Name: I Am a Dalek
Writer: Gareth Roberts
Fanhome: Doctor Who
Characters: 10th Doctor, Rose
CHAPTER ONE
ROSE CHECKED THE SEAL on her space helmet, then she looked across
The TARDIS controls to the Doctor.
‘Turning off the air,’ he said, his white-gloved hand flicking one of
The many switches on the panel. His voice reached Rose through a
Two-way radio link built into their helmets. ‘Turning off the gravity.’
He flicked another switch and smiled over at her. Then he remembered
Something. ‘Oh – and balance pressure,’ he added, flipping
Another control. ‘Because we don’t wanna burst. Going up, Mary
Poppins.’
Rose felt the weight leave her body and reached out to steady herself
On the edge of her side of the panel. ‘Can’t believe it,’ she said.
She cast a glance to the police box doors, imagining what lay outside.
‘Walking on the moon.’
‘More like leaping,’ said the Doctor happily. To demonstrate, he put
One foot forward and let himself be carried through the vacuum, landing
With the grace of a ballet dancer a good fifteen feet away. ‘Practise,
Then,’ he told Rose. ‘You don’t want to fall flat on your backside out
There. Leap!’
Rose let go of the panel and followed his example, remembering to
Push gently, and landing only a little less expertly right next to him.
‘Giant leap. And leap!’ the Doctor encouraged her, and they set off,
Floating and bumping around the TARDIS together.
Rose grabbed one of the wall struts, kicked off and made a perfect
Cartwheel, watching the large room circle around her.
The Doctor beamed at her. ‘Got it? Good.’ He reached for a long
White pole and a battered old bag that he’d tied to one of the floor
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Plates before turning off the gravity. From the bag he produced a long
Line of string with flags of all the nations strung along it. ‘The bit we’ve
Landed on won’t be explored for a few thousand years, so let’s give ’em
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A shock when they get there.’ He looked along the line, considering,
And halted at a green and blue flag with a thick black and yellow
Stripe along the middle. ‘Tanzania?’ he said mischievously. Then his
Eyes lit on the next flag along, which featured a crest and the initials
WI. ‘No, gotta be this! Women’s Institute.’ His face fell just for a
Second. ‘We can’t.’ Then he smiled again and attached the flag to the
Pole. ‘We can! And did those feet, in ancient times, walk upon the
Moon’s mountains green? That’ll keep a few historians in jobs in the
Forty-ninth century.’
The abandoned string of flags hung in the air before Rose’s face.
Suddenly the importance of what was about to happen struck her.
‘Wait a sec,’ she told the Doctor, halting him with a hand to his shoulder
As he made to leap for the doors. ‘I’m gonna be the first woman
On the moon. I know I’ve been a lot further, but that’s amazing. The
Moon, you never think about it, it’s just. . . up there. And now I’m
On it.’ She studied his face. ‘I bet you think it’s like going to Calais or
Something.’
The Doctor turned to face her. His features were alive with wonder
And excitement. Not for the first time, Rose felt it was as if he was seeing
Through her eyes, and she wondered if that was one of the reasons
He needed somebody to travel with. ‘Rose, the moon is incredible. Everything
Down on Earth relies on it. Rats jump for it. Tides rush out
From it. Humans kiss under it. Without it there’d be nothing down
There worth the light.
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