If you want to help me financially, you can do it on
https://ko-fi.com/neverluckysmile
Danni blinked into existence just as the doors shut on the shuttle. She glanced around, confused about where she was when she spotted Ten sat on his own smiling brightly at her. She skipped over and flopped into the empty chair next to him, her legs swinging in the air as she did.
"Spaceman!" She exclaimed happily, "I've just come from you."
"Don't you always?" He teased as the hostess of the shuttle approached the woman just in front of them, offering her a selection of complimentary items.
"You know what I mean." Danni replied, nudging him as the hostess joined them.
"That's the headphones for Channels 1 to 36... Oh," She blinked, startled at the sight of the new girl sat next to him, "Sorry, do you have a ticket?" Danni nodded, the Doctor discreetly slipping her his psychic paper. She flashed it at the woman, who smiled apologetically.
"I do apologise." Danni waved her off.
"Just doing your job, my dear." She replied and the woman nodded.
"Anyway, here's your modem link for 3D vidgames; complimentary earplugs; complimentary slippers; complimentary juice pack; and complimentary peanuts." She listed, handing the Doctor his items, rummaging through her items, "I don't think I have enough."
"It's fine, we can share." She linked arms with the Doctor, "It's our first holiday together."
"Newly weds?" She asked and Danni nodded.
"Only about week. We've really been enjoying it so far, haven't we dear?" She turned to the Doctor, who nodded slowly.
"The best." He confirmed, resting a hand on hers and squeezing it slightly. The hostess regarded them warmly, smiling at how cute they were together.
"I must warn you some products may contain nuts." She explained and the Doctor nodded.
"That'll be the peanuts." He guessed.
"Enjoy your trip." The hostess smiled and headed to the next people, a man and a young woman behind them.
"Oh, I can't wait! Allons-y!" The Doctor cried, stopping the hostess in her tracks. She paused and forced on the smile that dropped from her face.
"I'm sorry?" She asked him, slightly annoyed.
"It's French, for let's go!" He replied sheepishly.
"Fascinating." She turned and moved to the people behind them. Danni turned to the Doctor and they chuckled together.
"So, Spaceman, where are we?" Danni asked, pulling her legs up and tucking them underneath her.
"Oh we're off to see the Sapphire Waterfalls of Midnight." He told her, not noticing as she tensed in terror, "I tried to get Donna to come as well, but she was more preoccupied with sunbathing, of all things." He explained, turning to her and frowning, "Are you okay?"
"Midnight?" She asked, "Did you say Midnight?" He nodded slowly.
"Yes, why?" He asked, looking around to see who was on the shuttle. They were all humans, but it was a very popular destination with the ever-exploring apes.
"We have to leave." She stated, standing up, "Now, we have to leave now." He pulled her down, confused as her eyes darted around, looking for the exit. They couldn't stay on the shuttle, she had to get him off before it was too late.
~0~0~0~
"Beware of Midnight." Future-Danni leant in close, her tone low.
"I don't go to Midnight. I jumped away before he landed." Now-Danni protested and Future-Danni shook her head.
"Midnight is bad. Really, really bad." She explained, "If you know it's coming, you might be able to fight it. Keep remembering that it ends okay..." The Doctor, Donna and Jenny ran to them before she could finish her sentence.
~0~0~0~
She'd not forgotten her own ominous warning, but she couldn't remember why it was so bad to be there. She had tried to remember how the episode ended, spent hours pouring over her memories and even though she knew she hadn't watched the episode often for a reason, she couldn't remember why. She'd have to start writing things down, in case she forgot anything else.
"Please." She insisted, "Please, we have to leave." The head of the man behind them popped up over their headrest, smiling at the two warmly.
"Hobbes! Professor Winfold Hobbes!" He introduced himself, holding his hand out to the Doctor, who shook it heartily.
"I'm the Doctor, and this is Danni. Hello!"
"It's my 14th time!" He told the pair, Danni nodding slowly, wondering why they were listening to the man when they should be getting off the shuttle.
