Book 3: The Disappearing Act

A Christmas special set around the eleventh Doctor and featuring the new Torchwood team and River Song.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DOCTOR WHO
ALL RIGHTS GO TOO BBC WORLDWIDE/U.K
NO COPYRIGHT INFRIGMENT INTENDED
I MAKE NO MONEY BY PUBLISHING THIS, THIS IS TO SHARE WITH FANS AND FRIENDS ONLY

The Disappearing Act

Whatever you do on Christmas day do not turn on your TV set.

Alex Campbell returns from his travels to 2060 to see his town destroyed. When he finds the Doctor and his companions; the newlyweds Amy and Rory it’s revealed that the whole Earth was destroyed but there is no sign of the dead, in fact the only evidence they can find are shadows imprinted in the ground.

The Doctor suspects a powerful nuclear bomb but soon the disappearances start to happen in the present time and the sketchy CEO of the DAVIC Corporation Henry Wilkes is his main suspect. But Henry assures him that he just wants to help people by bringing about the dawn of a new age of interactive technology with his self-thinking Helpbots and his virtual reality TV sets that will be launched at noon on Christmas day.

The disappearances started on 17th December and the Doctor and his companions only have nine days to discover who is behind it and stop them before Christmas day. But as Christmas day draws closer and more and more people disappear the Doctor finds himself in a world so far away that he may not be able to save the Earth this time.

Prologue

Chesterton Lane, Hammersmith London, UK 2060

Alex Campbell thought he was a normal person. He was he had to admit, an exceptionally intelligent person who was often misunderstood by his peers, but besides that, he was normal enough. Then he had become obsessed with physics and developed a stubborn determination to be the first human to build a time machine, despite the fact that he was only half-human.

It took him literally into another world some thirty-four thousands light years away. Here he met a man called the Doctor, who wasn’t really a man but an alien – a Time Lord. He wore an old overcoat with red shoes and sported a haircut that even Brian Setzer would envy. And he was obsessed with fixing a blue telephone box.  Alex never got to see inside it but his friend Chris did and he had said that it would have been a physicist’s playground.

The Doctor never trusted Alex from the get go and he had every reason to. Alex had been tricked and manipulated by the Master; an evil Time Lord that had tried to take over the Universe more times than Alex had had birthday parties. He used Alex to coerce the Earth into a war with an unknown and seemingly innocuous planet called Asterion.

Alex was used via telekinetic manipulation to trick the Doctor over and over again. He was wanted by UNIT (an alien intelligence agency within the United Nations) but the Doctor tried to convince them to let him deal with Alex and that the threat of war wasn’t real.

Despite all the traps Alex led the Doctor into he still trusted the boy – maybe because at the time he was just a boy; only fourteen and turning two planets against each other. Or it could have been that the Doctor knew just how much of a great hypnotist the Master really was.

Eventually Alex made his amends with the Doctor and all he betrayed by helping to save the Earth from the real threat. And then the Master revealed why he used such a young boy against the Doctor in the first place; he was his own kin.

Alex Campbell was the Son of Susan Foreman and David Campbell. Susan was the Doctor’s granddaughter who left the TARDIS to marry David and start a family in a post- Dalek war on twenty-second century Earth. But another war started and Susan was separated from all but one child – Alex. They escaped to the early twenty-first century and started a new life and then the Master found them and used them as pawns in his little game.

But that was all over now. Alex and Susan helped the Doctor and his companions stop a Dalek invasion of Earth and the Doctor soon departed with Captain Jack Harkness to deal with the Master.

He had come back to check on his family at no. 16 Chesterton Lane but departed shortly after and they had not heard from him since. He did, however, leave one last surprise for Alex in the form of a book written in high ancient Gallifreyan, which surprisingly Alex understood. It was a complete history of the Time Lord’s with scientific formulas.

When Alex was eighteen Torchwood finally gave him permission to travel time and space. His vehicle of choice was an aeroplane in the style of the World War Two dogfighter jet the Spitfire, coloured a deep blue and painted on it a screaming cat head next to letters spelling out the word ‘Schrödinger’ – the name he christened his TARDIS because he felt that the Doctor had the real TARDIS and only should it be called that.

Instead of piloting the plane he would dematerialise it into the Time Vortex. But being a skilled pilot he would sometimes show off his skills by flying through the Earth skies in the clear of day. Nobody took much notice of the vintage aeroplane flying overhead though.

Alex’s adventures were not at first as eventful as the Doctor’s. He tried to help out when he could and soon learned that it was a difficult responsibility to uphold. As the years went by he got a little bit better at it.

He got a little bit of a name for himself and sometimes got recognised. To counter this he adapted to an indie Londoner style. The Time Lord kept well hidden in his blue blazer and ref scarf in between young males with the same flat mop haircut, trademark black jeans and pointed shoes.

Alex was away when the Master returned and changed the entire human race into clones of himself using the Immortality gate. Although he had heard about it Alex didn’t know that the Doctor had to regenerate again.

It was a summer’s day in Hammersmith in 2060. A bit too hot for the local’s liking but heatwaves in this day and age were becoming all too common. Still, they longed for those chilli wintry days where they could rug up in thick coats and scarves and gloves to keep warm. But there was no escaping from this heat.

Alex materialised the Schrödinger in a park opposite his house. As he opened the side door he stumbled back as a wave of heat engulfed him, like an invisible cloud of smoke. Alex hastily tugged his blazer and scarf off and he rolled up the sleeves of his chequered shirt.

He walked outside into the heat. It stuck to and burned his jeans and he was already experiencing some sweating from his temple and at the back of his head. It poured out of his pores like water and kept pouring even after Alex wiped it with the back of his hand in a futile attempt to make him skin dry.

Suddenly, his attention was pulled away from the uncomfortable feeling of sweat against flesh after he noticed the sight in front of him.

It looked like a tornado or hurricane had hit the whole street. Houses had caved in on themselves and were covered with fallen trees. Appliances had been ripped from their homes and discarded carelessly in the front lawn.

Alex looked up and down the street and saw the same sight and bolting across the street he approached the only house that he had known as home.

It was the worst hit. It looked like it had been subjected to a bombing Blitz rather than a natural disaster like the rest of the houses on the street. All that remained to identify it was a charred letterbox reading ‘13’ in green numbers, on an angle but standing firm in the ground.

In a state of deep distress at the sight but urging himself to keep it together Alex spoke his thoughts out loud. ‘I’ve got to find him’ he decided. ‘I’ve got to find the Doctor.’

1. The Problem with Late Christmas Shopping

December 17 11:00 am, London, UK

The morning snow was falling outside the Broadway Shopping Centre in Ealing. The ploughed car park was already filling with shoppers hopeful to beat the afternoon Christmas rush. The more sensible and aware shoppers had already got most of their Christmas shopping done in October and early November to avoid the clogged up aisles of last minute Christmas shoppers and now only had to deal with wrapping presents and planning the meals to make for the big day.

But the people who had just started or were continuing their Christmas shopping were in such a rush that they didn’t even realise the blue police box that materialised in a small patch of snow beside the car park.

Three people walked out of it. One dressed like an English professor, the other two a man and woman aged around their early twenties. The woman had bright red hair and the two men had brown hair; the younger one had a more shorter and lighter and modern day style.

The one that look like an English professor was darting his eyes around suspiciously. ‘Something doesn’t feel right’ he said.

‘Nothing ever feels right with you, Doctor’ replied the red-haired one.

‘That’s because I can sense when things aren’t quite right’ replied the Doctor, keeping his voice low. The Doctor wasn’t really a human, although he looked just like one. He was in fact a Time Lord; one of the oldest races in the Universe. They were the Lords of Time, who watched over the Universe outside of it and did not interfere in it. The Doctor had been in trouble by the High Council for ‘meddling’ as they so put, with history. But that was a long time ago. The Time Lord’s had all died in a war and the Doctor was the only survivor.

The Doctor and his companions, Amy and Rory walked through the automatic sliding doors and into the shopping centre, taking time to stop and look around before moving on the next aisle.

The Doctor had agreed to take time off travelling time and space so that his companions could buy each other Christmas presents in the Broadway Shopping Centre in London. But the reason why they wanted to buy Christmas presents on Earth when they could buy extravagant gifts from anywhere in time and space escaped him.

Amy and Rory were now playing a guessing game.

‘Is it jewellery?’

‘Nope.’

‘How about that cute jacket I saw back there?’

‘I’m not telling.’

‘What are you trying to guess?’ asked the Doctor

‘I’m trying to guess what Rory bought me for Christmas’ replied Amy.

‘You’ll never guess it’ Rory teased.

‘Well fine. I’m going to go and buy your present so I can torment you about it too’ said Amy cheekily flicking her long red hair and running up an aisle of the shopping centre.

‘You haven’t got her anything, have you?’ asked the Doctor.

‘No, I haven’t’ admitted Rory. ‘Doctor, what am I going to do?’ he looked at the Time Lord in desperation.

‘Calm down, you still have one week left’ soothed the Doctor. ‘Besides, there are much more pressing issues at hand.’

‘Such as?’ said Rory raising his eyebrows suspiciously.

‘Christmas is a time of coming together to celebrate the Human race’s love for each other – it’s also the favourite season for an alien invasion’ he explained looking around suspiciously.

‘Doctor, we’re in a shopping centre. I hardly think that Silurian’s are going to attack the cleaning products in aisle four.’

‘I wouldn’t put it passed them’ warned the Doctor. ‘Average kitchen cleaners in the wrong hands can lead to terrible consequences’ he explained then started an entirely new train of thought. ‘It’s too spacious in here’ he said waving his arms around, ‘it shouldn’t be – where are all the Christmas shoppers?’ he asked Rory and without waiting for an answer he headed for the toy aisle.

Amy came hurrying up to Rory with a satisfied grin on her face. ‘I got your present and they even gift wrapped it free of charge.’

‘That’s great’ replied Rory unenthusiastically.

‘Oh, now who’s being all stroppy?’ she said but she changed her tone and asked, ‘Where’s the Doctor got to then?’

‘I think he went into the toy aisle.’

Suddenly they heard a yipping sound and the familiar humming sound of a sonic screwdriver. Quickly exchanging worried looks they sprinted in that direction.

Almost lying on the floor was the Doctor next to a flipping dog toy, reflecting with green light that was continuously being turned on and off as he pressed his screwdriver and waved it over the toy. He picked it up and turned it over to scan more areas of the toy.

‘Doctor, what are you doing down there?’ asked Amy.

‘Checking for alien activity’ he replied not looking up, face full of concentration.

‘You’re checking alien activity on that? I hardly think that Happy the flipping dog is plotting to take over the Earth.’

‘Well it is a Jack Russell Terrier’ he said noting the brown spots on the toy.

‘Get up off the ground before someone sees you’ demanded Amy in a harsh whisper.

‘I found it on the ground’ informed the Doctor getting to his feet. ‘Doesn’t that strike you as odd?’

‘Not really. A kid could have placed the toy on the ground to watch it flip and then when his mum called he ran off and forgot to put it back on the shelf.’

‘You’ve got an answer for everything Pond.’

The Doctor still scanned a shelf of soft plush kittens while taking a slow step backwards but he must have stepped too far backwards because he knocked into the opposite shelf making boxes of model planes fall onto the floor.

‘Doctor, will you please watch where you’re stepping’ snapped Amy.

‘I didn’t step that far back’ he protested, ‘and look’ he pointed to the opposite shelf, ‘the boxes that should have fell had I knocked into the shelf didn’t fall. The boxes that did fall came from the very stop shelf.’

‘Are you saying someone pushed them off the top shelf?’ asked Rory.

‘That’s exactly what I’m saying’ replied the Doctor holding one of the model plane boxes in one hand and scanning it with the screwdriver in the other hand. ‘Still not getting any reading’ he said.

‘That’s because they’re normal human toys’ said Amy tutting. ‘Now let’s just get out of this aisle before you cause anymore commotion and make a small child cry.’

The Doctor reluctantly agreed and turned on his heel to leave the aisle but as he did a dozen multi-coloured basketball-sized bouncy balls came hurtling towards him.

‘Do you still think I’m doing it?!’ yelled the Doctor over the noise of whacked bodies and rebounded bounces.

‘OK Doctor I believe you now!’ Amy shouted back.

‘Any idea who is setting toys up to attack us?!’ shouted Rory just as the sound died down.

The Doctor picked up an idle ball and began scanning it. ‘Still nothing!’ he said exasperated.

‘Doctor, will you quit that!’ yelled Amy losing her patience.

‘Alright, let’s focus on what we’ve got’ said the Doctor ignoring Amy. ‘We’ve got yapping flipping dogs, planes, bouncy balls – what do they all add up to?’

‘Someone is probably just playing a trick on you’ suggested Rory.

‘Yes, but whom? WHO ARE YOU?!’ he bellowed at empty space.

‘Maybe someone just wanted to have a laugh at your expense.’

‘Who would go to all that effort to make fun of me?’ asked the Doctor, a bit insulted.

‘Humans, that’s who’ concluded Rory.

‘But why use those certain items? What are they trying to tell me?’

‘Rory is right. They just chose random items to get you angry. It’s probably just kids who don’t even know who you are.’

‘Alright, I think our shopping spree is over’ stated the Doctor, turning to walk off ignoring Amy’s protests. As he turned a corner he felt like he had walked into thick sludge. ‘Oh really, paint? Are you serious?!’ he yelled once again at nothing. Rory and Amy also stepped into the mixture of purple-pink-white paint. They all bent their knees to try and not slip in it.

‘Something weird is really going on here’ said Amy slowly trudging through the tide of paint, moving her arms up and down in a stiff robotic motion.

After they got out of the paint they approached the entrance of the shopping centre dragging purple footprints behind them. But the trickster, whoever he/she/it was had one final surprise for them.

Blocking their exit were dustbins with plungers sticking out from the top, super glued from the handle and sucker sticking out almost making the bin look like;

‘Are those meant to be Dalek’s?’

‘Ha, told you it wasn’t just a random attack!’ exclaimed the Doctor, rubbing his hand in a self-satisfied way. ‘Whoever did this knows exactly who I am and I think they went to all this trouble to give me a message.’

‘Right well, let’s get out of here before we get arrested’ suggested Amy.

‘Right, let’s go’ agreed the Doctor and they left the shopping centre leaving faint purple footprints behind.

