((For this chapter, I was inspired by the Rainbow Bridge in Thor. Just thought you may like to know :)
Also, it was very hard to write Sherlock's reaction to the TARDIS. I hope I did alright. I like to think that, even though he thinks it would be impossible, he would be very interested by it.))
Sherlock did want to see for himself. He wanted to see the evidence with his own eyes. Time travel wasn't possible. It couldn't be.
Amy had left him standing in the TARDIS and he suddenly felt very small. He looked around once more. For something like this to exist it would have to be like, another dimension or something...something that theoretically could exist - the physics was all there - but it would take a hell of a long time to apply it, to make it work. For things like things to happen it would take science that was way beyond human reach.
The silence annoyed him, so he left. He made for the doors and stepped out onto a metal floor. A flash of red caught his attention - Amy up ahead with her friend and Harvey Alexander. It didn't take him long to register where he was, to notice that his surroundings had changed from outside the Tower of London to a landscape consisting of metal and glass. We really have moved...
It took a lot for Sherlock Holmes to be impressed but he was. As he walked his eyes scanned everything; the blinding blue lights, the intricate markings on the ground, the many solid metal staircases that zig-zagged the walls. When he thought about it looked like every other prison he had been to, except this one was much more vast and futuristic in design. And the people - if they even were people - looked extremely odd, for they were all silver-skinned, dotted with orange swirling patterns here and there on their faces, all of them bald and dressed in red robes. They greeted the trio and their prisoner.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" commented Amy when Sherlock had finally caught her up. It was then that he noticed that she was staring up at the sky.
Hitching his coat collar up and putting his hands in the pockets he glanced up. Outside of the glass ceiling were colours, nebulae that converged together into unique shapes, clouds of orange and green and purple dust, flecked with hundreds and thousands of stars. That's space. I am in space... Fascinating. It was like being high all over again. "Yes," he mumbled, almost inaudibly as they came to a stop outside a large arched door coloured gold.
An alien walked forward, it's appearance exactly like the others. "What business do you have here at the Ordo Prison?"
"I'm here to return a prisoner," began the Doctor who flicked his gaze to his side where the shapeshifter moodily stood.
"The shapeshifter from Vietica?"
"That's the one." The Doctor smiled.
The alien stepped aside. "The Queen will be most obliged. Please." The arched golden door eased open. It wasn't wood, it was metal because it clanged as it opened. On the other side a black canvas could be seen, decorated with coloured clouds and the silver buttons that were stars, plus a long stretch of red and green that streaked towards a building in the distance.
"Thank you," said the Doctor and before long he was stepping over the threshold onto the bridge.
"Where are we going?" questioned Amy.
"To the palace." The Time Lord dragged the reluctant shapeshifter along by his hands.
"You will regret this, Time Lord," it hissed repeatedly, only the Doctor replied with: "Oh, shut up. You should be thanking me. You would have been killed if you'd stayed on Earth."
Sherlock seemed somewhat dazed as they journeyed over the bridge, growing ever closer to the golden palace at the end. He could not stop looking around, absorbing everything he saw. There were six planets in the sky above, three of them orange-yellow, one purple, one blue and one a deep sea green. The Doctor had explained them. "They're the six kingdoms of the Empire of Ordo..." He'd gone on to mention their names and history, which Sherlock noted in his mind. "A peaceful empire, too," continued the Doctor. "The Pax are the master race of the entire Empire. They populate at least one third of each of the six planets. Pax - Latin for peace. And Ordo -"
"-is Latin for order," interjected Sherlock.
"Correctomondo!" The Doctor grinned.
"You forgot to mention Vietica," the shapeshifter said, annoyed and angry.
"Your planet is gone. Your race broke rule one of Ordo, remember? Peace."
"Ha, peace. There is no such thing. If you think the Pax are peaceful, Time Lord, you are very much mistaken indeed."
Amy shifted alongside Sherlock. She watched him for a time, noted down his expressions. She nudged him in the arm. "Come on, Sherlock, smile."
"What for?" He suddenly searched her with those piercing eyes of his. Amy thought they resembled galaxies when she looked close enough. They would blend into the scenery perfectly.
"You're in space!"
He said nothing.
"Don't tell me you still don't believe it. You've got all of the proof you need."
"We're still breathing," he quickly stated.
"That's a point. Doctor, why are we still breathing if we're outside?"
"We're not outside." The Doctor reached out and placed his hand on the side, touching glass. "Extremely thick glass. And, the air shell has been extended for extra measure."
The palace was huge! It must have been three times the size of Buckingham Palace. It held the image of a Roman temple with a triangular roof and six massive pillars, steps leading up to the entrance at the bottom. Statues of angels were stood either side of the arched door, both in prayer position. It was also, Sherlock observed, made of gold. Remarkable! They headed inside after the Doctor casually blagged his way past the guards.
The interior was equally as impressive and much more grand. Everything was red and gold, all very regal and too predictable for Sherlock's liking. Yet the futuristic elements were still there. The linear layouts of a minimalist appearance. They walked through the entrance to another arched door, was this time made of wood. Carved into it were round circles with six lines and a lasso around them.
"Enter!" boomed a female voice. The doors creaked open, revealing a large hall. It looked like the inside of a church, like Westminster Abbey but more...space-y. Blue-white balls of lights floated above.
In they went, the shapeshifter huffing all the way as they strolled down the aisle towards the woman who was perched gracefully on a golden throne. The Pax Queen. Her crown was small for a queen and very badly decorated. Only one red jewel in the center, the rest of the headpiece scratched and rusting. Sherlock wasn't quite sure what to think now.
"Doctor." The queen stood, her silver gown draping down to the floor.
"Your Grace," the Doctor replied. "I've returned your prisoner as you asked. It was partly my fault he escaped, I felt it my duty to recapture him for you."
"It is much obliged, Doctor. Although, I have not forgotten the trouble you caused the last time you were here. Make no mistake, I shall lock you up myself if you create chaos in the Ordo Prison again."
"I've been threatened with worse."
"And who are...you're associates?" Her eyes searched Amy and Sherlock.
"That's exactly what they are," the Doctor said. "My associates. Amy Pond and Sherlock Holmes. Your Grace, they were a part of the helping to recapture Kaos Kaan Klakken of Vietica."
"Then they shall be rewarded as well."
Rewarded? Sherlock didn't need a reward. He didn't want a reward.
"There is no need for a reward," spoke the Doctor as an alien dressed this time in gold took the protesting shapeshifter away. The alien hit the shapeshifter hard on the head and screamed at him to remain silent, not that it was any use.
"Do not be silly, Time Lord," said the queen regally. "You have done me a great deed. Anything you want, just say, and I will grant it to you. To all three of you."
"I'll-" began Amy.
"Give the rewards to your people, Your Grace." The Doctor smiled.
"Very well, Doctor. It will be done. The Pax are most grateful."
The Doctor turned to leave.
"One more thing before you leave," she spoke. She descended down the steps towards him, her skirts scraping the stone floor. "Do you have the diamond."
"Do you even need to ask?"
"Where?" Her eyes lit up like lamps.
"In the TARDIS, safe and sound."
"Give it to me."
"You know I can't do that."
"You dare to defy a queen?" Somehow Sherlock knew she wasn't being totally serious.
"Oh, you know me..." The Doctor smiled. "I'm taking it back to Kadia where it belongs."