AUTHOR: Talepiece
RATING: 12 cert.
PAIRING: Sarah Jane/River
SUMMARY: River, Sarah Jane and Clara find themselves in post-apocalyptic America.
DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, least of all these two.
CONTINUITY: Post-Not In Chronological Order, follows directly from Dame's Night Out.
Sarah Jane looked around. Clara was still being sick behind them, she had no idea what had happened. The young woman seemed to be dealing with travel by Vortex Manipulator with even less dignity than Sarah Jane had managed. There was a tiny bit of pleasure in that thought. Sarah Jane didn't like herself for it but she accepted that it was there. She felt River's body pressed against her own and leaned in to it even more.
'We're not in Kansas any more,' Sarah Jane said.
'Actually,' River jabbed at the Vortex Manipulator, 'I suspect we are.'
Sarah Jane looked around them doubtfully. They were on a bluff overlooking a sprawling town. Or what had been a sprawling town; now it was a sprawling disaster zone. What buildings remained intact were smoking gently. The wisps blew and shifted in the light breeze that carried a heavy, metallic smell to them. Sarah Jane wrinkled her nose. She looked more carefully. You could see the layout of what had been a middle-sized conurbation. Wide roads cut through row upon row of homes and shops. There was a centre of sorts out in the middle of the low, flat area. A few taller buildings stood proud of the rest, set around an open square that was ringed with cars. Strange cars, though; unusual designs, Sarah Jane realised. More of the strange vehicles lined the roads, some parked up neatly, most left where they had stopped when whatever had happened took the inhabitants by surprise.
'What happened here?'
Sarah Jane waited for River to answer, her eyes still scanning the town below them. River said nothing and Sarah Jane became aware that Clara's heaving had stopped and River's muttering had intensified. She turned. Her eyes drifted over River's lowered head to find Clara standing up now, her gaze held by the sight below them. Her mouth hung open, her eyes wide. She was a peculiar green colour but she seemed to be regaining her strength. Sarah Jane looked down at River. The muttering was quite colourful too. She was tapping at the Vortex Manipulator, her eyes narrowing as she studied the device.
'River, baby?' Clara said, 'What the heck's goin' on here?'
River didn't answer her either. The device at her wrist was making a whining noise. It bleeped a few times. River swatted it with the flat of her palm. It bleeped again but quieter this time. There was a moment of silence, nothing but the blinking of two lights on the device to indicate life. Then a sad little electronic sigh and the lights went out.
'Bugger,' River said with feeling.
'River?' Sarah Jane and Clara said at the same time.
Sarah Jane reached out for River's free hand, tugging on it until River turned to look at her. Her face was hard but her eyes were filled with regret. 'I'm so sorry, Sweetie,' she said on a sigh, 'I should never have let you come with me.'
'Like you could have stopped this dame, pleeeese!'
Sarah Jane grinned at Clara, 'You did stand very little chance.' She nudged River with her shoulder and waited for the answering smile. It came eventually and Sarah Jane added, 'Though some warning would have been nice; I'd have bought a change of clothes. Now then,' she turned to sweep a hand around them, 'you'd better tell us exactly where - and when - we are.'
'When? Honey, you'd better start with more than that.'
River shrugged off her jacket and draped it over Sarah Jane's shoulders. She took the opportunity to give her lover an apologetic hug before turning to Clara. 'Clara, surely you worked out that I wasn't just a traveller? That I didn't just travel on Earth?' River waited for the spark of understanding to fire up in Clara's eyes. It wasn't igniting. 'I'm not really from London in the 1920s, dear; I'm actually from the 51st Century, I was born on a planet you can't even see in the night's sky. I travel in space and time. I'm not of this Earth.' River's tone was getting desperate and Sarah Jane's barely-muffled laughter wasn't helping. 'Really, Sarah Jane! Clara,' she tried again, lifting the Vortex Manipulator in illustration, 'this thing allowed us to travel back from the 1980s and now it's bought us here.'
Clara turned her wide stare on the world around them, 'Yeah, baby, I think I got it. Yesterday I'd have thought you were razzing me but now,' she shrugged, 'I guess I ain't soozled and I know I ain't back in that warehouse any more. Jeez, River, why didn't you just fill me in on this?'
'I'm sorry, Clara.'
'Yeah,' Clara shrugged again, apparently dismissing the whole thing, 'whatever. So, just where are we then, ha?'
