Peri shook her head. Somehow the aroma of a well cooked beef meal filled the air and made her stomach rumble. If she concentrated, there was the smell of red wine in there as well. She wasn't sure how that was possible, but she had seen a kitchen of sorts near the bathroom. The book in her hand was forgotten in the new mystery at hand.

She hadn't smelled anything so rich since she left California, she decided. The thought made her stomach ache in remembered homesickness. After her father died, her mother had often cooked for just the two of them. It had formed a close bond between them that had been severed when her mother had started dating Howard. The thought of a home cooked beef stew made her mouth water with memories as well as taste.

"Good Lord, what will he have in this place next? The Four Seasons Hotel?" she asked no one. Her voice echoed in the corridor the sterile empty white of which contrasted with the feeling invoked by the warm homey smell of what she was sure was beef stew. She tucked her novel under her arm and trotted down the hall towards the fragrance.

As she turned the corner into the kitchen she saw Tegan busy stirring a pot on the old-fashioned stainless steel and cast iron stove. Peri stopped and adjusted her weight, waving her hand towards the stove. "That wasn't here yesterday, was it? I know I'm not crazy, Tegs."

"No, it wasn't," Tegan agreed. "You might not be crazy, but hell if I'm not feeling insane at times."

Peri put down her book on the table and sighed. "I guess that's why you're cooking?"

Tegan nodded. "Familiar things and all that," she responded as she tasted from the spoon. "Cripes, it makes me feel normal."

With a frown, Peri sat down in the chair. She leaned forward, her chin in her hand. The novel was set on the surface of the table and quickly forgotten. "But you've been traveling with the Doc, living this life for what..."

"Close to five years," Tegan offered.

"Isn't it familiar yet?"

Tegan sighed as she rubbed her hands against the back of her butt. Peri watched as Tegan's dark auburn hair, pulled back tightly into a wicked pony-tail, twitched as her friend tilted her head. It looked like she was thinking. And uncharacteristically she answered quietly.

"Frighteningly so." Then she shook her head and turned to her friend. Peri could see the wan coloring of her friend's face and the slight puffiness of her cheeks. Her eyes appeared wide, almost eerily so, like she was looking into her worst fears.

Peri was out of her chair and reached out to touch the woman's arm gently. "Tegs?"

Tegan seemed to see her and turned her gaze to Peri's. "I don't feel normal..."

"Doctor?"

Peri saw his familiar cricket boots sticking out from under the console. They twitched as if their owner was busily adjusting something with weight. There was the clatter of metal against the floor as if he had dropped a tool. Then there was a sigh, a grunt and a clear: "Yes, Peri? We're...ah...still in flight. We should be at our next destination very soon. It's a peaceful little planet. I took Tegan there once. You both should be rather happy. Definite change from our last destination, eh?"

"That's good, Doc-"

"Could you hand me the spanner?"

Peri came forward, sitting down on her knees next to the console. She saw the information on the computer screen in front of her and recognized it as a collection of the work on the scripts the Doctor had found a month previously in Babylon. With only a glance at it, she lowered her head under the console. She handed him the spanner. "Doctor..."

"Shouldn't take me long to adjust the temporal circuits. It isn't necessary for our movement now. No worries. We're simply moving on a spatial vector."

Peri rolled her eyes. The Doctor's feet twitched again and he bent his knee to use the leverage to adjust something. There was a slight squeak as he attempted to brace his feet against the floor. She raised her voice in an attempt to get his attention.

"Doctor...it's Tegan."

There was silence as his movements stopped. And then he slid out from under the console quickly, nearly causing Peri to spill backwards in response. The Time Lord sat up and squinted at his young companion, appearing slightly out of breath. Peri could see the confusion in his eyes. He puffed a few breaths and then with his face scrunched in thought, he asked:

"What about Tegan?"