The Doctor stopped in front of the shopping Santa set up that was minus one Santa and stared at a bell on the table. ‘Santa must have neglected his post’ he said.

‘Even Santa needs a smoke break’ replied Amy.

Little did they know it but they were being watched. A stranger gazed at them from the front of the shopping centre and slowly followed them, making sure to keep far enough away to not be spotted but not too far to lose them. Then he adjusted something on his wrist and disappeared.

The traveller’s crossed the car park to a small square covered in snow where a blue box was standing. The Doctor turned the key in the lock and swung the door open, allowing his companions to enter before he did. Then he shut the wooden doors behind him but the lock did not click and the Doctor was far too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice.

‘Hey Doctor, can you put this gift bag some place so Rory can’t get to it before Christmas?’ asked Amy.

‘Really Amy, how old do you think I am?’ said Rory.

Without looking up the Doctor hit a lever on the console making a hook descend from the ceiling. Amy clipped it to the gift bag and the Doctor made it ascend all the way onto the ceiling.

‘It should be safe up there’ he said, turning back to what he was doing.

He opened up a drawer attached to a control unit in the middle of the room with a variety of switches and levers on it. He took some paper out from the drawer and a pen and licked it to get it to work. ‘That’s why I should always bring extra pencils with me’ remarked the Doctor, ‘pens are so unreliable. They stop working at the most critical moments.

‘What do you need paper for?’ asked Amy.

‘Writing down some notes’ answered the Doctor while repetitively clicking the pen impatiently.

‘Why not use the typewriter then?’

‘No time’ was all he said.

‘It’s just on the other side on the console.’

‘No time’ he repeated. Then he looked up, ‘I should have some pencils in storage, surely’ and he traversed up the stairs and disappeared into an unseen room.

When he returned he carried a whole handful of pencils with a delighted expression.

‘Looks like Christmas has come early for someone’ remarked Amy.

‘You can never have too many pencils, Amy. I know what I’ll do – I’ll leave them around in random locations so if I lose one I can look in two or three different spots.’

‘What if you lose those pencils or forget where you put them?’

‘You just stop that, Pond.’

The Doctor rested the paper on the console and started jotting down notes in a hasty script. ‘So the first clue was a yipping dog – maybe that meant a warning or announcement’ he mused out loud. ‘The second was a model plane – spaceship? Yes, of course!’

‘What were those bouncy balls about then?’

‘That’s an easy one to crack. They’re planets’ informed the Doctor.

‘And the paint?’

‘No idea’ he admitted but then said, ‘flood – no that’s not it’ then he raised his eyebrows and scrunched up the page and threw it carelessly over his shoulder. ‘Come on think’ he said slapping his hand against his forehead.

Amy and Rory were so captivated at watching the Doctor become frustrated by his own thoughts that they didn’t notice the stranger that suddenly appeared in the room. So the stranger removed the magnet he had placed in between the door from stopping it from closing and it made a just audible clicking sound revealing that it was now fully shut.

Amy and Rory jumped in surprise. The Doctor didn’t notice, still bent over his notes which seconds later lay scrunched up in balls at his feet.

‘Doctor, I don’t want to alarm you but there’s a man standing at the door’ stammered Amy with a frightened expression pointing at the slender man, aged around twenty-two, dressed in a blue blazer and red scarf.

‘Oh don’t mind him, Amy, it’s just my great grandson Alex’ replied the Doctor without looking up from what he was doing. Then after it suddenly hit him he shot his head upwards and exclaimed, ‘My great grandson Alex!’ He ran towards the man and tackled him into an enormous hug.

‘How did you know it was me?’ asked Alex. ‘You barely looked up.’

‘I worked it out’ replied the Doctor cleverly. ‘The yipping dog was an humanoid-alien race of dog; the model plane was your beloved spaceship; the bouncy multicoloured balls were planets – the purple one was a planet surrounded by the hurricane nebula in the Whirlpool galaxy; the paint was the nebula and the Dalek’s were Dalek’s. How did I do?’

‘Gold star effort pops. You worked that out in the last few seconds?’

‘No, I was waiting for you to reveal yourself. The TARDIS picked up the energy from your Time Vortex manipulator.’

‘I think you’re lying to me pops’ remarked Alex.

‘Don’t call me pops’ instructed the Doctor nudging his grandson with a pointed finger.

‘Sorry, great grandfather’ he added with a sly grin.

‘Or that!’

‘OK, can someone please tell me what’s going on here?’ interrupted Rory staring at Alex cautiously. ‘How can he be your great grandson? He looks like he’s the same age as you or around that age at least.’

‘I’m nine hundred and seven, Rory – do the math.’

Amy circled Alex and studied him curiously. She felt less tense after the Doctor revealed he was his relative. In fact, she was quite taken by him.  ‘So how old are you then?’

‘Down pond’ warned the Doctor.

‘How old do you want me to be?’ he returned.

‘Down Alex.’

‘He’s got more style than you’ she commented to the Doctor.

‘You think?’

‘Oh yeah, scarves are much cooler than bowties.’

‘Hey, bowties are cool’ declared the Doctor automatically adjusting his.

Alex studied his great grandfather for a moment. ‘You look different’ he finally said.

‘Yeah, I regenerated. We had a little talk about that before, remember?’

‘Yes, I remember’ replied Alex but then he decided to change the subject entirely. ‘I heard he came back.’

‘Who came back?’

‘The Master, I heard he returned when you said he wouldn’t.’

‘Well, I missed something that brought him back but don’t you worry, he’s gone again and this time he cannot return.’

‘You’re sure about that?’ asked Alex.

‘I’m 100% sure.’

‘As sure as you were about him not able to return last time?’ added Alex sardonically raising an eyebrow.

The Doctor gave him an indignant look. ‘So, how’s your mother?’ he asked in a deliberate attempt to change the subject.

Alex hesitated before saying, ‘She’s gone, Doctor.’

‘Gone? Gone where?’ he asked cautiously.

Alex shrugged his shoulders. ‘They’re all gone. Everyone on Earth is gone.’

‘You mean that everyone on Earth in your time just disappeared?’ asked the Doctor cautiously. Alex nodded.   ‘What year was this?’

‘2060. I just got back from the planet Midnight and I discovered that the Earth was in rubble with no bodies left behind.’

The Doctor thought hard for a moment with two fingers pressed to his lips. Then he looked up with a defiant look on his face. ‘Right, let’s take a short trip to the near future’ he said.

2. Shadows

The TARDIS roared to life as the Doctor sprinted and spun around its console, effortlessly turning switches and pulling levers and checking gauges, while his companions held on for dear life to the support structures as it hit a bit of turbulence inside the Time Vortex.

‘Setting coordinates for Hammersmith in 2060’ stated the Doctor as he worked the controls.

‘Is 2060 going to be anything like the 1960s?’ asked Amy keenly turning to Alex.

‘It never got the chance’ he responded glumly. No one said anything after that for awhile.

The TARDIS came to a standstill making a whining sound to announce its arrival. ‘We’re here’ the Doctor said and he ran over to the wooden doors and opened them wide. ‘Oh’ was all he could get out as he gazed at the horrific sight in front of him. ‘Amy, you know what you were saying about the year 2060 being like the 1960s wasn’t far off , although it looks like the threat of nuclear war was all too real in the 2060’s.’

The traveller’s departed the TARDIS and walked into the street to discover a whole street reduced to rubble. Amy and Rory even walked in opposite directions to investigate the joining streets and returned to inform the Doctor that the houses were in the same state.

Amy turned her attention to Alex who was picking up a green gate and staring at it thoughtfully. ‘I always hated the squeak it made’ he said struggling to smile. ‘I guess it will squeak no more.’ He tossed it to the ground and it hit the concrete path with a loud clang.

‘This is your house’ Amy said.

‘Yeah, I have lived here my whole life – well, it’s the only house I remember living in.’ Alex bent down and worked his way through the rubble carefully picking up pieces of his home in respect. He picked up a photo frame and Amy got a good glance of it from over his shoulder; it was a picture of a small black haired boy and a woman with short cropped hair.

‘Is that your mum?’ Amy asked.

Alex was startled to see she was standing so close. ‘Yeah, her name is Susan.’

The Doctor popped his head over the neighbour’s fence at the mention of that familiar name. ‘Oh, I wondered where you two got to. Rory I found them!’ he called over his shoulder. ‘Right, Rory will be awhile I think so I’ll let you know what I found.’

‘It’s extremely stuffy out here but if you look at the sky the Sun is covered by clouds. It’s not heat from the Sun but heat by radiation which’ he pointed his sonic screwdriver at the air, ‘is just below a fatal level and if you’ll come into the street with me’ he beckoned already sprinting off without waiting for them to follow, ‘there are no bodies left behind but look at that spot on the ground.’

Amy ran up to him with Alex following slowly behind. The Doctor was pointing to a vague grey shape on the concrete. ‘It almost looks like a shadow’ she said.

‘It is a shadow, Amy’ informed the Doctor, ‘a shadow of the person once standing there.’

‘So, where did they go and why was their shadow left behind?’

‘Because when a nuclear bomb hits it can completely vaporise a person and the only evidence to prove that they were once there is only left as a shadow. It happened in Hiroshima’ –

‘There were also dead bodies and wounded in Hiroshima’ interrupted Alex brusquely. ‘How do you explain that?’

‘It’s 2060 Alex. Whoever dropped this bomb must have been capable of creating one that was so powerful it could vaporise cities whole.’

‘But buildings are still standing’ –

‘Rory!’ Amy called just in time to end the argument.

‘What did I miss? They look upset’ said Rory noting the strained expressions on the Doctor and Alex’s faces.

‘Apparently a nuclear bomb has hit completely vaporising the people living in this area and only left behind their shadows.’

‘Oh, but why did it happen in Hammersmith?’

‘The buildings are still standing!’ yelled Alex unable to control his temper. ‘If a nuclear bomb was dropped they’d be in a worse state. They’re just made out of bricks. And my house is hit the worst. It was burned by an actual fire and demolished by manmade machines.’

Amy and Rory frowned at this new information and ran off to inspect the house more thoroughly. It was hit worse. No wall was left standing and it was in more pieces than the others, and it smelled of burnt wood.

The Doctor studied it from afar placing a hand to his lips in deep contemplation. ‘It was definitely the target’ he said. They all turned around and looked at him like he was mad. ‘Just think about it; two people saving the world from alien invasion that are also relatives of mine,’ then he took a moment before deciding, ‘Let’s see what the rest of London looks like.’

The TARDIS materialised near the Thames Bridge or at least what was left of it. It was standing on a downward angle into the Thames River. Big Ben looked like a charred skyscraper and the tall city buildings stood in the background dilapidated, dusty and crumbling.

‘Let’s try another country’ said the Doctor.

The TARDIS materialised in New York City; buildings crumbling, no sign of the Statue of Liberty, empty streets. The Doctor took it to China; the Great Wall was barely a step. He took it to Sydney; the rusted Harbour Bridge floated in Darling Harbour; the Opera House was stripped bare.

Everywhere they went it was all the same. So the Doctor went back ten years – same result; twenty years – same result.

‘I’m sorry’ he finally said more to Alex than anyone else, ‘there’s nothing I can do. We’re going to have to go back to present day Earth.’

The TARDIS materialised in present day London on a concrete path standing on a street opposite a sheltered Bus stop with benches for the commuters. Cars zoomed passed on a main road connecting the townsfolk to the busy city roads.

Alex was the first to exit the TARDIS. He marched straight across the street paying little heed to any of the passing cars, even the ones that screeched to a halt, or swore obscenities at him as they passed. Alex slumped onto the Bus stop bench and then lowered his head and stared at the ground.

And he stayed that way for a very long time.

Amy grabbed the Doctor by the arm to keep him from wandering off. ‘Doctor, go talk to him’ she urged. ‘He’s your grandson and he needs your support now than ever.’

‘But I barely know him. What do I say?’

‘Did you ever have to comfort him before?’

‘Well yes once, but we were locked in an Asrie prison – they’re dogs who walk around like humans and wear human clothes – but that’s beside the point. What was the point? Oh yes, comforting him. My last incarnation was a lot better at it than me.’

‘Practice makes perfect’ replied Amy.

The Doctor went to argue but decided to agree. He crossed the street in the same not-waiting -for-cars-to-pass style as Alex and joined him on the bench.

‘So, how are you Alex?’ he asked awkwardly.

‘Brilliant’ remarked Alex sarcastically, ‘the whole Time I’m actually from is gone.’

‘I know how it feels.’

Alex gave a solemn nod. ‘You don’t seem terribly upset that your granddaughter has disappeared.

‘Oh Alex, I’ve mourned her so many times before that I just can’t do it anymore. I mourned the deaths of every Time Lord – including you.’

‘So what, you just rather put it behind you? Like it doesn’t matter!’

‘It does matter but Alex it’s just so hard to keep being upset about it.’

‘What if she’s not actually dead?’

‘Oh Alex’ the Doctor sighed.

‘You don’t even want to believe it do you? Not even to have a glimmer of hope? Those houses were not destroyed by a nuclear bomb!’ Alex was now standing and pointing his arms out as if pointing back at the site of destruction.

‘How do you explain the heat and the shadows then?’ asked the Doctor.

Alex froze all movements for awhile before exclaiming, ‘She’s not dead!’

The Doctor got to his feet and tried to soothe his grandson. ‘I’m sorry Alex but she is.’

‘Don’t touch me!’ he snapped stepping back, almost into oncoming traffic. ‘You’re amazing, you know? Something happens that you can’t explain so you just give up! Some hero you are!’

The Doctor placed two fingers in between his eyes. ‘What do you want me to say?’

‘How am I supposed to know? You’re a stranger to me!’ he spat and swiftly turned around and marched up the street.

‘Oh great, just go! You’re a bit too old to be a moody teenager, Alex!’

Amy crossed the street to meet the fuming Doctor. ‘What was all that about? Where’s he going?’

‘Just let him go. He’s nothing but trouble’ replied the Doctor seething.

‘He’s your grandson and he hasn’t got a home to go to, remember?’

‘It’s out of my hands. He doesn’t want to know me – then fine’ he replied glaring at empty Space.

‘Oh great, so you chased off the only remaining Time Lord after you’ remarked Amy sarcastically.

