Surprise Party
A short story by Keith Redhead

Part of the Second Doctor Fiction collection

"Och no Doctor, yer not supposed to play it like that at all. Yer timing's way off." Jamie was trying to teach the Doctor how to play Scotland the Brave on his recorder. "If ah had my bagpipes it would be easier." Jamie tugged at the collar of his thick wool sweater. He was a member of the McCrimmon clan, their piper in fact. He still wore his kilt to proclaim this fact.
"If you had your bagpipes mate it would be murder!" Ben teased. Ben was an ABS in the Navy. Technically he was AWOL but in a time machine he could be anywhere in time. He was dressed in a casual shirt and trousers.

"Now Jamie I know I'm not Mozart but a bit of practice and I'll get it right. Ben do something useful like reading the green dials on the controls, there's a good chap." The Doctor was a mysterious figure at times, he was from a race of people who had mastered time travel but rarely used it. He was dressed in clothes two sizes too big for him. A black frock coat, pale blue shirt and baggy check trousers. His hat was currently tucked away somewhere in a big wooden box.

"Right, from the top." Jamie instructed. The Doctor was a wise man no doubt but when it came to music there was none finer than a highland piper. He tried to be generous but a recorder was not the kind of instrument for serious musicians.

***

Polly entered, she found the others larking about and left again. She favoured short dresses to show off her long legs but at the moment she was wearing jogging bottoms and a baggy blue jumper.

Ben followed her. "C'mon Duchess, I know they're no Beethoven but you've got to give them credit for trying."

"Oh Ben it's not that, it's me. Stuck in here with no life, no-one to talk to, no friends to visit and no idea where I'm going to end up next."

"Hey, you've got me ain't ya? I'll be there for you, you know that." Ben tried to cheer her up. When Polly got depressed it made him upset too.

"Yes you're right. You're a good friend Ben Jackson. I guess it's just boredom as much as anything. I want to go places, safe places. Meet people, safe people. Do things, safe things."

"Yes it has been pretty hectic these last few months. Now stuck inside the TARDIS until it's logic buffer wotsit decompiles, whatever that means, we've all got a touch of cabin fever. Lets just make the best of a bad situation."

"What do you recommend?"

"A party. Formal dinner occasion, the works. Me in my best parade gear, Jamie in his full clan regalia and you in the smartest dress this side of Pluto."

"Oh Ben it sounds wonderful, but what about the Doctor?"

"He'd wear the same gear to dig ditches as he would meet the Queen herself. Although I think I can persuade him to brush his hair." They both laughed.

"Oh I don't know Ben, I'm not one for big fancy occasions." The Doctor shook his head.

"Go on Doctor, it'll be a change. A chance for all of us to sit down and have a good time."

"Must I?"

"Look, Polly's feeling very down at the moment and we owe it to her to cheer her up. She's always been there for us ain't she? Watcha say Doctor?"

"Oh very well Ben, I'll sort something out. I think there's a big table in one of the rooms somewhere."

"Cheers Doctor you don't know how much this will mean to her."

***

They gathered in the dinning room. The Doctor had set everything up from dusting to setting the table. "It took a bit of doing but I managed to get the food machine to unstick from its default setting." He clapped his hands together and smiled. "Instead of tiny food bars we have large food bars. Jamie use your knife and fork."

"Och Doctor this Haggis is rare."

"Is it? I thought I'd cooked it right. Oh you mean delicious."

Ben raised his glass and toasted Polly's health.

Jamie did likewise.

The Doctor pulled out a gift wrapped box. "I know the other's forgot, in part, but happy birthday Polly."

Polly took it and smiled. She opened it and gasped. It was a pair of the latest Carnaby Street fashion shoes. "Thanks, how did you know?"

"Well I have a better understanding of humans than these two it would seem. "Ben guessed something was up which goes to show that chap Darwin was on the right track."

***

After the meal they found themselves back in the console room.

"Its become unstuck Jamie."

"Hey I did ne touch anything Doctor."

"No, its become free. I can move the TARDIS again. I'll try and get us somewhere nice." The Doctor pushed a few buttons and the transparent column in the centre of the console began to rise and fall. "I wonder where we'll end up at this time?"

"Knowing you it'll be inside a Dalek spaceship." Jamie remarked, not with sarcasm but friendly ridicule.

"Well then you're nominated as the search party." The Doctor retorted and they both laughed. The tensions that had been building up over the last few days dissipated and vanished.

