Everyone was refusing to acknowledge what was happening outside the Waverider. The filters kept the smell of the library burning from the rest of the crew, who had all turned off their comms after the Egyptian scholars began screaming and wailing incoherently. Ray and Kendra were staring out of the windows in the bridge, but neither had been actually watching the fire grow for twenty minutes. Sara and Leonard were sprawled over the passenger chairs, ignoring an entirely different kind of flame. Rip was in the captain's office, holding one of the scrolls he had saved from the library burning outside. He would have appeared pensive had his knuckles not turned white from pressure.
Professor Stein may have been the most upset about the burning of the Library of Alexandria, but he had bigger issues at the moment. Martin Stein was on his way to deliver grave news to the crew of the T.A.R.D.I.S.
Jax's voice rang through the hallways, "Gray! ...Professor!"
But Martin ignored the younger half of Firestorm and made a sharp turn into the galley where the Ponds and Doctor were grabbing a bite to eat.
"I think… you better come to the bridge. I have an update on the status of your trip home," Stein said with as much conviction as he could. Sensing his disappointment, the three time travelers got up and followed him to the bridge without another word.
Jax turned a corner and saw them again, "Gray! Gray, wait!"
"No Jefferson. It won't work."
"Oh come on, at least let me share my idea!"
"No! It's too risky and I don't want anyone thinking it could work when it most certainly will not work!"
"Certainly will not work, my favorite phrase." said Leonard with a drawl and a smirk.
"See? This is exactly what I'm talking about!"
"Stein!" said Rip, finally releasing the scroll and walking towards the group. "How is the research going?"
"That… is what I came to tell everyone. All of my research has come up empty. All the data contains very little actual information about what happened-"
"Except the speed at which the T.A.R.D.I.S. was pulled through the hole, and how much distance you all actually traveled through it," said Jax pointedly.
"Sorry, did you say… pulled?" asked The Doctor incredulously.
"Exactly! Your ship's records of the gravitational fields around it do not make sense. It's as if the gravity in our universe travelled through the hole, locked onto your ship, and pulled you through. And we checked the Time Master records; there have been no accounts of things falling through into our dimension," Stein explained.
"Maybe not, but there have been records of things falling out of ours," the Timelord said slowly.
"Sorry, what?" asked Rory. "You knew we could fall through and you still took us there!"
"Well, nothing's been swallowed by the Medusa Cascade in millennia, not since the Time War. Davros' ship was destroyed, it fell anyway; everyone assumed it crashed or the dwarf star engines imploded and incinerated the ship," the Doctor explained, becoming more flustered on every word.
"Didn't he survive? Davros. You saw him again in our universe, didn't you?" Amy said excitedly.
"Yes, unfortunately," said the Doctor slowly, the wheels in his head turning so fast Sara absently wondered if she would hear them if she stood close enough.
"So if he got back, we can too, right, Doctor?" said Rory.
"Yes. Probably. Well, most likely… probably. See the daleks are mostly robots and have protective cases and also can't die; you human beings are much more fragile. Then again we made it here, so there's a good chance we can get back in one piece." The Doctor said with a little too much optimism in his voice.
"Anyone want to hear my idea?" Jax said impatiently. He didn't know what a dalek was or who Davros was, all he knew was mechanics. Something everyone seemed to forget.
"No Jefferson! Your plan is absurd!" yelled Stein.
"Well your plan is nonexistent, so I say you should hear me out."
"Just spit it out, Mr. Jackson!" said Rip, wondering (not for the first time) if Firestorm would benefit from taking couples therapy.
"Okay, so I was thinking we recreate the exact environment when the T.A.R.D.I.S. came through the Cascade portal thing. Then we use the tractor beam to push it through the hole at the exact same rate it was pulled through the first time. If it worked the first time, it should work again. And if it doesn't-"
"We get torn to shreds or disintegrated," said Rory bluntly. Amy was holding her husband's hand.
Martin nodded to the young nurse, "Indeed."
"Perfect! I always work better under pressure!" smiled The Doctor. He spun and clapped his hands, "I'll go prepare the T.A.R.D.I.S.!".
"I'll prepare a note for River, or Melody," said Rory grimly.
"I'll make us some drinks," said Amy, who turned to leave the room. She yelled back, "Ice-man, join me."
Leonard raised an eyebrow as the redhead left the room. Rip gestured for Leonard to follow her, so he did. Sara's eyes never left his back, her mind running through possible explanations faster than she would care to admit.