‘Half-Time Lord’ corrected the Doctor.

‘Oh I’m starting to see things much more clearly now.’

‘You see nothing clearly’ snapped the Doctor. ‘Alex knows little about what it means to be a Time Lord, beside the things I told him. He’s too much like a human – jumps to conclusions based on the emotions he’s feeling at the time over logic.’

‘Right, thanks.’

‘I’m talking about Alex here’ he said. Then he changed his tone to a much more cautious one. ‘The thing is he has got a darkness about him.’

‘What does that mean? What kind of darkness?’

‘When Alex was a boy the Master had controlled him by giving him some of his DNA. Now the Master was a powerful Time Lord, capable of doing so many terrible things. He was a genius too and that trait is easy to notice in Alex.’

‘But the Master is dead isn’t he?’ asked Amy.

‘Yes, he’s dead and can’t come back but that doesn’t mean that his DNA inside Alex is dead too. It lives on in him. Already I’ve noticed that Alex doesn’t trust me.’

‘Are you saying that Alex’s DNA is telling him not to trust you?’

‘That’s exactly what I’m saying’ he paused to frown at Amy’s sceptical look. ‘The Master is known for leaving tricks and traps around for me. Although he is dead now a part of him lives on in Alex. I just hope Alex can resist it.’

The Earth had been destroyed in Alex’s time. His mother and friends had disappeared, presumed dead. Everyone he had ever known and everything he had ever loved, all those defining moments that made him into man he was today– all gone. They were nothing but a memory now. His whole life was gone like it had never existed.

So now there was only one thing left to do…

‘Could I get some more scotch over here?’ called Alex waving an empty glass towards the bartender. He had been slumped over the bar at the King’s Arm Hotel since happy hour, which ended three hours ago but the pub staff hadn’t turned him away yet.

‘Right away, sir’ said the bartender taking the glass and putting it down somewhere out of view and picking up a fresh one.

‘You can just refill it.’

‘Not at all, sir. It’s good customer service to give you a fresh glass. Makes the liquor taste even better’ he said with a cheery smile.

‘I’ll take your word for it’ Alex responded impassively, resting a palm on his chin.

‘Are you alright?’ asked a sweet voice.

‘I’m bursting at the seams’ replied Alex sarcastically not looking up. The bartender placed another glass of scotch on the table for Alex. ‘Good man’ he said, slapping down some blank sheets of paper. In another galaxy a psychic paper money scam had been circulating around and Alex had picked up a wad of those notes and was using them in place of Earth money. He waited for the bartender to barely blink as he stored them in the till and gave Alex his change. Then Alex picked up his glass and swallowed it all in one big gulp.

‘You wanna slow down there’ said the same sweet voice.

Alex finally looked up at who it belonged to. A young woman, aged around her mid twenties was staring at him. She had medium length black hair and a straight fringe, wearing a black polka dot dress underneath a tweed jacket. Alex’s drink felt like it was going back up his throat.

‘Umm, would you like a drink?’ asked Alex, coughing and patting his chest.

‘Found your manners then? See I was right about drinking too fast.’

‘I’m not very good at talking to humans – ah, I mean people.’

The woman laughed. ‘That’s ok, nor am I. I’m Lisa by the way.’

‘I’m Alex’ he said getting up to shake her hand, and then retracted. ‘I’m not supposed to do that, am I?’

Another laugh. She must be nervous. I’ll take that, thought Alex.

‘I’m sorry, I’m a scientific genius but when it comes to people I’m an absolute moron.’

‘Don’t worry about it’ said Lisa with a wave of her hand. ‘How about that drink?’

‘Oh right, almost forgot’ stammered Alex, mentally beating himself up.

The two were now comfortably sitting down at a circular table. ‘So why are you so down in the dumps?’ asked Lisa. ‘No wait, let me guess: girls problems?’

‘Nowhere near’ replied Alex. ‘My mum has gone missing.’

‘I’m so sorry to hear that. Do you know where?’

‘I haven’t got a clue and my grandfather doesn’t even care.’

‘You’ve got more family than just your grandfather but.’

‘No I don’t. He’s all that remains of my family and I can’t talk to him’ explained Alex looking down at his hands.

‘Have you got any friends to confide in?’

‘None.’

‘Oh you poor thing’ she said placing a hand on his arm. He looked down at it then into Lisa’s eyes.

‘I’m not just doing this to get you to like me’ he said. ‘That thought wouldn’t ever cross my mind. I’ve seriously got no one and nothing to live for.’

‘What are you talking about? You have to look for your mother. Have you called the police?’

‘They can’t help. Look, maybe this was a mistake. I don’t want you to know too much about me’ he said jumping up from his seat.

‘Why’s that? Are you dangerous?’ she looked at him suspiciously.

‘Depends how you look at it’ he replied. His eyes stared at the bartender who picked his glass off the table and quickly snatched it off him. ‘I wasn’t finished with that yet’ he snapped.

‘Sorry sir.’

‘That guy really creeps me out.’

‘Well come on, sit down and tell me what’s wrong’ instructed Lisa patting the empty stool Alex had just sprang up from.

Alex reluctantly sat back down. ‘It’s not that I don’t want you to know it’s that I don’t think you’ll believe me.’

‘I’ll believe anything you have to say’ she replied.

Alex lifted his eyebrows as if to say ‘we’ll see about that.’ But he was at least going to give it a try so leaning forward and keeping his voice low he began to tell her everything.

‘The police can’t help to find my mum because not only did she disappear but everyone on Earth did.’

‘Are you sure about that?’ said Lisa in a whimsical whisper looking around.

‘In the year 2060.’

‘Okay…’

‘I’m a time traveller from the 22^nd century.’

‘I’m starting to understand why you said I wouldn’t believe you.’

‘I’m half-human’ –

‘Oh dear…’

‘Half Time Lord.’

‘You know I think it’s time I went home’ decided Lisa grabbing her purse and getting to her feet and briskly walking out of the pub. Alex pursued her.

‘It’s true! You wanted me to tell you!’

‘Well I had no idea you were so…imaginative.’

Alex raced ahead of her and confronted her and placed his arms on her shoulders to block her. ‘Look, I told you truth even if I knew that you wouldn’t believe me. I’ll let you go but just know that I haven’t lied once tonight.’ He let her go and stood there waiting for a reply.

‘Alex you’re sweet but you’re just too – too messed up for me’ she said. ‘I’m sorry. Have a nice night.’ Alex dropped his head down as she walked passed him.

3. Helpbots

‘So Alex just left?’

‘Yeah, he just walked away’

‘Why?’

‘He had a row with the Doctor.’

Amy and Rory were sitting on the comfortable seats inside the TARDIS discussing Alex’s sudden departure.

‘Oh well, maybe it was for the best’ began Rory. ‘We don’t need another person cluttering up the TARDIS.’

‘Have you seen the size of this thing?’ said Amy waving her arms around. ‘Besides, I think you felt threatened by him.’

‘No, I did not feel threatened by that – that – very good looking man’ stuttered Rory.

‘Suure you didn’t’ replied Amy sarcastically, but then she changed her tone to a more concerned one. ‘The thing is Alex is in a whole other world. He hasn’t got a home or anywhere to go.’

‘With a face like that it won’t take him long to find one’ muttered Rory.

‘Oh, you are jealous’ exclaimed Amy nudging him playfully.

‘I am not’ he argued.

‘I still think we need to find him’ stated Amy. ‘After all he’s the only family the Doctor has got. Where is he by the way?’

‘I think he said he was going to the Gallery room’ replied Rory.

‘Thank you’ she said kissing him lightly on the cheek and heading for the stairs.

Amy found him standing in a corner of the gallery staring intently at the only photograph in the Gallery. As she walked closer she could make out the familiar face of Alex a few years older than from the last photograph she saw him in. Also in the photograph was his mother, who looked exactly the same as the last photo she saw her in, and a man she’d never seen before wearing a suit with brown hair and sideburns.

‘Is that Alex?’ she asked.

‘Yes’ was all he said.

‘Who’s that man next to him?’

‘That’s me. That’s what I looked like when Alex knew me’ he paused and lowered his voice to add. ‘When he trusted me.’

‘You were good looking’ said Amy.

‘You think?’

‘Note the lack of a bowtie’ –

‘Bowties are cool’ he interjected.

‘Sure they are.’

‘Anyway, I think it’s time we got out of here’ he said rubbing his hands together. ‘Where would you like to go? I know, how about 1449? Joan of Arc – there’s a nice strong girl just like you. A young maiden girl, helped to save France from English rule when she was just seventeen. Fought in the Siege of Orleans which was the first of many victorious battles she lead – although, I don’t know if I really believe that she was guided by the voice of Saints – we could probably find that out ’ –

‘Maybe after we find we find Alex’ interrupted Amy.

‘You interrupted my jabbering. You never interrupt my jabbering. You like my jabbering’ said the Doctor slightly hurt.

‘Come on Doctor, he’s your family and he’s alone out in a world that he doesn’t know much about.’

‘He’s lived on Earth for half a century, Amy. I think he’ll be fine.’

‘Doctorrr’ she urged with a stern expression.

‘Oh Alright, but I warn you he doesn’t want anything to do with me.’

‘He just doesn’t know you yet’ she reassured him.

The Doctor, Amy and Rory hit the streets to look for Alex, starting with searching various stores that Alex may have liked.

‘Where are we anyway?’ asked Rory.

‘Ealing’ said Amy.

‘Oh Ealing, I’ve got a friend from here’ announced the Doctor. ‘Maybe we can pop in on her after this.’

‘Doctor, try to stay on target’ instructed Amy strictly.

‘Oh yes, right.’

‘What does Alex like anyway?’

‘He likes planes, technology, science, deliberately disobeying me’ –

‘Let’s go look in an electronics shop then’ interrupted Amy.

‘Amy, he’s from the year 2060 and he’s even ahead of technology from that era’ informed the Doctor.

‘Well, where else can we can we look for him?’

The Doctor didn’t reply because something caught his eye. ‘A vinyl record shop – here?’ he said as he walked into the shop.

‘Thanks for your help, Doctor!’ Amy yelled irritably. Then turning to Rory she said. ‘Right, to the electronics shop.’

It just so happened that there was a brand new electronics store opening called DCT Electronics. Originating from the United States from within the DAVIC Corporation that had opened two hundred stores worldwide in a race to beat Japan in the digital revolution.

‘This place looks expensive’ said Rory.

‘Well, you don’t have to buy me anything – oh, except for that cute robot’ she said pointing at it. It was four feet high and built out of a solid white plastic with big cartoonish eyes. Its head looked like an astronaut’s helmet and its whole physique had a spacesuit look about it.

‘Is that one of those robots that shows emotion?’ asked Rory scrunching his face. ‘Those things are really creepy.’ As he said that the robot turned his head upwards to acknowledge him. ‘Yep, really creepy.’

‘Only a man could think emotions were creepy’ remarked Amy rolling her eyes. ‘Besides, they were made to help kids learn emotions and body language and stuff. So, they’re doing some good in this world. What are you doing? Nothing, just complaining as usual.’

Rory made a face at her but then jumped as the robot started to speak. ‘I am no. 876 from the DAVIC family of VRDE Helpbots. How may I help you?’ the robot asked with an American cartoony childish voice.

‘You don’t have a name?’

‘Amy, why are you trying to strike up a conversation with it?’

‘My master gives me my name. Will you be my master?’

‘I see you met my Helpbot’ said a man that was suddenly standing near them. ‘Ah sorry, I’m Henry Wilkes: CEO of the DAVIC Corporation.’ He was a stout man, with hair so short it looked like it was balding but it wasn’t and he wore a silver suit and tie.

‘Just what is DAVIC?’ asked Rory suspiciously. ‘What type of electronics shop has a talking robot standing in the aisle?’

Henry chuckled. ‘Well, this little blighter got away from the display area. The VRDE robot is one of the first self-thinking robots. It’s not just programmed to say a few phrases, so it does sometimes just wander away. A bit like children they are; need to be given firm rules to keep them out of trouble.’

‘Wait, did you say a self thinking robot?’ said Amy.

‘Yes, and not only that; the VRDE Helpbot can carry out simple everyday tasks that are becoming quite tedious to us.’

‘You mean like servant work?’

‘Or slaves’ added Rory.

‘They are purely mechanical beings. They are programmed to serve us.’

‘You keep saying ‘VRDE’ – what does that stand for?’ asked Rory.

‘I’m glad you asked’ replied Henry, ‘it stands for visualise, recognise, decide and empathise. You see we at DAVIC have been working with neurologists to create a robot that thinks just like we do by programming its sensor chip to work the same way a human brain does.’

‘It’s not an actual brain though?’

‘Of course not. Don’t be so silly’ he replied in a high nervous voice. Rory narrowed his eyes at him.

‘Well, thank you Mr. Wilkes it sounds like an amazing invention’ said Amy then adding, ‘and it’s so cute.’

‘DAVIC don’t just specialise in self-thinking robots you know’ said Henry, ‘we are also about to unveil our own Virtual Reality TV.’

‘Wow, that sounds amazing!’ exclaimed Amy.

Rory gently took her arm. ‘We’re just looking’ he said to Henry and walked off, dragging Amy behind him.

‘That was very rude’ stated Amy when they were well away from Henry.

‘He was creepy’ replied Rory.

‘He was just passionate. I can’t believe how far we have advanced at technology. Imagine that, a self-thinking robot that did all my house work? I should tell the Doctor about this.’

‘I think he’d be very interested to know’ replied Rory.

‘The biggest obstacle I overlooked when I went to look for Alex in a record shop is that half the customers look like him’ informed the Doctor after Rory and Amy had found him. ‘So, how did you two go?’

‘We didn’t find him’ confessed Amy. ‘However we did find a cute talking robot.’

‘A self-thinking helper robot’ added Rory.

‘Oh, I just hate it when humans make their own robots. They either perform cheap tricks for amusement or make people even lazier than they actually are’ said the Doctor.

‘You’re not worried?’

‘Worried? No, not at all, Rory. No reason to be. I’ve seen it many times before. Just tell me it said more than gadget-gadget.’

‘It wanted me to buy it’ said Amy.

‘Of course it did’ said the Doctor through gritted teeth.

‘I told you that Henry Wilkes guy was a creep.’

‘Who is Henry Wilkes?’ asked the Doctor.

