CHRYSALIS

THE LONG GAME

The Doctor, Rose, and I step out of the Tardis.

"So, it's 200,000, it's a spaceship... no wait a minute, space station, and uh... go and try that gate over there. Off you go!" He leans against the Tardis, waiting.

"200,000?" Rose confirms.

He nods, "200,000."

"Kay." She says.

The Doctor grins and raises his eyebrows.

Rose giggles as she opens the Tardis door and calls inside, "Adam? Out you come."

Adam steps out, with his mouth hanging open, "Oh my god."

I smile, "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."
"Where are we?" He asks.

"Good question." Rose speaks knowledgeably, "Let's see. Judging by the architecture, I'd say we're around the year 200,000."

Adam nods and mumbles.

"If you listen... engines." She continues, "We're on some sort of space station. Yeah, definitely a space station. It's a bit warm in here, they could turn the heating down... Tell you what, let's try that gate. Come on!" Rose opens the gate and we follow her into the room beyond.

We end up in a room overlooking the Earth.

"And this is... I'll let the Doctor describe it." Rose steps back.

"The fourth great and bountiful human empire. And there it is. Planet Earth at its height. Covered with megacities, five moons - population 96 billion. The hub of a galactic domain, stretching across a million planets, a million species - with mankind right in the middle." He tells us.

Adam faints with a girlish sigh. None of us turn around.

"He's your boyfriend." I tell her.

"Not anymore." She denies.

Soon the floor we're on is flooded with people and fast food shops.

I examine the fast food and turn to the Doctor, "Fine cuisine?"

"My watch must be wrong." He checks it, "No, it's fine... weird."

"That's what you get for showing off. Your history's not as good as you thought it was." Rose says.

"My history's perfect." He protests.

"Well, obviously not..." I tease.

"They're all human. What about the millions of planets? The millions of species? Where are they?" Adam asks.

"Good question. Actually, that IS a good question." He puts an arm around Adam's shoulder, "Adam, me' old mate, you must be starving."

"No, I'm just a bit time sick." Adam says.

"Nah, you just need a bit of grub." The Doctor speaks to the chef, "Oi, mate, how much is a cronk burger?"

The chef says something that I can't hear over the noise.

"Money. We need money." He walks over to what looks like a computer and gets his sonic screwdriver out, "Have to use a cash point."
We follow him and watch as what looks to be a futuristic credit card falls out. He hands it to Adam, "There you go, pocket money. Don't spend it all on sweets." He starts to walk away.

"How does it work?" Adam asks.

The Doctor turns back to face us, "Go and find out! Stop nagging me! The thing is, Adam, time travel's like visiting Paris. You can't just read the guidebook, you've got to throw yourself in. Eat the food, use the wrong verbs, get charged double, and end up kissing complete strangers."