'I suspect this is the US Midwest circa 3050,' River sniffed the air, 'There was an unfortunate incident involving some nuclear devices and house valuations dropped quite suddenly.'
'How many died?' Sarah Jane asked.
River's voice dropped to match Sarah Jane's serious tone, 'Millions, counting the people who were affected after the initial explosions. Most of the country was abandoned for years. This bloody thing,' she lifted her wrist, 'was showing lowish levels of radiation so we're somewhere in the later part of that period.'
'How long do we have?'
'Nuclear? Long?' Clara said, 'River, baby, what does she mean by long?'
'Radiation poisoning,' she said to Clara. To Sarah Jane she added, 'I wouldn't want to still be around in a couple of weeks but we should be all right if we get out of here within a day or so.'
'And just how do you plan to do that?' Clara said.
That shut them all up.
Clara turned back to the view and stared down at the town. It didn't look so different from her time, if you ignored the destruction. Even with it, the place looked kind of cleaner. Funny jalopies and more metal. Was that progress? She glanced back to say as much to River but stopped. She had Sarah Jane in her arms. The two women held each other, Sarah Jane's face tucked in to River's neck. Clara saw a tear roll down River's cheek and she looked away. Let them have their moment. She turned back and watched the strange movements down on the road out of town.
River held Sarah Jane tight to her and tried to blink back her tears. Sarah Jane shifted in her arms and there was the gentle caress of lips across her jawline. River sighed and leaned in to the contact.
'I'm not sure now is the time, Sweetie,' River said.
'Ain't that the truth,' Clara said over her shoulder, 'Bank it, ladies, we've got company.'
'Company?' River disengaged herself from Sarah Jane. She dropped a quick kiss to the pout that shaped Sarah Jane's lips before turning to Clara. 'We can't have company, Clara; there's no-one near here for thousands of miles. Ah,' she added.
'Ah?' Sarah Jane said, turning with River.
Clara's arm was held out, her fingers pointing to the road that left the town and headed up towards them. There was movement. Not vehicles but not people either. Or were they? Something dark and loping, perhaps the size of a human man. Not really walking but moving at quite a pace. And moving towards them.
'Perhaps we might move?' River said.
Sarah Jane looked around them, 'That's the only road anywhere near here.'
'Then we should probably take the short cut,' River said and pointed to the edge of the bluff. They eased themselves forward until they were looking over the edge and down the steep drop to the ground below. 'It will be a bumpy ride,' River said, 'but I think it might be preferable.'
'You seriously want to go down there?' Clara said, 'What about those things?'
'They might be friendly?' Sarah Jane offered.
'Ever the optimist, Sarah Jane, but I somehow doubt it. And, yes Clara, I want to go down there. We need to fix this thing,' she hefted her wrist again, 'and somewhere down there is the equipment to do it.'
'And somewhere down there are quite possibly more of whatever those things are,' Sarah Jane said, pointing to the black dots on the road.
'Every plan has a flaw, Sweetie.'
They scrambled down with limbs, if not dignity, intact. Sarah Jane glanced back at the drop they had tumbled and bounced down, then across at the road. Most of the loping creatures had already started the climb up to the bluff but two had been left behind, their loping an even more awkward, stumbling gait. Somehow three women roaring down the steep side of the plateau had escaped their attention. They just staggered on, their bodies hunched over, covered in what looked like tarpaulins.
'Sweetie,' River hissed.
Sarah Jane turned back to see River a few yards ahead and Clara further still. It was a mile or so to the edge of the town and more still to the centre. All of that was in the open; only the buildings would give them any cover and that would leave them trapped if they weren't careful.
'Could we get one of those cars working, do you think?'
'You wanna travel in style?' Clara said.
'I want to travel with some speed,' Sarah Jane indicted the creatures with a jerk of her head.
River and Clara, ahead of her and looking back, suddenly stared up at the bluff behind Sarah Jane. She turned and craned her neck. There at the top, looking down on them, was one of the creatures. It snarled at them, the sound reaching them as a hissing on the air. What little of its face they could see was twisted in rage. An arm-like appendage slashed out from under its covering and ripped through the air. Sarah Jane took it for another show of the creature's anger but behind her Clara gave an, 'Oh brother,' and River ran forward to grab for Sarah Jane's arm. Sarah Jane was yanked around, free arm flailing to keep her balance before she could move on.
'What is going on?'