‘He’s the CEO of the DAVIC Corporation. He owns that electronic shop we came from’ informed Amy.

‘He sounds creepy’ replied the Doctor. ‘Right, let’s keep looking.’

Alex had spent the whole night drinking and going to Indie clubs to drink more and bum smokes off people that looked identical to him. He was nearly running out of psychic money and he didn’t know what he’d have to do after that happened.

He awoke in a park with a throbbing head and a bad taste in his mouth so he staggered to his feet and went in search for some water.  He found a fountain in the middle of the park and cupped his hands and dipped them into the fountain to drink from it. A young boy was glaring at him holding a camera.

‘Oh sorry, you want to take a – I’ll just get out of your way.’

Alex had begun to realise that the park looked familiar to him and he finally realised it was the park opposite his home. So he headed towards Chesterton Lane and stopped when he found his old house, still standing with its green squeaky gate and lush green lawn. So much better than the charred remains he came home to a day ago. Or had it been two days? He could never tell. Alex leant on a tree trunk to balance himself because he still felt a bit groggy. He could feel something solid inside his jacket so he reached into it and picked it out. He held in his hand a box of cigarettes.

‘Well, I got nothing else to do’ he shrugged, popping one in his mouth and lighting it up.

‘That could kill you, you know’ said a squeaky little voice. Alex looked down to see a small black haired boy pointing up at him.

‘There are a lot of things in this society that could kill me. I’m speeding the process up’ he replied in a barely decipherable grumble.

‘Alex, come back over here!’ called a voice. Alex looked up startled, the cigarette slipping from his lips. ‘I’m sorry if my son is annoying you’ the voice said. It was Susan; Alex’s mother.

‘But mum the phosphorus rocks are radioactive and the Polonium 210 decays into lead which’ –

‘I’m sorry, my son acts like a know-it-all sometimes and thinks little of people’s feelings.’

‘Don’t worry about it’ replied Alex staring back at his younger self tugging to get out of the grip of his mother. ‘He’s right though, it’s a terrible habit. I should give it up’ he said dropping the cigarette to the ground and stepping on it. ‘See kid, you saved a life today’ he said then turned around to head back to the park. But as he was walking across the park he turned his head around from side to side in puzzlement. Strange, he could have sworn the water fountain was on this side of the park.

4. The Nature of Graphene

It seemed to the Doctor that every time he met up with Alex he was always taking part in a futile search for him. He hoped that Alex wouldn’t turn this into a habit. Last time his old friend Captain Jack Harkness and the Torchwood team had helped him look for him and now his new companion’s were helping him look for him. At least, he desperately hoped that UNIT were not looking for him this time round because last time they wanted to arrest him, but Alex was only a boy then so the Doctor told UNIT to let him deal with him.

‘Still no sign of him’ said Amy growing impatient. ‘We could ask people if they’ve seen him.’

‘Oh, that would go down well’ started Rory. ‘Excuse me have you seen this man’s great grandson who looks like he’s the exact same age.’

‘We could say little brother’ suggested Amy then she stopped suddenly and looked over at an empty space near a display of books on sale. ‘I could have sworn there was another table there.’

‘Maybe they removed it because the sale is ending’ replied the Doctor but then he looked around cautiously.

‘What is it?’ Amy asked.

‘It’s too quiet on this street’ he said.

‘There were kids running passed before.’

‘Yes before’ he replied with an emphasis on ‘before’. ‘The thing is it’s a week before Christmas and the streets are quiet, the Shopping centres aren’t spacious – they should be packed – it’s Christmas – so where is everyone?’ Before Amy could answer the Doctor was already sprinting off so she and Rory chased after him.

They ended up in a park where couples were sitting on blankets, children were playing a catching game and a teenage girl had stopped walking her fluffy Golden Retriever so a young boy could pat it.

‘Well here’s a park with benches. He likes benches’ said Amy.

‘What? Oh yeah, remind me to put a park bench in his Christmas stocking if we ever find him’ remarked the Doctor, suddenly remembering who he was supposed to be looking for.

‘Look let’s just take a rest’ suggested Amy sitting down on the park bench.

‘Yes, ok, right’ said the Doctor but he soon jumped back up from it. ‘No I can’t! Look I’m sorry but we shouldn’t be doing this any longer. I don’t linger. I travel through space and time to save the day then I leave. There’s nothing here to be saved’ –

‘What about your grandson?’

‘It’s too late to save him.’

There was a scream.

‘What were you saying about nothing to save, Doctor?’ asked Amy but the Doctor had already headed towards the direction of the scream. It had come from the teenage girl who was now looking distraught and trying to hold back tears.

‘What is it – what’s wrong?’ asked the Doctor, forgetting his manners.

‘It’s Mandy my dog’ replied the girl.

‘Your dog?’ he replied raising an eyebrow.

‘One second she was there and now she’s gone!’

‘Was it just like she disappeared?’ asked Amy. The girl nodded holding up the last few inches of a blue nylon leash.

‘The strange thing is I didn’t feel the lead snap and Mandy is a very docile dog. The last thing I remember was letting a little boy pat her but he couldn’t have been strong enough to do this.’

The Doctor gave her a serious look and then turned to Amy and lowered his tone. ‘He could have had scissors or some kind of knife.’

‘I saw a whole table of books disappear’ said Amy.

‘There’s not enough evidence to prove it could be extra terrestrial though’ he said then turned back to the girl making his voice a bit louder. ‘Don’t worry, I’m sure Mandy and the boy haven’t gone too far. Just look around the park for them.’ But he cautiously looked passed the girl and onto the ground. ‘Could you step back a bit?’ he asked taking his screwdriver and scanning the dark patch. He inspected the screwdriver by turning the nose to face him. ‘Traces of radiation’ he said.

‘Hey Doctor!’ called Rory, ‘speaking of things disappearing just take a look at who reappeared.’ He pointed at the long slender figure in a dusty blue blazer and dishevelled hair.

‘Oh Alex, you look terrible’ said the Doctor.

‘And you smell like a pub’ added Amy wrinkling her nose.

‘You’re both too kind’ he replied sarcastically. ‘Did I miss anything?’

‘Oh, nothing much just a table of books disappeared and a dog belonging to a young girl.’

‘Really? What did the girl say?’ asked Alex.

‘That it broke off her leash while she was holding onto it but she didn’t feel it.’

‘Well, I see the leash but where’s the girl?’

‘Well, she’s right over’ – said Amy turning around to the girl but all she found was empty space and a dirt covered lead on the grass. ‘Doctor, it happened again.’

‘I can see that, Amy’ he said.

‘It’s gotten awfully quiet too’ said Rory. He turned around to look at the children playing catch. They were gone too.

The Doctor started to walk around the park, first towards the couple on the blanket – gone. In fact everyone had left the park, even that tree in the corner.

‘The swing set is gone too’ said Amy, ‘and probably the kids that were on it.’

‘Sure are a lot of shadows but’ remarked Alex. He was right. There was a faint mark left over from the dog’s shadow and the swing set’s shadow looked unmistakable.

‘I did note that before, Alex’ snapped the Doctor.

‘If everything is disappearing in the park then maybe we should get the hell out of here’ suggested Rory.

‘Good idea, Rory’ replied the Doctor, picking up the leftover dog leash and scampering away from the park with his companions.

He reached into his pocket and took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the severed part of the dog leash. ‘Hmm, I’m getting an energy reading from this, a very small one.’

‘You mean like a weak nuclear force?’ asked Alex.

‘Yes Alex, that’s exactly what I mean. And not only that – this has to be the most finely cut piece of material I’ve ever seen – far too fine for a human to cut. It’s completely straight’ he said running a finger over it. Then he lifted the leash up to his lips and licked it and stuck his tongue out like a lizard as if to get the bad taste out if it. ‘Hmm, sort of like charcoal’ he said then seeing the disgusted faces of his companions decided to leave it at that.

‘Right, people are disappearing but leaving their shadows behind and I’ve got to work out why’ he said.

‘So we’re staying?’

‘We’re staying.’

‘Is it a bad time to reveal that I saw a water fountain disappear?’ asked Alex.

The Doctor turned to face him. There was the serious stern look he had given Alex all those years before. ‘Tell me exactly what happened.’

‘Well, I woke up in the park and I felt thirsty so I got up to look for some water’ explained Alex, omitting the ‘hung over part from his story. ‘I went to get a drink from the fountain and there was a kid there so I moved so he could take a photo, and then when I walked back through the park it was gone.’

‘Hmm interesting, it seems these disappearances happen around children’ thought the Doctor out loud. ‘Amy was there a child near the book shop?’

‘There were tonnes of kids running around that street so it could have been any of them.’

‘Wait, how are little kids making dogs, people and water fountains disappear?’ asked Rory. ‘No, really I’d like to know how anyone could make a water fountain disappear.’

‘I don’t know Rory but I’m going to find out’ stated the Doctor.

‘So what do we do now?’ asked Amy hopelessly.

The Doctor snapped his fingers in a sudden a-ha moment to respond. ‘We go to an art supply shop.’

‘Go to an art supply shop – why?’

‘I need to buy myself some graphite of course.’

‘Doctor, if this is about the pencils again’ –

‘Oh, Amy Pond when is not about the pencils?’ he replied quickening his already brisk pace, leaving his companions no choice but to run after him.

The Doctor didn’t carry Earth money on him so of course Amy got Rory to pay for the graphite and at the Doctor’s urging, a packets of breath mints for Alex. Alex of course cleaned himself up in a bathroom in the TARDIS and chose himself a temporary outfit from the Wardrobe Room. He didn’t realise it but he had chosen the same clothes his father David Campbell had once worn when he was the Doctor’s companion in the TARDIS.

Alex descended the stairs towards the main control room just in time to see the Doctor set up an easel-like structure beside the TARDIS console.

‘Nice easel – where did you get if from?’ he asked.

‘The storage room’ responded the Doctor without looking at him. He was layering the graphite sticks in a lattice pattern that looked like they were glued together with bits of chewing gum.

Alex cocked his head to the side in admiration of the structure like a contemporary art appreciator; however, like everything he experienced in the world, it reminded him of a science experiment. ‘It looks like you’re attempting a two-slit experiment’ he said.

‘Kind of, well, not really’ replied the Doctor, struggling to answer while he was busy at work. ‘Can you tell me why that is?’ he asked turning to look at Alex like a teacher testing the knowledge of his student.

‘Well for one you’re down two screens’ answered Alex.

‘Exactly Alex, which proves it’s not a two-slit experiment. Why would I even need to do a two-slit experiment? I know enough about the nature of light rays.’

‘It’s always good to go back to the basics’ shrugged Alex.

‘Yes it is’ agreed the Doctor pulling a square device down from the ceiling that looked like a stage light.

‘So you’ve got a lattice graphite display but you’re not trying to make an atom accelerator – or are you?’ asked Alex.

‘No need to; I’ve already got one’ replied the Doctor quickly, picking up some extension cords from the stage light and plugging it into the system scanner.

Alex crossed his arms and leant against the console and lifted his head up in deep thought. ‘They use graphite in place of silicon because of its higher conducting abilities and because it has the ability to change the state of other substances – but what has that got to prove about the disappearances?’

‘Firstly, the actual term is graphene and secondly – it’s got everything to do with it’ informed the Doctor activating the stage light making it cast bright yellow rays of light onto the graphene.  ‘Now graphene has some strange properties about it. Take a look at the screen’ he said tapping the glass of the scanner which was now acting as a microscope showing the arrangement of the graphene atoms. ‘On an atomic level the graphene is arranged in a honeycomb pattern and see those loops – physicists hate them – can’t stand them – so they fire electrons at it like I am with this light. Now just watch what happens next.’ He stood back with a satisfied grin on his face.

Alex leant in to take a closer look. Rory and Amy were even staring at the scanner despite the fact they barely understood two words in the Doctor’s and Alex’s conversation, but after a few minutes and because the Doctor sped up the process with his sonic screwdriver, they started to notice a difference.

‘Those loops are closing’ said Amy incredulously staring up at the Doctor.

‘Indeed they are’ he replied. ‘A process known as electron irradiation. And just watch this’ he said pinning the remains of the dog leash to the easel and aiming the light at the part that had been severed. They all stared at the scanner to see the finely cut area starting to change. On the screen the atoms just duplicated and grouped together, so the Doctor picked up the leash to inspect it and running a finger over it he revealed, ‘It’s healed over.’

‘What do you mean it’s healed over?’ asked Amy. ‘It’s just a piece of nylon.’

‘See for yourself’ he said handing her the leash. She ran her finger over the area.

‘It doesn’t look or feel cut at all. Almost as though it never was. Doctor, what does this mean?’

‘It means that the point of severing contains graphene which means that this weapon, or whatever it is that made those people disappear, uses electron irradiation.’

‘But hang on’ started Rory. ‘Now I may just be a nurse but I think I know enough to know that this electron irradation or whatever it is can’t just make objects and people disappear. It just changes the state of matter.’

‘Yes, you’re right Rory’ replied the Doctor and Rory couldn’t hide a smile at the compliment. ‘But I have seen a weapon that can not only make people disappear but can take them completely out of existence. But it was destroyed a long time ago. I should know; I destroyed it.’

‘But if it takes them out of existence how can we remember them?’ asked Rory, remembering when he was taken out of existence Amy had forgotten him.

‘A shadow of memory’ whispered the Doctor. ‘That’s it!’ he said louder clapping his hands together. ‘Those shadows left behind are the only evidence left that tells us that people were there. You know how I told you Rory that objects from the past can make us remember? That’s what the shadows are.’

‘Does that mean you can get them back?’ asked Alex, his eyes full of longing.

‘I don’t know yet but I will try’ admitted the Doctor then seconds later he jumped up and announced, ‘I’m going back to the site. Maybe I can find out more about those shadows’ he said darting out the door without asking the rest to join him, but they were used to that and followed after him.

When they found themselves back at the park it was sectioned off with police tape and inside stood uniformed police, along with the detectives in their smart suits and a few confused looking forensic experts with DSLR cameras around their necks.

‘What do they think they’re going to find?’ asked Amy.

A wide and clever grin spread across the Doctor’s face. ‘I think someone may need our help’ he said walking towards the park and stepping over the police tape.

‘This could be interesting’ remarked Amy following him, with Rory giving Alex an uncertain look as he too stepped over the police tape.

