Doc10/Fred story 
A Slip in Time


	The Doctor made his way down the busy city street.  "Come on,
Fred!" he called.  "There's not much time left."
	Fred pulled himself away from the salesmen trying to sell him
watches and the thieves waiting for him to buy one they could steal.  "Why
are we here, Doctor?"
	"We're here to see history in the making, Fred!"  The Doctor
stopped at the corner, and when Fred caught up, he pointed to a banana
peel on the ground.  "The Grand Fractus of Procyon is about to slip on
that."
	"What?  That's your idea of history in the making?"  Fred picked
up the banana peel.  "Some fractal cactus guy is about to slip on this?"
	A man in a brown suit pushed his way past them, and the Doctor
shook his head sadly.  "Apparently not.  Nice going, Fred.  Back to the
TARDIS."

	Fred watched as the Doctor blew some dust off a stack of books in
the TARDIS library.  "So, what was so important about that Fractus guy
slipping on the banana peel?"
	The Doctor picked a book from the stack.  "Let's just say it
changed the course of history in a big way."
	"Can't we just go and put it back?"
	"It doesn't work like that."
	"Can't we just arrange for him to slip on another one?"
	"Not exactly.  We're going to have to perform some complex
operations to fix things.  You have no idea how important that banana peel
was to the history of the universe."  The Doctor looked up from the book.
"Do you still have it, by the way?"
	Fred rummaged through his pockets.  "Yes."
	"Well, that's disgusting!  Throw it away."

	The meeting room in the Fractus Building was busier than it
usually was on a Wednesday evening.  Various dignitaries were seated
around the room's long table.  The door to the room burst open, and the
Grand Fractus walked in, dressed in a green suit covered with needles.
"Well, how do I look?" he asked.
	"You're looking pretty sharp," one of the dignitaries replied.
	"Very funny."  The Fractus scowled.  "I don't remember inviting
any of you people here."
	A man with a clipboard hurried up to him and pointed to a sheet of
paper on it.  "This is the most important meeting of the season, sir.
This meeting calls itself."
	"Oh.  What's it for?"
	"Settling the terms for the next season, sir."
	"I see."  The Fractus turned back to the table.  "Do you people
agree to my terms?"
	There was a confused silence.  "I don't know," one of the
dignitaries finally replied.  "What are your terms?"
	"Um..."  The Fractus turned back to the man with the clipboard.
"What are my terms?"
	The man with the clipboard turned and faced the table.  "The Grand
Fractus demands unconditional surrender!"
	The Fractus nodded.  "Yeah.  I demand that!" he shouted.
	The man with the clipboard turned back to the Fractus.  "Thank
you, sir.  I've always wanted to say that.  I don't really know what your
terms are.  We were supposed to have that meeting yesterday."

	"Now, the problem is that when the Fractus didn't slip on the
banana peel, he wound up in a universe that wasn't meant to exist, and he
just isn't ready for it."
	Fred shook his head.  "Sorry, could you explain that again?"
	"No.  Ask K9."
	Fred turned to K9.  "Can you explain it, K9?"
	"Affirmative."
	"Will you?"
	"Negative."
	"Great."  Fred turned back to the Doctor.  "So, what would have
happened if this guy had slipped on the banana peel?"
	"Some people would have laughed."
	"That's all?"
	"And a dangerous alternate universe just waiting to spring out and
be where it shouldn't wouldn't have had the chance."
	"Ah."

	The Fractus opened the door to his room, and a flock of barking
sparrows flew out.  The Fractus turned back to the man with the clipboard. 
"Look, do you have a name?" 
	"Yes.  I'm the Man with the Clipboard."
	"I see.  Are you sure this is my room, Man?"
	The Man with the Clipboard nodded.  "Of course, Fractus.  And
don't worry...  we got the good quality asparagus for you tonight."
	"But I don't like asparagus!  Anyway, I've already had dinner."
	The Man with the Clipboard gave him a strange look.  "Dinner?"
	"Um...  never mind."  The Fractus looked around.  "What's that
noise?"
	"What noise?"
	"Like a strange blue box with a flashing light appearing at the
end of the hallway."

	Fred looked at the TARDIS screen.  "Well, there's that Fractus
guy.  What's your plan, Doctor?"
	"We convince the alternate universe it wants to go away."
	"That doesn't sound very easy."
	"It probably isn't.  Get over here and put on your guppy costume."

	The Fractus and the Man with the Clipboard watched as two men in
fish costumes walked out of the blue box.  "Hi there," one of them said.
	"Um...  Hello," said the Fractus.
	"Are you the Fractus?"
	"Yes."  The Fractus glanced at the Man with the Clipboard, who
nodded.  "Yes, I am."
	"Wrong!  Is your favorite color orange?"
	The Fractus frowned.  "No..."
	"Wrong again!  Do you think you can defuse this bomb before it
goes off?"  The men in fish costumes opened a case, revealing a strange
device.
	"That kind of talk doesn't scare me," the Fractus said.
	"I'm glad to hear it, since it isn't a bomb anyway."
	The Fractus turned to the Man with the Clipboard.  "Do you suppose
we should call security?"
	The Man with the Clipboard nodded.  "Very probably."
	One of the men switched the device on, and images of a busy city
street appeared on the wall.  "See that, Fractus?" the main said.  "That's
a gateway to the universe where you're supposed to be.  The one where your
answers would have been right."
	The Fractus looked a bit uncomfortable.  "Ridiculous!  Such a
device is impossible."
	"Oh, well, in that case, never mind."  The man switched off the
device, picked it up, and followed the other man back into the blue box,
which promptly disappeared.
	The Man with the Clipboard laughed nervously.  "Well, that was
amusing.  Now then, sir, about these liver orders.  Are you sure you can
use that much?"
	The Fractus shook his head slowly, entered his room, and slammed
the door behind him.

	Fred struggled with the zipper on his guppy costume.  "Do you
think he was fooled by the movie projector, Doctor?"
	"Possibly.  We'll wait and see how it goes.  Go get a banana, will
you?"

	Two dignitaries wandered through the Grand Hall.  "Well, Ferz,"
said one of them, "what do you think of these new developments with the
Fractus?"
	Ferz shook his head.  "I don't know, Lloyd.  He's been a little
strange ever since he locked himself in his room a few weeks ago."
	"Yes.  He's been issuing some pretty strange orders.  Do you
suppose he's figured out what's going on?"
	"Well, it's possible.  All this sudden activity in the research
wing, the interest in inter-dimensional travel...  I'm not sure where the
reaction to that fish dinner fits in, but I think the universe is
getting a bit concerned about the research."
	"Not too surprising," Lloyd replied.  "Still, maybe things can be
fixed if the opportunity presents itself.  It's not like we ever really
needed the Fractus in the first place."

	The Doctor leaned against the restaurant wall, and looked up and
down the busy city street.  He noticed a slight flicker by a store window. 
"Get ready, Fred, I think the time has come for you to fix your mistake." 
	Suddenly the Fractus emerged from the flicker, and began walking
down the street.
	"Now!" the Doctor shouted.
	Fred threw the banana peel in front of the Fractus, who responded
by going out of his way to slip on it, much to the amusement of the people
in the restaurant.  The world seemed to flicker for a second, and then
things returned to normal.  Fred looked around.  "Doctor?  Why is everyone
wearing paisley jackets?"
	The Doctor blinked.  "What?  Oh, great.  Back to the TARDIS."