infinitum tenens (The Sentry Reports Book 2)

The Girl in the Fireplace

The next morning, when Rose and Mickey joined the Time Lords in the console room, Rose didn't know what she was expecting. Their customary positions of the Doctor at the console and the Emissary on the captain's chair, though, was not it. Rose knew something had shifted between the Time Lords last night, but they seemed so... normal.

The Emissary looked up from her book and smiled as they entered. She set the book down and stood up, going to the console. "So, Mickey Smith," she asked. "Past or future?"

Mickey glanced at Rose, who gave him an encouraging nod. "Er..." he looked back at the Emissary. "Future?"

"Hold on tight," the Doctor grinned, and the TARDIS was off. Rose giggled at Mickey's face as the TARDIS shook.

When it stopped, the Time Lords and Rose waved Mickey to the door, following him out onto a ransacked spaceship.

"It's a spaceship!" Mickey exclaimed. "Brilliant! I got a spaceship on my first go."

"It looks kind of abandoned," Rose remarked, looking around the empty flight deck. "Anyone on board?"

"Nah, nothing here," the Doctor told her. He paused and rephrased. "Well, nothing dangerous." The Emissary raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, not that dangerous." Now even Mickey was watching him skeptically. He sighed. "You know what, I'll just have a quick scan, in case there's anything dangerous."

"So, what's the date?" Rose asked. "How far've we gone?"

"Mm, it's around 5006-ish," the Emissary answered. "We're about three thousand years into your future." She found a switch and flipped it, making the ceiling open up. "Welcome to the fifty first century."

"The Diagmar Cluster," the Doctor said, staring up at the stars. "You're a long way from home, Mickey. Two and a half galaxies."

Rose slung an arm over Mickey's shoulders, giggling. "Mickey Smith, meet the universe. See anything you like?"

"It's so realistic!" he said.

"Dear me, had some cowboys in here," the Doctor said to the Emissary as he picked his way through the wreckage. "Got a ton of repair work going on." He moved a bunch of wires off of a screen. "Now that's odd. Look at that. All the warp engines are going. Full capacity."

"That's enough power to punch a hole in the universe," the Emissary frowned. "Why aren't we moving? Where's all that power going?"

Rose looked around, realizing that no one had come in when they'd arrived. "Where's all the crew?"

"Good question," the Doctor answered. He check the computer again. "No life readings on board."

"Well, we're in deep space," Rose reasoned. "They didn't just nip out for a quick smoke."

"No, I've checked all the smoking pods," the Doctor agreed. He sniffed. "Can you smell that?"

Rose inhaled deeply. "Yeah, someone's cooking."

"Sunday roast, definitely," Mickey agreed.

The Emissary shook her head. "No, something's wrong," she said, drawing confused and worried looks. She sniffed again, head tilted, and nodded. "The smell, it's too, too sweet, like..." She looked at Rose and Mickey's confused faces and shook her head, smiling. "No, never mind. Must just be me."

I don't buy that, the Doctor said mentally. What's wrong?

The smell, it's just a bit too sweet, too, too...she trailed off, sounding frustrated. I can't explain it to you, but that's the smell of burning flesh. I don't know what happened here but it was nothing good.