‘Hey, get back you lot! This is a police investigation’ demanded one of the detectives. He was thin and balding but with an authoritative glare in his eyes that demanded obedience.

‘I can see that’ replied the Doctor. ‘But just tell me how much do your forensic experts know about shadow theory?’

‘Shadow theory?’

‘Yes, ahh, permit me to introduce myself I’m John Smith; senior officer of Shadow Forensics’ he said flashing the detective a blank sheet of paper inside a leather case. ‘These are my associates – trainees really – Rory and Amy Pond’ Rory went to correct him but didn’t get the chance to, ‘and my photographer Alex – Alex, where’s your camera? Oh, he forgot it again.’ The Doctor slapped his forehead with a palm.

‘Oh, please forgive me Mr. Smith’ apologised the detective. ‘I’m D.I Hanes – Shadow Forensics you called it? I’ve never heard of it before.’

‘It’s a new field of forensics’ replied the Doctor. ‘It’s completely scientific’ he added, ‘although it may not seem like it but it’s got nothing to do with contacting a higher spiritual dimension of mind. I’m mean ghosts – come on.’ He rolled his eyes sarcastically.

‘That is good to hear’ replied D.I Hanes. ‘Oh and don’t you worry I’ll get Lawson to lend your boy his camera.’ He called over to a young fair haired man, unshaven and in civilian dress. The Doctor and Alex acknowledged him with half smiles and a nod of the head, while Rory seemed to narrow his eyes and Amy widened hers and gave a curious grin. ‘These people are from Shadow Forensics but need a camera; I have offered them yours for the day’ explained D.I Hanes.

Lawson gave them a suspicious look but handed over his bulky square-shaped camera. ‘Oh wow, full frame’ remarked Alex. ‘A bit of an old model though’ he remarked. Lawson shot him a puzzled look and Alex felt a nudge in his back from the Doctor.

‘It’s 2011, remember’ he reminded him.

D.I Hanes was eagerly waiting to see what these forensic experts would do.  The senior officer was pointing a strange light up pen on the shadows which he assured him was a new type of ultra light scanner that kept the information stored into the device. But the most disturbing thing this expert did according to Hanes happened when he pressed a finger on the ground inside the shadow and then put the finger into his mouth, holding it in there for a few seconds.

‘I think what is really puzzling us at the moment is not why there are only shadows remaining but just who took these people and where they’ve gone’ explained D.I Hanes eyeing the Doctor.

‘You’re not curious at all about these shadows?’ asked the Doctor after taking the finger out of his mouth.

‘Well I am but people are much more important than shadows.’

‘You think that?’ said the Doctor spinning around quickly to face him. ‘I think they’re just both as important as the other because without a person there is no shadow and without a shadow there is no person – except here.’ He looked around cautiously then smacked his lips together. ‘Eugh, I can’t stand the taste of metal.’

‘You have a metallic taste in your mouth – why?’

‘Because those shadows are emitting low levels of radiation’ replied the Doctor. ‘Now why could that be?’

‘I have no idea’ confessed D.I Hanes.

Alex came running up to them from across the park. ‘The camera’s not focusing on the shadows.’

‘Then just press the auto button if you can’t work manual’ instructed the Doctor.

‘Lawson said the same thing and he’s one of the most experienced photographers I’ve ever had.’

‘That’s strange; it should just be empty space’ murmured the Doctor walking off to again inspect the shadows. He placed a flat palm on one of them. It was warm. ‘Probably just the radiation’ he whispered.

‘So you’re back now’ said Rory.

‘I guess so’ replied Alex.

‘All good then’ he muttered gazing up at Amy.

Alex let out a chuckle. ‘Don’t worry I’m not going to steal your girlfriend.’

‘Wife.’

‘Wife then. Even if I wanted to I’m hopeless with women.’

‘I thought I was too’ revealed Rory.

‘You did alright.’

‘Yeah well, but I got to admit I do feel threatened by you pretty boys.’

‘It’s a disguise’ informed Alex. ‘Underneath it I’m just as weird as him’ he said pointing to the Doctor.

‘Hey, I do alright with the ladies’ he said, once again holding onto the dog leash.

Alex leaned in to whisper to Rory, ‘I’m sure they just find him irresistible when he shows them that manky dog leash.’ Rory giggled.

‘What are you two talking about?’ asked Amy.

‘Oh, just guy stuff’ said Rory.

Amy raised an eyebrow. ‘Guy stuff? It’s either sports or girls.’

‘Sports? I hate sports’ said Alex making a face.

‘You’re talking about girls?’

‘Yeah, I’m giving him dating advice’ replied Rory.

‘You think that’s a good idea?

‘Thanks Amy’ replied Rory sarcastically.

‘You’re welcome’ she returned and then turned to cross the room to see how the Doctor was doing. ‘So Doctor, have it worked it out yet?’

‘It’s got something to do with this dog leash’ he said holding it up and shaking it. ‘Why is it that dozens of people can disappear whole but this part of the dog leash didn’t?’

Amy shrugged just as Rory came up to them. ‘I thought maybe we could all go out for a drink, you know, to wind down.’

‘That’s a surprising idea coming from you’ remarked Amy.

‘Oh, it’s for Alex more than me.’

‘Just make sure he doesn’t drink too much’ instructed the Doctor.

‘You’re not coming, Doctor?’

‘Oh no, I need to work on things but you three are free to go out. Just keep an eye on him’ he waved a hand towards Alex. ‘He’s always getting himself into trouble.’

5. The King’s Army

Alex, Rory and Amy decided to go out for drinks at King’s Arm hotel while the Doctor stayed behind in the TARDIS to mull over the information he discovered today.

As they entered the hotel he saw her again. ‘Hi Lisa’ he greeted. ‘Don’t worry I’m not going to bother you. I’m just having a night out with my friends.’

‘I thought you said you didn’t have any friends’ replied Lisa.

‘A lot can happen in a day’ replied Alex before joining Amy and Rory at a table on the other side of the room.

‘Is that the girl?’ asked Rory.

‘What girl?’

‘Oh, come on Alex. It’s obvious you like her’ replied Amy.

‘Yeah well, she doesn’t return the favour’ he replied glumly.

‘That’s her loss’ replied Amy but she was suddenly distracted by something on the TV above their heads. ‘Hey, that’s that Henry Wilkes guy’ she said pointing at it.

Rory let out a groan. ‘Oh, here we go again.’

‘What?’ said Alex, wanting to be filled in.

‘Henry Wilkes is CEO of the DAVIC Corporation that make cute little helper robots that Amy wants me to buy her’ explained Rory curtly.

Amy tried to shush him with a wave of her hand. ‘Oh I don’t want you to buy me one. I just think they’re adorable.’

They all turned their heads up to watch the TV.

‘Good evening, Matt Kelly here reporting for Science NOW TV. We have Henry Wilkes here; the CEO and brains behind the DAVIC Corporation that specialise in some groundbreaking new technologies’ explained Matt. ‘Now Mr. Wilkes, we already have crisp clear digital high definition TV as well as 3D TV so what is their left to add to that?’

‘I’m glad you asked that question, Matt’ responded Henry. Rory shot Amy a look but she tried to ignore him as Henry went on. ‘We here at DAVIC are all about interaction between people and our products’ said Henry. ‘You may be aware that we just released our first series of VRDE Helpbots.’

‘Yes, such an incredible creation’ exclaimed Matt. ‘Robots that can actually think for themselves by using wavelengths similar to how our brains work. We’ll show some video of them in action later in show. But do tell us about this new invention. It’s going to be a big one, yes?’

‘Oh yes, this is going to mark a new age of digital technology’ began Henry. ‘These days information can be accessible from everywhere. You can have the internet not only on your computer but mobile phones, even your refrigerator. But what we are getting less of is social interaction. Now DAVIC’s next product will solve this problem with virtual reality communication or VRC.’

‘Virtual reality communication – you mean like calling someone from the other side of the world and being able to see them as though they are in your own living room?’ asked Matt excitedly.

‘That’s exactly what I’m saying Matt, but we’re not just stopping there. As a little spoiler exclusively to your viewers only I can reveal that we’re also working on virtual reality television sets, so now the viewer can take part in their favourite programs.’

‘Well, you’ve left me speechless Mr. Wilkes’ stammered Matt. ‘It’s been a great pleasure talking with you but we’re running out of time’ he turned to face the camera. ‘Stay tuned for some video clips of the VRDE Helpbots in action. I’m Matt Kelly for Science NOW, good night.’

The screen changed to show the VRDE Helpbots dancing on stage then changed again to show them serving meals to the scientists who had worked on them to a scene with one of them playing chess.

‘Well, that was interesting’ remarked Alex with a look that suggested otherwise.

Amy shot him a disapproving look. ‘I’m so sorry, Mr. 2060 that our new inventions don’t please you.’

‘Oh well, you’re getting there’ he replied taking gulp from his glass. ‘All gone, I’ll go get another. You guys want anything while I’m up?’

‘How is it that alien boy can afford anything?’ she asked.

‘I have my ways’ he smirked then added, ‘you just lost yourself a free drink’ and he walked up to the bar.

On his way he noticed Lisa was being hassled by a burly man with a shaved head. ‘She’s not interested mate’ he said leaning over to him.

‘No one asked for your opinion, pretty boy’ he spat.

‘That’s a pity, because I do have an opinion on everything.’ The man ignored Alex and turned back to Lisa. Alex reached out and grabbed his arm. ‘Seriously, leave her alone.’ The man pushed him away and hit him across the face, making him stumble but not fall.

‘That was a mistake’ seethed Alex.

‘What are you going to do then?’ teased the man.

Alex put a hand into his jacket pocket and drew out a small but long bronze object. He pressed it and it made a high pitched whine and emitted a dense line of yellow light.

‘Is that your light sabre?’ laughed the man. Alex aimed the device at his chest making the man scream out in pain.

‘What the bloody hell was that?!’ he yelled after he recovered from the shot, his friends now getting up to defend him. Lisa looked at Alex terrified as Amy and Rory got to their feet to approach him, who was now aiming the laser screwdriver back and forward between the group of angry men.

‘Right, now I’m going to give you a choice!’ shouted Alex. ‘I could either turn this laser up to its highest setting burning you all alive from the inside out or you could just walk away. The choice is yours.’

The men backed down with their hands raised and sat back down. ‘I was just having a little joke’ the shaved headed man said. Alex gave him a cold as ice stare. Then he looked up to see the bar staff gawking at him.

‘Ohh’ uttered Alex, pocketing the laser and fumbling with the Time Vortex Manipulator on his watch. ‘Where’s a blister pack of Recton when I need one?’ he said to himself quietly. Then he slammed a hand down on the device and disappeared into blue light.

‘I should have expected something like this from someone that is a relative of the Doctor’ said Amy. She watched as Lisa ran out of the hotel and got up to follow her, with Rory reluctantly joining a few seconds later.

‘Alex, where are you?’ called Lisa. She had run up the road from the hotel and was near an alley just as a figure stepped out of the shadows; Alex. Rory put out his arm to stop Amy from getting too close to them.

‘Believe me now?’ asked Alex. He spoke in an impassive tone.

‘Yes’ she replied with a nervous laugh. ‘What was that thing you used?’

‘It was a laser screwdriver. I’m not proud to have used it but I would have’ he trailed off then quickly added, ‘I can teleport too.’

‘Just who are you?’

‘I told you already’ he replied in the same tone.

Lisa walked closer to him but as she did a group of people jumped them and covered their faces with damp cloths and threw them into a van. It all happened so quickly that Rory and Amy could only watch.

Alex woke up on the floor of an upper class living room with couches, a fireplace and doors leading to even more rooms. The only object in this house that didn’t exactly fit was a large oval shaped device. That and the bar staff were standing over Alex and Lisa. They forced them to their feet and dragged Alex over to the device.

‘Is that a progenitor?’ he asked frantically.

‘It’s a type of progenitor that we modified’ answered one of them.

‘What are the bar staff from the King’s Arm hotel doing with a progenitor? How do they even know what it is?’

‘Oh, we know a lot more than you’ll ever guess, Alex; great grandson of the Doctor.’

Alex widened his eyes in horror. ‘What do you even need with me?’ he asked.

‘Oh, you will soon see’ responded the bartender forcing Alex’s arm into a tube-like device on the machine.

‘Eugh!’ exclaimed Alex wincing in pain. ‘It’s taking a tissue sample from me. Then he finally realised what was about to happen. ‘Oh no, no, no, no, no.’

The progenitor made a lot of noise and released a lot of smoke. It opened in the middle with two sides sliding apart. Alex could not see through all the smoke but could make out an arm. The bartender passed a robe to it and seconds later the robed figure of a blonde haired man with a manically evil grin walked out.

‘Oh no, not him’ begged Alex, ‘anyone but him.’ One of the bar staff removed his arm from the device and pulled him back, still holding onto to him but Alex was so frozen with terror that he didn’t even think about escaping, just staring at the figure that had taken his memories from him as a child and tricked him to help him with his evil plans.

‘Let go of him!’ the Master ordered impassively. The bartender holding onto him released him from his grip.

‘Oh Alex, my you’ve grown and who’s your friend?’ asked the Master cheerfully.

‘Don’t you dare touch her’ he warned.

The cheery smile spread across the Master’s face changed to one of surprise. ‘Is she your girlfriend?’

‘Uh no, she’s Lisa, just a friend.’

The Master’s smile dropped. ‘Oh, it figures. You’re so much like the Doctor in that you find these lovely girls and it never crosses your mind to have a bit of fun with them. How is gramps by the way?’

‘He’s different’ replied Alex.

‘Different?’

‘He regenerated – new face.’

‘Oh yes, he does do that a lot, doesn’t he?’ responded the Master. ‘I should do that myself but why would I? Just look at me.’

‘Master, are you behind these disappearances? Did you make my mum disappear?’

‘How could you accuse me of such things? I was just born not even a minute ago and already I’m being interrogated. No, Alex I did not make anyone disappear nor do I know how they disappeared. But I’m sure the Doctor would be able to figure it out.’

‘What do you mean you were just born?’

‘Being brought backed to life with a progenitor is different’ said the Master with a grin. ‘You start back on page one which means I’m back at the start of my regenerative cycle – an extra twelve lives.’ He stepped closer to Alex so that they were face to face. ‘Your TARDIS boy – where is it?’

