Halfway Out Of The Dark || The Doctor

The Shakespeare Code

All Martha could do was hold onto the console for dear life as the Doctor and the Artist both sprinted around it working the controls. "But how do you travel in time, and what makes go?" Martha asked.

"Oh, let's take the fun and mystery out of everything." the Doctor huffed, "Martha, ya don't wanna know. She just does"

"Oi, don't be rude. She was only asking." the Artist scolded him, "And you're one to talk, Mr 'this isn't snow, it's ash'."

"Hold on tight!" the Doctor called suddenly, turning a dial. The TARDIS jolted, sending Martha to the floor, before coming to a stop.

"You alright, Martha?" the Artist asked, helping the human up.

"Yeah, nothing broken." Martha replied, "D'ya have to pass a test to fly this thing?" she asked.

"Yeah, and he failed his." the Artist replied, pointing to the Doctor. "I passed mine, though it was on a different model TARDIS, that's why I'm not much better myself."

The Doctor grabbed his coat off the Y-beam and slipped it on. "Now, make the most of it, I promised you one trip, and one trip only." he said to Martha ,"Outside this door..." He raced to the doors while the Artist checked the monitor. "Brave new world." the Doctor finished.

"Where are we?" Martha asked.

"Wait and see." the Artist smiled, joining the Doctor, who pulled the door open.

"After you." he said.

Martha stepped out of the TARDIS to find herself on a London street during Elizabethan times, with half-timbered buildings and peasants bustling about. "Oh, you're kidding me." she breathed, "You're so kidding me! Oh my god, we did it! We travelled in time! Where are we?" she asked the Time Lords as they joined her, "No, sorry, gotta get used this, whole new language. When are we?"

"Mind out!" the Doctor hollered, pulling her back as a man emptied the contents of a slop bucket out of his window, which happened to be right above them. "Somewhere before the invention of the toilet." he grimaced, looking at the mess on the ground.

"Sorry about that, Martha." the Artist said.

"I've seen worse, I've worked late night-shift in A&E." Martha waved her off, "But are we safe? I mean, can we move around and stuff?"

"Of course we can, why'd ya ask?"

"It's like in the films, you step on a butterfly, you change the future of the human race."

"That's just in the films, Martha." the Artist reassured, "In reality, it takes a lot more than that to mess up the future."

"But just in case, don't step on any butterflies." the Doctor said dryly, "What've butterflies ever done to you?" He linked arms with the Artist and they began to walk away.

"What if, I dunno, what if I kill my grandfather?" Martha asked, walking behind them.

"Are ya planning to?" the Doctor asked.

"No!"

"Well then." the Doctor shrugged.

"And this is London?" Martha asked, looking around.

"Yeah, London, 1599." the Artist replied

"Oh, but hold on, am I alright? I'm not gonna get carted off as a slave am I?" Martha asked.

"Don't worry, Martha. Anyone who even thinks of doing that will have to get through me and the Doctor first." the Artist reassured, "And trust me, they don't wanna do that."

"Just walk about like ya own the place, works for us." the Doctor added as they walked onwards, "Besides, you'd be surprised. Elizabethan England, not so different from your time. Look over there. They've got recycling." He pointed to a man shovelling manure into a bucket. "Water cooler moment." He indicated two men chatting next to a water barrel.