The plane suddenly vibrated violently, as if being shaken by a giant. Immediately, the cabin was filled with screams, of both surprise and fear as their so far calm flight suddenly turned in to the most turbulent any of them had ever experienced. One child however, remained silent. His eyes were clamed tightly shut, his hands clasping the arm rests with such force that his knuckles had begun to turn white. He had been terrified enough before the shaking had started, but now he just wished he was somewhere, anywhere, else.
The boys eyes only opened when he heard the mechanical sound of the television screen folding down from the ceiling. Odd, he thought, as they had folded up as soon as the turbulence hit, much to the annoyance of most of the passengers who had their film interrupted. From the corner of his eye, the boy noticed the cabin crew frantically pressing buttons in the galley, trying to store the screens away again. However, his attention was quickly fully drawn to the screen which crackled in to life, the face of a young looking man, in a bow tie, grinning out to the passengers of the rapidly vibrating aircraft.
“Hello!” He beamed enthusiastically. “This is your Doctor speaking! As you may have noticed, you’ve hit a little turbulence.” The plane suddenly lurched to one side, as did the man on the screen. He quickly regained his balance and readdressed his captive audience. “The emergency exits are here,” he gestured, “there, and back there.” He paused, thoughtfully, looking somewhere off camera. “But I wouldn’t use them, because if you look to the left of the aircraft,” he pointed again, “you’ll see ancient Greece.”
The plane was filled with a combination of screams and laughter, as no one knew quite what to make of what they were hearing. As the screens folded away again, the little boy looked out of the window to his right, as instructed. Although all he could see below him was a mass of blue sea, he was sure he had glanced a strange blue box flying past the wing, fading away as it went.
-------------------
“Doctor!” Amy shouted, grabbing hold of a rail as the TARDIS lurched violently, throwing her into her husband. “What’s going on?”
“Time hole of some sort.” The Doctor muttered, his concentration fully on the TARDIS console, turning dials, flicking switches and looking up to the monitor. “A path straight back to the past.”
“Like a crack?” Rory said nervously. “I thought they were all closed when you did whatever that complicated thing was that you did.”
“No!” The Doctor exclaimed, spinning from the console. “Not a crack.” He looked straight at Rory. “And we’ve been through it before, just a bit of retcon, not complicated at all. Don’t make me get the blackboard and string out. Again.”
“Finished?” Amy scolded, taking Rory’s arm. “Time hole?”
“Yes!” The Time Lord snapped back to the console, as if suddenly remembering something. “And no, not a crack in time, this is different. A perfect hole in the fabric of time and space. A crack is messy, it splinters. But this is different, it’s round.” He mimed, “And perfect. Someone did this on purpose.” He frowned, keeping his eyes on the monitor. “And I think I know who.” He swept around the controls, and began typing on the console keyboard.
“So?” Rory asked, as if he had been expecting the Doctor to reveal more. “Who is it this time?”
“That doesn’t matter.” The Doctor replied seriously. “Because something is flying through it.”
“What kind of something?” Amy demanded, joining her friend at the central console. “A space ship?”
“Don’t be ridiculous!” He answered, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. “It’s a plane. Which is worse. Last time I checked Heathrow didn’t fly to Ancient Greece.”
“Ancient Greece?” Rory exclaimed, in disbelieve.
“Yes!” The Doctor shouted, frustrated. “Everything I’ve shown you, everything you’ve done and a temporal rift leading to Ancient Greece phases you?” He turned back to the monitor, straightening his bow tie. “Now hush up, both of you, I’ve got a call to make. Terrified people on a plane, no idea what’s going on, next thing you know,” he threw his arms in the air, “panic! And panic is never good. I’ll just set their minds to rest.” He smiled to his two companions, before turning back to the screen and clearing his throat. “Got it!”
-------------------
Despite the attempts of the cabin crew to keep everyone calm, the whole of the flight deck was full of screaming and shouting, parents trying to calm their children and passengers demanding answers. All the while, the plane continued to shake violently, buffeting everyone around in their seats. Amongst all of the chaos and confusion, no one had noticed the banging coming from the floor of the cabin.
All of a sudden, the thin carpet in the galley flew up, as the hatch below was flung open. The Doctor emerged, poking his head up quickly.