"Oh! It's our first." The young woman popped up next to the professor, holding her hand out to the Doctor as well.
"And I'm Dee Dee, Dee Dee Blasco." She told them and the Hobbes turned to her, annoyed.
"Now don't bother the man!" He scolded and she sat down, looking chastised whilst Danni turned to glare at the man. She hated rude people.
"Did you interrupt us for a reason?" She bit out, "Because we have to get off the shuttle now." The man shot her a smile.
"Oh yes, of course. Well, I've been on this shuttle 14 times, and nothing bad can or has happened to it. You're perfectly safe." She shook her head.
"It's not the shuttle I'm worried about. It's what's outside." She frowned, was that what the problem was? Something trying to get into shuttle?
"The surface is uninhabitable." The Doctor promised her and Hobbes nodded.
"Nothing but us for miles around." He confirmed before turning to Dee Dee, "Where's my water bottle?" Danni sighed, crossing her arms in a sulk because she couldn't even offer a reasonable explanation for her concern about the planet outside. The Doctor took her hand, seeing that she was genuinely worried and held it tight.
"I'm not going to let anything harm you." He told her, "Just relax, I'm here." She sighed then nodded, still not entirely convinced but reassured by the fact that he was right. It wasn't like he could go anywhere, once they were in flight they'd be stuck in the shuttle until they headed back again.
"Ladies and gentlemen," The hostess addressed the passengers as she walked to the front of the cabin, "and variations thereupon, welcome on board the Crusader 50, if you would fasten your seatbelts, we'll be leaving any moment. Doors!" The Doctor fastened his own before leaning over, making sure Danni's was tight enough before freezing at the action, realising what he was doing. She smiled gratefully as he pulled away, embarrassed. He didn't know why he'd done that. He'd just wanted to make sure she was safe and secure. He'd had to pull it quite tight, he thought with a frown and he passed her the bag of nuts. She pulled a face at them and placed them in the back of the seat in front of her. She wasn't hungry anyway.
"Shields down!" Shields came down over all the little windows and Danni jumped as they were bathed in temporary darkness until the interior lightening activated. It was still rather dark and she scooted closer to the Doctor, her eyes darting around as she did. This wouldn't do, she couldn't see anyone. How was she supposed to stop anything bad happening when she could barely see in front of her own face? She relaxed slightly at the Doctor wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her up against him even more. He knew she didn't like the dark.
"I'm afraid the view is shielded until we reach the Waterfall Palace." The hostess continued, "Also, a reminder, Midnight has no air, so please don't touch the exterior door seals. Fire exit at the rear," She motioned to the back of the shuttle, "and should we need to use it... you first." She laughed slightly at her own joke then checked her watch, "Now I will hand you over to Driver Joe."
"Driver Joe at the wheel!" A male voice called over the intercom as a map appeared on the screen next to the hostess. "There's been a diamondfall at the Winter Witch Canyon, so we'll be taking a slight detour, as you'll see on the map." A small animation showed the original journey and the detour, the Doctor putting on his glasses to get a better look at it, "The journey covers 500 kliks to the Multifaceted Coast, duration is estimated at four hours. Thank you for travelling with us, and as they used to say in the olden days, wagons roll!" The whole shuttle shuddered as the engines came to life and Danni clung to the Doctor, that didn't sound too good. She looked around, trying to make out the faces of the others in the darkness but no one else seemed too bothered by the raucous. She looked up at the Doctor and caught the grin on his face even as he tried to hide it and she smirked. Oh, was that his game? Getting her scared so he could hold onto her, make sure she was okay? Them cheeky Time Lords, he never changed.
"For your entertainment, we have the Music Channel playing retrovids of Earth Classics." The hostess pulled out a remote, pressing a button and screens descended in front of them showing a woman singing, "Also, the latest artistic installation from Ludovico Klein." Another button brought up a bright hologram that shone in everyone's eyes, "Plus, for the youngsters, a rare treat - the Animation Archives." A projection of a very old Betty Boop cartoon appeared on the wall behind her, "Four hours of funtime! Enjoy!" The professor and Dee Dee quickly inserted their own earplugs, as if they'd been expecting the influx of light and sound from the beginning.
