Midnight ⋆ Doctor Who²

46. The Space Hotel

AURORA DIDN'T CHOSE THE SIX DESTINATIONS AFTER THE SPA. Which is... understandable. She didn't want to make any mistakes again. And anyway, the Ponds chose them. Well, they got to two destinations and the four others weren't exactly... it, but still. It's always like this.

This time, it's the Doctor that wants to take them somewhere. It's a nice turn of events, as it had been only the three choosing the destinations for so long. Aurora doesn't know why. Well, sometimes, she catches a guilty look on his face. She figures that it's still about the Flesh episode, even after extensively talking about it to him. She trusts him to talk about it to her, eventually.

The Doctor parked the TARDIS on the first floor landing of a staircase which winds its way up the floors in a tight set of flights.

Aurora walks on the carpeted floor with a frown, her and the Doctor on the flight of stairs right below the Ponds.

Him and the Ponds look down, over the railing. "'Let's go to Ravan-Skala', he says," Amy says with sarcasm. "'The people are six hundred feet tall. You have to talk to them in hot air balloons and the Tourist Information Centre is made of one of their hats,' he says." They catch up to the Ponds. "I'm sorry, but I don't see any huge hats."

Still, he smiles excitedly. "Aurora, Amy, Beaky, this could be the most exciting thing I have ever seen."

Aurora snorts at Rory's face. "'Beaky.'" Rory sends her a look and she extends her arms, faking her innocence. "Don't look at me like that, he said it."

Rory sighs. "Same difference."

"How can you be excited about a rubbish hotel on a rubbish bit of Earth?" Amy asks.

The Doctor climbs the stairs, Aurora behind him. "Because, Aurora and assembled Ponds, this is not Earth. This has just been made to look like Earth. The craftsmanship involved. Can you imagine?"

Aurora frowns and almost shivers. "Nice, so now I find it weird. Creepy. And stalkerish."

They turn around and run down the stairs to the reception. "That's not Earth?" Amy scoffs. "Then where are we?"

"I don't know," he answers. "Something must have yanked us off course. Look at the details on that cheese plant!"

Aurora stares ahead blankly as the Doctor sniffs a plant. "That what now?"

"Right," Rory flatly says. "But who would mock up an Earth hotel?"

The Doctor finds an apple in a large bowl and takes it. "Colonists maybe, recreating a bit of home, like when ex-pats open English pubs in Majorca." He takes a bite of the apple. "No, whoever did this, I am shaking their hand stroke tentacle."

Aurora snorts at him. "You're such a dork."

He sticks out his tongue at her and she makes a disgusted sound as she sees the bits of apple.

"Have you seen these?" She turns to Rory, and frowns at the set of photographs on the wall. "Look at the labels underneath." He looks at the picture of a Sontaran. "'Commander Halke, defeat'." He moves on. "'Tim Heath, having his photo taken. Lady Silvertier, Daleks'."

Aurora shivers, and steps closer. "'Paige Barnes, other people's socks. Tim Nelson, balloons. Novice Prin, sabrewolves'."

"'Royston Luke Gold, Plymouth'?" Amy reads, frowning. The Doctor comes closer too. "'Lucy Hayward, that brutal gorilla.' Doctor, what does it mean?"

They look at him expectantly. "I don't know. Let's find out."

He rings the bell on the desk and three people appear, two of them brandishing objects as weapons, the third waving a white flag, screaming.