IT WAS 20,000 YEARS AGO TODAY

Chapter Twenty Seven

The Doctor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Directly outside the windshield in front of him was a small furry pink cat-like alien with wide yellow eyes and muzzle and suction cups for feet. It was using the suction cup feet to hang on to the windshield while it stared at the Doctor with wide eyes and shrieked like a blue jay at him. The shrieking was beginning to grate on the Doctor's nerves but they had bigger problems. He sensed his companions coming up behind him and he looked behind him as they came up and stared at the cat alien.

"What the hell is that thing?" John said, pointing to it.

"Offhand, I'd say it's a fuzzy pink cat alien that is shrieking like a banshee and giving me a headache," the Doctor said dryly.

"So, that's what's making the ship shake?" Paul said.

They gasped when the ship rocked again and looked up at the ceiling. The Doctor gave them a wry grin as he pointed up.

"No, that would be the thingy on top of the ship. Apparently it thinks the ship is a large yellow trampoline," he said to them.

"Can't you do something about it?" Amy asked him.

"Yeah, isn't there a boxing button or something?" George added.

They gasped when the ship lurched again. Jane comforted Tia when she began to cry and the cat alien's screeches became louder.

"If we have a boxing button, I wanna use it on this thing first!" the Doctor growled as he pointed at the alien.

They gasped when the ship rocked again. Pepa sighed.

"Right, going to try evasive maneuvers before the ship falls apart, hang on!" he said as he flipped a switch.

Everyone staggered about while Pepa flew downward. Their eyes widened when they saw an assortment of aliens flying around.

"Oh crap, the Sea of Monsters," Rory said as he hung on to the back of Pepa's chair.

The Doctor glared at the cat alien who was still clinging to the windshield while it screeched at him. He leaned up and knocked on the windshield.

"GO AWAY! LEAVE US ALONE!" he screamed while he pounded on the windshield.

He sighed when the cat continued to screech.

"Normally, I don't advocate using guns but I'm nearly ready to pop a cap in this cat's ass," he muttered as he stared at it.

They yelled when the ship rocked again. Pepa sighed angrily.

"Right! I'm getting rid of this other thing. Brace yourselves!"

He hit the emergency brake and the ship lurched. Everyone stumbled into each other while Pepa and the Doctor held on to their seats. They watched through the windshield as a beast slid off the top of the ship and fell howling past them. It was a cross between a gazelle and a zebra. Pepa started the ship up and they slowly flew past bird-like creatures and huge bat-like creatures and even a flying dolphin. Pepa slowly descended as he flew and they noticed that there seemed to be land below them with more beasts of various shapes and sizes walking around. The Doctor glanced at the pink cat that had fallen silent and was now staring at him with wide yellow eyes as if he was shocked to see him. His companions laughed when the Doctor flipped him off and settled back in his chair. Pepa flew close to the land and they could see green grass and a few trees with green leaves and rocks.

"Where are we?" Rose said while she watched a pterodactyl fly alongside them.

The Doctor cheered when the pterodactyl turned in mid air and grabbed the screeching cat in its long beak before it flew away. He coughed when everyone looked at him.

"Sorry, know that was heartless but on the other hand, my headache will go away now," he said to them.

The ship flew on and they stared at the creatures who were walking by the ship, stopping occasionally to stare at them while they flew past. Then suddenly a proximity alarm went off and Pepa stopped the ship. Everyone stared out at the blackness in front of them.

"What's wrong?" George finally asked.

"Something's in front of us blocking our way," Pepa said, looking back at him.

They stared out the windshield but they couldn't see anything except inky blackness. Then suddenly Paul had a thought.

"Hey, where are all the stars and planets?" he said.

"Precisely what I was thinking," the Doctor said. "Pepa, how large is this obstacle according to your scanners?"

"Huge, monstrous, it's right in front of us and I can't detect a way around it," Pepa said, glancing at his monitor.

"But…there's nothing there, just darkness," Rose said, gesturing to the windshield.

Jeremy muttered to himself as he came closer to the windshield.

"What's wrong?" the Doctor said to him.

"Pepa, do you have headlights or a spotlight on the front, something that you could shine straight ahead?" Jeremy asked him.

Pepa nodded. He pressed a button and a large door slid down and a spotlight turned on. They stared out and noticed something shimmering in the distance.

"Can you take us closer to that shimmer?" Jeremy asked him.

Pepa started the engines and slowly inched closer, ignoring the proximity alarm for a moment and then he stopped again. The shimmering was more pronounced now and it was wider than it was before.

"I don't think we're in outer space," Jeremy finally said. "I think the reason the obstacle is so huge is because it's a wall. I think we're in a room of some sort, like a menagerie with all the animals around us held in captivity."

"I'll do a sonar reading on all sides of the ship," Pepa said, pressing another button, "that'll confirm or deny your theory."

"We jumped from the void into a large room?" Rose said.

The Doctor shrugged.

"It's possible, Rose. Remember, you left your world through Canary Wharf," he said. "The void is the space between universes. It's possible to go in and out at any point then."

"So if we got in here, we can get back out again, right?" Bill said. "This isn't a one way trip, I hope?"

"As long as Pepa can dimensional jump, we can go out the way we came," the Doctor replied. "What we're doing is different than using a wormhole, now that method you do have to be at a certain spot."

"Jeremy's right, we're in a very large room," Pepa said, glancing at his monitor. "It must be someone's zoo."

"Well, let's get out of here before we end up being a part of it," John said.

"Or get eaten," Ringo added.

Pepa nodded. He began attempting a dimensional jump and frowned when he pressed a button and nothing happened.

"Odd…" he murmured.

"What is?" the Doctor said.

"It's not working," Pepa said while everyone gave each other a nervous glance. "Let me try again…"

He tried the dimensional jump sequence again and hit the final button. He pressed it and then pressed it again and again.

"Something's jamming it," Pepa said. "We can't make the jump. I'll move away from the wall and try it again."

He pressed a few more buttons and his eyes went wide.

"It won't move," he said to everyone. "Someone's jamming the controls."

They gasped when the ship jerked and suddenly began to lower to the ground. They looked out the windshield and saw squares of electricity covering it. Pepa didn't notice it while he tried to raise the ship out. He looked at the Doctor when he put a hand on the alien's arm and pointed to the squares.

"They have us caught in an electronet," he said to him. "That's why we're going down. Someone's reeling us in."

"What do we do?" Ringo asked.

The Doctor and Pepa shared a look.

"Everyone get below in the storage area," the Doctor said. "I'll stay up here and deal with whoever tries to get in here. Pepa, you go as well."

"No, Doctor, let me come with you," Rose said.

"No, Rose, stay here and help defend the ship. I'll be okay, I promise," he said, giving her hand a squeeze. "Now everyone hurry before our hosts arrive."

"Come on, everyone, don't argue," John Smith said.

Rose and Amy gave the Doctor hugs and he smiled as he hugged them back and told them not to worry about him. Rose took Jeremy's hand and Amy took Rory's and they followed everyone else back to the storage area while the Doctor switched over to the driver's seat and waited.

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