"Well, that's absolutely awful." Danni told the Doctor, although she had to push herself right up to his ear so he could hear her. He nodded in agreement, about to tell her that she could borrow his headphones when he saw her wincing, the noise filling the cabin obviously battling with the beat of four in her head. He discreetly pulled out his screwdriver and shot her a wink before setting it off, the media system disabling and the screens disappearing back into the ceiling.
"Well, that's a mercy!" Hobbes stated loudly as the hostess tried to get the system back online.
"I do apologise, ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon." She told them with a smile, "We seem to had a failure of the Entertainment System..."
"Ooh." The Doctor groaned in fake annoyance and Danni giggled at him, placing a kiss on his cheek and causing him to beam widely. He'd done that for her; he was so sweet when he wanted to be.
"But what do we do?!" A woman sat across from them called.
"We've got four hours of this! Four hours of just... sitting here?" The man next to her, Danni guessed her husband, added with a frown. The Doctor unbuckled his seatbelt then jumped up onto his seat, crouching as he looked around at the people there.
"Tell you what! We'll have to talk to each other instead!" Danni rolled her eyes as he grinned, pleased with himself. No one else seemed too keen on the idea, but once he decided to do something it was very hard to persuade him otherwise. Danni sighed, settling into her chair, it was going to be a long 4 hours.
~0~0~0~
"...So Biff said, 'I'm going swimming'." Val continued to her captive audience, who consisted of Hobbes, Dee Dee and the Doctor. The married couple had taken to the concept of actually speaking to their fellow passengers rather quickly and soon they were all having a right laugh with each other. There was one woman across from Danni who had immediately pulled out a book and was trying to drown out the loud noise from the group, and a young lad behind them with his headphones in. He seemed to have the right idea, Danni thought so she decided to join him. She patted the Doctor on the arm, who shot her a concerned look as she walked around him and to the young lad.
"Can I sit here?" She asked him, pointing to the empty chair next to him, holding the fruit juice pack in her other. The Doctor wanted her to drink it, but she'd just been swilling it around in the plastic container for the last half an hour. He stared at her, deliberating but when he saw the fed up look on her face that matched the look on his own he nodded, pulling out a headphone.
"Sure." He replied and she sat down.
"The pool is abstract!" Both Val and Biff exclaimed at the same time to a round of laughter from the others. Danni watched the boy mouth along with them, rolling his eyes as he did.
"Do they tell that story often?" She asked him and he nodded.
"All the time. They think it's hilarious." He replied gruffly and she nodded slowly, watching the Doctor laugh along.
"Yeah, it's amazing, that." She replied sarcastically, "I'm guessing you were dragged here too?" He nodded.
"I wasn't allowed to wait in the room. It's a 'family holiday' apparently." He made quotation marks in the air and she laughed.
"Oh, one of them forced joviality ones? Where everyone has to do something everyone else will like so no one does anything they actually enjoy?"
"You've been on one too?" He asked and she nodded.
"What do you think this is?" She retorted, "I wanted to get off, but no. Four hours there and four hours back, how is that ever going to be entertaining?" She turned away from her fake husband and smiled at the boy, "I'm Danni, by the way."
"Jethro." He offered and she nodded.
"Here's to a better vacation next you." She toasted him and took a sip of her drink, pulling a face as she forced herself to swallow it. Wow, that was disgusting. Jethro watched her with almost a smile on his face before handing her one of his earphones.
"Here." She smiled warmly and popped it in her ear, the sound of unfamiliar music coming through.
"Who's this?" She asked him.
"Dazed Conscious." He replied and she shrugged.
"Never heard of them." She told him with a smile and he laughed at the look on her face, "But I'm sure I'll like them."
