Constant: Time Guardian

by TimeSpawn

4: Stowaway

Constant gasped awake. He checked the time to see how long it had been since the Monitor crashed. "Five hours," he said. "Okay, time to get my bearings again." He looked around. Apparently, five hours was enough time for the Monitor to gather enough power to fix its own control room. He turned on the main screen and saw a windmill turning. It was obvious he had landed somewhere where a primitive culture was living. He walked to the entrance doors but found that they would not open. "Right, motorized system," he muttered, "I'll try something else then."

He walked to the navigation console and input several commands toward getting an idea of where he was. He kept getting the same message. "Error; Quantum variation." He went to another console and input a command. Immediately, a hologram of himself appeared behind him.

"Voice interface is active," it said.

"I keep getting a message about quantum variations," Constant said to the hologram. "Explain."

"You have attempted several times to access the mapping program in this system," the hologram replied, "However, the quantum variation in the surrounding area suggests that this time ship has entered another universe. Furthermore, the quantum variation has also affected the main power core. Without full power, the sensors on this vessel will not function at top efficiency."

"How far can sensors scan from this location?" Constant asked.

"This vessel can scan up to six hundred light years away," the hologram replied.

"Alright," Constant said, cracking his knuckles, "Disregard quantum variation...and theorize as to location."

Several screens turned on at that moment. "Scanning," the hologram replied, "Comparing objects in this star system to known star maps...Scanning beyond this star system...aligning galactic coordinates..."

As the hologram kept stating the Monitor's status, Constant got nervous. It looked like he was headed for the right planet in the first place, but something kept telling him inside that things were going to be very different because he was in another universe. It also meant that he no longer had contact with the time probes he had sent out. All that work gone to waste if he couldn't make it back. He tapped his fingers on a panel as he waited.

Finally, the scan was finished, and the hologram spoke again. "Location calculated. Earth...eighty-two point three six percent probability."

"Well," Constant sighed, brushing debris out of his hair, "at least I know I'm where I want to be...sort of."

"Command not recognized," the hologram stated.

"Oh enough already," Constant groaned, "deactivate voice interface."

The hologram faded from view.

Constant let himself fall into a chair. He thought carefully. "Okay, Constant," he said to himself, "On one hand, you have super-adaptive technology at your disposal, and it has probably improved itself to surpass the technology in type 78 TARDISes and further up the line by now...On the other hand, it may take a while for the Monitor to adapt itself to this universe...Who am I kidding? It will take a while."

He turned to the panel that the chair stood in front of. "Okay, maybe I can"---An alarm sounded, and the screen in front of him showed the words "intruder alert". Constant called for an internal map on the screen in front of him to look for the intruder. The map blinked red in one room, indicating damage. "Ah, I've got myself a stowaway," he sneered. "Well...time to put that right."

He ran out of the control room and went back to his living quarters. He picked up his laser screwdriver, which had fallen on the floor during the crash, as well as his sonic screwdriver. He made a run for the customized cargo room. Along the way, he heard something he thought he wouldn't be hearing for the past six years.

"Exterminate!"

At that moment, a laser beam was fired toward him. It narrowly missed his nose as he stopped. He looked to his right and confirmed his fear. It was a Dalek who had fired the beam. He fired again, and Constant ducked quickly to avoid it. He leaped forward for cover behind a wall. In front of him, he saw a control panel. Recalling the schematics and maps he had drawn out for the Monitor, he recalled that this panel controlled a blast door in the hallway the Dalek was in. He quickly got out his sonic screwdriver and set it to the right frequency to close the blast door. A few seconds had passed, and he heard muffled laser fire. He smiled, knowing it had worked. He came out of hiding and walked toward the blast door. The Dalek fired six, seven, up to twelve times before he stopped completely.

"Out of power, Dalek?" Constant asked.

"Open this door at once!" the Dalek demanded.

"Not a chance," Constant replied, "You'll just blast me dead if I do."

"You are only one," the Dalek spoke back. "You cannot win against me, as you are unarmed. The only choice you have is to surrender to the Daleks!"

Constant paused for a few seconds. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news for you, Dalek," he said, "But the war is over...and both sides lost. You're the only Dalek left now."

"You are lying."

"Oh yeah? Try scanning for Dalek signals. You won't find any."

There was silence. Constant walked away from the blast door to get to the cargo room, convinced that the Dalek was trying to find a signal. He moved boxes and capsules until he found what he was looking for, a box of vials holding the crystal he needed to make a lens for his laser screwdriver. He broke off a piece and generated the right sonic frequency to shape the crystal. It took only that much time for the Dalek to resume firing at the blast door. Constant looked up at the door to the hallway, knowing that even blast doors have their limits. He took apart his laser screwdriver and inserted the new crystal. At that moment, the laser blasting stopped. Constant wondered why. Had the Dalek found another way out?

