Hi Gang, thanks for those who gave their thoughts on the first chapter, it was greatly appreciated :)
In this chapter, we see the story really get going. I hope you like it as an introduction to the plot, and I'd love to hear what you think of it!
The Doctor made his usual performance of setting the TARDIS onto its next course, glancing back at Amy with his slightly-superior smirk. She loved this part. Just watching him enjoy himself, operating the time machine… The sheer delight he obviously felt with the flip of every switch was positively infectious. She couldn't help but smile at him.
There was the whirring, and the whooping and then the shaking and the roaring and the shuddering and the Doctor's laughing. And then it stopped.
Bursting with anticipation, Amy skipped over to the door, peering over to the Doctor as always, waiting for his expression of approval as she leaned outside to see where they were. Today it was a metal corridor. Much like all the metal corridors that she had ever seen on Star Trek and similar televised science fictions. Grilled metal floors, bolts and panels running along the walls and even a few pipes and cables lining the ceilings.
She leaned back into the TARDIS with an analytical expression. "Very stereotypical," she commented.
The Doctor allowed himself to smirk that smirk once again, teetering back and forth on his heels with his hands in his pockets.
"Well I know how you love your beaches," he said, looking pleased with himself. "And this one is one of the best, I promise you."
"I'm sure it is," Amy said sarcastically, folding her arms and leaning against the doorframe as the Doctor continued.
"And we'll have to try the local beverages, once you've pulled the hairs out it's got one helluva kick- provided you don't mind the purple breath for a few hours afterwards…"
"It's a ship," Amy said flatly.
"Really? They don't usually come up on the shore like that. At least not on this planet-"
"No I mean it's a ship out there," Amy interrupted. "Not a beach."
The Doctor sagged somewhat. "Oh."
Amy grinned during the momentary paused that then followed.
"Well lets see what is out there then," the Doctor said brightly, clapping his hands together with that fearless enthusiasm that Amy loved so much.
Amy beamed. They could have been walking into the fires of hell itself and the Doctor would still be excited by the prospect of unexplored territory. He raced out through the doors, peering curiously around the TARDIS as the metal corridor stretched off in 2 directions.
"Anyway," he called back to her. "No telling if this is or isn't a ship. It's early days yet, we only just got here. Might be a ground base. Might be military… perhaps it's underground? You hear that whirring? That could be a generator, or wait no too constant, not methodical enough burning at a rate of… to the power of four and the vibration seems to be running through all the wall panels so…" He trailed off, looking around himself.
"So it's a ship?" Amy prompted, leaning in the doorway of the TARDIS.
"It's a ship."
"Right-o then. Glad we got that one sorted out," Amy flashed him a smile and tried to stifle the physical urge to leap with joy as he smiled back. Keen to distract herself from her thoughts, she stepped out of the blue box and began to wander up the corridor, towards a sealed circular door.
"Amy," the Doctor called, not looking around, but examining some sort of maintenance panel, "Don't go wandering off just yet. I just need to establish where exactly we are."
"Oh shush, I'm not going anywhere," she replied dismissively, trying to ignore just how much she loved even the slightest suggestion that the Doctor might care about her well-being.
As he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began gathering some readings from the pipes above his head, Amy reached the door and looked curiously at the scratches that ran down one side of it. Deep, jagged gouges into the metal, around one edge of it, as if made by something reaching around from the other side.
"Doctor… I think you should take a look at this."
She looked closer. Some of the scratches had a tinted colour. A dark, browny red colour. Amy swallowed nervously and took a step back. She felt a chill run down her spine and her heart thudded uncomfortably.
"Well I'm no expert, but I'm not getting an altogether welcome vibe from this place," she said, trying to sound casual. She turned around. "How about that beach…"
She trailed off into silence, her voice echoing down the metal corridor. The now very empty metal corridor. The Doctor and the TARDIS were gone.
"There's some sort of frequency being emitted," he was saying, the whirr of his screwdriver alternating between the tiny bleeps as he fiddled with its settings. "Operating on a completely different plain, which is why we can't hear it. Probably what drew the TARDIS this way if it hit at the right pitch. Similar thing happened once before and I ended up centre stage during an opera. Terrible mess. The Diva was inconsolable. Still, better than shattering the windows I'd say…"
The Doctor looked round. He looked left, and he looked right. Amy wasn't there.
"Amy?" He called, glancing from one direction to the other faster than spectators at a tennis match. "I told you not to wander off…"
He strode up to the door where he was sure a few moments ago she was standing. A closer inspection of the corridor's end revealed that she was most definitely not there now. The Doctor was not the sort to be easily panicked. As far as he reasoned there was always a perfectly logical explanation for things. And if there wasn't then he could certainly invent one. He scanned the edges of the sealed door with the screwdriver, and checked the surrounding area for some sort of controls for the door.
Nothing, he thought. So she didn't open the door herself… This presented 2 options: 1 - someone else had opened the door and she had wandered through it, and 2 - She had simply returned to the TARDIS. Clearly option 2 is far more likely, he concluded. He turned around.
"Ah," he said, to the TARDIS-free corridor that now lay before him.
He moved back down the corridor, his arms stretched out and feeling the air in front of him, as if he were walking in the dark. The other end of the corridor held an identical metal door, very much sealed and with no controls in sight. The Doctor looked back and forth, the corridor feeling smaller and smaller every time he did so. He wasn't scared, or panicked… it was far too early in the proceedings for either emotion. But he was worried. Wherever Amy was, there was a good chance she was alone, and an even better chance that she would be scared.
"Amy," he called out again, "If you can hear me then don't panic… I'm going to figure this out."