Clara's hand shot out and pointed off to the road. Sarah Jane glanced around, stumbling as she did so but staying upright. Until she saw what had them both so worried. She stumbled again and River dragged her on. The two creatures who had been bringing up the rear were now closest to them. Had they been the slowest or were these creatures smart enough to leave a rearguard? Whichever it was, they now had two of the things heading directly for them, cutting off the road and loping across the hard, dry earth. The three women kicked up dust as they ran. The creatures didn't seem to have the same trouble moving on the difficult terrain, they just continued in that same loping motion - and they were gaining on them.
'Glad you went with the low shoes?' River said on a panting breath.
'I'd prefer my boots, if I'm being honest.'
'Will you dames can it?' Clara shouted, 'Come on!'
They ran on, the creatures seeming to loom up behind them. There was movement off to the side too, over by the road, but Sarah Jane refused to let herself look there. They had to keep running. They were closing on the edge of the town now, rows of nice little houses that had once housed nice little families. The thought made Sarah Jane's heart ache and she had to focus on keeping her legs pumping.
'They must be afraid of something,' River gasped out, 'Fire, noise?'
'Something bigger than them,' Sarah Jane said.
'I'll try a sudden growth spurt then, shall I?'
'Inside the house?' Clara shouted from up ahead.
'And get trapped? I don't bloody think so,' River waved her on frantically.
Sarah Jane saw Clara veer off to run around the white fence of the first house in the first row. They had run in to the nice end of town but she didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. Much as she hated weapons of any kind, Sarah Jane would have been quite happy to stumble on an arms cache or even something deadlier. They skirted the first home and made a sharp turn on to the pavement. Easier ground to run on but more obstacles. There were already cars left scattered on the road. The once-neat lawns and trees had regrown in strange ways, all twisted branches and oddly coloured grass. But natural always adapted and life had begun to return. There was a harsh buzzing in the air and the ever-present thudding of the creatures behind them. More than just the two now. Many more.
The three women wove their way through the cars in the middle of the road. They were roughly the same shape as the vehicles Sarah Jane knew but with sleeker lines and an odd non-metallic shine to them. Still no flying cars then, the thought passed through Sarah Jane's mind before she could stop it. It made her snort with laughter and that had River glancing back at her with a concerned expression. Sarah Jane waved her on and River turned to find that the road was blocked by a huge, squat vehicle with police markings.
Oh, thank you god, Sarah Jane thought. She said, 'Clara, get in that car!'
'Sweetie?'
'Look at the top.' Set back on the vehicle, rising up above the roof of the cab, was a gun turret. River looked from Sarah Jane to the turret and back again, surprise flashing through the panic in her eyes. 'You don't have to kill them,' Sarah Jane said, 'just scare them off.' And, please, let the engine still work, she added to herself.
Clara had already ripped the door open and was pulling herself up in to the passenger's seat. River took a few quick strides to the side and raced for the back of the vehicle. Sarah Jane hesitated a moment, then scrambled up in to the driver's door. It was the wrong way round, she realised, when faced with the electronic controls in the dashboard; River should be there, trying to get the thing started, while she pulled the trigger and scared the creatures away. Too late now and she leaned down to find a way to start the thing.
The thudding of the creature's feet was almost upon them but it was quickly drowned out by the rat-a-tat of the gun on the roof. The whole vehicle rocked as a stream of bullets shot out above them. The roadway cut up in chunks of flying tarmac, zipping around the startled creatures. They gave a howl, all the creatures as one, and it roared around the car. River didn't stop, still firing a hail of bullets that veered closer and closer to the creatures. One was hit. The howling stopped. There was an eerie silence as the creatures considered the fallen body. They edged away from the car, growling and snarling but no longer raging with the bloodlust that had fueled them. River didn't halt her fire, zigzagging across the road, keeping the creatures moving backwards. Until they broke off suddenly, turning as one and loping off as fast as they had chased the women.
'Go River!' Clara yelled, bouncing up and down on her seat, 'Yeah, and you take that, you rag-a-muffins. Hey, what a load of saps,' she added, slumping back in to the seat and finally noticing that Sarah Jane was taking no notice of the creature's retreat but still desperately trying to get the engine going, 'Sarah Jane?'
'I doubt it will be that easy,' River said, leaning down from above and poking her head in to the cab, 'Sarah Jane?'
'I have no idea!' Sarah Jane said, slamming her palms on the wheel, 'River?'
