Hurrah, another chapter! Enjoy it and review it - I need the motivation to write.


The two Erythraeans stood at the computer bank, watching as the red pulsating dot that was Bu vanished from existence, signalling his passage through to the other side of the Rift. The Doctor was standing behind them, taking little interest in what was happening. Nadrin, to no-one's surprise, was curled up under the desk again.

The Doctor scratched his chin thoughtfully. "What happens now?"

Mhror turned slowly to face him. "We wait for the Preidoxhylorian to attempt to return with information."

"Well, what do we do in the mean time?"

"We wait."

The Doctor sighed. "Well I'm not sitting idle. Life's too short - well, it is for Nadrin."


About an hour later, Nadrin was standing at the doorway of the TARDIS, taking photographs of the Erythraean city.

"Are there other cities, or just this one?" she asked, placing the camera back into her jacket pocket.

The Doctor shrugged. "No idea. Well, I'd guess only the one, seeing how Mhror and Sarine refer to it in the definite."

"That's a bit odd."

The Doctor smiled. "Not really, on Gallifrey there was only really the citadel."

Nadrin frowned. "I thought Gallifrey was a very advanced planet."

The Doctor buffeted her about the head. "Of course it was, I came from there. Still, advancement doesn't necessarily mean we populated the whole planet." He fell silent, and Nadrin slipped her arms around him comfortingly.

"Do you miss it?"

The Doctor nodded, and brushed something from his eye. "Of course I do. You've not had a home, you don't know what it's like losing it."

Nadrin squeezed him tighter. "I do have a home – in the TARDIS with you. It's the only home I'll ever have."

The Doctor chucked sadly. "That can't be true, Nadrin. You'll grow up and leave me soon enough – like Susan did. You'll find some person, or a group of people, that you'll be happy with, and I'll carry on – find someone else, as I always do."

"When you first met me, you said you'd not have anyone on board the TARDIS with you ever again – why has that changed?" she asked, looking out over the plain to the city, lights beginning to extinguish as the night-time gloom surrendered to the light of the day, until the dark would grow strong enough to take back control.

"You changed me, Nadrin. You know that I only took you with me to save you from the Grixrans, because you would have died otherwise. But now, I couldn't be without someone around me. You keep me sane, running around after you gives me a sense of purpose."

Nadrin grinned and let go. "Well, seeing as you like running after me..." She deftly slipped her hand into his pocket and withdrew his sonic screwdriver. She waved it under his nose briefly, before charging out of the time machine and out onto the plain.

The Doctor frowned, confused. "What...? Wait, my screwdriver! Come back!"

He charged out onto the sand also, dust spraying up around his heels as he ran. His long strides were evenly matched to her pace – she was short, but very quick – and it wasn't until she tripped over her own feet and sprawled in the dust that he caught up with her. Giggling, she rolled over onto her front and clutched the screwdriver tightly to her chest.

"Mine now, get your own," she shouted, into the dust as the Doctor loomed over her.

He grinned widely and stretched his hands out towards her. "We'll see about that," he whispered, then began to tickle her mercilessly. She tried to resist, but couldn't help the giggles bursting from her mouth, rolling over as she got a mouthful of sand. She instinctively raised her hands to her mouth to unclog it, dropping the sonic screwdriver. The Doctor shouted triumphantly and picked it up, twirling it in his long fingers. He sighed happily, and lay down on the dust beside her, but sniffed in disgust suddenly.

"I think it's about time you had a bath, you stink!" He shut his eyes and a handful of dust flew towards his face. "Oi, that was uncalled for."

"Pfft, you criticised my balanced and stylish odour. That's unacceptable."

"What, Eau de Muck? You've still got that sulphurous mud from when we went to Fror stuck all over your jacket too." The Doctor attempted to wipe the offending stain off, but she dodged out of the way.

"Oi, gerroff. I'm not having a bath, it's all hot and I'll shrink even further and be like a lickle mouse and you wouldn't want that, would you?"

The Doctor closed his eyes and imagined her as a mouse. "Awww, how cute. It's more like rat though." She cuffed about the head. "Well, you are going to have a bath, even if I have to do it myself. It'll be like washing a dog – just more violent."

Nadrin's dirt streaked brow creased into a frown. "What's a dog?"

