Prologue
Gemma sat on the floor of the TARDIS control room, still looking around her with great interest. The Doctor was lying on the floor, inspecting various pieces of TARDIS innards, frowning and grumbling. He had been grumpy ever since the TARDIS had taken off on auto pilot, back in Oxford. Gemma had no idea where they were now. Space somewhere, she hoped. Or perhaps sometime different? She grinned. Despite the Doctor's reluctance to take her somewhere in the TARDIS, she was still glad to be there. Perhaps, when the TARDIS finally stopped, it would be somewhere with other spaceships. Then perhaps she could hop on one of them – man, it would be a blast! She could go exploring the stars! Restlessly, she got up, wandering round the room. She touched the TARDIS wall, and felt the warm vibrations of the ship. The Doctor had been very perturbed that she (the TARDIS, Gemma had learned, was a "she") had taken off without him at the controls. It was, apparently, very unlike her. And she had done it twice in a row. Gemma patted the wall appreciatively.
"Are there any windows anywhere?" she asked, at last. She knew the Doctor was not in the mood for questions, but she was travelling in space. She had to have a look at it while she could. The Doctor sighed and got up. He was frustrated that he couldn't work out what was going on with the TARDIS. Their telepathic link wasn't helping him, and every time he ran a diagnostic, it came back telling him that she was reacting to a distress signal, same as before – except that there hadn't been a distress signal last time. Good thing that he had ended up on Earth when he did, but no distress signal. He would check her over properly when they had stopped.
"Here" he said, walking over to the door of the TARDIS and opening it. "We're shielded in flight." Gemma came to stand next to him, wordlessly gazing out at the whirl of lights and psychedelic patterns.
"It's beautiful!" It had completely taken her breath away, and she just stood, staring in awe. The Doctor smiled. He still appreciated the beauty of the time vortex, even now, but that moment of dazzling wonder was long gone for him, and he liked seeing it in other people. "But where are the stars?"
"That's the time vortex" the Doctor explained. "It means that wherever the TARDIS is taking us, it's through time aswell as space." He gently closed the door. "I suppose we just have to wait to see where we end up now."
"To the future? Or the past?" Gemma asked, following the Doctor back to the console. He shrugged, hands in his pockets.
"No way of telling" he sounded like he was cheering up at the thought. "Could be anytime, anyplace."
"Brilliant!" Gemma grinned, leaning on the rails surrounding the controls, taking her weight on her hands and swinging herself gently to and fro.
"I hope it's another planet. Or ancient Egypt – I'd love to see exactly how they built the pyramids" the Doctor nodded, smiling knowingly "Or the World Cup in 66. I reckon it must have been mad..." her eyes sparkled. "Or the future. What's it like?"
The Doctor raised an eyebrow, as the TARDIS clanked to a stop. "You might just get to find out" he said, nodding towards the door. "Shall we?" Gemma took a deep breath, trying to calm down her heart, which was beating wildly with excitement. She nodded, and joined the Doctor, who had pulled on a long brown overcoat, as he opened the door.