'That button there -'
'I've tried that one.'
'- and then that one, just a fraction after.' Sarah Jane leaned forward again and did as she was told. River added, 'Hold them both for a few seconds. There.'
With that, River lifted herself away from the cab and took up station behind the turret. Sarah Jane's hands took the steering wheel automatically, feeling the thrum of the engine through her whole body as it rumbled through the vehicle. She had another moment of disappointment at still having to steer with a wheel but she didn't laugh at the thought this time. Her eye had been caught by the body of the fallen creature. Given the bullets River had fired, it was a miracle she'd only hit one of them but still Sarah Jane felt for the loss. She considered taking a moment to look at it, to find out exactly what had survived in this wasteland, to discover just what these creatures were.
'What are you waiting for?' Clara hissed.
Or perhaps not. Sarah Jane gunned the engine, swung the wheel and ran in to the nearest abandoned car. Their own vehicle rocked a little but the smaller car buckled under its weight and Sarah Jane left a large dent in its side as she reversed away from it, turned the wheel again and pointed them towards the centre of the town. 'There goes the no claims bonus,' Sarah Jane said as she threw their vehicle from side to side, trying to avoid the parked cars but slamming in to more than one. 'River?' she shouted up through the open window.
'Just keep going,' River shouted back, a thrill in her tone that worried and excited Sarah Jane in equal measure. They bumped and skidded their way through the town, keeping as straight a line as they could towards the centre. They passed more little houses, then larger ones; apartments and motels; stores and fast food chains. 'Over there' River called down and Sarah Jane looked around.
'Those?' Clara said, her hand pointing to a line of shops on her side of the road.
Sarah Jane spotted them and saw the sign that hung limb over the central store. From the outside it looked much like the place where she'd purchased her last television. She mounted the curb and braked hard immediately in front of the window. The view gave her an idea that some things had moved on; perhaps it wasn't entirely like Radio Rentals. Clara threw her door open and dropped down. Sarah Jane hesitated, looking around her as best she could to check that no creatures were nearby. There was a bang on the cab's roof and River said, 'It's safe, Sweetie.'
Sarah Jane slammed the door shut behind her and waited for River to scramble down from the back of the vehicle. They hugged, aware of Clara's impatient presence but ignoring it. Both women looked around again but there was no sign of anyone - or anything. The silence was eerie now after the rumble of their transport. The air still had that metallic tang to it, the breeze still gusting in unnatural patterns. Sarah Jane shivered, her skin tingling.
River rubbed her arms, 'We'll be fine; this place should have everything I need. At least we can be sure that looters didn't get in here.'
They joined Clara. River stepped through the door, the glass long since fallen and now scattered around them. Inside it looked like the staff had just popped out for a moment. Though the place was thick with dust, dust that stood in heaped piles at a few points around the shop, the goods were still on the shelves, the displays still set up to tempt the passerby. As long as the passerby didn't look too closely at their shattered glass and twisted plastic. Sarah Jane followed Clara inside. The younger woman stared around at the electronics. Sarah Jane realised that the difference of just fifty years between them was as much of a gulf as the thousands of years between her and River. More, perhaps, since she had already witnessed much of the future when she travelled with the Doctor and more still due to her interaction with alien visitors to Earth. She left Clara to gazing around her in wonder and joined River.
'What do you need?'
River shrugged, 'I'll know it when I see it. Sarah Jane? Keep an eye on Clara and keep a watch outside; those things are not going to stay away forever.'
River walked through the store, heading for the door marked Staff Only that was set in the back wall. Sarah Jane stopped her with, 'River? What if there's some...thing living back there?'
'Then I'll be the streak of panic running past you at full tilt, Sweetie.'
With that, River was gone, jogging between the aisles towards the door. Sarah Jane shook her head but couldn't stop herself from laughing. Clara joined her, her own laughter dying down as she said, 'You really hooked her, ha?'
'I hope so.'
'Oh, come on,' Clara gave Sarah Jane an unexpected hug, 'She's totally goofy for you.'
'Goofy?' Sarah Jane laughed again. Her mirth fell away as she said, 'Let's make sure there are no nasty surprises, shall we?'
They returned to the front of the store, standing close to the door and watching the deserted road beyond. There was still no sign of the creatures. And then they were there. A dozen of them at least and more movement behind them too. Appearing from between the abandoned cars as if they had appeared from thin air. That same loping gait, front legs - arms? Sarah Jane wondered again - pulling them along as much as the hind legs pushed them forward. Hunched figures, crouching low to the tarmac but setting a good pace. They were covered with that same heavy material, their twisted bodies draped in the dense, blue fabric.
