The Tardis entered the stream of the time vortex smoothly as the Doctor raced from scanner to scanner, desperate to pick up the Utopia. Sandi stood at the main terminal, taking his directions.

'So tell me, Doctor,' Sandi said casually, flipping a switch at his command. The Doctor peered closely at a readout in his hand.

'Mmmm?'

'How long is it gonna take us to find the Utopia?'

'Well, that's the thing, innit?' The Doctor said, scratching his head, jumping over to a tiny, blinking screen and staring at it.

'What'd you mean?'

'Well, generally we'd be scanning just space, which'd take no time at all. But this is a Time Lord ship we're after. We need to be scanning space and time, which is probably going to take just a little bit longer.'

'Fabulous. I'll just go read a book while you do that.'

'Oh no you don't. You stay at those controls until I say otherwise,' the Doctor said firmly, making Sandi feel like she had been told off by a teacher. She slumped glumly over the controls, twiddling her thumbs in a determinedly bored air. After a full minute of silence, the Doctor looked over at her through his glasses.

'I never asked, is there anyone back home who's going to miss you?'

Sandi looked up tiredly, then looked back down at the controls.

'Well, Nicola might wonder why I left the water in the sink and why her front door is in her television.'

The Doctor afforded a small smile and gave a tiny sniff of a laugh, eyes soft.

'No... I meant, anyone you care about. Boyfriend, girlfriend? Any family?'

Sandi laughed deadly and turned around, watching the Doctor scurry across the Tardis' floor to another screen. He looked at her, puzzled.

'What?'

'There's no-one, no more family, no boyfriend and especially not a girlfriend. I don't bat that way. Anyway... I mean, I'm not exactly pretty, am I?'

The Doctor took in her blue penguin pyjamas, dark brown bangs and pale skin partnered with scared blue eyes. He smiled gently.

'You're not hard on the eyes. Trust me, I've seen a helluva lot worse.'

Sandi grinned tiredly.

'Thanks, I think.'

The Doctor looked back at the screen for a moment. Then...

'If you, y'know, want to get changed, there's a room through that panel over there,' he mumbled, gesturing behind him vaguely. Sandi looked down, then blushed.

'Ah, yeah, wandering around time in my pyjamas can't be good for business, can it?'

She exited the main bridge of the Tardis to change. The Doctor kept his concentration on the screen for a moment, before he realised that he was holding his breath. He exhaled slowly and shook his head.

'You're acting like a teenager. Stop it,' he muttered angrily to himself. Over on the main controls, one of the scanner began bleeping quietly. The Doctor sprang over to it and stared at it.

'Found ya,' he said, grinning from ear to ear.

---------

Arrival in less than one hour, master.

Understood.

---------

Sandi wandered the rooms in the back of the Tardis. She was a bit bemused as to how all this managed to fit inside an old police box, but she was too tired to care. She found a tiny room with a camp bed that was dimly lit by the light from the Tardis. Dropping the duffel bag onto the bed, she dug around the bottom. It was her luck bag, silly really, but Sandi was always prepared for the worst. She pulled out a pair of jeans and a waist length white top with long sleeves. It was tough enough to survive the worst life could throw at her but still comfortable enough to wear everyday.

Sandi changed swifty and tucked the bag under the camp bed. She definitely felt a lot better in her clothes rather than running around in her jimjams. She made her way back to the bridge, where she found the Doctor prancing around the main controls like a madman. He grinned wildly at her, his boyish face alight.

'Got it! Right under our very noses! My God, I'm good!' The Doctor shouted. Sandi laughed and clapped her hands. The Doctor caught her by the hands and danced her around the controls like an idiot.

'I found it, I found it, I FOUND IT!' The Time Lord chanted, spinning his companion around. Sandi giggled, then tripped, stumbling before crashing into the Doctor and sending the pair down in a heap. The pair burst out laughing and scrambled to their feet.

'So where was it?' Sandi asked, taking up position at the Tardis' main controls as the Doctor skidded to a halt next to her, staring at a small scanner. He grinned wickedly.

'You mean when was it! About a billion years ago. God, I should have realised! The fourth great and bountiful human empire, fantastic! Just after the Daleks were uncloaked in darkspace, the Utopia would have been discovered too. But the Daleks weren't after the Utopia because they didn't know it was there! Ha!'

'Do you wanna run all that by me again?'

The Doctor looked at Sandi seriously, but not sternly.

'Look, before I regenerated the last time, Rose, me and a man named Captain Jack Harkness ended up on the Game Station, which used to be Satellite Five, a news satellite that broadcast to the entire world. But it was also sending another signal, a cloaking signal which was hiding the Dalek ships from radar, sonar and scanner, making them more or less invisible to everyone else.'

