"So, what do you all do around here, then?" Donna asked into a lull in the conversation. Breakfast on Lanassa Colony bore almost no resemblance to the corresponding meal on earth. Donna poked her fork through an assortment of things on her plate that she was fairly certain were fruit, working up the courage to take a bite.
"Whatever we like!" Cheryl said cheerfully. "Why? Did you have something in mind for the day? Oh, I think there's a film playing around ten that's supposed to be good. Would you like to go?"
"No, I don't mean for fun," Donna said. "I mean what do you do? For a job?"
"A job?" Roger said quizzically.
"Well, you must do something," Donna said. "This is a colony, not a pleasure resort. You don't honestly just spend every day like you're on holiday, do you?"
"Well, yes," Cheryl said. "We do."
"But then how does the colony keep running? Who pays for the… I don't know, all the… space stuff?"
"We do, of course," Cheryl said.
"But none of you have jobs! Where do you get the money?"
"We…" Cheryl trailed off, a strange expression coming over her face. "Well now, that's funny. I don't actually know." She laughed at herself. "It's funny the things that slip your mind, you get to be my age. Roger, how do you pay for your suite?"
Roger was already frowning, brow furrowed.
"I… can't remember either," he admitted.
"You too?" Cheryl said incredulously. "Well now isn't that… Andy, Megan, you two must know."
The younger couple – not actually a couple, Donna reminded herself – were already shaking their heads and looking slightly worried.
"None of you know?" Donna said, incredulous. "You're just living up here on this big floaty luxury space station and you haven't got the foggiest notion how you can afford to live here?"
"Now, I suppose that is a bit odd," Cheryl said.
"You know what I think?" Donna said, leaning in and lowering her voice. "I think there's something going on on this station. Something the staff doesn't want us to know."
"Oh, heavens!" Roger chuckled. "Only one day here and already she's becoming a conspiracy theorist."
"What, you don't think it's odd?"
"I do think it's odd," Roger assured her. "I just think you're overreacting."
"Ask Joanna about it if there's something bothering you," Cheryl said. "She's in charge of the residents. She'll know the answer, I'm sure. Now, about that film later…"
The conversation moved back to plans for the day ahead and Donna let talk of her suspicions drop. The other colonists seemed content with their lives and convinced that an explanation existed somewhere. For her part, the morning's conversation had done nothing to help Donna's growing sense of unease.
Donna stepped into the lift and hit the button for the next floor. There weren't as many residents on the upper levels of the colony – much of it appeared to be given over to storage space – but Donna hoped she could find at least a few of the people she'd seen files for last night. She'd taken her leave of Cheryl and the others who had in fact decided to go and see the film and set out to confront the mystery of Lanassa Colony.
In all honesty, she wasn't really sure where to start. The contradictions she'd found in the stories her friends and their files told convinced her something was going on but – what? And why? And how did she find out more? All Donna could think of to do was talk to more of the colonists and see if she could piece together any common threads in the contradictions.
The lift suddenly came to a stop and a red light came on. Donna looked up in surprise. The marquis over the door was scrolling a new message: Emergency Stop. We apologize for the inconvenience. Donna hit the open door button. Nothing happened. Donna hit it several more times. If the doors do not open, the marquis scrolled, the lift may not be at a valid floor.
"Oh come on," Donna groaned. She pounded on the door with her fist. "Oi! Anyone out there? Lift's stuck! I could use a hand!"
No response. A line of orange arrows lit up along the wall of the lift. Please follow the emergency lighting to the nearest exit, the marquis helpfully explained. The arrows marched up the wall to a tiny hatch on the ceiling.
"You are kidding me," Donna groaned. The arrows remained resolutely lit and the marquis continued to scroll its message. Muttering under her breath, Donna cast about for a way to approach the problem, then went to the corner of the lift and stepped up onto the hand rail running around the outside of the lift. Steadying herself against the wall, she carefully stood and managed to reach the ceiling.
There was a handle on the hatch. She turned it and pushed, and the hatch swung up into the space above the lift. Donna put her arms through the hole and somehow managed to climb out onto the top of the elevator. There were more of the glowing orange arrows in the elevator shaft, this time leading to a crawl space in the wall.
"They've thought of everything, haven't they?" Donna groused. She went over to examine the crawl space. It was more than large enough for her, so she just shrugged and climbed in.
What are these vents even for? Donna wondered, as she crawled along on her belly, always in the direction indicated by the helpful orange arrows. And why do they have emergency lighting in here? Is this supposed to be a people tunnel? The arrows ended at a grate in the floor of the tunnel. Donna gave it an experimental push and it swung downward. There wasn't a ladder or anything. It was just a straight drop to the floor below. After a little maneuvering, Donna managed to lower herself through it and drop.
She landed almost gracefully in a crouch, steadying herself with one hand against the floor.
"Well, that was an adventure," she muttered standing up and dusting herself off. "Loving the safety features on this station. Where on earth am I now?"
She cast about at her surroundings. Boxes. Definitely one of the storage areas. And –
Her heart froze.
It was bluer than she remembered. It had to be. It had never looked this wonderful before, standing there in the corner, completely incongruous in its surroundings despite its disguise, the bold white letters proclaiming "Police Public Call Box" across the top, just as if that was a sensible thing to say in the year 2016.
"Doctor!" Donna called excitedly. She'd known he'd come back for her! She was at the Tardis door in an eye blink. "Doctor!" The door failed to open when she tried it. Donna frowned and pushed again. The door rattled but didn't move. Donna knocked. "Doctor? Doctor, are you in there? It's Donna! The door's locked!"
Again, no answer. Donna looked at the Tardis again, more carefully. The words across the top of the box were dark. No light seemed to be flowing out from the windows. Donna began to worry. She fumbled in her pocket for the Tardis key, then fit it into the lock. The door opened for her and she stepped inside.
It was dim in the Tardis interior. Donna had never seen it so dark before. Even the central column lacked all but the faintest of green glows. It was as if the ship were sleeping.
"Hello?" Donna called out in a small, tentative voice, feeling foolish to address a room that felt so profoundly empty. She cleared her throat and tried again. "Hello!"
Donna stepped tentatively toward the console, and the lights brightened. The glow in the central column swelled, and Donna heard a faint hum almost like the ship was greeting her. She put out a hand and ran it lightly across the controls. They were all cold. Not that that meant anything, really, but to Donna it only seemed to underscore the distinct absence of the Doctor on the ship. She made a slow circle around the console, listening to the quiet hum of the Tardis. When she reached the bench on the far side, she sat down and stared off into space.
She waited a good long while, but in truth she had known at the outset it was useless. The air of abandonment about the Tardis was palpable when she arrived. The Doctor had not just stepped out for a quick stroll around the colony. It had been a long time since he had been here. The conclusion appeared to be inescapable: Joanna had lied. Either the Doctor had never left Lanassa Colony, or he had not gone willingly.
Donna stayed where she was for a time, sitting on the bench and listening to the hum of the Tardis while she pondered what to do next. Part of her pondered what to next, that is. Another part was simply hoping that she was wrong, and if she sat here long enough the Doctor would come strolling in through the door, whistling to himself as if he had not a care in the universe. So she sat, and thought, and waited. She waited a good long while for the Doctor to return. But of course, he never did.