Ending of the Hours (Book Four of the Bad Wolf Chronicles)

Planet of the Dead

"Where's it coming from?" Jessie asked as they ran out onto the London streets.

The Doctor aimed the gizmo around before nodding at a red bus nearby. "There!" he answered, running towards it.

Jessie ran after him, and they ran on just before the doors closed. "You're just in time, mates," the driver told them.

The Doctor nodded, swiping the psychic paper across the pay machine, and Jessie did the same before they moved back. They plopped down in the seat right next to a woman with straight black hair, who looked very impatient. "Hello!" the Doctor told her with a grin. "I'm the Doctor, and this is the Bad Wolf. Happy Easter!"

"Gimme that," Jessie laughed, taking the chocolate egg from him to bite into.

The Doctor just continued talking. "The funny thing is, I don't often do Easter. I can never find it. It's always at a different time." He looked at Jessie. "But remember when we did the original?"

"Mmm," Jessie nodded, then looked around him at the black-haired woman, who was staring at them incredulously. "Between you and me, that really happened," she stage whispered.

"But we had a wedding to go to," the Doctor continued before blinking as his gizmo beeped again. "Oh." He pulled it out. "You can keep that egg, if you'd like," he added to Jessie.

"Nah, she can have it." Jessie tossed it to the black-haired woman, who caught it, startled. "I'd rather keep my teeth."

"Oh, we've got excitation," the Doctor remarked, looking over his gizmo. "I'm picking up something very strange."

"I know the feeling," the black-haired woman finally managed to say something.

"Rhondium particles, that's what we're looking for," the Doctor explained. "This thing detects them." He pointed at a little dish on it. "This should go round, that little dish there."

"Right now, a way out would come in pretty handy," she said. "Can you detect me one of those?"

The Doctor blinked as the dish spun. "Oh, there goes the going round," Jessie told him.

"Fascinating," the black-haired woman said sarcastically.

Jessie knitted her eyebrows. "But it's not supposed to go that far round, is it?"

Sparks flew off the gizmo, and the blonde woman in front of them got it in her hair. She frowned at them. "Excuse me, do you mind?"

"Sorry," Jessie apologized.

"Can't you turn that thing off?" the black-haired woman huffed.

The Doctor looked at her. "What was your name?" he asked.

"Christina," she answered hesitantly.

The Doctor nodded, then jumped to his feet and grabbed one of the metal poles. "Christina, hold on tight!" he barked, Jessie hanging onto the pole next to him. "Everyone, hold on!"

The bus suddenly started jolting, and Jessie was nearly thrown off her feet. "What's going on?" a white man in front asked nervously.

The bus stopped suddenly, and Jessie fell to the ground, groaning. "Oh, lovely," she grumbled.

The Doctor helped her up, then looked out the window. His eyes widened, and he quickly went outside. "End of the line," he said, looking around. "Call it a hunch . . . but I think we've gone a little bit further than Brixton."

Jessie followed him out, and her eyes widened. "Toto?" she squeaked. "We're not in Kansas anymore."

Both of them took in the sand surrounding them forever, then Jessie held a hand over her eyes as the others joined them. "It's impossible," the blonde woman said. "There are three suns! Three of them!"