Historian's Note:
For those who wish to keep up with the timeline of events, for August Keyes Series Ten has just started. For the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble, between "The Unicorn and the Wasp" and "Silence in the Library". For the Eleventh Doctor and the Ponds, it is soon after "A Christmas Carol", but before "The Impossible Astronaut".
The Doctor held up a small, paperback book triumphantly. "Look at that," he said.
Donna Noble looked at the cover; Agatha Christie, Death in the Clouds was written in bold font, followed by a beautifully painted picture of a wasp trailing a biplane through the sky. She smiled softly, "she did remember."
"Somewhere in the back of her mind, it all lingered. And that's not all," said the Doctor excitedly as he handed the book over to Donna. "Look at the copyright page."
Donna opened it, "facsimile edition," she read aloud. "Published in the year," Donna paused, her eyes widening much to the Doctor's pleasure. She looked up at him, shock clear on her face, "five billion?!"
He smiled at her, "people never stop reading them. She is the best-selling novelist of all time."
Donna sighed. "But she never knew."
"Well, no one knows how they're going to be remembered," said the Doctor, taking the book back from her, "all you can do is hope for the best. Maybe that's what kept her writing." He paused a flicker of sadness in his eyes. "Same thing keeps me travelling." He blinked, looking back at Donna, "onwards?"
"Onwards," she agreed, his smile reflected in hers.
"Well then," the Doctor closed the chest he'd gotten the book from and pushed it back under the grate flooring. Once everything was back in its place, he offered Donna a hand up and then he was at the console, dancing around the controls with practised ease. "Speaking of long remembered authors and their books, I have got the perfect place for us to visit." He gave Donna a cocky smile, coming to stand next to her at the handbrake. "Fancy a trip to The Library, Miss Noble?"
"Depends," said Donna, "do I need a library card?"
His smile only grew at her teasing. The Doctor shoved the handbrake into position, watching as the time rotor began bobbing up and down, the wheezing and groaning of the TARDIS exciting him even after all these years.
"Think of the biggest library you can think of Donna," the Doctor whizzed around to the other side of the console, focusing in on the controls, although Donna couldn't tell you what he was doing. "Then forget it because it's insignificantly tiny to the library I'm about to take you to." He moved over to the console monitor, "51st century should be perfect, brilliant, Molto bene!"
"51st century? Should probably change then, yeah?" Donna asked, already making her way to the stairwell giving access to the rest of the TARDIS.
"Probably, yeah," came the Doctor's absent-minded reply.
"And you?"
"Hmm? What about me?"
"Is pinstripe really accepted no matter where you go? Why's it only me that's got to change?" Donna waited for him to answer her, but all she got in response was some muttered words about a 'gravitic anomaliser' and Henry the VIII. "One day," muttered Donna, "I'm gonna get you to wear something else besides that daft old suit—WAH!"
Unexpectedly there was a sudden burst of light from the console. Donna heard the Doctor's loud exclamation of "Woah!" and her own screaming as the TARDIS began to shake violently, giving her Vertigo. Donna hung onto the TARDIS wall for dear life, all sorts of bells and whistles going off around her.
"What the bloody hell is going on!" She shouted.
"Somethings interfering with the TARDIS's telepathic circuits!" Cried the Doctor, "her temporal stabiliser is going all out of whack!"
"Which means?!" Cried Donna, barely being able to focus on the Doctor as her vision was rocky.
"We're being pulled through the time vortex at an accelerating speed. The TARDIS is—" he paused a moment, as the TARDIS jostled rather hard, causing Donna to rocket forward and collide with the jump seat, "—if we don't slow down soon the TARDIS is going to rip a hole through space-time that could destroy the entire universe and everything in it." The Doctor looked at Donna, a terrified expression on his face that Donna had never seen before.
The TARDIS lurched, and Donna fell backwards. Unable to keep her footing, she fell on her back, hitting her head on the grate flooring. She was out cold.
"Donna!" Cried the Doctor, saved from the same fate by the jump seat. She looked okay, no bleeding, probably only a mild concussion. Not that it would matter much in a few moments when the world went boom. The TARDIS lurched forwards, and the Doctor collided with the console, getting the air knocked out of him. Taking the chance, he grabbed at the handbrake, pushing it upright once again.
A disgusting grinding noise echoed throughout the TARDIS as the time rotor came to a wrenching stop. The TARDIS came to a hard stop, the Doctor felt relieved, falling back into the jump seat. He honestly didn't think that would work, but he was glad that it did.
"It stopped, it stopped," he muttered, his breath quick. Glancing at the monitor he noted the coordinates and year. "Andromeda Galaxy, eighteenth century, well, for Earth anyways. How's that Donna? Donna? Oh." He'd forgotten she'd hit her head. He didn't feel like moving, but he willed himself to. He got onto the floor next to Donna and checked over her. No damage, not even a scratch. He'd just have to wait to see if she had a concussion when she woke up.
He would have waited for her had there not been a knock at the door. A serious, stricken look crossed his features; the Doctor turned to look at the TARDIS doors. He stood and waited.
A second series of knocks echoed from the doors.
Toc-Toc.
"Who's there?" Asked the Doctor, his tone curious at first.
There was no answer. For a moment all was still. The Doctor took a few steps towards the doors to his precious ship, his movements calculated. "Answer me!" He said, raising his voice.
Without much warning the Doctor found himself bathed in a bright, all-encompassing white light. He shielded his eyes, trying to get a glimpse of what was infiltrating his TARDIS. The best he could make out was a humanoid outline slowly making its way towards him from the doors.
"Who're you? What do you want?" The Doctor cried, "whatever it is I can help you! You don't have to resort to violence! I can—"
"Be silent, Timelord." It was a whisper. Something that didn't sound quite real to the Doctor's ears. Perhaps a mental projection of a voice, but he knew what those sounded like. This was something different, something the Doctor didn't quite understand. Perhaps it was because of how dizzy he was beginning to feel and the ache of his bones, the tiredness that was overtaking him. He suspected the blurriness of his vision was not a cause of the hard light anymore.
"Do what you want with me," murmured the Doctor, "just leave Donna alone. She has nothing to do with this, so just, just—"
Unconsciousness claimed him.