~0~0~0~
The Doctor got to know everyone on the shuttle, keeping a close eye on Danni of course who was getting on rather well with the young lad of Biff and Val's at the back, a bit too well if he was honest given the way the boy would blush whenever she would accidentally touch him. Unfortunately poor Sky at the front had just been dumped, but hopefully the trip on her own would do her some good, because she didn't have a Danni-Girl of her own like he did. She'd be there when everyone else was gone, after all she jumped so far into his future he knew she'd be there for him. He glanced over at her again as Professor Hobbes showed them all a slide show of his research into the planet below them. She was kneeling on the chair next to Jethro, her arms wrapped around the chair in front of her as Jethro did the same. It made her look incredibly young, and she was so much closer to Jethro's age than his. Although, of course, she was closer to a lot of people's ages than his own. It didn't seem to bother her though, he knew she was closer to his future self than she was his current one. He was working on that, he hated being jealous of himself. It was just so complicated to keep it all in order in his head, but he wasn't prepared to let anyone try to take her away from him, not again so he stood up and walked over, holding his hand out to her when she turned to him. She smiled brightly and took it and he led her to the front of the group, pulling her down into his lap as they turned back to the presentation.
"So, this is Midnight, d'you see? Bombarded by the sun! Xtonic rays, raw galvanic radiation. Dee Dee, next slide!" He commanded and Dee Dee, who had been riveted by his speech so far switched it with a bashful look on her face, "It's my pet project. Actually, I'm the first person to research this. Because you see..." Hobbes sat down, "the history is fascinating, because there is no history. There's no life in this entire system, there couldn't be. Before the Leisure Palace Company moved in, no-one had come here in all eternity. No living thing."
"But how d'you know? I mean, if no-one can go outside..." Jethro pointed out. His mother rolled her eyes at him.
"Oh, his imagination! Here we go!"
"He's got a point, though." Danni retorted and Jethro beamed. Well, smiled slightly but for a teenage boy that was practically dancing in the aisle, "How do you know?"
"Exactly! We look upon this world through glass. Safe inside our metal box. Even the Leisure Palace was lowered down from orbit. And here we are now, crossing Midnight, but never touching it." Danni yelped in surprise as the ship shuddered, the engines going silent. The Doctor's grip tightened around her waist, that wasn't right.
"We've stopped. Have we stopped?" Val asked, confused.
"Are we there?" Her husband asked, just as confused.
"We can't be, it's too soon." Dee Dee replied with a shake of her head.
"They don't stop, Crusader vehicles never stop." Hobbes supplied. The hostess, who up until that point had been very bored at the back of the shuttle, walked into the group.
"If you could just... return to your seats, it's... just a small delay." She reasoned, moving to the intercom to talk to Driver Joe.
"Maybe just a pit stop." Biff suggested as they all took their seats again.
"There's no pit to stop in," Hobbes insisted, "I've been on this expedition 14 times, they never stop." Sky looked over at the man from her chair.
"Well evidently, we have stopped, so there's no point in denying it." She snapped, perturbed by his talk of the desolate planet below. She never liked being on her own, the idea of them being stranded out in the middle of no where actually terrified her.
"We've broken down!" Jethro laughed at the turn of events.
"Thanks, Jethro." Val scolded.
"In the middle of nowhere!"
"That's enough, now stop it!" Biff told him off.
"Ladies and gentlemen and variations thereupon, we're just experiencing a short... delay," The hostess told them as she approached the driver's cabin, "the driver needs to stabilise the engine feeds. It's perfectly routine, so if you could just stay in your seats..." The Doctor frowned and pulled Danni towards the cabin, pulling out his psychic paper as he did, "No, I'm sorry sir, I... could you please..." He flashed the paper at her.
"There you go, engine experts! Two ticks!" He rattled off, opening the door and letting Danni in first. The hostess protested but he just closed the door behind them.
"Sorry, if you could return to your seats, sir..." One of the drivers told the pair but the Doctor flashed him the paper as well.
"Company insurance, let's see if we can get an early assessment. So, what's the problem, Driver Joe?" Joe shrugged, they needed all the help the could get at the moment.
"We're stabilising the engine feeds, won't take long." He dismissed. If the man actually knew what he was talking about, he'd pick up the fact he was lying straight away.
