The Girl Who Knew | doctor who (Book 2)

The Girl in the Fireplace (I)

The Doctor, Willow, Rose and Mickey find themselves upon a ship that somehow leads into 18th Century France. More specifically, the timeline of one Madame De Pompadour.

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In the 51st century, the TARDIS materialised upon a spaceship floating in the darkness of space, seemingly abandoned. The doors opened, whereupon the TARDIS crew hopped out with an ecstatic Mickey. "It's a spaceship. Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go."

"It looks kind of abandoned. Anyone on board?" Rose wondered, observing the equipment and technical junk left lying around.

"Nah, nothing here. Well, nothing dangerous. Well, not that dangerous." The Doctor hesitated, slightly concerned. "You know what, I'll just have a quick scan... in case there's anything dangerous."

He wandered over to a work station, playing with the equipment. "So, what's the date? How far have we gone?" asked Willow who wore a flower-patterned black linen dress.

"About three thousand years into your future, give or take." He pulled a switch, lighting up the room and open the roof to reveal the depth of space. "Fifty-first century. Diagmar Cluster, you're a long way from home, Mickey. Two and a half galaxies."

Mickey found himself drawn to a nearby window, looking out into space. His girlfriend approached him from behind, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?"

"It's so realistic!" Mickey cried in amazement.

Rose chuckled, grinning at her cousin. Willow too smiled. "I'm pretty sure it would be, Mickey."

"Dear me, had some cowboys in here. Got a ton of repair work going on." He fondled with the equipment for a moment as the others joined him. "Now that's odd. Look at that. All the warp engines are going. Full capacity. There's enough power running through this ship to punch a hole in the universe, but we're not moving. So where's all that power going?"

"Where'd all the crew go?" Rose added.

"Good question." The Doctor quickly checked the computer, finding nothing. "No life readings on board." 

"Except us, of course," said Willow.

Rose spoke with a sarcastic tone. "Well, we're in deep space. They didn't just nip out for a quick fag."

"No, I've checked all the smoking pods." He stopped, sniffing the air. "Can you smell that?"

Soon they all noticed the strange whiff. "Yeah, someone's cooking."

"Sunday roast, definitely." Mickey guessed before the Doctor used the computer console to open a door behind them, revealing another room.

They all turned, curiously gazing inside. There on the far wall was an ornate fireplace with an ormolu clock on the mantlepiece and a blazing fire in its pit below. It appeared too antique for a spaceship in the 51st Century though. "Well, there's something you don't see in your average spaceship." The Doctor mentioned, wandering through, followed by the group. "Eighteenth-century. French. Nice mantle. Not a hologram. It's not even a reproduction. This actually is an eighteenth-century French fireplace. Double-sided. There's another room through there."

Rose found a small porthole on the side, looking through to see the back of the ship. "There can't be. That's the outer hull of the ship. Look."

Willow knelt by the fire, looking through and meeting the eyes of a confused little girl. Startled by her sudden appearance, Willow mumbled in surprise. "Oh, hello."

Upon her words being heard by the others, they too gazed through the fireplace to see a blonde girl with blue eyes staring back. "Hello." She instinctively said.