EP.

[fiveroundsrapid.livejournal.com]

He opens the door, and as it closes behind him he takes a few moments before he realises that he is not in his office as he should be. He is immaculately dressed in an almost-army uniform.

He surveys the bar-room, an eyebrow cocked in mild confusion. He spins on his heel and pulls at the the handle of the door. It fails to open under his hand. He takes a deep calming breath and turns back to face the room.

Now if only he could work out where the devil he was.

Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart heads for the bar.

Comments

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon occasionally has that effect on people. It's part of the reason why he doesn't talk much. He hates having to back up and explain.

Still, he nods. "Fine with me," he says, and heads for the chairs. "I'll answer whatever questions I can. I've been here a while."

[fiveroundsrapid.livejournal.com]

He walks over to the chairs, glass in hand and sinks into one of the armchairs. He's tired and glad of the comfort.

"Will I be able to leave here, or am I stuck? I have work to do, as I'm sure you do."

He's confused about the general workings of the place, but interested. Alistair is quite good at accepting explanations that sound like complete bunk. He's been working with the Doctor for long enough that making a time travel disrupter from bottles, forks and wire is a viable option. Although it's still very over his head. He prefers to give orders and get on with things.

[acts_of_gord]

"Most people can," Gordon says. "I'm stuck here myself for the moment. You'll return to the moment you left, so unless you do something here that has visible consequences, no one will know you were gone."

[fiveroundsrapid.livejournal.com]

Good. He does need to crack on with some work. On the other hand, if he can have a slight rest here for a little while first, and go to do the work later without anyone knowing, then he'd probably feel much better about the work in question.

There's a hell of a lot of paperwork involved in catching aliens and saving the world. It's a pity really, because he really, really hates paperwork, but quite enjoys saving the world. Not that he'd let his men know. Stiff upper-lip and all that.

He considers for a moment.

"Does 'visible consequences' include drinking heavily?" He answers his own question, "I suppose it does. Pity really." He sighs. "So I suppose the pertinent question would be what usually goes on here?"

[acts_of_gord]

"About what you'd expect in any bar with a really diverse clientele," says Gordon. "Only weirder, since so many of the patrons're species other than human. They celebrate all kinds of holidays here, some of which aren't from Earth. Didn't think they could make a holiday for a species of sentient robots work for humans, but they did."

[fiveroundsrapid.livejournal.com]

"Well, at the very least it shows initiative." He's not certain how he'll settle in around here if all they do is have parties, but he'll cope. He's The Brigadier for goodness sake, how could he do anything less?

"Aliens?" He's met quite a few aliens over the years, quite a number of them have been very bad news. On the other hand, by the Doctor's reckoning there were plenty of species out there that weren't just trying to kill people...

"Sentient Robots? Not Cybermen, surely?" This statement carries a worried tone, and is accompanied by a hasty look around the bar, where, reassuringly, no cybermen can be glimpsed. Even so, he's still on edge.

[acts_of_gord]

Gordon's not the Doctor Who fan he ought to be, which is why this conversation doesn't include a lot more gaping and 'you've got to be kidding me'. Thus the mention of Cybermen just gets a blank look. "Autobots," he says. "Transforming robots with the ability to turn into machines. Nothing that you could remotely call cybermen."

He scratches his nose and adds, "One of them uses the target range outside. Doesn't shoot at the same targets as the humans, though. Wouldn't be practical."