Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC. I do not own any of it, nor do I get paid for it.

A/N Thanks for the amazing reviews on the first story. We are already close to 100 reviews. Holy Gallifrey, you guys!

Anyway, here is the second story 'The Space Mystery'. Initially, I had written this as a part narrative by future Rory but as the story went on, it became really difficult to write it all without mucking everything up.

I have changed it to be more uniform but it is still majorly from Rory's perspective.

Happy Reading!

The Space Mystery: The Orient Express

When Rory thought back to the last few months of his life, he found himself marvelling at how many things had changed. Less than seven months ago, he was a Roman Centurion in 102 A.D. Before that, he had been a nurse back in Leadworth in the early 21st century.

But then, he had met the Doctor. He reckoned it had been at least six months since he had started travelling in the TARDIS, though time was relative as the Doctor often reminded him. Travelling with them was Rose Tyler, who had been with the Doctor even longer than Rory had. She was originally a shop girl from 2005 London but had met the Doctor when a stray Cybermen ship had crashed to Earth.

Rose and Rory had been travelling with the Doctor for a while before they met Captain Amelia Pond on the planet of Calamity amidst the universe collapsing. The peculiar circumstances that followed were still slightly jarring on his nerves. Long story short, Amelia or Amy as she preferred, joined them in their travels.

And then they were accosted by the Guardians. A war was raging between the Guardians, and the White Guardian had recruited the Doctor and his three companions to assemble the Key to Time, an artefact that could prevent the war of the Eternals from destroying the universe.

The key had six segments and the first one was already in the TARDIS where it had been kept safe by the Doctor. It was the search of the second segment that took them to the planet of Snowdell in the Isop galaxy. Not just aboard the planet...but right outside a train station.

A train station that had trains that travelled into space...

"No way," said Rose, her eyes wide. "Trains that travel into space?"

"Marvellous, isn't it?" asked the Doctor, his eyes sparkling.

"How does it work?" Rory asked at once.

"The technology is developed such that the craft looks and feels like a train, both inside and out," said the Doctor. "The train that they modelled this one after is from Earth. The 1940s to be precise."

"Why?" asked Amy.

"Preservation of your culture? Rich humans spending an outrageous amount of money? Take your pick," said the Doctor. "And we have exclusive access," he added, flashing them four tickets, printed on thick gold paper.

"Those look expensive," Rory observed.

"They are," said the Doctor with a quick smile. "The signal seemed to lead towards the luggage car of the first class. I thought we could use the proper channels just this once. See how it feels," he winked. "It has to be a change from accidental landings which gets us into so much trouble."

"Well, if we are pretending to be people who travel in first class on a regular basis, we have to dress better than this," said Rose, with a pointed look at their clothes.

"1940s," reminded the Doctor as she and Amy left to go towards the wardrobe room.

"Aye, aye," waved Amy.

"So, how are you sure that the segment is on this train?" asked Rory.

"When the TARDIS brought us here, I went out to have a quick look. The signal was strong. It is definitely in the luggage car," explained the Doctor.

"Rich people with a hoard of luggage," whistled Rory. "It's going to be like finding a needle in the haystack. How long is the journey?"

"37 hours," answered the Doctor. "The train goes from the planet to its fifteenth and farthest moon called Applepond."

"Applepond?" asked Rory, trying not to laugh.

The Doctor grinned at him. "Intriguing name, isn't it? I wonder what Amy will think of it," he wondered. He shook his head. "Besides, that isn't really the exciting part."

"It isn't?" asked Rory in surprise.

"No," said the Doctor. "It's the name of the train." At Rory's questioning look, the Doctor showed him the tickets.

Rory gasped as he read them. "No way," he said. "The Orient Express."

"In space!" added the Doctor enthusiastically.

Looking back, Rory thought he should have been feeling a sense of dread rather than the excitement. Ah, who was he kidding? Of course he was excited. So was Rose when he told her and surprisingly, Amy. Rory had known that Rose was an avid Christie fan but Amy came as a bit of a shock. Of course then the Doctor got to tell them all how Agatha Christie's books were still in circulation past the 73rd century. They were suitably impressed by it.

They had their luggage packed and were dressed as per the 40s fashion. Rory rather fancied himself as a young Elliot Ness, dressed as he was in the expensive suit. Amy and Rose were completely gorgeous as usual in their posh and expensive gowns and frocks. The Doctor, on the other hand, was wearing his usual grey breeches, white wing-collared shirt with a grey vest and cravat and his green frockcoat completing his look. Even after Rose badgered him to dress a little less old-fashioned, he shook his head claiming that his clothes never went out of fashion. Considering what he wore in his fifth and sixth lives, Rory thought that statement was not even a little bit true.