'So... we're going back to just before you defeated the Daleks the first time to find the ship in the same place that you discovered the Daleks!' Sandi shouted happily, glad to finally have caught on. The Doctor smiled cheerily and ruffled her short, dark hair.

'That's it! Now you're catching on! Good work! Now, Miss Jenkinson, if you would kindly step aside, I need to set the Tardis' controls and lock in the co-ordinates,' the Doctor said, shimmying past Sandi to the main control panel. As he keyed the information in excitedly, Sandi stepped up beside him and laid a hand on his forearm.

'Doctor... if we go back, then... you can see Rose.'

The Doctor's smile slid from his face. He stopped, then shook his head.

'I can't.'

'You can stop the invasion.'

'I can't. It doesn't work like that.'

'How come?'

'Once Rose crossed the void, she took her history with her. Oh, the Daleks are still dead. But... the Rose fighting the Daleks onboard the Satellite is just a ghost. Just a memory of a glorious fight. Course it's the reason I look like this.'

The Doctor pulled a funny face which made Sandi laugh. He smiled gently at her.

'Thanks for the thought, though. Very sweet.'

'I don't do sweet. You know that. I was being courteous.'

'Well, whatever it was, thank you.'

'You're welcome.'

'Right, grab onto something, here we go...'

The Tardis lurched in the time vortex, spun around and began heading back in time. As Sandi held on tightly to a pillar, she closed her eyes. Suddenly, the glow that had shrouded her earlier on New Earth returned, even brighter this time. The Tardis picked up speed, flying through the vortex like never before. The Doctor, concentrating on the controls, noticed a soft light on the panels that wasn't coming from the Tardis. He spun wildly around, mouth open as he stared at Sandi's luminescent form.

'Sandi! Open your eyes!' The Doctor shouted. Sandi's blue eyes flew open and the glow subsided. The Tardis slowed back to it's natural speed. The Doctor leapt from the controls to Sandi's side, kneeling beside her and checking her eyes.

'What? What's wrong?' Sandi asked suspiciously as the Doctor looked at her head from every angle. He frowned.

'You were glowing. Like a bright, golden... glowing thing.'

'You're mad.'

'I thought so, too, back in the maintenance room. I thought I saw you glow for just a brief moment. But I thought it was just the light playing tricks on my eyes. But I'm certain now... oh, big reaction there.'

Sandi was biting her lip, looking all around the room. The Doctor got up and stepped back, looking at her.

'Want to tell me?'

'Well, it's nothing, but...'

'It might be something, so tell me.'

'When I... that is, when we were... when you opened the Tardis' doors on New Earth and I held your hand, I thought I saw a reflection. It was like a pulse of light, soft and yellow, like a low wattage bedside lamp.'

The Doctor scratched his head.

'I don't like this. I don't like this at all,' he muttered. Sandi looked at him, scared.

'What? Is there something wrong?'

The Doctor licked his lips and looked away.

'Humans don't glow and as far as I know, neither do Time Lords. The last time I saw a human glow, it was Rose and she had the entire time vortex running through her head. Of course, she also had superhuman powers and she continued to glow until I took the power from her.'

'But I'm not glowing now! Look! I'm fine,' Sandi said, holding out both arms as evidence. The Doctor looked at them, then had a brainwave. He knelt before her and wrapped her arms around his neck, then wrapped his own around her waist, pulling her towards him in a close hug. Sandi looked straight up into his intense eyes. He was waiting for something to happen...

Then it did. The golden glow rushed straight up both arms and down her body, illuminating every inch of her and lighting up the Doctor's face. He grinned boyishly.

'Well, that was easy,' he whispered, letting Sandi go. The glow pulsed, then faded. He stood up and walked back to the controls. Sandi leapt to her feet and skidded after him.

'What? Wait! What just happened? How did you do that?'

'You glow when you experience intense emotions or encounter certain situations,' he said calmly, throttling the Tardis back. Sandi scratched her head.

'How do you figure that?'

'Well, the first time you were inside the Tardis, memories that weren't yours were released. That would have been the barrier, broken by your first experience of time travel. Just after we escaped from the chamber, you glowed. The first time we...' the Doctor trailed off. He was going to say held hands, but it was more than that. It was a connection. Sandi nodded.

'So you think that this time I travelled through time, it caused the glow?'

'And the intense emotion you felt when I held you close to me caused the same reaction,' the Doctor said, turning away to hide the blush and slightly embarrised grin on his face. Sandi frowned.

