What on New-Earth?

Theta nodded, opening the door, shivering at the strange energy signature he got from the blue box. Figuring that he was just being paranoid, he walked in, looking around. Not that Theta knew it, since he never saw the inside of the Doctor's TARDIS, but it looked the same in the console room as the 'steampuck themed TARDIS' it had grown from.

"So...Type 40. First thing you should know about is that there are six panels, all with a different purpose" he pointed to each one in turn, listing them off "The helm panel, the diagnostic panel, the communications panel, the fabrication panel, and the mechanical panel. If you want to be really simplified, then you need to pull this blue lever, pull this red lever, input the destination in galactic coordinate terms, press this button, then pull that other blue lever over there. Of course, that leaves out much of the other features and workings, but for all TARDISes it's about the same sequence, albeit mixing up which things do what...like on my TARDIS I input all of these sequences using buttons on the hologram panels"

Mal walked along, nodding with understanding as he gave instructions and information on the TARDIS and how to use it.  Her hazel eyes were focused intensely, brows furrowed as she tried to absorb it all and not forget a single detail.  Type 40, there was something in the Torchwood files that indicated it was a prototype for later models up to the Type.. was it 89? 

"Six different panels, each one serving a different purpose.  Does that mean there are suppose to be six Time Lord pilots, each designated to a different task?  Radical!"  Mal smiled excitedly, clinging onto this particular bit.  It only made her more interested in the near-extinct species and their puzzling means of transportation.  "A hologram panel?  Do you have a different type of TARDIS than this?  Sounds more advanced."  She walked around the console, trailing her fingers delicately over the levers and buttons. 

Mal paused and looked up at Theta, her face relaxed but her eyes calculating.

"Yeah, mine is a Type 57. Each one becomes more and more advanced as more technologies were developed. Good thing, too; you should have seen the Type 1. It was a major death trap, you'd have less than a 50-50 chance of surviving a trip"

Theta retreated under Mal's gaze, not understanding why he was so nervous.

"A-anyways, any more questions?"

"Oh, Type 1.  I can't see why anyone would want to drive when.  But I suppose that's the only way to make progress, isn't it?"  She walked around closer, watching Theta and tilting her head.  "You wouldn't mind showing me how this works, would you?  Just take it up into orbit or something.  That would get me all practiced up, wouldn't you say?"  Mal positioned herself beside the Time Lord but averted her eyes to look at the controls, eying the different levers that he had mentioned the function of.  

A test drive, that's all she needed to prove to herself piloting a TARDIS would be manageable in the hands of a human.  She rolled her shoulders back and rose taller before turning her eyes back to Theta.  "It'll be quick, just up and back down.  Have to nail the take off and landing."

"Are you sure? TARDISes are harder to drive then they look, you know, even without adding the time factor into it. You have to take the planet's rotation and orbit and gravity into account, as well as pull and press things at exactly the right time, otherwise you'll be way off. It takes years to learn..."

Theta was worried for his friend. He had gotten a record, only beaten by Rassilon and the Other, for learning to drive a TARDIS in such a short period of time; five years. But he still made mistakes. And the fact that Mal was a human and didn't have some of the advantages Timelords did in the area only emphasized things. It was most likely that she would land them somewhere randomly in space (because there is a lot of space out there in comparison to planets or suns), yet Theta still was nervous, not wanting his friend to die or for him to regenerate.

"Are you sure about this? Cause you have to be absolutely sure"