"Um, no, cos that's the engine feed, that light there," The Doctor pointed to a screen with a gage showing it was doing fine, "and it's fine, and it's a micropetrol engine, so stabilising doesn't really make sense, does it? Sorry! I'm the Doctor and this is Danni, we're very clever. So, what's wrong?"
"We just stopped," The other driver told him, "look, all systems fine and everything's working, but we're not moving." The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and scanned across the top of the console.
"Yeah you're right. No faults." He agreed, checking the results for himself, "And who are you?"
"Claude, I'm the mechanic. Trainee." Claude told them. Danni smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Nice to meet you, Claude." She replied, looking at all the flashing lights and dials on the console. She had no idea what any of them meant, "So, what do we do now then?"
"I've sent a distress signal, Miss." Joe reassured her, "They should dispatch a rescue truck, top speed."
"How long till they get here?" The Doctor asked.
"About an hour."
"Well, since we're waiting..." He leant in closer to the two men, "shall we take a look outside? Just... lift the screens a bit?" Dave shook his head.
"It's 100% Xtonic out there," He replied shakily, pointing to the shielded window, "we'd be vaporised."
"No, those windows are Finitoglass, they'd give you a couple of minutes. Go on! Live a little!" The Doctor tempted. Joe and Claude shared an intrigued look and with a flick of a switch the shields lifted. The landscape outside was simply stunning, with diamond mountains in front of them, reaching up into the purple-hued sky. The heavy sun rays made the diamonds sparkle brightly, shining with multicolour rainbows.
"Ohhh, that is beautiful..." The Doctor said with a laugh.
"It's magnificent." Danni breathed, reaching out as if she could touch it.
"Look at all those diamonds! Poisoned by the sun. No-one can ever touch them." Claude mused. He'd never seen outside the cockpit before, they weren't allowed to lift the shields because of the sun and yet he couldn't tell anyone about what he was seeing.
"Glad you came?" The Doctor whispered into Danni's ear and she nodded, not taking her eyes off the sight outside. She was reminded of Amy, who would always throw her dream of the Doctor taking her to a crystal moon at her when she was being particularly teasing. He'd actually managed to one-up himself, he'd taken her to a diamond planet.
"I always am." She whispered in reply and he wrapped his arms around her waist; he could do one better than that.
"Joe," He started, drawing the man's attention but not his gaze away from the window, "you said we took a detour?" Joe nodded.
"Just about 40 kliks to the west." He confirmed.
"Is that a recognised path?"
"No, it's a new one, the computer worked it out, on automatic." He explained.
"So we're the first? This piece of ground. No-one's ever been here before. Not in the whole of recorded history." The Doctor reasoned, turning back to Danni, "Just for us. A whole new piece of ground, just for us." He whispered, smirking as he felt her breathing hitch at his words. Let's see his future self top that!
"Just us?" She repeated and he nodded, burying his nose in her hair. He couldn't do this with Donna, she asked too many questions and he felt like she knew more about him and Danni than he did, and he wasn't ready for them to be in a 'relationship'. He just wanted her near him, safe in the knowledge that when he was, she would still be there. Still there was no harm in doing his part in ensuring she would be, he could be quite the charmer when he wanted to be.
"Did you just...?" Claude exclaimed suddenly, pulling him from his thoughts as Danni moved out of his grasp, leaning between the two chairs, "No, sorry, it's... nothing."
"No, I saw it too." She murmured.
"What did you see?" The Doctor asked, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary.
"Just there. That ridge." Claude pointed across at the same place Danni had seen it, "Like... like a shadow. Just, just for a second." Danni nodded in agreement.
"What sort of shadow?" The Doctor asked them.
"It was kinda shapeless." Danni replied, "I thought that you said it's uninhabited."
"It is." The Doctor mused as an alarm began to sound.
"Xtonic rising! Shields down." Joe flicked a switch, lowering the shields but not before Danni scrambled onto the console, trying to get to the window.
"There it is again!" She cried, watching the shapeless shadow dance across the landscape, coming closer and closer.
"What was it?" The Doctor asked, pulling her back as the shields fully closed.