It only took the sound of a much louder and higher-pitched laser blast for him to realize that it wasn't the case. He finished reassembling his laser screwdriver and tested it. It fired smoothly in test mode, which was enough to convince him that he was ready to confront the Dalek again. Just as he stood up again, the Dalek fired one last shot, breaking down the blast door.

"Surrender this TARDIS, Time Lord!" the Dalek called out.

Constant didn't answer. He adjusted his laser screwdriver to cutting mode. He looked down the hall again and fired a warning shot at the incoming Dalek. The Dalek fired again, missing Constant by about three inches from his right shoulder. "Your aim is off, Dalek!" Constant taunted. "How long have you been asleep? You couldn't have come here directly! I didn't see any Daleks when we were still in our own universe! But then, maybe I haven't been looking close enough!"

"Silence!" the Dalek shouted. At that moment, the hallway shook. "What is happening? Explain! EXPLAIN!"

"I don't know, but even if I did, I wouldn't distract myself with the matter!" Constant fired his laser screwdriver at the Dalek's suction manipulator, which sparked and fell off. Constant took cover again, just as the quaking stopped. "There goes one piece of vital equipment for you!" he taunted.

"I do not need it to exterminate you!" the Dalek spoke back, and fired the laser again. Constant moved out of the way only to have the armor on his left shoulder burned off.

He took cover and fired another shot at the Dalek. The Dalek moved out of the way this time. "Oh, good," Constant said sarcastically, "You learn quickly."

The Dalek moved forward and fired another shot, which missed Constant. "You cannot win!" he said, and Constant could tell he was getting irritated. He ran down the intersecting hallway, expecting the Dalek to give chase, which he did. Further down the hall, Constant stopped and set his laser screwdriver to heat. He aimed at the floor, looking in the opposite direction to make sure he had enough time to set his trap. After heating up a section of the floor, he set his sonic screwdriver to a new frequency and pointed it at that same spot on the floor. He then ran further down the hall, which caught the Dalek's attention. Constant hid in an intersecting hallway. "Give me access to your TARDIS or I will destroy it!" the Dalek threatened.

"Not on what life you have left!" Constant yelled.

The Dalek kept moving forward until he finally rolled over Constant's trap. The floor cracked and gave way beneath him, and as he fell, his laser weapon broke off his travel machine against the floor.

Constant smiled but stayed alert. He walked toward the hole in the floor. The Dalek had landed in another room. This room had raw materials ready to be processed including salvaged metal, which the Dalek fell in. Constant looked down the hole. "Are you done yet?"

"No!" the Dalek replied. "This TARDIS will be the property of the Daleks!"

"I'll bet you haven't had much luck contacting them, huh?" Constant asked..."So what are you going to do about it?"

For about two minutes, there was silence, as Constant aimed his laser screwdriver at the disarmed Dalek. Finally...

"EMERGENCY TEMPORAL SHIFT!"

"WHAT?! NO! NOT HERE! YOU"---

But it was too late. The Dalek's suit shook and sparked violently as he screamed in pain. Then after about ten seconds, it stopped, leaving a smoking heap of a shell. Constant could tell at that point that the Dalek was either dead or dying.

He walked down the hallway until he found a stairwell to get to the level where the Dalek had landed. At this point, he did not know what he was going to do if the creature inside the travel machine was alive. He found the room and could now see up close just how bad the damage was. When a small spark nearly flew in Constant's face, he could tell that there would be salvageable parts. The Dalekanium shell would certainly prove useful if he could find a way to apply it. He sighed at that moment and set his laser screwdriver to cutting mode again.

Before he could start, however, he could hear bumping noises in the distance. He could not tell if they were coming from inside or outside at that moment, but he decided to let it be until he was done here. He cut through the casing very carefully until he was able to remove parts of the outer shell piece by piece. He had finally removed enough technology to expose the Dalek himself. The almost squid-like creature was not moving. Constant set his sonic screwdriver to scan and found that the Dalek was indeed alive. Now came the moment to make a big decision. Constant pondered that on one hand, he might need the Dalek to help him get back to his own universe. On the other hand, even he knew that you could not trust a Dalek not to turn his word against you unless you were a Dalek yourself.

After careful consideration, he made a decision and picked up his laser screwdriver again...

Author's Note:

The "suction manipulator" is what I call that arm on a Dalek that looks like a plunger. Anyone know what that component is really called?