“Oi!” He shouted. “I was knocking.” He emphasized the last word, as he noticed that no one was yet paying attention to him. “How rude.” He muttered, climbing up from the hatch, followed by Amy and Rory.
“So much for setting their minds at rest.” Amy mocked. “Telling them their plane is heading for Ancient Greece. Might as well show Titanic on a cruise liner.”
Ignoring the remark, the Doctor quickly turned to the door to the cockpit, which immediately drew the attention of the cabin crew.
“Sir, you can’t go through there.” The attendant was young and visibly distraught. None the less, she had carried on. She could panic later, now she had to concentrate on her passengers.
“Now you noticed me.” The Doctor smiled, glancing at the attendants name badge. “Now Tina, I think you’ll find I can go through, and probably should.” She simply shook her head.
“Sorry sir, no.”
He raised his voice, angrily. Why could no one just do as he asked, the first time? “That’s if you don’t want this plane, and everyone on it, to go crashing down in to the Acropolis, or the first Olympics, or whatever is going on down there right now.”
Tina just looked back at the mad man, saying nothing, and certainly not moving out of his way.
Rory and Amy simply looked to each other, with a secret smile. They had seen him destroy entire armies with just words, eliminate an all-powerful race with just a camera phone, but here he was unable to get past a pretty blonde stewardess.
“Don’t you get it?” The Doctor shouted, the passengers now slowly noticing him, many exclaiming that he was the ‘man from the TV’. “Crashing! CA-RA-ASH-ING!” He held one hand out flat, and slammed the other on in to it. “”Boom!”
Immediately, the plane was filled with terrified screams of panic, making the previous shouts sound almost silent in comparison.
“Oops.” The Doctor smiled sheepishly to his companions. “Done it again haven’t I?”
He saw Amy was about to say something, probably something clever, so interrupted her. “Ponds, go and calm this lot down, will you?” He gestured to the rows of seats behind them. “You’re human.” He looked carefully at Amy as he said this, looking for something, anything. Seeing nothing, not even in her eyes, he continued. “They’ll listen to you.” He turned to Tina, still standing between him and the cockpit.
“You too. Settle them, give them some peanuts or something.” He smiled softly, before correcting himself. “Unless they’re allergic of course. Don’t want that on my conscience too.”
“Who are you?” Tina stuttered, clearly unsure of what to do.
“I’m the Doctor.” He said in his most assuring tone. “And if I’m right, the poor old pilot in there has lost all communications, right?” He didn’t let her answer. “So he can’t navigate. Hence the cr-.” He stopped himself. “Hence the ‘C’ word. If you let me through, I can help them.”
All of a sudden, she couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. She wasn’t sobbing, she was still calm, but tears began to trickle down her check.
“It’s my first day.”
“And what a day.” The Doctor beamed encouragingly. “I’ve had a few first days like this myself.” He placed his hands on her shoulders. “You just have to carry on, look after the passengers, and I’ll do the rest.” She stepped slowly out of his way, turning the handle and opening the door for him.
“Thank you.” The Time Lord smiled as he went to enter the cockpit, closing the door behind him.
-------------------
“You can’t be in here!” The pilot turned and shouted at the Doctor as he heard him enter.
“Not this again.” The Doctor shouted, dismissing him. “I’m here, nothing you can do about it.” He reached in to his pocket for his Sonic Screwdriver.
“We’ve lost all communications.” The co-pilot explained. “All the instruments are down.”
“Shut up.” The pilot snapped. “He doesn’t need to know.”
“Yes I do.” The Doctor stated. “And I’m not surprised. Not designed to work over 2700 years in the past.” He shrugged, leaning over the co-pilots shoulder to glance at the instruments. “Bit short sighted really.”
“What are you talking about, the past?” The pilot demanded.
“What do you think?” He waved his screwdriver over the instrument panel. “Not the future, not the present.” He lowered his voice, and turned to the man. Looking in to his eyes, the Doctor could see so much anger and fear and ambition and kindness. He was closed minded, he didn’t understand, but he couldn’t be blamed for that. At the end of the day, the Doctor thought, all this man wanted was to travel across the skies, not too much unlike himself.
