Dancing Across Time (Book Two of The Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Chapter Six: Rise of the Cybermen

Jessie and the Doctor laughed as they told Saleen more about their adventures in the console room, Jessie draped in the captain's chair, the Doctor's arm around her shoulders. "And that weird munchkin lady with the big eyes?" the Doctor was saying through his laughs. "Do you remember? The way she looked at you! And then she opens her mouth and fire comes out!"

"Would've been frazzled!" she agreed, doubling over in laughter.

"Yeah, one minute she's standing there, and the next minute - "

Both of them mimicked fire coming out of their mouths with a loud "RAWR!" and they collapsed in laughs again.

Saleen leaned against the console, grinning. "Where was that, then, Muspelheim?" she joked. "What happened?"

"Oh, it was on this . . . er, planet thing," the Doctor replied. "Asteroid. It's a long story. You had to be there." He blinked. "Er . . . what're you doing that for?"

Saleen looked down at the button she was holding down. "Because you told me to," she replied slowly.

The Doctor swallowed. "When was that?"

Saleen checked her watch. "About half an hour ago."

Jessie snorted loudly, and the Doctor scratched his head. "Er . . . you can let go now."

Saleen narrowed her eyes. "OK, how long's it been since I could've stopped?"

The Doctor thought. "Ten minutes? Twenty?" He looked at Saleen sheepishly. "Twenty nine?"

Jessie burst out laughing at that, but Saleen looked at him furiously. "You just forgot me!" she accused.

"No, no, no," the Doctor protested quickly. "I was just . . . I was . . . I was calibrating. I was just . . . no, I know exactly what I'm doing."

Something exploded on the console, and the TARDIS shuddered, throwing Jessie back onto the floor. She groaned, rolling over. "What's happened?" she shouted.

"The Time Vortex is gone," the Doctor whispered in shock, looking at the console. "That's impossible. It's just gone." He leaped into action, running around the console. "Brace yourself!" he shouted. "We're going to crash!"

Jessie grabbed onto the railing nearby, Saleen clinging to one of the coral structures when the TARDIS jerked to a sudden stop, sending both girls crashing to the floor. The Doctor ran over to check on Jessie, who gave him a thumbs up. "Everyone all right?" he asked. "Jess?" She nodded, accepting his hand to get up. "Saleen?"

"I'm fine," Saleen replied, standing. "I'm OK."

Jessie held a hand to her head, wincing when it began to pound. "I've got a killer headache now, though."

The Doctor was looking at the console in shock. "She's dead," he whispered. "The TARDIS is dead."

"What?" Saleen asked sharply, looking at the rotor, which was now dim.

"But can't you fix it?" Jessie asked.

"There's nothing to fix," the Doctor replied sadly, as if he was still having trouble believing it. "She's perished. The last TARDIS in the universe. Extinct."

Something made Jessie want to say it was impossible, but she shook her head, wincing. "We can get help though, right?"

"Where from?" the Doctor asked.

"We've landed. We've got to be somewhere."

"We fell out of the Vortex, through the Void, into nothingness. We're in some sort of no place. The silent realm. The lost dimension."