Chapter One

Amy Pond swore loudly.

She tried to insert the co-ordinates again for the planet Dallendaf in the 35th century, but, same as before, as soon as she tapped in the last number, the TARDIS console emitted a dull electronic whine and the screen shifted.

"Oh, be quiet, you," she muttered to the time machine. She shook her head and blinked.

"Going crazy, talking to this old machine."

The whine got louder, as if in protest, frequently interrupted by what Amy guessed where glitches in the signal from whatever the sound came from. Ooh, a signal. I have deducted something, she thought.

She pressed a large orange button on the console in exasperation, and the screen shifted again. Amy drew it closer to her and tapped the screen curiously as the image began to form.

"Pond!" came a sudden cry from across the room as the Doctor rushed down the stairs from another part of the TARDIS, swinging on the banister and collapsing in a crumpled heap on the glass floor. Hurriedly getting to his feet and gathering his wits, he frowned, seeming to have forgotten what he was going to say.

"Ah, yes," he said suddenly, "Pond… yes, Pond. That was it."

He grinned triumphantly at Amy, who raised one eyebrow and gestured to the screen in front of her.

"What?" he asked, his grin changing to an expression of concern.

"The TARDIS is making this weird noise. I don't think it wants to go to Dallendaf."

"No Dallendaf?" the Doctor asked, wide-eyed with horror. He leant forwards with his ear to the console, listening intently. Grabbing the screen, he twisted it towards him and examined it.

"What is it?" Amy asked, peering round to glance at the screen, showing a darkened room she didn't recognize, a screen set into the front wall.

"Dunno," the Doctor frowned, pulling it closer to his face, "Room of some sort… probably on Earth or at least a planet colonized by humans or similar… some sort of theatre? Lecture hall?"

"A university?"

"Perhaps," he replied absently, letting go of the screen and starting to press random buttons, "Either way, there's a signal of some sort… distress call, most likely, or a…"

He withdrew the sonic screwdriver from his jacket pocket and scanned the source of the noise, still frowning.

"… cry for attention," the Doctor muttered, "That's… odd."

"Why would someone do that?" Amy asked.

"Advertisement? Back-up call? Who knows?" he replied, grinning manically, "And if I could just trace it to its source…"

The Doctor pressed three small green buttons, and the screen made an odd buzzing noise before displaying a picture of a small green-blue planet Amy recognized instantly.

"Earth!" she cried, pulling the screen closer to her face.

"Hmm, yes," The Doctor said, pocketing the sonic and pressing a few more buttons, "Around… early 21st century, oh, that is definitely strange… think, Amy, in the whole of time and space, trillions of years, countless, countless galaxies, what are the odds of your exact home planet and era?"

Before Amy could reply he was rapidly pulling levers and pressing buttons.

"Are we checking it out, then?" Amy asked, frowning.

"Oh, yeah," the Doctor said enthusiastically, "Hold tight."

He pulled a lever and the whole TARDIS shook violently.

"What about Dallendaf?" she cried as she was flung to the other end of the console room from the force of the shake, clutching the railing to prevent herself falling under the console as the TARDIS rattled into life, and the engines (or, at least, Amy imagined that there was some sort of engine) roared.

"Dallendaf can wait!" the Doctor yelled back, pulling more levers as the TARDIS flew on through the vortex, barely disguising his expression of utter glee.


I've just realised the ridiculous amount of frowning and pushing of buttons that goes on in this chapter, so sorry about that. This is the first proper Doctor Who fanfic (aside from the odd oneshot) I've written, so it probably wont be that great, and I might not be finish it if I lose interest or something which usually happens when I try to write something more than a few chapters.