“You’ve been bought back through time.” The Doctor explained slowly. “Down there,” he pointed through the front windows, “Woah! It’s a long way down! Anyway, down there, is Ancient Greece. Togas and myths and legends and everything!” He paused. “And someone is planning on sending you crashing in to it.”
“Why?” The co-pilot asked.
“That doesn’t matter.” It was the pilot who cut him off, rather than the Doctor. “If we are in the past, or not, we don’t have any instruments and no way of refueling. That’s what we need to focus on.”
“Good man!” The Doctor beamed excitedly. “No runways in Greece! Not yet anyway. Not until all the tourists come.” He shook his head. “Can’t stand tourists, taking in the cultures, throwing their weight around and then swanning off in to the sky.” He stopped, realizing that he had just described himself almost perfectly.
“I don’t mind them.” The pilot responded. Keep me in a job.”
“That’s the spirit.” The Doctor looked puzzled. “I think. Anyway, here’s what we’re going to do!” He paused and looked at the pilot’s head grinning. “By the way, do you mind if I have your hat?”
-------------------
The Time Rotor groaned as the Doctor rapidly worked the controls of the TARDIS, grabbing a lever with one hand and a dial with the other.
“Doctor!” The familiar Scottish voice came from the console. “What are you doing, you can’t leave us on the plane!”
“I’m not!” The Doctor shouted back impatiently. “Not forever. Much safer on there, that’s all.”
“Much?” Rory’s voice had joined Amy’s over the radio.
“Well, a little bit.” The Doctor bit his lip, rapidly turning a handle on the console panel. “I’m manipulating a whole in time, did you really think it was going to be risk free?”
“I know you better than that by now Doctor.”
“Good.” He replied. “Now Rory, let the nice captain have his radio back, would you?”
“Doctor.” It was Amy again. “One more thing?”
“What is it Pond?”
“When you ran back down to the TARDIS..”
“Yes?” He said, trying to hurry her.
“What were you wearing on your head!”
The Doctor smiled proudly, even though he was aware she could not see him as he stroked the golden trim of the hat.
“I wear a Captain’s hat now. Captain’s hats are cool.” He lowered his voice slightly. “And at least River isn’t here to shoot it. Now! Captain please! I’ll pick you up on the other side!”
“You’d better do! Amy replied indignantly.
“Captain!” The Doctor continued. “I’m almost there. I’ve used the space circuits on the TARDIS to move the hole in space, but not in time.
“Meaning?”
“Meaning,” The Doctor sighed, “that you should be on a direct course. Fly straight through it, and you’re back to the other side, in the twenty-first century.”
“What about you?”
“Oh, I’ll make my own way back. One way or another.”
There was no reply from the radio, but the Doctor knew what was coming next, he could feel it. The TARDIS door creaked open, and a flurry of golden particles flew in, like sand whipped up on a beach.
In a few moments, the Architect had taken his latest shape. His hair was wild and curly, complemented by his wild, wide grin. He wore a long back coat, with an even longer scarf draped around his neck.
“Ah!” The Doctor said politely, removing the captain’s hat from his head and placing in gently on the console. “I wondered when you‘d turn up!”
“I could say much the same for you, Doctor.” The Architect replied coyly. “I seem to spend most of my lives wondering when you’re going to appear.”
“Doesn’t everyone.” He grinned smugly, straightening his jacket. “You were right about the bow tie though, very cool.” He paused, realizing why there was no response.
“Right, not happened to you yet. You’d think I’d have gotten the hang of this timey whimey stuff by now, wouldn’t you?” His smile vanished as he glared at the being opposite. “Unlike you, who still seems to think they can do something as stupid as crash a plane in to Ancient Greece!”
“The period was a turning point in human history.” The Architect replied, emotionless. “Without it, things may have turned out much differently.”
“Exactly!” The Doctor shouted exasperated. “For example, mankind may not have developed planes!”
“I fail to see your point.”
The Doctor sighed.
“I should have got the blackboard out. If they never invented planes, how could you send one in to the past in the first place? Paradox!”
“It never stopped you.” The Architect sneered.
“Well, I’m different. The Time Lord boasted.
“As shall I be.” The life form replied. “One day I shall convince you Doctor, I can lead mankind down a better path.”
“You see,” The Doctor started, walking around the console. “You say that, but you’re forgetting one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Well, by my count, I’ve seen all of your incarnations. Every single one. Your whole life. I know that it doesn’t happen.”