'River!' Clara shouted.
Sarah Jane clapped a hand over her mouth but it was far too late. She rifled through the pockets of River's jacket but found nothing of use. She cursed herself for not bringing the sonic lipstick; what was she thinking, leaving the house without it? 'Clara,' Sarah Jane said, 'go back there and tell River to hurry up. I'll hold them off.'
Clara hesitated and Sarah Jane gave her a shove that had the young woman scowling at her. Sarah Jane ignored it and turned back to the approaching creatures. She hurried out of the shop and scrambled up on to the back of the vehicle. The gun turret was facing towards the store and Sarah Jane hefted it around, her back pressing in to the back of the cab as she aimed it at the approaching creatures. They had formed in to a tighter group to negotiate the obstacles around the shops but now they fanned out again. Sarah Jane paused, her finger hovering over the trigger. The creatures hesitated too, coming to an unsteady halt. They remembered what had happened to them before, knew that this device was a danger to them. There was some sort of intelligence then, not just the raw instinct of a wild creature.
She took a deep breath and squeezed her finger down on to the trigger. The kick from the first few rounds had her jerking back before she could force her body to absorb the shock and remain upright. She sprayed bullets in a wide arc around her. They cut in to the tarmac of the road and the panels of the cars, shards filling the air and bouncing around the creatures who stopped and cowed back but didn't retreat. Sarah Jane eased off the trigger and watched the creatures. They waited too, a long pause while there hidden faces turned up to study her just as she was studying them. Then they took a few hesitant steps forward and Sarah Jane let loose another volley. This time they did retreat but only a few steps. Another stand off, hidden eyes watching Sarah Jane. Her skin crawled, the sensation becoming painful and she wondered if the readings that River had taken before the Vortex Manipulator had died were accurate - just how much radiation was left here?
'Sarah Jane!' Clara's voice came from behind her and both Sarah Jane and the creatures jumped in surprise. Sarah Jane kept her eyes on them while she waited for Clara to come running from the store and clamber up on to the back of the vehicle. 'River says that she needs you, something about - ah, heck, something about something weird. Go on,' Clara shouldered Sarah Jane to the side and reached for the gun, 'I'll take care of these things.'
'You don't have to kill them,' Sarah Jane said, 'Just keep them at bay.'
'Yeah, right, honey,' Clara rolled her eyes, 'Now go on, River needs help back there. And hurry it up, will ya?'
Sarah Jane threw herself down from the turret and rushed back through the shop. She ran through the door to find River bent over a large desk. She had deposited the desk's former contents on the floor with a sweep of her hand and now it held a large toolbox with its tools scattered around the small workspace that River had reserved in the centre. The Vortex Manipulator sat in that space, its guts spilled out around it. River didn't look up on Sarah Jane's arrival, though Sarah Jane sensed a slight relaxation in River's shoulders as she came to stand behind her. She placed a hand on River's back and held it there until River spoke.
'No chance you bought your sonic with you? No, didn't think so. Here, hold this bit and keep your finger there.'
Sarah Jane did as she was told, following River's instructions precisely. Slowly the Vortex Manipulator regained more of its internal workings until there were only a few pieces left on the desk. River hesitated and Sarah Jane nudged her with her shoulder. River looked up, her eyes dark with worry. She glanced around, listening to the spluttering fire from outside. There was the occasional whoop of joy from Clara but mostly it was the crack of the gun turret and the howls of pain and rage from the creatures. Sarah Jane read her expression easily - this was there first and last hope.
'Finish it, River,' Sarah Jane dropped a kiss to River's shoulder, 'and lets go home.'
River swallowed hard, said nothing, simply turned back to her work and bent low over the desk again. A few more minutes and she was straightening up, the Vortex Manipulator held in her hand. She held the wristpiece over her arm and Sarah Jane reached out to fasten the binding. There were no lights, no sign of life at all but Sarah Jane said nothing. River looked around the storeroom, then shook her head. She stepped back in to the store front, Sarah Jane close behind her. Another pause, something spotted in a nearby aisle and River was moving again. Sarah Jane held back, craning her neck to see out of the window. Sparks flew wild as Clara let rip with another round of bullets. A roaring howl that filled the store and then silence.
