A short chapter, I know. I'll update Chapter Three soon though, my dears. For all...two of my fans. Three if you count the person who added the story but left no review! Please review, dears! My heart breaks if I don't get enough reviews, and I only have two. And now to the story:


Chapter 2: Problems Onboard

Rydell glared at her. "Yes, I am quite sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." He turned away from her and continued typing.

Romana watched him working for a while. The monitor hummed gently as he typed, but otherwise there was silence. Just then, the computer gave a loud whirring noise, and another window popped up onscreen. "What does that mean?" Romana asked. "Have you fixed it?"

"No, I haven't," Rydell replied testily. "I can't fix it until I know precisely what's tracking us." He was fed up with the President's incessant questions, and it was starting to show.

Romana paused. "Oh." She was aware the officer was becoming more and more irate. Deciding to leave him to it, she walked away from the mainframe computer and exited the room.

The ship was not large. It housed five rooms – the control room, bathroom, kitchen, and two bedrooms. Romana had been particularly pleased to discover this last point, as she doubted she would have been able to sleep knowing Officer Rydell was in the same room. She had not known him for more than a month, and trust had not yet developed between them.

She headed into her bedroom, passing Rydell's on the way. His was neat and orderly. Hers was something of a mess. She picked up a book from the floor and replaced it on the shelf before throwing herself onto the bed. The pillow was still damp from that morning, so she flipped it over and lay on the dry side instead. How long she lay there, she didn't know. There was no clock in her room (or indeed anywhere on board; what was the point when time in Voidspace behaved differently from real space anyway?), so it might have been hours or just minutes. Regardless, she didn't get up until Rydell called her name.

"President Romana!" There was a note of urgency in his voice. Romana dragged herself out of bed and hurried into the main room. "I've identified the target," he told her quickly, smiling for the first time since he had come onboard.

Romana looked at him for a moment, unsure why this was something to be pleased about. "Is it an enemy ship?" she asked tentatively.

Rydell shook his head. "No, President. Quite the opposite, in fact. The signature code is that of a Type 40 TARDIS."