Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who in any of it's forms.
Summary: A rewrite of a parallel world version of Midnight, where the difference is that The Library never happened.
A waterfall of sapphires, in a planet so beautiful that it's only industry is literally tourism. The Doctor thought that it would certainly be a safe place to take Donna. After all, no real alien rebellions or Sontaran attacks could happen on Midnight, while it was beautiful, the planet was too deadly to be useful for anything buttourism.
It had taken some convincing and promises of dinner and spa treatments to get Donna to come with him on the shuttle to see the waterfall, but the Doctor had one, and despite the fact that she slapped his arm whenever he began to bounce excitedly in his seat, he was sure a simple sightseeing trip would be just the break they needed.
"That's the headphones for Channels 1 to 36, modem link for 3D vidgames, complimentary earplugs, complimentary slippers, complimentary juice pack, and complimentary peanuts." The pleasant hostess said with a smile that was all even, white teeth. "I must warn you, some products may contain nuts."
Donna rolled her eyes, which saved the Doctor from getting a Donna-Look when he quipped. "That'd be the peanuts."
The hostess seemed to be able to pick up the slack without even wavering though. "Enjoy your trip."
"Oh, I can't wait!" The Doctor replied. "Allons-y!"
Hostess looks did not hold the same kind of foreboding that a Donna-Look did. "I'm sorry?"
Still. what could he do but explain? "It's French. For let's go."
"Fascinating..." The Hostess replied, her smile somewhat more forced.
"You'd think she'd be a bit more friendly." Donna muttered under her breath as The Hostess moved on to the next pair of seats, and she swiped the juice pack from where it sat on the Doctor's lap.
The Doctor turned slightly, watching the pair behind them. The older man, in awful glasses that didn't make him seem the least bit smarter was lecturing his companion on the trip. ""They call it the sapphire waterfall, but it's no such thing."
"Yousaid it was sapphires!" Donna hissed at the Doctor. "'Oh, come on, Donna! This enormous jewel, the size of a glacier, reaches the Cliff of Oblivion and then shatters into sapphire at the edge, then falls one hundred thousand feet into the crystal ravine - you said sapphires!"
"Well..." The Doctor said in his defense, trying to come up with something to deflect the blame, but the man behind them was continuing, and digging The Doctor into a deeper hole. "Sapphire's an aluminum oxide, but the glacier is just a compound silicon with iron pigmentation." He explains, laughing to himself.
Donna looks grumpy. "I could have been sunbathing, but now I'm on a trip the length of a school trip to see a waterfall of almost-sapphires."
"Come on, Donna, adventure!" The Doctor said easily. She looked like she would have responded, but the man who had gotten him into trouble in the first place, spoke, putting his hand over the seat. ""Hobbes. Professor Winfold Hobbes."
"I'm the Doctor, Hello." The Doctor said with a friendly smile. The man leaned in and whispered conspiratorially. "This is my fourteenth time!"
"Oh," The Doctor said, impressed. "It's my...well, ourfirst."
The Professor Hobbes' companion jumps up out of her seat, all youthful enthusiasm, holding her hand out to him. ""And I'm Dee Dee. Dee Dee Blasco."
"Don't bother the man!" The professor practically scolded her, which annoyed Donna, as she had been the oft-scolded temp back at home.
"No bother," Donna contradicted him, holding her hand out to the girl, whose face brightened just a bit. "I'm Donna Noble."
She settled back into her seat, quietly tabulating the score at Professor - o, Donna - 1. Boss someone obviously working for him around her, she didn't think so. And the girl seemed so nice.
Had the Doctor known what she was thinking, he would have agreed, instead, he was looking around art the other passengers. Behind them was a family of three with a rebellious teenager who didn't want to sit with them, while some seats ahead was a few kids who couldn't have been more than fourteen. They were looking over pamphlets, discussing where in the leisure palace to at, but as if she had felt his eyes on her, the girl, all ginger hair and big brown eyes smiled at him, before turning back to her conversation.
"Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon," The Hostess announced moving to the front of the shuttle. "Welcome on-board the Crusader Fifty. If you would fasten your seatbelts, we'll be leaving any moment." She spoke with some authority, apparently addresing the verbal interface and the passengers at the same time. "Doors." And then, "Shields down."
As the shields slid into place, she explained why to the passengers that looked a bit confused. "I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace. Also, a reminder. Midnight had no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals. Fire exit at the rear and should we need to use it, you first." She says it as if it was a sort of forced joke, and Donna felt herself feeling for the woman, remembering the flight attendants on her trip to Egypt, and how miserable they seemed. Some things didn't change, no matter what century you were in, it seemed.
The Driver came on, surprising Donna, who hadn't really been paying attention to the last thing the woman said, too busy wondering how she had gotten the job as the hostess on the Crusader Fifty.
"Driver Joe at the wheel. There's been a diamond fall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map." In response to the words, the map at the front of the ship showed the two routes they could possibly take.
"The journey covers five hundred kliks to the multifaceted coast. Duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us and, as they used to say in the olden days, 'Wagons roll.'" The ship began to rumble, starting off on it's long journey.