They stepped out of the TARDIS and into an upstairs hall in what looked like a hotel.
"She's here somewhere." The Doctor muttered.
"In a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?" Amy asked, peering over the banister. When she looked round again the Doctor had already started to walk quickly down the stairs "This, assembled Ponds, is not Earth. It's just been made to look like Earth." They followed him quickly down the stairs and into a deserted reception area. The Doctor paced around it, opening doors and peering behind them. When he reached the desk, he rang the bell. It dinged happily in the silent room. A thud on the landing above them made them look up. But they looked back when a door next to the desk opened. Three people stepped out, two of them brandishing everyday objects as though they were weapons. The third, a short, rodent looking alien, held out a make shift white flag. The person closest to them, a young woman in hospital scrubs, kept shifting her gaze nervously upwards.
"Oh, hello," The Doctor said cheerfully."Can you help us? We're looking for someone."
"That would depend on who you're looking for." The woman said.
"Her name is Aderyn." River said. The woman pointed up. River and the Doctor looked up and saw a shadowy figure looking over the banister at them.
The short alien waved his white flag "We surrender." he said.
"It's ok," Rory said, holding his hands up "We're nice."
"How do we know you're telling the truth about that?" asked the woman in scrubs. She waved a chair leg at them.
A voice rang out from above them "You don't." They all looked up to see a strange figure leap from a banister and land in front of the Doctor. Taken by surprise he tried to step backwards. But he tripped over Rory's foot, landing painfully on his back. As he moved to stand, his actions were halted by a sword being held against his throat. His eyes travelled along the blade. He stopped himself sighing with relief when he saw, at the very point of the sword, a small TARDIS etched into the metal. Further up the blade were intricate feathers, carved into the metal with painstaking precision. His relief was short lived when he looked at the figure holding the sword. Their face was covered by a bird skull mask. Long dark hair tumbled over broad shoulders and a defined jaw line was more pronounced by a clenched jaw. But then he saw the eyes beneath the mask. Oh it was her alright. He could tell by the eyes. It would always be the eyes that would give her away. Eyes so green it was startling, constantly alert and narrowed. But there was something else there as well. A deep set anger burned within the bright green.
"Aderyn." he said quietly. One of the hands was taken off the sword handle and the mask was raised. It was indeed Aderyn and she looked furious.
"Prove it's you." She said in a low growl.
"Who else would it be?" The Doctor said with just a trace of alarm.
"Prove it." Aderyn said, twisting the sword enough for the blade to settle against his jaw while the point remained against his jugular. The Doctor slowly put a hand inside his jacket, taking out the psychic paper and passing it to her. She looked at it. For one second he thought it hadn't worked. They had an agreement. If she was ever in a position to need proof that it was him, and that occasion had arisen a few times during their travels, he always showed her the psychic paper bearing his name. She threw the paper into his lap and lowered the sword. She looked skeptically at Amy, Rory and River. She turned to the woman in scrubs "Relax, these guys are ok." She turned back to the Doctor and pulled him roughly to his feet. "What the hell is going on here? You could have killed us!" Amy shouted.
"Oh relax I wouldn't have killed anyone," Aderyn said. Her demeanour had changed completely. She seemed suddenly relaxed. "It's just a threat."
"Why would it not have been him?" River asked.
"Yeah who else would it have been other than me?" The Doctor asked, almost offended.
"How about we talk over a cup of tea?" Aderyn said.
"Great or we can just go home? This place is starting to creep me out," Amy said, staring around the reception. She noticed a line of photographs on the wall, each had a name underneath it. "Look at these. Commander Halke, defeat. Tim Heath, having his photo taken. Lady Silver-Tear, Daleks. Paige Barnes, other people's socks. Tim Nelson, balloons. Novice Prin, sabrewolves. Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth. Lucy Hayward, that brutal gorilla. What's this about?"
"They were all here once. And that's their fears. This place gets inside your head, screws things up, finds your fears. If you want to leave, well, good luck trying." Aderyn walked through the open door.
"Let's go back to the TARDIS," The Doctor said slowly "I need some equipment."
They ran back up the stairs. But the TARDIS was no longer there. The Doctor stomped heavily down the stairs again and sought Aderyn.
She was sat in a bar area, her hands wrapped around a cup of tea, her feet on the table in front of her.
"Did you move the TARDIS?" The Doctor snapped.
"Yes," Aderyn replied sarcastically "I thought it would be a brilliant idea to wait until you got here, steal the TARDIS and come back, thus, eliminating my only means of getting out of here."
"I'm really confused." River said. Aderyn took her legs off the table and kicked out the chair opposite her. They sat as the others walked into the room. The woman in scrubs made tea.
Aderyn stood up "First, introductions. The lovely woman making tea is Rita. She's proved really helpful," she waved her hand in the direction of a bespectacled teen "This is Howie. He's a little awkward. Bless him. And this," She clapped her hand on the shoulder of the alien, who flinched slightly "Is Gibbis."
She sat down again. The Doctor turned to Gibbis " I take it from the pathological compulsion to surrender, you're from Tivoli."
Gibbis nodded sadly. "Yes. The most invaded planet in the galaxy. Our anthem is called Glory To Insert Name Here."
"So who are these guys then?" Rita asked, placing a tray of tea on the table.
"The Doctor, the Ponds and River." Aderyn said.
"Um, the Ponds? We're just the Ponds!" Amy said.
"Fine. This is the Doctor, Amy and Rory, AKA the Ponds, and River."
"Doctor who?" Howie asked, reaching over Aderyn to pick up a mug.
"Just the Doctor." Aderyn said.
"Oz, what the hell is going on?" River snapped.
"I'm not sure. Why are you here?" Aderyn said.
"The TARDIS brought us to you. We got a message." River said. She told Aderyn the rough outline of the message that the TARDIS had picked up on. Aderyn made no attempt to explain, admit to, or even deny the message. Instead she smiled "She's a clever thing that one."
The Doctor picked up a mug and took a swig of tea "I can see why you said she's helpful. That is good tea."
"I'm British, it's how we cope with trauma. That and tutting." Rita smiled.
"Oh, she's good. But anyway, Aderyn , tell us what you do know." The Doctor said.
"All I know is this. People appear here. No idea how they get here, but they get here. The last thing I remember is running from an Angel then suddenly I was here. All I've been able to figure out is that everyone has a room. A room that is unique to them. As for what's in that room, well that comes down to the individual. Rita and Joe got here not long after me. Howie and Gibbis just after them. But this place gets inside your head. And there's no way out."
"Hang on I have too many questions." The Doctor said. He then opened and closed his mouth a few times, shook his head, stood and paced a quick lap of the room then sat back down again. Aderyn raised her eyebrow at him.
River watched the Doctor, trying to figure out which question she wanted to ask first. She settled for one that had been staring her in the face "Who's Joe?"