"I dunno." She replied, "But it was coming this way."
"Towards us?" The Doctor asked and she nodded, eyes wide in fear. That was the reason she knew they shouldn't have come, but she still couldn't remember why. Her heart, along with the drumming, was beating ferociously, like her whole body knew something bad was coming except her head.
"Right, Doctor, Miss," Joe stated loudly, slightly worried because he was sure it'd just been his eyes playing tricks on him. Nothing could survive out there, "Back to your seats and not a word, rescue's on its way. If you could close the door, thank you." The Doctor took Danni's hand and the pair left the room, heading back to their seats.
"What do we do, Spaceman?" She asked him quietly. He shook his head, about to answer when Sky approached them.
"What did they say? Did they tell you? What is it, what's wrong?" She demanded. The Doctor threw on a friendly smile, replacing the worried look he'd just had.
"Oh, just stabilising, happens all the time." He replied and Sky rolled her eyes.
"I don't need this. I'm on a schedule. This is completely unnecessary!" She exclaimed angrily. Danni shook her head at the woman's attitude, it wasn't like anyone could help it.
"Back to your seats, thank you." The hostess told the trio as she approached them, trying to calm down the situation. Sky flopped into her chair, annoyed and the Doctor and Danni went to their own. Danni kept a tight grip on his hand, the image of that shadow dancing across her mind. Something was out there. How could anything be out there? Something was out there and it was coming for them. It was coming for the Doctor.
"Excuse me, Doctor," Dee Dee's head popped around the side of the chair as she tapped him on the arm, "but they're micropetrol engines, aren't they?"
"Now, don't bother the man." Hobbes scolded in exasperation and Danni turned around, looking over her chair at the man with a glare.
"She can bother the man whenever she damn well pleases." She snapped, startling the man, "Be nice or be quiet." She leant over the Doctor to look at the girl, who was trying to force down the happy smile on her face, "What were you saying, sweetie?" She asked her. Dee Dee nodded, getting back on track.
"My father was a mechanic." She elaborated, "Micropetrol doesn't stabilise, what does 'stabilise' mean?" Jethro, who was in the seats behind them, came around the corner as well.
"Well. Bit of flim-flam. Don't worry, they're sorting it out." The Doctor brushed off.
"So it's not the engines?" Hobbes asked and the Doctor looked up at him.
"It's just a little pause, that's all." He told them calmly.
"How much air have we got?" Danni rolled her eyes at the man. There was always one who would throw something out there that would get everyone in a panic. Val, who obviously had been listening to their entire conversation, moved in closer.
"Professor, it's fine."
"What did he say?" Val asked loudly. The Doctor turned to her.
"Nothing!" He promised.
"Are we running out of air?" She pushed and the Doctor shook his head.
"I was just speculating..." Hobbes replied as the hostess appeared out of the cockpit.
"Is that right, miss? Are we running out of air?" Biff asked.
"Is that what the Captain said?" Val added. The hostess blinked, she'd only been gone a couple minutes.
"If you could all just remain calm..." She tried to calm them down.
"How much air have we got?" Val asked loudly, now actively panicking.
"Mum, just stop it." Jethro groaned.
"I assure you, everything is under control." The hostess tried again but the group all began talking over each other, Dee Dee the only one trying to add some reason into the conversation and Jethro tried to calm his parents down.
"QUIET!" The Doctor eventually shouted, causing everyone to instantly shut up from the surprise of being shouted at, "Thank you. Now, if you'd care to listen to my good friend Dee Dee..." He looked pointedly at Dee Dee, who shot out of her chair to address the small crowd nervously.
"Oh! Um... it's just that... well, the air's on a circular filter so... we could stay breathing for ten years." She explained and the Doctor grinned encouragingly at her.
"There you go! And I've spoken to the Captain, I can guarantee you, everything's fine." He promised them, everyone ready to believe him until two big, clanging knocks came from the outside of the ship. They all turned to the direction it came from.
"The shadow..." Danni breathed, terrified. Oh, this was not good. This was very, very not good.