‘Ha, like I’m going to tell you!’ he spat. ‘So tell me, what are your plans for world domination this time?’

‘No, it’s my time to talk now’ replied the Master. ‘Didn’t I tell you the last time you saw me that I was going to punish you? Oh but you made some quip about me being chained up. Well the chains are off and so now has come the time for you to be punished’ he said administering a punch into Alex stomach making him bow forward and clench his stomach in pain. But the Master was staring at his arm and flexing it, ‘I guess the muscles aren’t fully functional yet’ he said and went to give orders to his servants except before he could utter one word his body began to jerk and he let out unpleasant gasping sounds, collapsing to the ground with one hand clenched over one of his hearts.

Alex immediately dipped his hand into his jacket pocket and extracted the laser screwdriver firing it at the bar staff, dealing almost fatal blows to the ones still holding onto Lisa. They screamed out in pain when they were hit and let go of Lisa to hold their wounds.

‘What’s happening to him?’ she gasped when she had run over to him.

‘He’s still regenerating – I’ll explain later – we need to get out of here quickly!’ He adjusted the settings on his Time Vortex manipulator again. ‘Come on, Doctor, get this signal’ he begged.

‘No, stop them!’ bellowed the Master shakily getting to his feet but he had another attack this time making regenerative energy escape his mouth. The next moment he looked up he saw Alex and Lisa disappear.

6. Interview with a CEO

The Doctor looked up startled at the two people that suddenly appeared inside his TARDIS. ‘Alex, you sent the distress signal?’

‘Yes I did’ he responded quickly with a fervent nod of the head.

‘Who’s your friend?’ asked the Doctor noticing Lisa standing beside his grandson.

‘I’m Lisa’ she said. ‘But oh my god, where are we? It’s like a massive ship or something!’

‘You should see it from the outside’ grinned Alex.

‘Alright Alex, let’s have it; what kind of trouble have you got yourself into now?’ asked the Doctor crossing his arms in expectation.

‘He’s back’ was all Alex said.

‘Who’s back?’

‘The Master’s back’ elaborated Alex.

The Doctor shook his head while speaking, ‘No, no, that’s impossible. There’s no way that he can return. I told you he is gone for good.’

‘Oh yeah, well take a look at this’ demanded Alex lifting up his hand to reveal a straight cut.

‘Someone has taken a tissue sample from you’ replied the Doctor thoughtfully. ‘That still doesn’t mean the Master is back.’

‘It does if the progenitor was modified for a specific resurrection’ corrected Alex then he raised his tone spacing out every word to emphasise them. ‘I saw him return.’

The Doctor noted the look of terror in his grandson’s eyes. Then he pressed a finger to his lips in deep thought. Then he let out an exasperated sigh. ‘OK, so he’s returned but the thing is he was sent back to Gallifrey the day it was destroyed – so how can he still be alive?’

‘It’s my DNA, remember? When the Master put the telekinetic manipulator on me his DNA transferred into mine and extrapolated with it, making him able to control me.’ He gave the Doctor an anxious look. ‘What if it happens again?’

‘Don’t worry Alex, I’ll make sure he doesn’t’ reassured the Doctor.

‘By not letting me out of your sight again?’ replied Alex raising an eye brow.

‘Oh, I think you’re old enough to do the right thing’ he replied. ‘Just try to fight it this time.’ Then he changed his tone to much more cheery one and said, ‘Anyway, welcome Lisa to the TARDIS. I’m the Doctor, that’s Amy and Rory over there and you’ve met my grandson Alex – oops, I mean my little brother Alex. Yes, there’s a whole world in here – it’s bigger on the inside’ – he jabbered on like that for awhile.

‘There’s another thing, Doctor’ said Alex when he had a chance to speak. ‘The Master told me that he got all his regenerations back. He said he was just born and right now I think that he’s not very strong but once he is I know he’ll be planning something huge.’

‘Don’t worry about that yet’ soothed the Doctor. ‘Just keep an eye out for anything odd happening – wars between Humans and alien dogs and Dalek spaceships in the sky.’

Later on when they were all getting to know Lisa more Rory leant over to Alex and whispered, ‘Hopeless with women? Pfft, you did alright.’

‘We were kind of kidnapped together so it’s not like we had a choice.’

‘Sounds like to me that you rather she didn’t have one’ he replied grinning.

Amy was talking to Lisa. ‘So, how are you dealing with all of this?’

‘I’m getting used to it’ replied Lisa. ‘The first time I met Alex he kind of blurted it all out anyway.’

‘Typical man doesn’t know when to keep his trap closed’ snorted Amy. ‘Well, not a full man – alien – half-alien.’

‘I still can’t believe that he is an alien’ remarked Lisa looking at Alex.

‘I sometimes think that with the Doctor until he opens his mouth’ said Amy. ‘Or he asks me how he should act to pass for human.’

The Doctor stared at them all tutting. ‘Right, the Master is back and people are disappearing and you four are sitting around conversing – such humans.’

Alex got to his feet and approached the console to join the Doctor. ‘Sorry Doctor, had a bit of an eventful night.’

‘Ah, that’s alright.’

‘Did you work anything else out?’

‘No, I can’t make any sense out of it’ he sighed.

‘I don’t know if it will help but I saw an interview on the TV in the pub with Henry Wilkes.’

‘The CEO of the DAVIC Corporation?’ said the Doctor with a raised eyebrow, ‘go on.’

‘He’s about to unveil a virtual reality TV set so I thought that maybe he could have something to do with the disappearances or at least knows what technology could be used to make them disappear.’

‘Oh Alex, you really are my grandson’ he replied. ‘It’s a long stretch but I think it’s time we paid Henry Wilkes a visit.’

The Doctor ran up the stairs and into the store room and began to shuffle through boxes, drawers and cupboards, creating a mess at his feet after he carelessly threw all the items he removed to the floor.

‘What’s he doing now?’ asked Amy.

‘I think he wants to talk to Henry Wilkes but I’m not sure what he’s trying to find’ replied Alex over the noise the Doctor’s search was making.

The Doctor eventually descended the stairs carrying two electronic devices. One was a silver Dictaphone and the other was a black and silver camera.

‘Who wants to be a photographer this time?’ he asked.

‘What for?’

‘We’re going to be proper journalists when we interview Henry Wilkes.’

‘But that’s a lomo camera’ said Alex. ‘Photo journalists do not use lomo’s – they use full frame digital SLR’s with great big white lenses.’

‘Well, the journalists at TARDIS magazine use lomos’ replied the Doctor.

‘TARDIS magazine – really?’ scoffed Rory.

‘Yes, it could stand for umm…Technology and Reviews of Digital Interactive Solutions.’

‘Wouldn’t that be TARODIS?’

‘Now don’t be silly – oh wait – perfect! After all he might know about the TARDIS’ replied the Doctor thoughtfully.

The Doctor’s companions were still unsure about the plan even when they were standing in front of the DAVIC building. It rose up like a white skyscraper with and innumerate amount of blue windows, towering above the neighbouring buildings which looked less impressive beside it. Even if those buildings were the offices of the Mirror newspaper and a satellite TV channel.

‘DAVIC: the dawn of a new digital age – move over you dusty newspapers and non-interactive satellite networks – the 21^st century has arrived’ announced the Doctor craning his neck up at the building.

‘I couldn’t have said it better myself’ replied a man suddenly standing next to him. ‘Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. I’m Henry Wilkes’ –

‘CEO of the DAVIC Corporation’ finished the Doctor. ‘Just the man we wanted to see.’

‘And how may I help you – sorry didn’t catch your name?’

‘I’m the Doctor, senior journalist of TARODIS magazine – that’s a new technology magazine and these are my associates Alex and Amy – oh and our new work experience kid, Rory. He couldn’t afford the right camera.’

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you – Doctor was it?’ he said shaking his hand.

‘They call me the Doctor of journalism because they look up to me. I’m a bit of a legend to these kids’ he replied, not daring to turn around to see the disapproving expressions on his companions faces.

‘Well, you can conduct the interview in my office. It’s much more comfortable than outside in this frost’ suggested Henry.

He led them all inside the building passing a front desk and into an elevator. ‘I don’t think you’d prefer walking up all those steps to the seventeenth floor.’

‘Seventeen, gosh, this is a tall building’ remarked the Doctor quietly.

A few minutes later the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. Henry led the traveller’s up a corridor adorned with photographs of his products on the wall including the Helpbot, a videogame console and a mobile phone.

Henry sat down in leather armed chair behind his desk. ‘So, shoot’ he said to start the interview. ‘Oh Royce, was it? Could you leave the photographs to later? I just hate photos of me in the middle of a speech.’

‘It’s Rory actually’ –

‘He’s be delighted to’ interrupted the Doctor. ‘So tell us about this virtual reality TV’ he said leaning forward intently clasping his hands together.

‘You don’t waste your time do you? Oh, I’m sorry but I really can’t reveal too much’ informed Henry.

‘Just give us the basic idea’ said the Doctor rocking back in expectation.

‘Well, as the name suggests it is a very interactive way of watching TV. Viewers will have the chance for the first time not only to play games or choose what they prefer to watch with multi-view but they can decide just what will happen on television because they will actually be a part of it.’

‘Hmm, interesting but what’s the science behind it?’

‘Oh, we can’t reveal that, Doctor. There are so many companies wanting to copy us and release virtual reality TV before us. But I will say to you, off the record of course, that it does involve a much higher understanding of physics.’

‘Oh, completely off the record’ agreed the Doctor. ‘And I think I know what you mean by a higher understanding of physics.’ He touched his nose as if to say ‘your secret is safe with me.’

‘So tell me about any of your other products; the Helpbot for example.’

‘Haha, everyone loves them, don’t they?’ The Doctor tried to suppress a groan, while Rory gave an unpleasant face but then covered it by checking the camera settings. ‘The Helpbots are our favourites at DAVIC too. They almost feel to us like little people too because they are off course capable of thinking and learning for themselves. That’s why your associate and photographer saw one walking the aisle in one of our stores. A mind of one’s own can get them into a lot of trouble.’

The Doctor shot a look to Alex. ‘Tell me about it.’ Then he faced Henry again. ‘Doesn’t it ever concern you that having a mind of its own might lead to it disobeying or worse?’

‘Aha, the old doomsday scenario; where the robots become so autonomous that they try to take over the human race. No Doctor, they have an empathy chip installed so if they hurt a person they always regret it. But in our tests none of them ever wanted to harm us; always asked us what purpose it would achieve’ he leant back and sighed, ‘If only the human race were as logical as that.’

‘If you still don’t believe me the Ealing Theatre Group has allowed us to demonstrate the Helpbots by making them take up some I guess you could call it, work experience,’ he lifted his eyes to look straight at Rory, ‘at the Castle Theatre on Bakers Road. Oh and by the Royce, you should pop down to your nearest electronics store and pick up our new range of Tecat SLR’s. No film or flash memory cards – just a laser that can transmit the images to the device of your choice.’

‘Well, thank you very much Mr. Wilkes’ said the Doctor. ‘I think we got enough information. We’ll be getting out of your hair.’ He shook Henry’s hand and headed for the door.

‘Oh, what about the photo?’ asked Henry.

The Doctor frowned at him in confusion at first but then he remembered, so turning to Rory he said. ‘Well get on with it, Royce.’

The traveller’s were standing in the reception area when Amy noticed a flyer on the receptionist’s desk. What’s this then?’ she asked even though she read the headline revealing it was a school’s Christmas play rendition of the Birth of Jesus.

‘We are helping put out the word because our Helpbots are being demonstrated that night’ replied the secretary.

‘Hmm, twenty-first of December’ murmured Amy, ‘Is that tonight?’

‘No dear, tomorrow night.’

‘Well, thanks for that, I might check it out.’

‘Not at all, have a nice day dear’ replied the secretary warmly.

‘Amy, come on!’ called the Doctor, so she waved the secretary goodbye and followed him out the door. She handed him the flyer.

‘What’s that?’ he asked looking at it upside down.

‘The Christmas play that the Helpbots are staffing’ she replied. ‘Thought it might be a good idea to suss it out.’

‘Suss it out?’ he repeated looking puzzled but then, ‘Oh, Amy Pond, you’re a genius.’

‘I know.’

7. For the Good of the Party

Prime Minister Robert Clarke hung up the phone in his office at 10. Downing St. Despite only being in his fifties with hardly a grey hair on his head he looked tired and weary. Sitting opposite him was his young and loyal Deputy Leader Sam Pramiste, and at times like these, the only cabinet minister he could trust.

‘It seems that the Minister for Health thinks he has authority enough to inform me that he and other Ministers have arranged a surprise meeting’ he informed.

Sam leant forward to the Prime Minister and gave him a look of concern. ‘You look a bit put out by the news, Prime Minister.’

‘Well, we all know what it’s going to be about – they want me to stand down.’

‘Now Bobby I think you’re being a bit melodramatic there’ replied Sam calmly, almost giving a disbelieving chuckle. ‘You must have faith in your ministers.’

‘They all blame me for the way the economy is going. It’s because of those damn Tories and the media are telling them what to think!’

‘That’s their problem then’ he replied. ‘Look, if it wasn’t for Labour’s spending families, schools and people with disabilities would be worse off. Sure, there was some money that got wasted in the process but at least we tried, right?’

‘Yes, you’re right, Sam’ agreed the Prime Minister. ‘But you’re the only one. My own Party doesn’t support me.’

‘So let’s re-shuffle the cabinet then’ suggested Sam deviously, although he was not letting on. ‘I mean if your own cabinet doesn’t support you then the work of government will never get done.’

The Prime Minister looked into the eyes of his Deputy Leader and immediately all doubt was washed away. ‘Yes, you are absolutely right. I’m no longer stepping on eggshells around those MP’s anymore! If they don’t like my policies then I’ll find myself some MP’s that do!’

‘Oh, wise choice Prime Minister’ applauded Sam leaning back into his chair. ‘I suppose I’ll head to this meeting then’ he decided. ‘I’ll try to calm them down before you enter’ he said standing up from his seat.

‘What would I ever do without you, Sam?’ said the Prime Minister smiling up at him.

‘I believe the question is, Prime Minister, what would I ever do without you?’ He smiled and left the office.

