Chapter Seven:

Close Call

The next day, very early in the morning, the Doctor began hauling the force field generators out of the Tardis. He decided that using the Tardis for transport wouldn’t be the best idea, since the blue box generated a lot of noise each time it moved. That would cause the natives to hear, thus challenging to explain away. That also meant a tedious job for the Timelord. Piper remained in the Tardis and awaited instructions from the Doctor.

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The first one the Doctor placed was only a few feet away from the Tardis, which remained on the beach. He placed the generator in a thick bunch of shrubbery and pressed the button on the remote to cloak it.

“Did it pop up on the monitor?” The Doctor asked, talking through Piper’s cellphone, whom she gladly agreed to let him borrow in order to communicate.

“Force field generator one online” Piper announced, matter-of-factly.

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The next one was a lengthy trek. The Doctor awkwardly waddled with the generator with both his hands.

“Have you ever tried to fix that screeching noise the Tardis makes? Then this would be a lot easier…”

The Doctor grunted.

“No, I’ve never thought of that. I’ve grown quite fond of that noise actually!”

Unbeknownst to him, Piper was shaking her head disapprovingly and giggled.

“Well, I sure hope you aren’t burning out something…”

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At last, the Doctor made it to the other side of Aulani Beach and placed the generator behind a grove of trees, then cloaked it.

“Generator two online.”

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The third one was going to be tricky. The Doctor would have to place it behind the village huts, and the sun was coming up. The Hawaiians were going to be awake soon. He grunted as he carried he machinery.

“Are you sure you don’t want to use the Tardis and make it quick? I can fly it over there, it won’t be hard!” 

“I appreciate your concern Piper, but I’m still not gonna change my mind” The Doctor exclaimed, a bit exasperated, “Also, I don’t think I quite trust you behind the wheel yet.”

“Oi!” 

“Oi!”

The Doctor snuck behind the village in the jungle and placed the generator inside a grove of flowers. He turned it on and initiated the cloaking program.

“Generator three online. One more to go and we’ll be all set!” 

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“Doctor?”

The Doctor whirled around in surprise.

“Puani!”

“I…I thought you weren’t going to come back” said Puani.

“No, Piper and I just…went back to our campsite. I told you I was going to help, didn’t I?”

“I know you did but…I don’t know if our chief will allow it. Rumors have spread quickly about you. He seems to think your help will cause the gods to be even more angry with us.”

“Well I’m sorry, but I know for a fact that it isn’t the gods.”

“But how do you know, Doctor?” Puani demanded, “Who are you?”

The Doctor didn’t respond.

“Uncle Doctor, I’m picking up potential wavelengths of another earthquake. I think you’re gonna need to pick up the pace and get back down here!” 

The phone was loud enough that it was broadcasting from his pocket.

“Was that Piper? Where is she?” Puani asked, looking around.  

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

Piper could feel the earth quake beneath the Tardis. Time was running out. The wavelengths were rising hastily on the monitor. This next earthquake was going to cause an even bigger tidal wave than before. 

“Uncle Doctor?” She called again with uncertainty.

All she could hear was an unintelligible conversation between her uncle and other voices. She came to only one conclusion: the Doctor was being preoccupied with the tribespeople. He wasn’t going put up the next generator in time. She would be the only one left to complete it.

“But Uncle Doctor will be cross with me if I pilot the Tardis over there!”

She examined the readings again. Five minutes before it was going to go critical.

*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*_*

A group of natives came towards the Doctor. The chief was with them. The Timelord took a step back. The Hawaiian chief raised his hands.

“Peace be to you Doctor! I don’t mean to harm you.”

The tribesmen surrounded him. His means of exit were quickly closing. He had to think of a new plan, fast.

“Your highness, you need to let me go! You are in grave danger, I can help you!” The Doctor warned.

“Doctor, this punishment does not apply to you,” said the chief, “Flee from this cursed place! Take your child and leave!”

“This isn’t from the gods, there is a logical explanation for this! But I won’t be able to figure it out if you work against me!”

“If you do not leave, I will have to force you. I will not allow you to die with us!”

