deeper. When it seemed they could not dig any further the five Snagas started flapping their wings frantically. The fruit started rocking in time to the creature's efforts, occasionally lifting clear off the ground.

They were trying to lift it! Katie realised.

Two other Snagas darted in from parts unknown to help. With the added wing assistance the Catkluk rose from the ground to hover in mid-air.

"Well done!" the Doctor told the insects.

The Snagas infested fruit bobbed to the left and began its wobbly journey over to the far side of the hill.

"Co-operation," Katie said.

"Yes," the Doctor nodded. "Amazing what can be achieved with it," he took Katie's hand. "Come on, time to leave."

With that the two friends returned to the TARDIS and went inside. A few minutes passed before a roaring sound erupted from the blue box, and a white light started to flash on its roof. If there had been someone there to observe they would have seen the solid box start to shimmer, like a mirage in a desert. The rhythmic tortured sound from the box grew louder and then the TARDIS just faded from view, like it had never been. The only indication it had even existed was a square indentation in the grass.

The hillside was empty once again, apart from the Catkluk trees and the bright blue Snagas.

 

THE END.