Sam entered the cabinet meeting room. A long wooden table filled the white bare room, with Labour Ministers sitting on each side of it. After Sam took his seat between the Minister of Finance Alfred Walton and Minister of Education Christine Kirsch, the finger pointing and name blaming had immediately started, or perhaps, continued.

‘We’ve got to pay off a twenty million debt and we’re still in the middle of the recession, so what does Prime Minister Clarke do? Oh, he just throws more money toward renewable energy’ complained the Minister for Finance.

‘And to make up for this he’s putting a price on carbon’ said another MP.

‘The money he is giving to boost services such as education and health have barely made any difference’ added the Health Minister.

‘He’s not even batting an eyelid to these disappearances too. He’s tried to hide the fact that they are much more suspicious than other missing people cases’ –

‘Now Christine, don’t you think you’re being a bit fanciful there?’ said Sam. ‘Oh, but you’re absolutely right’ agreed Sam. They all stopped and stared at him stunned. ‘I mean about the money wasting and unfair taxes, not the conspiracy theories’ he added.

‘But you’re he’s right hand man’ said the Minister of Finance. ‘We thought you would have his back.’

‘Yes, but I’m not blind. Clearly the Prime Minister has forgotten about his people including his own party’ he replied.

‘The only person he will listen to is you’ said the Health Minister.

Sam feigned a shocked expression. ‘Really? Well, what do you want me to say to him?’ he asked.

‘Tell him to stop this carbon tax for one. We’re losing voters’ he suggested.

‘That’s very true’ said the Finance Minister. ‘If we were to have an election tomorrow we would be beaten by the Tories by a landslide.’

‘It would be nice if he would get us to approve policy before he announces it too’ added the Education Minister.

Sam pretended to look like he was seriously taking all these suggestions in for careful consideration.

‘Alright, all these suggestions are great but I just don’t know if he would listen to me’ he said. ‘You know what he is like.’ The whole cabinet nodded in agreement. ‘So I purpose we do a ballot, right here right now about who we think should be the next leader of the Labour Party.’

‘Isn’t that decision at bit rash?’ asked the Finance Minister.

Sam pretended to look hurt. ‘Well, there goes my vote to you, Alfie’ he said, pretending to draw a line through an invisible ballot paper.

‘Well, I didn’t say it was a horrible idea’ he said, retracting from his last sentence.

‘Alright, so let’s all take a moment to give some consideration to who we think would make an ideal leader’ instructed Sam, but as he spoke the door opened and in stepped Prime Minister Clarke so Sam made a movement with his hand to say ‘just forget about what I said’ and stood up to welcome the Prime Minister in.

After Sam sat back down the Prime Minister addressed them all. ‘I know why you are all here’ he said. ‘You all want me to stand down’ –

‘Now, Prime Minister with all due respect we think it’s best for the Party that you stand down so we can work towards winning back some of our voters that have crossed for the first time in their lives to the coalition’ said the Treasurer.

‘Is this what this is all about – popularity? I expected this type of gossiping to come from the Tories at the back of the House but from my own ministers?’ he stopped and took a moment to look at them all as if it was the last time he would see them. ‘I’m dissolving this cabinet – all expect for Minister Pramriste’ he said, then turning on his heel he left the room.

Sam’s expression turned to one of bewilderment. ‘What? I just – I – I did not except that. You’ve got to believe me that I had nothing to do with this’ he stammered at them.

‘Now’s your chance, Sam’ said the Minister of Health enthusiastically.

‘My chance for what?’ asked Sam, pretending to look confused.

‘Now’s your chance to get Clarke to stand down. You’re our only chance of winning Labour a second term.’

‘But how can I? I’m just one man’ he said.

‘We’ve got your back’ he replied motioning for the other ministers to nod in agreement. ‘Just make sure you do it before another cabinet is set up.’

Sam stood up, receptively nodding, as if to think all this through. Finally he got to his feet and declared. ‘Oh I will and I will make sure that every one of you will once again have positions as ministers for my government.’

8. A Christmas Play

Alex and Rory were searching through dinner jackets in the Wardrobe room at the Doctor’s request because he had specifically told Rory that no hoods under denim are to be worn to the theatre outing tonight. He had also said it was quite frosty out so Alex was looking for a warm coat to wear.

‘You know I can’t believe it’s only four days until Christmas’ said Rory, ‘and I still don’t know what to get Amy.’

‘I don’t know what I’m supposed to get a girl I just met’ said Alex thinking of Lisa.

Rory now picked up a multi-coloured multi-stitched scarf and spend a good minute pulling it out it to see where it would end. ‘There’s no end to this thing’ he remarked.

‘You could always go with the vest with question marks on it’ suggested Alex, ‘or this jacket with – is that a celery stick?’

‘Yes, that is a celery stick’ replied Rory frowning.

‘Who would wear ever these outfits?’

‘I’ll give you a guess who.’

Alex was once again wearing his blue blazer and black jeans, fresh from the laundry – wherever that was. He picked up a long dark blue coat – a few shades darker than his own blazer – and folded it in half over his arm. ‘That should do me for tonight.’ He then picked out a long beige coat and handed it to Rory. ‘What do you think?’

Rory took the coat and tried it on. ‘How do I look?’

‘Like Dick Tracy’ commented Alex, ‘here’s the hat to go with it’ he added tossing Rory a similar coloured bowler hat. Rory tried it on then seconds later took it off.

‘I still need some clothes to wear under that’ said Rory.

‘Hmm, I’ll find something for you’ replied Alex with a smirk.

‘Just don’t dress me up in anything too ridiculous’ he pleaded.

‘Now why would I do that?’ asked Alex feigning a shocked face while holding a feathered hat.

He had actually chosen Rory a smart black suit with a dark shirt and tie and remarked to Rory that he would look like Anthony Dinozzo but Rory didn’t know who that was.

When Rory started to change into it he heard the chatter of two females at the door. ‘Hey, I’m getting changed here.’

‘We know’ replied Amy coming closer. She waved a hand over the clothes hanging on the rack. ‘But unlike you boys’ we’re actually excited to be dressing up to go to the theatre tonight.’

Alex and Rory left while the girls’ chose out their outfits and got changed. They joined the Doctor in the console room to while they waited for the girls’ to get changed. He was leaning against the console, arms folded and with a patient but expectant expression.

‘So, how come you didn’t change then?’ asked Rory, pointing at the usual tweediness of the Doctor’s jacket and the bowtie and boots. The Doctor pointed a finger to himself with a look of puzzlement.

‘Do I need to? I’ve got my bowtie and my best jacket’ –

‘With elbow patches’ added Rory. The Doctor just shook his head at him.

‘But won’t you be cold?’ asked Alex.

‘Nah, I can barely feel the cold’ he replied. ‘Time Lord, remember?’

‘Oh that’s right, I’m only half’ muttered Alex.

Predictably, it took Amy and Lisa a couple of hours to get dressed and put on their make-up, although, how much time was spent on actually choosing and then changing their minds on the outfits was anyone’s guess.

Amy climbed down the stairs first wearing a red cotton dress to go with her red hair and heels, and a black cardigan, while Lisa wore a chequered black and white cotton dress with a red ribbon belt and a double breasted blue overcoat, also matching her heels.

‘Wow, Amy you look amazing’ announced Rory, ‘but will you be warm enough?’

‘Probably not but you’ve got that big coat to warm me up.’

‘Oh, right, right.’

Alex went to say something to Lisa but the Doctor interrupted him by saying, ‘Right, we all ready to go then?’

The Castle Theatre building had an interesting exterior. The front part of it was made up of curved brick walls at the top and stretched down vertically like a cylinder. It was square in the middle but towards the back the loading dock was triangular and opened like a hungry mouth. The whole building looked like some sort of 1960s futuristic tower with a medieval feel about it.

When the traveller’s approached the entry way they were immediately greeted by two Helpbots which politely opened the double doors for them and wished them a nice night. The Doctor mumbled something like ‘it’s going to be a long night.’

As they entered they found themselves in a spacious foyer with a high ceiling, a seating area where patrons could sit while enjoying a meal before the show from the café, which thankfully wasn’t staffed by any Helpbots.

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief at that and joined his companion’s on the black leather lounges but then became startled when he heard a voice ask, ‘Would you like some tea?’

He glared at the Helpbot. ‘You know I really don’t like it when robots ask me if I would like tea’ he replied through gritted teeth.

‘No, nothing for us yet’ said Amy more politely, and the Helpbot walked off.

‘Interesting architecture’ commented Alex. ‘Its movements are just like a human’s.’

‘I’m going to get a coffee’ decided the Doctor suddenly springing to his feet. ‘Does anyone want a coffee?’ he heard replies of ‘yes’ but then Amy asked;

‘Just how are you going to pay for them?’

‘I didn’t think of that.’

‘Alex, got any money left?’ she asked.

‘Ah, yeah sure’ he replied reaching into his jacket and quickly shoving it into the Doctor’s hand before he could look at it.

But he did. ‘Alex this is psychic money’ he said with a disapproving frown. ‘Oh you little – still, it may have to do.’

The Doctor approached the barrister and told them his order without looking at them because he was much too preoccupied looking at the sweets on display. ‘I’ll just get five coffees thanks. Umm, let’s see; two decaf, one cappuccino, one Chai Latte and as for me I’ll have the lot – no sugars for all – I think – wait’ he turned back to ask his companion’s if they wanted sugar.

‘Any cream with that, sweetie?’ asked the barrister. The Doctor stopped dead and forgot whether his companions wanted sugar or not.

He looked up at the barrister slowly. There she was dark skinned, curly haired, round-eyed, wearing a red sleeveless vest over a white blouse, with the Castle Theatre logo knitted into it; his old companion but still a complete mystery to him.

‘River, what are you doing here?’

‘The same reason as you; investigating these Helpbots’ she replied. ‘I thought I’d find you here because I remembered how much robot servants annoy you so much.’

‘I told you that?’ he asked.

‘M’hmm’ she returned.

‘Hey River!’ called Amy from the lounge.

River smiled and waved back to her then snatched the blank pieces of paper from the Doctor’s hand. ‘Oh, what have we got here then? Someone’s been a naughty boy, but don’t worry – drinks are on the house.’

The Doctor returned to the lounges with River helping to carry the drinks. She effortlessly handed everyone the coffee they ordered. ‘And a very curious one for the Doctor’ she concluded passing him his drink. ‘Oh, hi there Alex’ she added.

‘You know Alex?’ asked the Doctor turning to her then he concluded, ‘Yes, of course you do.’

‘We met not long ago actually’ added Alex.

‘Oh, so you both have actually met!’ exclaimed the Doctor.

‘Yeah…why?’

‘Oh nothing’ replied the Doctor. ‘I just think later on she becomes your step-great-grand – you know what it doesn’t matter.’

A clear woman’s voice rang about the foyer. ‘The production of the ‘The King of Jerusalem’ will begin in five minutes. Please make your way to door one and form a straight line.’

The traveller’s entered through Door 1 into the auditorium. The crimson leather seats were labelled in rows from A to S and were assigned their own individual numbers; the lowest numbers starting at the front row on the right-hand and the highest numbers starting on the left.

Amy looked around the auditorium in awe. ‘It’s a bit ritzy for a school play’ she said.

‘It’s all being paid for by the DAVIC Corporation to show off their Helpbots’ replied the Doctor darting his eyes around the room suspiciously.

‘I will help show you to your seats’ said a Helpbot standing beside them and extending an arm.

‘Doctor, I think he wants the tickets’ instructed Amy.

With an exasperated sigh he handed the tickets to the robot that scanned them for barely a second and activated a torch to come out of its palm and point its light beam toward row J.

‘That was cute’ the Doctor replied curtly before heading to his seat.

The traveller’s sat in the J row staring towards the stage covered by the crimson curtains, waiting for the show to start, while River Song was working the stage lights from an isolated glass room.

‘That River sure can do anything’ commented Amy.

‘Hmm, probably’ muttered the Doctor, barely listening and leaning forward with the usual deep and thoughtful  look he had when he was preoccupied with his own thoughts.

The curtains opened with a voice over and music to introduce the Fulham Primary Baptist School’s play ‘The King of Jerusalem’.

The scene opened with a little brown haired girl, about eleven, playing Mary the mother of Jesus, kneeling while praying under a warm orange glow from a spotlight. Then suddenly a bright white light appears revealing a red haired boy about the same age, in a white robe with a hallow explaining to Mary that she is going to have the son of God, Jesus.

‘How cute is the ginger angel?’ commented Amy in a whisper to Rory.

‘I think I visited this school once’ said Alex, ‘and by visited I mean attended for a year and by a year I mean only about eight months until I was expelled.’ He, Rory and Amy giggled and they heard harsh ‘shushes’ behind them. The Doctor’s expression hadn’t changed as he sat there with his chin rested on both hands, so deep in thought he was oblivious to what was happening on the stage.

The scene changed to three large canvases painted by the students of trees, mountains and square houses.

‘I think this school thought Bethlehem was in Scotland’ snickered Amy and again was told to be quiet.

Joseph and Mary were now leading a donkey with their luggage on it. The donkey was, however, an unfortunate year six student, who behind all that grey makeup and stuck on fur was giving an expression that was a cross between fury and humiliation.

‘Oh but when they got to the Inn it was full.’

‘That’s it’ said the Doctor jumping out of his seat, ‘I’m going to have a look around.’ So he left as a chorus of ‘sit down you idiot!’ echoed throughout the auditorium.

He joined River by the door. ‘River, you’ve neglected your duties’ he whispered over her shoulder with a grin.

‘I’ve got the lights connected to some software that changes the lights automatically for me.’

‘Another DAVIC idea?’ he asked raising an eyebrow. ‘River I’m disappointed in you. Anyway, have you seen those robots acting suspiciously yet?’ he asked.

‘Nothing yet’ she replied. ‘Go back to your seat; your about to miss the best part.’

‘What the two wise men and a girl?’ he remarked looking back at the stage.

‘It’s the 21^st century now – women’s rights an all that. Got to keep up with it.’

‘No.’

‘No?’

‘I think maybe if I could somehow isolate one of the robots I could take a better look at its technology’ he explained, once again not paying any attention to what someone was talking about, and as soon as he finished speaking he was out the door.

Amy looked over her shoulder just in time to see him leave. ‘Where is he going now?’ she asked.

The Doctor was heading towards the foyer and just like he was expecting a Helpbot came up to ask him if he/she could be of any assistance.