The Doctor gaped. "You don't know what a dog is? They're amazing, they've got four legs, and wet, pointed snouts, and ears, and tails that wag when they're happy, and fur. When we next go to Earth, remind me to show you a dog – so long as we're not in the Orient. "

"Fine then."

"What, fine, show me a dog, or fine, I'll have a bath?"

"The dog."

"Well, both actually – either you have a bath or I'll leave you here."

Nadrin wrinkled her nose at him. "That's cruelty, that is."

The Doctor poked her in the chest. "And that's smelly, that is. Now go, small and stinky one."


The Doctor was stood at the TARDIS console, patiently repairing the chewed wiring, when he caught the sweet fragrances of lavender and jasmine in the air. He turned to see Nadrin standing in the doorway. The sweet smell she was giving off contrasted greatly with the disgruntled look on her face, half hidden by her damp, brown hair clinging to it.

"Where did you put the hairdryer?" she asked, voice tinged with menace.

The Doctor looked back to the TARDIS console, avoiding her vicious stare, and so that she couldn't see the grin playing about his features. "Err, I took it apart a few weeks ago. I needed the wiring." He staggered back a pace as a wet towel caught him about the face, but couldn't help chuckling as Nadrin stormed wetly down the corridor. She returned shortly with another towel, scrubbing furiously at her head to try and dry it. Despite not being completely dry, she'd dragged herself back into her clothes, and they clung wetly to her.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Well, you look like I found you in a bin somewhere, but you no longer smell like the bin, so that's an upside."

"You're never happy, are you?" she said, wandering over to look at his handiwork – it seemed to be even more of a state from where she was stood.

"Oh yes I am – there are many marvellous things that make me happy. Like jelly babies. And progressive rock. And saving the universe."

"What the hell is progressive rock?" Nadrin enquired, attempting to comb her hair flat with the comb she kept in her pocket – it usually stayed there.

"Music from 20th century Earth, interesting time signatures, variety of instruments, lots of tempo changes. The movement was led by bands like Genesis, Yes, King Crimson, Van der Graaf Generator – but those miserable humans didn't seem to realise the brilliance of it. After 1979, that was about it for prog."

Nadrin snorted. "Is that the rubbish you generally listen to when you're trying to fly the TARDIS, or fix it? Or cook."

"What do you mean, 'trying'? I'll have you know, I'm a first rate pilot, mechanic and chef. In fact, this TARDIS should have six pilots, but I'm so brilliant I can fly it all alone."

"The toaster doesn't need six people to operate it though."

The Doctor sniffed. "Is that supposed to prove anything? Anyway, it's better than that rubbish you listen to."

Nadrin frowned. "What rubbish? I only listen to the finest and most carefully selected music."

Despite her shout of protest, he dropped his hand into her pocket and withdrew her mp3 player. "I really wish I hadn't showed you these things," he said, turning it on and browsing her artists. "I give you access to every single song throughout space and time, and you go for 'Gorgoroth', 'Drudkh' and 'Mörk Gryning'. And 'Eloovitty'."

Nadrin sighed. "It's Eluveitie, fishface. Besides, they're amazing."

The Doctor shook his head. "This is all from Earth. A whole universe out there, why just one planet?"

"What about Duj tIvoqtaH then?"

"Klingons don't actually exist – they're from a television show – from Earth. It's a human singing in Klingon."

"What? That's stupid." She snatched the mp3 player back and stuffed it back into her pocket. "Are we ever going to go back to the Temporal Division?"

The Doctor nodded. "Yes, of course. We're just taking some time out while we wait for Bu to return. We'll get back now, he's had plenty of time."


"Captain, we have an issue."

Mhror strode hastily over to where Sarine was seated in front of the computer. "State issue."

Sarine pointed at something on the screen. "We have 56 positive rift spike estimates in the next 36 hours. There are only 2 negative predictions."

Mhror nodded slowly, before a grey tinge crept onto his features, expressing his worry. "If each rift spike were to carry something through, we could be in serious trouble. We must send the remaining Preidoxhylorian volunteers."

Sarine nodded and tapped a command into the computer, summoning the Preidoxhylorians from where they were resting, preparing themselves. "They are to arrive shortly. The next negative rift spike is nearby, in approximately 37 minutes."

Mhror turned blue as he concentrated on the screen. "When is the other negative spike due?"