River looked up from what she was doing, staring towards the front of the store. Sarah Jane said, 'Hurry, River,' and she returned to her work. A long, low whining sound and Sarah Jane was breathing freely for the first time since they had arrived in this godforsaken place. She rushed forward, hugging a relieved River while they were already moving through the aisles. Just as they reached the front of the store, Clara fired again, a prolonged hail of bullets that caused more howls of pain. Through the door and, even from behind the vehicle, Sarah Jane could see the carnage that Clara had wrought.
'Let's go,' River said with a firm push to Sarah Jane's back. Sarah Jane stumbled forward, righted herself on the side of the vehicle, then scrambled up again. River was close behind her, arm stretched out. 'Clara,' she shouted over the din of the gun, 'stop now!' She grabbed for Sarah Jane's arm, slapping her hand down on the Vortex Manipulator. 'Clara!' They both lurched forward, falling hard against Clara, who was pressed tight to the gun turret. River bought her free hand down hard on the Vortex Manipulator's controls and there was the rush of energy, the ripping of time itself as they were sucked back through the vortex. Clara was still pressed hard against the turret, though she was barely aware of anything but the rush of bile that filled her throat and the stars that filled her vision. She hadn't let go of the trigger and the gun still roared out death.
Death that sprayed around the warehouse back at the pier, leaving torn bodies on the floor in a wide arc of red. The haze of their departure had only just cleared from the air when they arrived back again. Lotus Blossom and her goons hadn't even had time to turn towards the huge vehicle that appeared from out of the air. Clara's unintended attack had felled the henchmen in a moment. Lotus Blossom stared around her in shock before her cold eyes fell on Clara's now silent gun. Clara stared back, her finger twitching on the trigger but something stopped her from opening fire once more.
A wild grin came to Lotus Blossom's face and she lifted her arms out from her body, offering Clara a wider target. Clara growled at the back of her throat but still couldn't force her hand to work against the trigger. Then Lotus Blossom was laughing, a wicked laugh that cut through the cold air of the warehouse. She threw her hands above her head and disappeared in a flash of orange light. Clara's eyes snapped closed against the glare, her head turning instinctively as her mind worked to catch up with what had happened.
Still pressed in to Clara's shoulder with River close at her back, Sarah Jane felt shaky but not nearly so bad as she had before. Then she looked up at the horror around her and she suddenly felt much, much worse. River held her close, using Sarah Jane's discomfort as an excuse to keep her own eyes away from the carnage. At least something had forced Clara to take her finger from the trigger, though everything had been a blur as they returned through the vortex.
River eased herself and Sarah Jane down to the ground, the bodies concealed by the vehicle itself. 'Sarah Jane? Are you alright Sweetie?'
Sarah Jane nodded against her chest, face tight to the fabric of River's shirt. A button was pressing in to her temple but she didn't care. She clung on to River for long moments more, then eased back and looked up in to River's concerned face. Sarah Jane managed a weak smile and leaned forward to drop a kiss to River's cheek.
'You did it.'
They held each other until Clara tumbled down from the vehicle and stood on unsteady legs before them. She was that funny green colour again but it was the hint of panic in her eyes that made Sarah Jane straighten up. River kept a firm grip on Sarah Jane's arms as she asked, 'Are you all right, Clara?'
Clara shrugged, 'Don't know this is gonna catch on as a way to travel, baby.'
'Oh my god,' Sarah Jane said. She lifted River's hand and studied the Vortex Manipulator closely; as relieved as she was to be away from that place, she really didn't want to be stuck in the Twenties with no way home. Sarah Jane held River's wrist up to her and said, 'Can we?'
'Yes, I think so. I doubt it's got too many jumps left in it but one more certainly. I'll just need to do a little work on the location finding; I only had time to return us to our previous location before.'
'I don't think that's our biggest problem,' Clara said. River and Sarah Jane stared at her and she added, 'Lotus Blossom got away.'
'Away? From that?' Sarah Jane said, though she very carefully didn't look at what "that" was.
'She just sort of went puff,' Clara's hands waved madly, 'away.'
'Puff, Clara?'
'Yeah, River, like puff, gone in a flash of orange. Like some magic trick. Like your kinda magic trick, baby.'
River's head fell. Sarah Jane watched her carefully. 'We're going to need to make more than one jump aren't we?'
'I'm afraid so, Sweetie.'