'I... don't remember feeling any different when you hugged me,' she said, thinking immediately that just maybe she was lying to herself. The Doctor shrugged.

'Maybe it was subconscious. Maybe whatever is hanging out in your brain reacted to my touch.'

'It could be that,' Sandi said squeakily. The Doctor laughed, turned back and ruffled her hair affectionately.

'It's going to be okay. After all, you're not dead yet and believe me, if you were housing all of time and space in that teeny tiny brain of yours, you would be.'

Sandi slapped his arm playfully hard, causing him to jump and rub the spot where she had hit him.

'Hey now, you didn't need to do that!'

'I'm just keeping you grounded, Time Lord. Don't get too big for your converse!'

The laughter from the Tardis echoed out into space and was absorbed by the vacuum as the ship flew on.

---------

Thirty minutes until arrival.

Position, apprentice.

Yes Master.

---------

'And there she is,' the Doctor breathed, looking at a screen. He motioned behind him to Sandi, who was back on the floor and still fiddling with her laptop. She looked up, the Doctor's borrowed sonic screwdriver in hand.

'What?'

'Take a look at this, will ya? Just look at that!'

Sandi picked her way through the many strewn parts of the laptop on the floor and scrambled up next to her new friend. She squinted at the screen.

'What am I looking at?' Sandi asked, as the Doctor peered at the watch on his wrist.

'Any second now...' he said. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, a thousand ships popped into existence. Sandi gasped as the Doctor laughed and clapped.

'Always my favourite bit. Now, if we just pan around one hundred and eighty degrees...'

'Doctor, won't those Daleks notice the Tardis?' Sandi asked gingerly. The Doctor shook his head.

'We're still in the time vortex. Then there's the added bonus that they're after the me on the satellite rather than the me that's here now... ah, here we are!'

The image flashed up on screen and Sandi stared blankly at it. A large asteroid floated alone in the vacuum of space, inconspicuous and isolated. The Doctor clapped.

'A working chameleon circuit and cloaking device, oh, very good!'

'Er, Doctor?'

'What?'

'It's a rock.'

'Ah, it only looks like a rock.'

'No, it is definitely a big, floating... rock'

'Maybe now, but...' the Doctor spun around crazily and punched at the controls.

'In three, two, one... ta da!'

The image of the asteroid faded away. In its place, a rounded pale orb flickered into view. Sandi leaned forward.

'What is that?!? Can the Daleks actually see that?'

The Doctor shook his head, a crooked grin on his face.

'In all technicalities, we're the only ones who can see it. To the Daleks, its still just a lump of rock. They aren't operating at this wavelength. Nope, those thick thickety clunkers won't have a clue in blue blazes until its too late.'

'Well, that's comforting. So... how does one get on board this ship?'

'Ah. Y'see, if it was any other ship, I'd be able to land the Tardis inside it. But this is a Time Lord ship. Looks like we might just have to link up.'

Sandi clapped and rubbed her hands.

'Oh goody! I've never linked up to a spaceship before!'

'Oy, don't get too excited, or I'll hook you up to the Tardis and use you to power the lights!'

'Hey! That's not very nice!'

The Doctor laughed and patted her back as the Tardis slipped out of the time vortex and into normal space.

'I never said I was nice. Oh, here we go!'

The Tardis hovered close to the pale orb. It wasn't large, maybe ten feet by fifteen. The Doctor's Tardis floated close to the orb, causing a change in the side of the ship. The faint outline of a door appeared in the side of the other ship. Suddenly, it appeared that the doors of the Tardis had melted into the side door of the the other ship. The Doctor clapped his hands.

'Oh yes, definitely a Time Lord ship! Full integration with a Tardis, compatible technology and use of Chameleon circuits as well as hijacking a cloaking signal. Brilliant!'

The Doctor skipped over to the Tardis' doors and threw them open grandly. Sandi peeped over his shoulder. She gasped as the Doctor grinned wickedly.

'Still don't want to go first?'

---------

They have arrived.

Now we move. The child has returned.

And the Doctor?

Kill him.

---------

Sandi stepped out of the Tardis and into a brilliantly lit white corridor. The Doctor stepped up behind her and put a hand on her shoulder.

'Well, this is different! It's been, oooh, maybe...' the Doctor scratched his head, trying to remember. Sandi cocked her head.

'Yes? How long?'

'Oh, around fifty years since I've been on one of these ships.'

'One of these ships?'

'A Time Lord Sanctuary ship. It's designed to avoid all detection at any cost, including staying enveloped in the time vortex without moving through time.'