“Time can be rewritten Doctor.”
“Not like that it can’t.” The Doctor turned back to the console and flicked a switch. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a date with a plane and a hole in time.”
“Very well.” The Architect sneered. “But it isn’t quite the end for you. There is still one chapter of my life you have yet to experience.”
“I thought as much.” The Time Lord muttered as the image of the Architect began to disintegrate in to golden energy.
“Bye then.” He quipped. Despite what the Architect had said, the Doctor knew he wouldn’t see the Architect again, not face to face.
The only response was a hushed voice blowing through the TARDIS.
“Seven left.”
-------------------
“Here we go!” The captain said to his co-pilot, Amy and Rory, as the sky seemed to open up before them. Through the golden circle that defined the tunnel they could see sky, the sky of their own time.
“ladies and gentlemen,” The captain announced over the tanoy. “In a few moments we will be arriving back in 2011. Please remain in your seats with your seatbelts fastened.”
-------------------
“We’re through!” The message was breaking up over the radio, but the Doctor could recognize Amy’s voice anywhere. “What about you?”
“I have to close it.” He explained. “I’ll track your co-ordinates and pick you up back in the cargo hold.” He turned away from the speaker, before backtracking. “Clear me a space though, would you? Don’t want to land on any more suitcases.”
“Roger captain!” The Doctor smiled, he could almost imagine her saluting. “Pond airways, over and out.
“Now then,” The Doctor said thoughtfully to himself, looking at the TARDIS readout. “Let’s fill this big hole, shall we?”
As he threw a lever, the whole interior of the TARDIS lurched to one side, throwing him to the floor.
“What!” The Doctor exclaimed, pulling himself up using the console as support. He looked to the screen. “It can’t be! That energy signature!”
On the monitor, two waves of energy passed from one side to the other, the TARDIS analyzing them.
“Time Lord.” He nodded, he’s been expecting that. He’s recognized it all that time ago when he had first encountered the Architect at the start of the universe. But this time there was something else. “He’s part Time Lord,” he muttered, before being thrown across the TARDIS and in to a guard rail. “And part Eternal.”
The Time Rotor screeched loudly, as if something was forcing it. The Doctor had to admit the usual sound wasn’t overly elegant, but this terrible noise made the wheezing and groaning sound beautiful.
“Something’s dragging us in!” He shouted at the TARDIS console. “No way out of this old girl!” Almost in response, the Time Rotor stopped, giving in to the force that was pulling it. Immediately, the entire ship was sucked from the Time Vortex itself.
“Geronimo!”
-------------------
“The Realm of the Eternals.” The Doctor explained to himself, now that the TARDIS had come to a standstill. Relatively, anyway. He had encountered the Eternals in the past, but never visited their plane of existence. He had thought it impossible, but once again, he was proving that it was merely improbable.
“Starting to make a lot more sense.” He muttered, checking the TARDIS. “Engines still functioning, but not enough power to get us going. You’re going to need a boost.”
He turned away from the console, as everything snapped in to place. He knew there was only one way to boost the TARDIS engines, and that would lead to everything he had experienced with the Architect over his past lives.
Something deep within the Doctor urged him not to do it, to just spend the rest of his days here. Amy and Rory would cope fine in Greece, he thought. Another honeymoon maybe, and they could always get a flight back home.
But he knew he was wrong. This had always happened, and would always happen. The TARDIS would always be drawn through off course by the hybrid energy signature, and he would always have to give the engines the boost they needed in order to leave. As such, the Architect would always be given life here. He would always take something that was the Doctors, and repay it. Every time they had met, one more repayment had been made as the being had faded away.
The doctor sighed, thinking of everything that he had seen, everything the Architect had, and would, try to achieve. He had always assumed it must have been something like this, some reason why the Architect’s forms so closely mimicked his incarnations. He just wished he didn’t have to be responsible for everything that had happened, and would still happen.
He leant forward slowly, towards the Time Rotor, and exhaled deeply. A light golden mist flowed from him, bathing the console in a glow. With no hesitation the Rotor sprang in to life, the life energy of the Time Lord providing the fuel it needed, hurtling the Doctor and the TARDIS back in to the Time Vortex.
