C5 – Space
this is major tom to ground control
i'm stepping through the door
and i'm floating in a most peculiar way
and the stars look very different
today
for here
am i sitting in a tin can
far above the world
planet earth is blue
and there's nothing i can do . . .
Amy watched the man – Jonah – make some drinks, and wondered where they were exactly. Obviously in a rocket, but why? Who was he? Human? And from what era?
She let go of Rory's hand and wandered over to the window. She'd seen space before, but seeing it from in here . . . It was breathtaking. She'd never felt so . . . small.
The Doctor was examining some of the scientific-looking equipment, pointing things out to Rory, who was looking completely lost. With a tender smile, Amy went over to Jonah and watched him work.
"Don't touch that!" Jonah called out suddenly, without turning around. Confused, Amy glanced over to the Doctor, who was reaching out to press a green button.
"How did you . . . ?" she began.
He shrugged. "How much sugar would you like?"
Once the drinks were made, Jonah led the three of them to a small living area, no more than nine feet long and wide.
"What year is it?" the Doctor asked curiously, flicking through a journal on a small coffee table.
"Please leave that alone," Jonah ordered quietly, with an authority that made the Doctor freeze. "It's 2011. October. The eighteenth"
"And why are you here, Mr Matthews?"
"Why are you here, Mr Doctor?" he retorted.
Amy bowed her head to hide her smile. Rory got jealous when she so much as grinned at the Doctor, so he wouldn't be happy with her acknowledging not-funny jokes told by strangers.
She decided she liked Jonah – he had that sort of air about him. Though he was probably almost thirty, his face had a boyish quality, his dark blonde hair carefully messy. And he had green eyes, which was an added bonus in her books.
"We were kidnapped, to summarise what happened," the Doctor explained, and Amy rolled her eyes. "Have you ever heard of Time Agents? No? I thought not. No matter . . . This, this is a vortex manipulator. A crude space-time device. I managed to set it so it transported us only through space, not in time. It was October when we left, right Rory?"
Rory shrugged and looked baffled. "Uh . . . if you say so . . ."
Jonah was staring at them strangely. "A vortex manipulator? Can I see it?" He accepted the device from the Doctor and inspected it carefully. "Interesting design." After a few moments, he handed the manipulator back and grabbed his journal, scribbling something down.
While he was furiously writing, the Doctor peered over his shoulder and looked surprised. "Where did you learn how to do that?"
"How to do what?" he asked absently.
Amy caught a glimpse of the scrawling handwriting, and realised that the complicated mathematical equations were beyond her. She shook her head.
"Never mind," the Doctor murmured, fascinated by the man's workings. "NASA sent you here? Did they tell you it was a suicide mission?"
"Yep. Someone had to do it, right?"
"Why did they send you?"
Jonah shrugged. "I don't have that level of clearance. I just have to send back my observations and then die. NASA's tech guys do the rest.
The Doctor was silent, and then sat down beside Jonah, a look of deadly seriousness on his face. "So you just came along, not knowing why you were sent here, knowing you weren't going home?"
"To summarise what happened, yes." Jonah smiled and snapped the book shut. "That is an exact summary of what happened."
"Hold on, have you been watching us?" Amy demanded.
When the man shook his head, Rory asked, "How did you know what the Doctor said then?"
"It's complicated."