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Piper wasn’t sure what to do.

“Uncle Doctor?” She asked again, praying hopelessly for a response.

She didn’t hear the Doctor directly, but she could hear the chief.

“We will gladly assist you off the island if you tell us where your campsite is.”

“They wouldn’t react well to seeing a Tardis, I don’t think.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not going to do that.”

“Doctor, don’t make this difficult.”

“What is it going to take with you humans, eh!? Something bounding from the sky? Is going to take…a flying hut to get you to believe me?” 

Just then, the Doctor began to speak in a calmer, more calculated tone.

“Wouldn’t that be something…A hut coming from the sky…causing the waves to fall effortlessly away from your shores, bounded by its will.” 

Piper held her breath.

“In a…red fury.”

Piper’s eyes widened and smacked the console board.

“Well, that seals the deal then!”

Piper sprinted around the console board flipping switches and turning knobs, jump-starting the engine. The Tardis roared to life. Piper put in the coordinates to the last island point. The Tardis’ gears began to grind and the control room shook.

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The ground outside shook more violently. All the natives looked around, eyes widened and skin pale.

“We’re going to die! It was fruitless to think we could please the gods!” The chief cried.

He turned to the Doctor.

“I warned you, Doctor, and now, you will perish with us!”

The Doctor ignored him and glanced up at the sky, as if waiting for something. A wave began to come up over the horizon. It was building, higher and higher, as it grew closer and closer to the shore.

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The engine shrieked distressingly in the split seconds it took for Piper to get from switch to switch. She groaned aggravatingly.

“How is Uncle Doctor able to do this so efficiently!?” She exclaimed.

Soon, the Tardis jettisoned up to the air and the room began tipping from side to side. Piper’s hearts raced in panic, trying to think clearly through the instructions the Doctor had given to her.

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The natives slowly began taking off towards the hills in discoordinated alarm. The wave was growing closer, and bigger. Suddenly, they heard a sound of whirring and warbling. A spinning blue police box came glinding into view. The Hawaiian’s jaws dropped at the wonder of what indeed looked like a flying hut as dark of a blue as the night sky when the sun fell. The Doctor grinned.

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The Tardis landed with a ear-piercing thump. Piper lost balance and fell back first to the floor. She cried, then scrambled to get back up, massaging her aching head. Suddenly she realized where she was and shimmied for the generator and remote. She turned the knob of the front door, kicked it open, and bounded into the open air. The wave was very close now, creating a ginormous shadow over the island, like the doom of eternal darkness. Piper ran as fast as she could to the designated spot, the generator beating against her legs as she ran. She clumsily navigated through large branches and thick jungle until finally, she reached a cliff edge.

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The wave was now spiraling down towards the island. The natives screamed and shrieked. Some ducking their heads, some clutching their children, and some stumbling over the cliff side as they scrambled to flee. Piper slammed the generator in its spot, grabbed the remote from her pocket, and hurriedly flipped the switch.

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Water crashed down on the people. They screamed as they braced for the worst. But then, the water stopped. Puani opened her eyes and peeked out at the horizon. The wave was still in crashing motion, but not over the island. Something seemed to be blocking it, like a shield, a shield that they couldn’t see. The Doctor, who had stumbled at the force of the sudden rainfall and soaked to the bone, got back on his feet and sighed with relief.

“She did it. She actually flew the Tardis in one piece.”

He suddenly remembered the phone in his pocket and pulled it out to see if it was still functional. By some miracle it remained dry. He held it up to his ear.

“Piper, you alright?”

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Piper panted as she pulled herself back to her feet. She too had gotten soaked, but the generator remained undamaged. She pressed a button on the remote to turn the contraption invisible. She heard a strange groaning from out in the sea. It didn’t sound like a typical groaning of trees or a building structure. It sounded…alien. Piper raised an eyebrow, curiously. Just then, She could hear the communications module going off back inside (she had left the door open in the commotion). She wobbled over back inside and responded breathlessly:

“You…couldn’t trust me behind the wheel, aye?”

The Doctor grinned.

“Well done, Piper!”