"In 9 hours and 23 minutes," Sarine replied.

The shade of blue deepened. "We need to send the Predoxhylorians as soon as possible – we have no time for the Doctor to prepare the collars."

Sarine nodded. "We shall have to move immediately."


Nadrin sauntered into the headquarters, and found herself alone. "Why are they always out when we get here?" she asked the Doctor, who arrived shortly after she did.

The Doctor sighed into the empty room. "Because that's the way fate decrees such things. We should be able to finish off the batch of TRV collars." Nadrin turned on her heel and skipped back out to the TARDIS, with the Doctor following more sedately.

Inside the TARDIS laboratory, the collection flask was now full of CO2 gas. Nadrin passed him a batch of 5 TRV collars, and the Doctor began to slowly feed the gas in. The weight increased steadily as the gas solidified inside the container. When it was full, Nadrin tutted at the weight of it, and placed it carefully onto the workbench. She passed the next one up to the Doctor, and began to fill that one also.

After a while, all of the collars were complete and ready for usage. The Doctor smiled down at his assistance, who nodded back at him. They picked up the collars and carried them through the TARDIS corridors, back towards the main headquarters. They stepped inside, and to their disappointment found Mhror and Sarine still missing.

"Well, they're taking their time. I wonder what they're up to..." The Doctor fell silent and deposited his share of the load onto the desk he spent most of his time working at. Nadrin grunted and did the same.

"I assume you two are the Doctor and Nadrin." They whirled around, surprised by the voice. They encountered another Erythraean, taller still than Mhror and Sarine, wearing a different uniform too – he was clearly of another rank or division of the Scientific Assessment League.

"My name is Noahxd, I am of the management level of the SAL. I am here to assist." The Doctor nodded curtly at him, and Nadrin have him a beaming smile.

"Hello, I'm Nadrin!"

He nodded back in acknowledgement. "Mhror and Sarine are sending more Preidoxhylorians through the rift."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "But we've only just finished the TRV collars!"

Noahxd made a sort of shrugging motion. "They said it was of the utmost importance."

The Doctor laughed hollowly. "Yeah right. You know when they're supposed to return."

"The hypothesis states an estimate of 1 minute 43 seconds, depending on complications," Noahxd replied.

"What's this hypothesis you keep talking about?" Nadrin asked, eyebrow raised quizzically.

Noahxd turned orange. "I have only mentioned the term 'hypothesis' on one occasion."

"She means you as a race, not you as an individual," the Doctor clarified.

Noahxd nodded, green with understanding. "The hypothesis is an expression, meaning 'I guess'."

Nadrin frowned. "Pah, expressions. They're silly."

"Err, why?" the Doctor asked, removing his hat and shaking the sand off.

"Well, only one culture will understand what you're saying."

The Doctor chuckled. "They sound pretty though. Russia has amazing ones – like 'to pull the spaghetti over one's ears', and 'when the crayfish whistles on the mountains'."

The orange shade playing about Noahxd's face deepened in hue. "Terms 'Russia', 'spaghetti', 'crayfish' and 'mountain' do not register."

Nadrin giggled. "Are you trying to fry his brains?"

The Doctor looked aghast. "Would I ever do such a thing?"

Nadrin's reply was lost as Mhror and Sarine glided into the room. They bowed slightly before Noahxd, before turning to the Doctor. "Are the TRV collars, completed, Doctor?" Mhror asked urgently. The Doctor nodded and pointed towards the five collars laid on the desk. Mhror nodded gratefully to him, but his next question was cut off as the Rift alarm rang out noisily.

"Positive rift spike, life form has passed through," Sarine stated, decoding the flashed message. She looked up at Mhror. "It could be the Preidoxhylorian."

Mhror nodded. "We can only hope so." Their quandary was answered when Bu marched into the room. He saluted each person in the room in turn, finishing with Mhror.

"Captain, the experiment was successful. I made contact with the extraerythraeans on the other side of the rift – they treated me with hostility and suspicion. The planet was of similar development to our own, though the organisation that apprehended me claimed to have no knowledge of rift closure – my instincts dispute these claims."

The colour of Mhror's aura was difficult to distinguish- it managed to be both orange and blue simultaneously, somehow. "What was the name of this organisation?"

"Torchwood."


My longest chapter yet... but nothing actually happened. Delightful.