Grounded

Amy sat up, squinting into the darkness of the control room, lit periodically by flashing lights from the console. A haze of smoke hung in the air, which smelt of ozone.

"What's an amethyst alert?" Amy asked, looking around for The Superintendent, "And what just happened?"

"It's an alert that something is pulling the ship forcefully out of the time stream and grounding it somewhere." The Superintendent replied, getting to her feet, "And the thing that just happened was... well, that."

"Can you tell where we are?"

"Sensors are all dead, everything's frozen and needs time to reset. Can't even open the interior doors, all we can do is open the front door and have a look around."

"And we have no idea what we're walking into?"

"Could be anything from a fleet of killer robots, to the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan, to the hanging gardens of Babylon." The Superintendent shrugged. She plucked a black beret from a handrail and set it on her head, "better go and have a look."

"Hopefully not Genghis Khan, or... oh, heck."

"What is it?"

"I split my pants."

"What?"

Amy turned to show her friend that her skinny jeans had a rip up the seat, revealing a lot of naked buttock and very little underwear.

"Must have been when I fell over."

"Probably. Shame the interior doors are all jammed closed, so you can't get to your cabin, or the wardrobe."

"That is a shame." Amy sighed, "Guess I'll just keep my back to the wall, then."

"Good plan. Here we go."

The Superintendent flung open the door.

Some time back, the timeship N.U.D.I.S.T had got stuck in the form of a gaudy peepshow booth, neon signs and posters on the outside advertising the sexy sights available within. The booth now looked very out of place standing in a very clean laboratory, all white and chrome.

"Hello?" A woman stood in the laboratory, an attractive young one with short dark hair and almond-shaped eyes, dressed in black trousers and waistcoat, white blouse, with a white labcoat over the top.

"Oh, this isn't so bad." The Superintendent said, looking around, before her eyes settled on the woman, "Hello, who are you?"