The train itself was a classic. Had it not been for a variety of advanced tech, it would have been easy to believe that they were on Earth, back in time. They had two compartments side by side, each with two twin beds. While the interior was supposed to look like the one back in the 40s, the beds and linen were obviously futuristic. Yet instead of ruining the authenticity, it just added to its charm.

The Doctor tried to suggest that Rose and Amy ought to bunk together while he and Rory did the same. Rory was set to agree when Amy said that she would rather share with him. Rory tried to tamp down his eagerness at the idea, knowing that she was probably going with the assumption that the Doctor and Rose were a couple.

So, it was finally decided that Amy and Rory would share one compartment while the Doctor and Rose had the one next to theirs. Their luggage was stowed away in the luggage car but the porters were still there meaning they couldn't exactly search for the segment right then.

Instead, they decided to go down to the dining car, just as the train was about to begin its journey. The first class had a separate dining car that could only be accessed by first class passengers. It had deep red carpets and polished furniture that would be the dream of any interior decoration enthusiast.

In the dining car, they were greeted by the train's conductor named Carter Dunlop. He was a bloke around Rory's age, with a slightly sullen face. He spoke in short, clipped sentences, giving the overall impression of someone who hated his job but was unable to leave it.

Apart from Carter, there was a host of staff (both servers and entertainers). Even a few of the guests were there. Everyone's eye first caught on Janelle Lombardi, not because she was beautiful, but because she was kissing a man much older than her. Janelle who looked all of 19, was with a man whom they would have thought was at least 42. Upon seeing them, he introduced himself Kramer Pollock and he and Janelle were engaged to be married. It was later revealed that Kramer was a penniless artist while Janelle was a rich heiress to a computer empire on Snowdell.

The other guest sitting by himself introduced himself as Faber Bonasera, an attorney. He kept fiddling with his wedding ring constantly and when Rose tried to get him talking, he confessed quietly that his wife had just passed away and he was taking a break from his life in Snowdell.

While they were getting acquainted, two more of the guests arrived. The older woman, dressed in a severe yet fashionable manner, was Valerie Richmond and with her was her granddaughter Keira Richmond. The Richmond family owned the planet's major supply of minerals and Valerie was the ruling matriarch. She was 87 years old but didn't look a day over 58. Amy whispered in Rory's ear that Valerie appeared to have had at least 43 surgical procedures.

Keira Richmond was gorgeous. She had dark hair and soulful brown eyes unlike her grandmother's blonde hair and harsh blue eyes. She was soft spoken and well-dressed and any male would be lying if they said that they were not attracted to her. Even Rory seemed a bit dazed when he saw her. She seemed to have her eyes set on the Doctor though, which did not earn her any points from Rose.

The Doctor was cheerfully oblivious to all of her flirtations, a fact which Amy found very amusing to watch. But she did notice very quickly the way his face darkened when the last guest arrived and took interest in Rose. Tristan Greenfield was about the Doctor's age (well, physically at least) and was an actual doctor. He was moving to Applepond to set up a quiet practice after a life on the main planet. Dr. Greenfield was handsome, charming, and soon had Rose, Keira, Amy and even Janelle interested in his stories.

Carter, the train conductor, then let them know that these were all the people travelling in the first class and would be fellow passengers for the 37 hour journey that it was to Applepond. The train set off and despite knowing that they had a job to do, the time travellers were very excited at being aboard the Orient Express. In space.

"This is amazing," said Rose in an awed voice as she and the Doctor sat at a booth in the dining car. "Really feel like we're on Earth, back in time."

The Doctor grinned at her across the table. "The humans on Snowdell are sticklers for details," he said. "They are evolved, yet revellers of the worst kind."

Rose tilted her head in confusion at that. "What do you mean?" she asked.

The Doctor leaned closer to her, beckoning her to do the same. "See Miss Lombardi? She's younger than you and is the sole heiress to a fortune worth a few planets. She was orphaned at the age of 7 and has been raised by a series of tutors and nannies."

Rose glanced at the blonde and then back at the Doctor. "You don't think she should be engaged to Mr. Pollock?" she asked in a low voice.

"I don't quite trust him," he said shortly. "A girl like Janelle is young and vulnerable while a man like Pollock is after money and prestige."

Rose nodded along to that. "What else?" she asked.