'Gee. You'd think that the Daleks would have done anything to get their... well, they don't actually have hands as such, but you get what I mean.'

The Doctor moved forward, sonic screwdriver ahead of him. A flash of neon blue told him everything he needed to know. He tucked the screwdriver away inside his suit jacket.

'Nothing to worry about. All safe. On we go.'

The duo moved silently down the corridor, which appeared to be vast in length. Sandi got the distinct impression that as far as Time Lord ships went, they were all bigger on the inside than on the outside. As far as she was concerned, this ship was huge. The corridor alone would have dwarfed the Tardis' interior. The Doctor stopped in front of the first door they approached. A flash of blue and the door slid open. Sandi gaped. She knew what she was looking at. The Doctor stepped through the doorway, taking Sandi's hand protectively and leading her behind him.

The door opened into a large room which was obviously the bridge of the ship. Computer screens blinked feebly and faintly at the Doctor and Sandi as they moved silently past. It was deserted and for good reason. Nearly every screen and control panel was smashed beyond repair. Sandi grabbed the Doctor's arm and clung close to him. The Doctor stopped and put an arm around her. Sandi stared around, shaking.

'The ship... all the computers... it's all been destroyed.'

'Obviously the work of the Zriekas. Come on, we need to keep moving,' the Doctor said gravely as they passed the captain's chair. Sandi shuddered. The room was cold and forbidding, like the ghosts of those who had been onboard still walked there. They entered a small lift on the far side of the trashed room and the Doctor inspected the buttons. Sandi looked around, examining the wall. Suddenly, she heard a sound. She stilled, paralysed with fear.

'Hey Doctor?'

'Yeah?'

'Should that be ticking?'

'Errr...'

The Doctor stopped peering at the buttons and listened hard. The crushing silence that had been there before had been broken by a faint but clearly audible ticking. His eyes widened.

'OUT OUT OUT!' The Doctor roared, grabbing Sandi's shoulders and hurling her out of the lift. He leapt after her just in time, because as his flailing body crashed down to protect hers, the lift exploded in an orange fireball, engulfing the area where the pair had just been standing. Had they not moved, they would have been roasted, killed instantly. Sandi sobbed as the Doctor curled around her, holding her close to him and stroking her hair.

'Shhh, it's okay now, we're safe. I'm here, I won't let anything hurt you,' the Doctor said softly, comforting his companion. Sandi looked up accusingly at him.

'Oh sure, I'm gonna just trust you with my life because you have a time machine and a light-up screwdriver! It's been one life-threatening situation after another ever since I met you!' Sandi said bitterly and somewhat sarcastically, failing to stop the tears now flooding down her face. The Doctor pulled her close and held her tightly, ignoring the panic-stricken girl's snide comments as she made a vague attempt to punch at his chest.

'I promise you, I won't let them hurt you. I won't let them take you away from me,' the Doctor swore. Sandi clutched a handful of his shirt.

'You can't promise me that, Doctor. You can't stop everyone. You can't stop everything.'

'I won't let them take you. I've lost too many fights to give this one up.'

Sandi looked up desperately. The Doctor looked visibly shaken, scared and angry. Rage burned like a cold fire behind his dark eyes. There was something alien about his fury that melted the tense feeling at the base of Sandi's spine. She relaxed against him and let him cradle her, gently stroking her hair and shushing her softly. She closed her eyes. Then the glow reappeared, an intense golden light that encompassed them both, like a protective cocoon sheltering them from the outside world. The Doctor felt a soft breeze on his skin and closed his eyes, wrapping himself like a blanket around Sandi. The light brightened, almost blinding. The Doctor could feel his hearts hammering inside his chest. He hugged Sandi closer.

'I'm here, you don't need to be afraid,' he whispered. The light flickered and died almost instantly. Sandi opened her eyes. The Doctor was still holding her tightly, eyes closed. She reached up and touched his face gently. He opened his eyes and looked at her, smiling softly.

'People will talk, y'know,' Sandi quipped under her breath. The Doctor laughed, climbing to his feet. He helped Sandi up.

'C'mon, we have to find those pods. Something on this ship is trying to stop us and is willing to do it at any cost,' the Doctor said. Sandi nodded seriously and followed the Doctor through a side door near the still-smoking lift. As they exited the bridge, a soft whirring and an angry clicking came from near the burnt elevator.

---------

There is no question. The child is Shandaiah.

Then the child must return. We cannot allow for any more mistakes.

But she has formed a bond with the Doctor.

We are Zriekas. Bonds are easily broken.

---------