Time circuits, pterodactyls and treacherous trees [attn: Donna]

When they got close enough, Donna looked over her shoulder at the TARDIS. It looked as though it had been tipped on its side, but she thought perhaps she saw the doors, which gave her hope that it hadn't been completely overturned and that they'd be able to climb in, albeit awkwardly.

"Doctor, I hate to be the downer, here, but...if we have to get into the TARDIS when it's turned all funny...how are we supposed to get it working? I mean, aren't we going to have a difficult time getting to some of the controls if we're hangin' from the rails?"

She hoped - sincerely - that the Doctor had an idea about how to manage it; maybe he'd had a similar thing happen in the past...or present...or future, for that matter.

"No problem, we just need to reach the Synchronic Feedback Checking Circuit. It orients the TARDIS relative to the nearest gravitational force. We use it automatically on rematerialisation, but it has failed before. You think the TARDIS gets bumpy, try arrived upside down." The Doctor grimaced slightly at the memory, but kept backing up slowly.

He pulled off a piece of the banana and let the little Stegosaurus gobble it from his hand, while he patted his breast pocket, looking for his key.

"Ready to make a dash for the door?" he asked Donna. As if to make the question just that bit more uncomfortable, the Pterodactyl chose that moment to shriek from its position circling high above them.

The Doctor gave an explanation as to why things would still work just fine inside the TARDIS and Donna would have to take his word for it, because it all sounded like a lot of technical mumbo jumbo to her. She just let out a small sigh and nodded. Sometimes, without meaning to, the Doctor confused Donna to a point at which she felt a bit thick.

"Ready to make a dash for the door?"

Donna opened her mouth to affirm that she was ready when the pterodactyl overhead let out an angry screech. "Erm...no," she admitted. "Not really, no." She shrank back a little and stood against the mother dinosaur's leg, looking warily back at the Doctor.

"Erm...no. Not really, no."

The Doctor frowned looking up at the shadow of the Pterodactyl in thought and the little Stegosaurus took the opportunity to grab the last of the banana, wolfing it down in a few bites. The Doctor turned back to admonish the little guy, but could only smile.

"You like that, huh?" He patted the little dinosaur on the head, then rubbed at his own spiky hair, dislodging bits of mud as he tried to think of a safer way to make the ten meter dash.

A bug, something like a large dragonfly, buzzed by his ear and he paid it no mind, but the baby stegosaurus began to chase it, darting out from behind his mother's legs unexpectedly. The Pterodactyl saw though, the shadow suddenly looming larger as it dove for the new prey.

Donna's eyes went wide as the baby took off and suddenly the looming shadow expanded almost exponentially in seconds flat. "Stop!" she shouted uselessly; deep down she knew the little guy wouldn't understand her. "Doctor, you have to do something!" she pleaded.

And at that moment, the ground shook and Donna grabbed ahold of the Doctor for balance. The mother was moving; fast, considering her size.

Suddenly, Donna and the Doctor were out in the open again.

"Stop! Doctor, you have to do something!" Donna grabbed his arm and they used each other for balance as the mother Stegosaurus's feet shook the earth beneath them like a mini-earthquake adn they were lucky not to be squished beneath them.

She turned around, bellowing as she reversed up, using her tail to try to club the flying beast out of the sky.

"I think she's got it, Donna. Come on, we have to go." The Doctor dragged Donna toward the TARDIS doors, getting down on his hands and knees to try to reach the keyhole in the door.

Donna dropped down on all fours, as well, waiting impatiently, looking over her shoulder to watch for the thing as the Doctor fiddled with the key.

"Oi, you'd better hurry, Doctor; he's coming back for seconds, I think..."

She'd been referring to the pterodactyl, but just as she'd said it, she noticed the baby Stegosaurus heading back toward them again, completely oblivious and unaffected by the struggle its mother was enduring to protect it.

"I'm trying. The door's stuck, I just need to..." The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver, bleeping it at the door and trying again. "Come on, come on..." In a fit of annoyance the Doctor hit the door with the heel of his hand right next to the lock and something clicked. "Ah, gotcha!"

He turned around to usher Donna in and noticed the little stegosaurus, seemingly oblivious to his mother's fight, head cocked to one side, tail swishing as he half-sat on the ground and watched their every move.

The Doctor fished around in his pocket, but found the last of his fruit was gone, perhaps fallen out while running, because he was sure there'd been an apple in there somewhere.

He looked up, ready to shoo the little guy away, when another roar filled the air. The Stegosaurus had managed to knock the pterodactyl out of the sky and apparently a T-rex would like to eat it. The large creature made it's way up the hill as the stegosaurus retreated back, calling out to her baby.

"Ah, Donna. I think that's our cue to get inside."

Donna had never been more happy to see the TARDIS doors spring open and when the Doctor spoke, "Ah, Donna. I think that's our cue to get inside." she was more than happy to oblige.

Hanging onto the rails with all of her strength, Donna lowered herself into the TARDIS without looking back. She hoped that the Stegosauruses would make their way back to safety after they'd unwittingly helped she and the Doctor back to the TARDIS. "You're coming, yeah?" she called up as she dropped down.

"Right behind you." The Doctor made his way into the TARDIS, pulling the door shut behind him and walking carefully over what should be one of the walls in order to reach up to the central core and it's many controls.

It was an awkward game of reaching for buttons and levers, but he managed to reach enough to set the TARDIS into action.

"Try to get yourself turned so that your feet are on the floor, we'll flip around once we're in the vortex," he warned Donna.

And with that he pulled a lever. The TARDIS blinked out of the Jurassic period and into the vortex between time and space.