The Doctor sighed. "Poor Faber Bonasera is distraught, as you saw when you spoke to him. Losing someone you love is difficult. Yet, did you notice something odd about him?"

Rose met his eyes and nodded slowly. "He seems...almost guilty," she said.

The Doctor nodded along. "Yes, but that is to be expected. A loss of the kind that he has suffered often invokes guilt. But somehow it's deeper than that." Rose looked questioningly at him but he just shook his head. "Your turn. What have you observed about our fellow passengers?"

"Keira Richmond fancies you," she said, trying to sound nonchalant about it and not as disgruntled as she was feeling.

The Doctor's lips quirked into a smile. "Yes, it seems so, doesn't it?" he asked and Rose shrugged in response. "The flirting was almost overdone."

"Didn't think you'd noticed," said Rose, examining her nails instead of looking at him.

"Oh, it's our job to notice, Rose Tyler," said the Doctor in the same slightly amused voice. "But what I meant was her flirting was deliberate. Too methodical to be genuine."

Rose finally looked up at that. "You think she was faking it? Why would she do that?" she asked, genuinely curious.

The Doctor shrugged. "She must have her reasons, I suppose," he said. "Her grandmother is an interesting woman, though."

Rose wrinkled her nose. "Don't like her all that much. She reminds me of Lady Beatrice. Remember how awful she was?"

"Ah yes, Lady Beatrice," nodded the Doctor. "Yes, they are extraordinarily alike. For some reason, I thought she was rather like Queen Mary but Lady Beatrice sounds more accurate."

"You've met Queen Mary? Bloody Mary?" asked Rose, her lips curled in amusement.

"In my sixth life, yes," he nodded. "An odd encounter that one."

Rose had more questions but she brought herself back to the present. "So, who did we miss? Carter seems to hate his job," she said.

"Don't quite blame him," said the Doctor. "Catering to the needs of the rich and demanding cannot be an easy task. And we missed your friend, Dr. Greenfield."

"He isn't that bad," Rose defended when the Doctor's tone hardened at his name. "His stories were brilliant. Did you hear the one where he found an alarm clock in his patient's stomach?" asked Rose mirthfully.

"Yes, I heard," said the Doctor shortly. "Yet like Pollock, I can't seem to trust him." Rose raised her eyebrows at that but the Doctor continued on. "The very first thing he did upon introducing himself was launch into his stories. Now, I can understand liking the sound of your own voice, I have been guilty of it myself. But the pace at which he was talking was almost like he was attempting to distract everyone from something else. I find that highly suspicious."

Rose wanted to point out that maybe the Doctor was just being a bit jealous but realised that he had a point. Dr. Greenfield did seem hell bent on keeping in control of the conversation around him. Rose cleared her throat. "So basically, all our fellow passengers have their own secrets," she surmised. "Think this is really like the real Orient Express that Christie wrote about?" she asked cheekily.

The Doctor grinned widely as he met her eyes. "Well, Miss Tyler, you never know," he said enigmatically, his eyes shining.

Rose laughed and shook her head. "You are impossible sometimes," she said. Then her smile dimmed and she lowered her voice. "What about the task for the Guardians? How do we find the second segment?" she asked. "Someone's bound to be around the luggage car."

The Doctor's demeanour remained unchanged. "Well, we shall be served supper soon and then, we'll go to bed. As soon as everyone is asleep, we can go strolling around with the core to the Key to Time to search for the second segment. Hopefully, we shall find it before the train gets to Applepond."

Rose nodded, admiring his optimism even as she felt all her instincts screaming that it wouldn't be so easy. "Hope so," she agreed with a small smile.

The Doctor returned her smile and raised his glass of lime and soda to her in acknowledgement. "Here's to a smooth journey," he said. Rose clinked his glass with her own and they both took a sip of their drink simultaneously.

Unbeknownst to them, an ominous peal of laughter rang across the cosmos. The first of the Black Guardian's recruits was already on the Orient Express...and the Doctor and his companions had no idea...

A/N End of Part 1. Thanks for reading.

I suppose the purpose of this was to set the scene and introduce all the characters. There will be more about them as the story goes on.

I also have Face Claims for the characters which you guys can see if you wish to.

Janelle Lombardi-Hayden Panetierre; Kramer Pollock-Sam Worthington; Faber Bonasera-Alexander Armstrong; Valerie Richmond-Jane Fonda; Keira Richmond-Eliza Dushku; Dr. Tristan Greenfield-Richard Armitage; Carter Dunlop-John Mayer

The next part will be up on Friday. See you then!

~ Phoenix