The TARDIS came wheezing to a stop. The Eighth Doctor slowly opened the door and walked out into a lush jungle landscape accented by two moons hovering over the terrain. "Fascinating," he noted to himself, uncertain where his ship had manifested. He pulled out a fob watch and checked the date; there was none. Instead, the dial reading upon it was inconclusive. Apparently he'd landed in no particular time at all. Suddenly, in the distance, he could hear the roar of a large creature. The ground began to shake as it lumbered closer and closer. Even from far off he could determine that he was about to be trampled by what could be nothing less than a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a dinosaur from ancient Earth.

The Doctor made a hasty return to his TARDIS and shut the door, making certain that its protective defenses were operating at the fullest. He flipped on a view screen and watched, intrigued, as the dinosaur lumbered toward the TARDIS, sniffing at its exterior. It made an attempt to touch it with its snout, and an electrical spark sent it on its way, uncertain of what had just happened, but fearful at the prospect of even more intense pain.

"Well, well," the Doctor mumbled to no one in particular. "That seems to have done the trick." He manipulated some knobs on the control panel of the TARDIS, and tried to figure out where he was, what might have sent him there, and how he might escape these mysteriously familiar surroundings. He missed the company of other sentient beings, and longed for someone to talk to, and just as he began to reflect on some of his past companions, he noticed movement on the viewing console out of the corner of his eye. He was surprised to note that there were humans outside, investigating what had sent the large dinosaur away, and they were accompanied by a bipedal creature with an extremely large cranium, covered completely with dense brown fur.

"This isn't a Pylon, Will," the female of the group remarked. "It's not shaped like one at all, and it seems to be made of wood. It's also humming,"

"Pylons hum, Holly," Will replied. "But they don't have English writing on them. Look at this sign. It says, 'Police Call Box. For Public Use Only.' What do you think it means? If it's for public use, why does it have to be designated as being for public use? Back home, stuff like this usually says 'Private,' or 'Not for Public Use.' I can't say I've ever seen anything like this, but we've seen stranger things, I guess."

The bipedal creature spoke, and as the Doctor listened to the conversation from within his craft, his face broke into an unexpected smile. "What you think this is?" It said. "It scare Grumpy away."

"No idea, Chaka," Will answered. He reached out and touched the Doctor's spacecraft, and when its front door opened, he stepped back very quickly. "Woah! Who goes there?"

"Exactly," replied the Doctor. "I am the Doctor. I'm very pleased to make your acquaintance." He extended his hand, and Will carefully shook it.

"My name's Will Marshall, and this is my sister, Holly."

The Doctor shook their hands, and then reached into his waistcoat. He pulled out a small wax bag, reached inside, and handed Chaka a small piece of colored candy. "Jelly baby?" He asked.

Chaka reached out and slowly took the treat, sniffing it cautiously before he put in his mouth. His delight upon tasting it was obvious.

"That's Chaka," Holly noted. "His people are called the Pakuni, and I guess they're, like, the missing link or something. Of course, I don't know that for sure. We don't know anything for sure in this place."

"And what," the Doctor asked, "is this place, exactly?"

Neither Will nor Holly had an easy answer. Instead, they did their best to explain how they and their father had been shipwrecked there after experiencing an earthquake while whitewater rafting. They led the Doctor to their encampment in the Lost City, and told him of the many adventures they'd had in the Land of the Lost, and of the many beings they'd encountered over the decades.

Will was in his fifties, and Holly wasn't much younger. At one point in time, Will explained, he and Holly lived with their father, Rick, but he'd been lost in time after experimenting with one of the Pylons in the jungle. Then, they told him, their Uncle Jack had found them for a time, but he later was killed in a rock slide after they had been attacked by a nocturnal reptilian race known as the Sleestack, who sported large orbs for eyes, were covered in scales, and had a tendency to amble around hissing, which typically alerted Will and Holly of their impending approach.

Over the years, the Marshalls had encountered a wide variety of strange beings. Aliens, mythological characters, historical figures, dinosaurs, and even the mysterious sailor known throughout history as the Flying Dutchman. Will and Holly were quite surprised that the Doctor didn't react to all they told him. Instead, he just took everything in, carefully analyzing their accounting of past events, and seemingly comparing what they'd seen with things he had seen and experienced as well.

Upon reaching their humble cave dwelling, the Doctor was anxious to meet the lone Sleestack who could communicate verbally, Enik, also known as 'The Altriusian." Will and Holly agreed to send word by Chaka that they wanted to speak with him, and as they tried to wind down for the night, they prepared a delicious meal crafted from some of the local fruits and vegetables that were tremendously large in size. The Doctor ate his fill, and after the meal expressed his thoughts.

"I believe this world is a stasis point in the center of a wormhole that exists between worlds where a tear in the fabric of time and space was created. And when it comes to wormholes, getting in is typically the easy part, while getting out is the next thing to impossible."

"So we're never going to get out?" Holly asked.

"Oh, you're going to get out," the Doctor answered. "Remember, you told me that when you were a little girl, you met your future self, and if my calculations are correct, you couldn't have been much older than you are right now, my dear."

Holly's face lit up, and Will asked if the Doctor had any idea how they were going to be returned to their home world; he and his sister had both long given up on the idea of being returned to the time in which they'd been displaced in time and space. They just wanted to get back to earth, even if it was contemporary earth, and they reappeared there in their current respective ages. They were curious to know what had become of their father, and while they knew full well they couldn't take Chaka back to the earth they once knew, they were more than willing to do whatever it took to live lives of reasonable normalcy.

TO BE CONTINUED...