This story takes place after "The Chosen Of Zagroatia".
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The Doctor smiled, and turned the page of the book he was reading. "The Time Machine," by HG Welles. He sighed, and sat back, before looking around. He wasn't used to this new look for the TARDIS console yet, but it was growing on him. Growing on him a great deal. He leaned back – he didn't like the chair. He admitted that to himself happily, but, nonetheless, he could deal with it. Music was playing in the background, soft, and slow. He was in a simple black frock coat, silver waistcoat and black trousers affair, complete with white open necked shirt.
"#This is the land of a thousand words…"
He looked around again. Then he looked at the console – mish-mash he had found in the shed. Nothing of great value. He loved it. His greatest masterpiece.
"Doctor, sir," Daniel McKenzie said from behind him, making him start. He was wearing his uniform fatigues, minus the jacket, and he wasn't wearing his beret. The Doctor sighed, and looked behind him, at the UNIT trooper who was.
"Don't call me that," he said. "What do you want?"
"I feel as though we should return to UNIT HQ, sir," McKenzie said. "I feel as though I've gone AWOL."
"Absent without leave?" the Doctor smiled. "Ah, but, my dear Daniel – what were Colonel Strand's last orders to you?"
Daniel sighed, and shuffled.
"'Protect the Doctor'," he said.
"Exactly," the Doctor smiled. "So as long as you're here, protecting me, you're doing your job."
Daniel nodded, but still looked uncomfortable with what the Doctor was saying.
"Where are we?" he asked.
"Oh, just drifting," the Doctor smiled. He flicked a switch, and looked at the scanner. "Oh, this is very unimpressive," he added. "I wish you hadn't thrown a grenade in the old console room, I liked that old console room."
Daniel shifted uncomfortably, then looked at the scanner.
"That's the time vortex?" he asked, looking at the blue and red swirly mass in interest. "Looks very interesting."
"Of course," the Doctor said. "It's the time vortex, the heart of all time travel."
"Intriguing," Daniel said. "So… where are we headed?"
"No idea," the Doctor said. "The TARDIS is in random destination mode. Sort of. Oh, it's hard to explain…"
"Then don't try," Carrie said from a doorway. She was in jeans, a t-shirt and a light blue jacket, and she was smiling. She walked over to them, and looked at the scanner. "We're going nowhere?"
"Yes, and fast," the Doctor said. "I'm not in the mood for any exploring at the moment, and frankly, even if I was, I don't know where we would go."
He sighed, and flicked another switch.
"So we're just going to wait until you're in the mood to go somewhere?" Carrie asked.
"Well," he said, "we could always set totally random controls," the Doctor began, but Daniel held up his hand.
"That is out of the question sir," he said. "It would leave us in too great risk. And my orders are to protect you."
"Yes, yes, perhaps," the Doctor nodded. Carrie said nothing, but sighed and looked around, not quite knowing what to say. The Doctor was the designated driver after all. He was standing still, and Daniel was walking off. She wandered off as well. The Doctor was muttering something behind her.
"At least we can see what's out there," he murmured. Then he flicked a switch.
The TARDIS juddered, and the Doctor grabbed on as the room tilted. Daniel ran over to him, as did Carrie.
"What happened?!" she yelled.
"I don't know!" the Doctor yelled back, flicking another switch. "I just took the TARDIS out of the Vortex for one second and…"
The room bucked again. He pulled a lever and spun a wheel, before hitting the console with his fist. Then he snarled, reached under the console, and grabbed a hammer, with which he smashed the console.
"Come on!" he screamed. "Please don't do this…"
Then the juddering stopped. He looked up, and saw the scanner. He flicked another switch, pulled another lever, and span another wheel. He looked at the scanner in half shock half wonder, then quickly shut it off.
"You do not want to see what is out there," he said, slowly. "You really don't."
"Why?" Carrie asked.
"Because there is something out there even the Time Lords are afraid of," he said, quite deliberately, with meaning behind his voice. "It's called the Nightmare Child."
"Sounds lovely," Carrie said in a voice laced with sarcasm.
"Well, it's not," the Doctor snapped. He looked at the scanner, and he must have seen something else, because he was genuinely upset.
"Oh no," he said. "Those idiots!"
He ran to the other side of the console, and pressed a few buttons, and the TARDIS began moving again – but almost immediately stopped.
"Where are we, sir?" Daniel said, grabbing his uniform jacket.
"The ship," the Doctor said.
"What ship?" Carrie asked.
"The ship that happens to be stupid enough to be studying the Nightmare Child," the Doctor said. "Come on!" the Doctor yelled. "We have to stop them, before they do something stupid."
"What is the Nightmare Child?" Daniel asked.
"A horrible space-dwelling entity," the Doctor said. "It remains in one place, and eats… matter. Nebulae, space craft… anything." He looked about as scared he had ever looked, and he wasn't often scared. "It is horrible. And now, some idiot human space craft has decided to study it."
"How d'you know its human?" Carrie asked.
"Because its name is Enterprise," the Doctor said, as he walked to the door. He looked at the Police Box door and shook his head, and walked out of it.
"Enterprise?!" Daniel said, surprised. "What is this, Star Trek?" He didn't sound horrified, so much as intrigued.
"Come on," Carrie said. "We'd better go and keep him out of trouble."
She walked out of the door, leaving Daniel on his own.
"Well," he said, sighing, "it is my job."
He grabbed his gun belt and his beret, and placed them on his person, before following the Doctor and Carrie out.
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