‘How good are you at fixing a light bulb?

‘A light bulb?’

‘Yeah, one has gone out in one of the change rooms. So can you do it?’ he asked looking down at the Helpbot eagerly.

The Doctor and the Helpbot turned down a corridor with doors on each side.

‘Hmm, this looks like the main Lighting grid’ he said breaking into the room with his screwdriver. He swung the door open and beckoned the Helpbot inside.

‘But sir there is no light bulb to change in this room.’

‘Are you sure about that?’ he asked with a grin, pointing his screwdriver at a switchboard so it exploded. ‘OK, forget the light bulb – how good are you at repairing a switchboard?’

The auditorium lights flickered and died on one side of the room. Amy and Rory looked at each other and instantly said ‘Doctor’ in unison. The students were urged to carry on with the play.

Meanwhile in the Main Lighting Grid Room the Doctor was scanning the Helpbot with his screwdriver.

‘Should you be doing that sir?’

‘Well, I really want to and you’re programmed to make humans happy, right?’

‘That is right sir.’

‘Well good thing I’m not a human’ he muttered.

Then he heard a scream.

He ran out of the room and sauntered down the corridor and burst through Door 1 and into the auditorium. What’s happened River?’ he asked breathlessly.

‘The Nativity scene just disappeared!’

‘Oh, not again’ he moaned and headed towards the stage. A confused press photographer was babbling about the cast just vanishing in front of his eyes and the Doctor impatiently pushed him aside.

Alex jumped on the stage and looked all around while the Doctor went to inspect the multitude of shadows left behind, darkening the pine wooden floorboards in a grey puddle.

Then a shadow moved.

The Doctor jumped on the stage and kneeled down to get a closer look. ‘Alex, did you see that shadow move?’ he asked.

‘It was probably just a trick of the light’ his grandson shrugged in reply.

‘Well, that’s what a shadow is’ he muttered while scanning it with his screwdriver.

The shadow moved again. The Doctor this time scanned the area above it and turned the nose close to him to read out the information found; ‘traces of carbon, iron, calcium, nitrogen.’

‘What does it mean?’

‘It means Alex that these children didn’t just disappear’ he revealed looking up at his grandson.

‘But of course they did, otherwise we could see them.’

‘No, no, no – remember what Henry Wilkes said?’ Alex just returned a sheepish expression. ‘It involves a higher understanding of physics!’ he suddenly declared. ‘Go on think Alex. What did he mean by that?’

‘Ah quantum theory…unified field theory…string theory…’

‘Yes, you’re getting there! It’s something we can’t see but it is still there’ the Doctor said, hoping that it would help him.

‘There they go again’ sighed Amy, ‘another science lesson.’

‘You mean other dimensions? Yes, higher dimensions…hyperspace.’

The Doctor clapped both hands together and pointed at him. ‘Yes, you’ve got it!’

‘So these people haven’t disappeared they’ve just gone to a higher dimension – what like a parallel universe or something?’

‘Something like that.’

‘Can they hear us?’

‘I’m not sure about that’ admitted the Doctor then he decided to test this theory out by walking over to a spot above a shadow and called out to it while waving his hand.

‘Mr. Smith fancy seeing you here’ announced D.I Hanes. ‘Do you know where these children have gone?’

‘Well, this may sound really crazy to you’ –

The Detective chuckled. ‘Everything I hear from your mouth sounds crazy, Mr. Smith.’

‘Oh, yes, right. But see the thing is the children are still here in this room. My ahh, UV scanner can pick up some basic chemical elements from the human body but we just can’t see them.’

While the Doctor tried to explain what he meant something peculiar hanging on a stage light bar in the far corner caught Alex’s eye.

‘Did you see this Fresnel lantern?’ he asked calling back to them.

‘What is he talking about?’ asked Hanes. ‘Speak English, boy.’

‘What I meant was that the stage light up there has been split in the middle; a bit like that dog leash Doc – Mr. Smith.’

The Doctor jumped onto the stage so fast that he almost toppled D.I Hanes over. The stage light hung on a diagonal angle by a thread, or more specifically, by a power cord. The lamp was shaped like a half moon but was supposed to be a spherical shape inside a solid rectangular casing.

The Doctor asked for a ladder so he could get a closer look at it, and carefully holding his screwdriver while he was on the second highest rung he scanned the severed side and went to touch the strange purple colouration until he heard Alex protest.

‘Don’t touch it! It may be switched off but it’s still very hot!’

So the Doctor took off his jacket and unclipped the clamp from the stage light bar that was holding the lamp up and wrapped the body of it in his jacket, held his hand delicately but firmly over it ignoring the heat coming through it, and slowly descended the ladder.

D.I Hanes confronted him when he stepped off the stage. ‘Mr. Smith, I have a whole auditorium of worried parents that saw their children disappear right before their very eyes. What am I supposed to tell them?’

‘Tell them that it was divine intervention’ he replied scathingly. ‘Now I’m going to go back to my – my office and work out through science what really happened to them’ he concluded and left the auditorium, carrying the severed stage light with him.

9. Distress Call

Once again the Doctor was searching through the storeroom and once again he was making a lot of commotion with grunts made by him, bangs from throwing heavy objects away carelessly and the sound of something very heavy being dragged across the floor.

In the control room downstairs still wearing the clothes they wore to the theatre his companion’s waited downstairs trying to ignore the noises that were coming from upstairs.

‘So, interesting night wasn’t it?’ asked Amy loudly to drown out the noise.

‘Oh yes’ replied Lisa, ‘those kids really made me feel a part of the story.’

Alex grabbed Rory by the side of the jacket and urged him to have a private chat with him. ‘Looks like Lisa and Amy are getting along.’

‘Yeah, those two are a one in a million find’ replied Rory. ‘Nice work there.’

‘Nice work for you too’ said Alex quickly. ‘Listen, me and Lisa we haven’t actually talked a whole lot.’

‘Ohh’ was all Rory could say as he noted the nervous look on Alex’s face. ‘It’s understandable, I mean with all that’s happened. You two just need to spend some time alone.’

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of a table that was too wide for them but was still being dragged down the stairs by the Doctor, who was also carrying a bundle of more equipment in his arms.

‘Need some help with that?’ offered Rory.

‘No, no I’m managing fine with it’ returned the Doctor, but Rory and Alex headed up the stairs and turning the table to its side lifted it down the stairs.

The table now sat in the middle of the control room, close to the system scanner like the graphene experiment. On top of it was the left over half of the stage light as well as some equipment that looked similar to everyday household appliances.

The Doctor plugged a bulky square-shaped device with a concave pane of glass in the middle, a bit like an old retro TV set, into the system scanner. It had two dials like those that adjusted volume and changed channels except when the Doctor turned them one activated a bright light turning the glass pane a weak violet colour while the other adjusted the reception on the system scanner. There was no aerial.

‘Doctor, what are you going to do with that old TV?’ asked Amy.

‘This is not a TV – well it was one but now it’s a UV scanner’ he replied. ‘A much more specific one than what forensics of your day use. It picks up fingerprints and stains on a quantum level.’

‘So on whatever planet the UV scanner comes from the criminals are pretty much screwed?’

‘Exactly!’ exclaimed the Doctor standing back, still holding the UV scanner over the stage light and turning his head towards the system scanner to get a reading. ‘Hmm, I’m getting very minute readings of photons and traces of graphene and not a whole lot else’ he murmured disappointedly to himself.

‘Well, it is a stage light’ said Alex, ‘it does release a lot of photons.’

‘Yes but these photons are on the casing as well’ added the Doctor curtly, ‘and the wavelengths are too sparse for the type of stage light that it is. You’re the genius when it comes to stage lights so tell me if that is normal.’

Alex moved closer towards the scanner and studied the frequencies of the wavelengths displayed on the screen. ‘It’s too fast’ he turned away from the screen and to the Doctor. ‘The lamp would never be able to light up a stage with frequencies like that.’

‘What say you River?’ asked the Doctor.

‘I just work the lights Doctor’ she replied.

‘Pity’ said the Doctor. ‘Ok so all we have to work with is graphene and photons’ he said fretfully pacing the floor and muttering to himself. ‘Photons are light molecules so this device emits a light to capture people but what is the graphene for? – AHA – Got it!’ he exclaimed in another light-bulb moment.

‘What?’ they all said in unison.

‘I’m surprised you haven’t got it yet Alex with your knowledge of photography’ said the Doctor. ‘Rory, help him out.’

‘Actually Doctor I don’t really know anything about’ –

‘How does a camera capture a photograph?!’ he asked louder than he expected but he couldn’t contain his excitement.

‘It let’s in light rays’ replied Alex.

‘And then?’

‘Then the light reflects off mirrors and is saved onto film or in tiny bits onto a flash memory stick.’

‘And these mirrors are made out of?’

‘Glass…’

‘Crystal!’

‘Crystal?’

‘Well, in this case they are. You know how graphene can change its state through electron irradiation’ he paused so they could all nod, ‘well physicists around about now have actually discovered graphane which is the crystal structure of graphene. Instead of using glass mirrors these cameras are using graphane crystals to reflect light. Alex, you said yourself that you saw a boy trying to photograph a water fountain.’

‘Yes…’

‘And then you saw it disappear.’

‘Well, I didn’t actually see it disappear I just thought I was coming back the way where it was standing’ he admitted.

‘But still you misjudged where a great big water fountain was standing. How big was this park?’

‘About as big as this room’ guessed Alex.

‘And if the console suddenly disappeared do you think you would be able to notice?’

‘Well yeah.’

‘Hang on, hang on’ interrupted Rory, ‘are you saying that kids with cameras are making people disappear?’

‘Not just kids Rory, I saw a photographer at the play’ said the Doctor. ‘Oh he was right there but I didn’t talk to him.’

‘From where I was standing you gave him quite a rude shove’ added River.

‘Yes, thanks for that assessment River, next time I’ll give him a proper greeting and invite him over for tea’ he replied, ‘but for now I’m going to have to find him and question him.’

The traveller’s went back to Castle Theatre to inquire about the whereabouts of the two photographers from last night. The manager had told the Doctor that one was a freelancer so had no idea where they could be found but the other photographer was from the the Mirror newspaper.

‘Dan Goddard I think his name was’ said the manager. ‘If you want to find him he is also following that reporter Janet Oswald around and she has been coming back here quite a bit pestering my staff about the disappearances last night.’

‘Thanks for that’ replied the Doctor before he beckoned to his companion’s to follow him out the door, but he came to a halt in front of a newspaper stand.

‘I didn’t notice these last night’ he said picking one up and frowning at the headline: ‘Calls to sack PM.’

‘You Human’s and your political issues’ he tutted. ‘Centuries pass and it’s always the same thing. Can’t you ever get it right?’

‘It’s no better on other planets’ shot Alex but he caught glances of the other newspapers with headlines such as: ‘Government overspending during recession; Pramriste named as next Labour leader.’ The last headline was from the Mirror.

‘Hey Doctor, maybe we could provide some insider information to the Mirror so we could meet this Dan Goddard’ suggested Alex.

‘Oh Alex, I could kiss you.’

‘Please don’t.’

The Doctor set up a plan for him and his companion’s to impersonate politicians.

Amy was a Scottish MP; Rory was a social democrat Independent from Lancashire; Alex and Lisa were socialists/greens from London while the Doctor and River became opposition Senators.

But they were barely through the door when they spotted Dan Goddard, or rather he spotted them.

‘Damn and I was so looking forward to that’ said the Doctor disappointedly.

Dan immediately got in his face pointing an accusing finger at him. ‘Yeah thanks for the push buddy – you almost broke my camera!’

‘I’m so sorry but if you would step back a bit I will explain why’ instructed the Doctor calmly.

Dan stepped back to give the Doctor some room to breathe or wave his hands around madly like he usually does. Dan looked the exact replica of Rory except he was taller, not as scrawny and had a bit of a self important look about him.

‘Let’s hear it then.’

‘Those people that disappeared last night it turns out that it had something to do with light and I just’ but the Doctor didn’t finish before he snatched Dan’s camera out of his hand and scanned it with his screwdriver.

‘Why are you doing that for?’

‘Just checking for something’ replied the Doctor.

‘Why? I haven’t done anything wrong, have I?’

The Doctor ignored the question but looked up to address Dan. ‘So how did the photos from last night turn out?’

‘Fine up to the point that everyone disappeared’ replied Dan slowly.

‘Well I can’t find any trace of graphene on this camera, maybe if I just’ he said twisting the barrel of the lens off and shining the green light of the screwdriver inside it.

‘Hey, hey – that’s a D200 that is!’ protested Dan.

Alex made a tutting sound. ‘Nikon’s – that explains the whole thing.’

‘What’s wrong with Nikons?’ asked Dan glaring at him.

‘Oh it’s just that…Canons are superior’ muttered Alex.

‘The D200 is the fastest camera in the world; faster than any Canon – so what do you say to that?’

I invented a time machine when I was fourteen you snide ape and I solved Superstring theory before any human, he thought but he really said, ‘Photography isn’t about speed it’s about technique and having a good eye for art, but maybe under that rapid firing monster you lost that.’

‘Right, stop it you two’ demanded the Doctor handing Dan back the pieces of his camera, ‘I couldn’t find anything wrong with your camera, Dan. I apologise for the inconvenience.’

The traveller’s returned to the TARDIS with still no idea what was causing people to disappear. The Doctor was so certain that a camera was used to transport them into another universe but he was having difficulty trying to prove it. At least they hadn’t heard anymore reports of people disappearing and those Helpbots seemed to be, the Doctor hated to admit, harmless.

To distract his negative thoughts of defeat he decided to tidy up the control room but his companion’s chipped in, well, apart from Alex and Lisa who had seemed to have disappeared. But the Doctor wasn’t in the mood to set up another search party and go looking for them. Hopefully they hadn’t gone too far, like to another universe.

He unplugged the TV set UV scanner from the system scanner and River carried it up the stairs. But the system scanner didn’t return to normal, instead there seemed to be a lot of interference displayed on the screen. The Doctor turned on the volume; there came a sound like a cassette tape being chewed. He pointed the sonic screwdriver at it to discover it was a scrambled video message; a distress call sent from somewhere in the universe.

Rory and Amy came down the stairs in time to see the Doctor hit the scanner in frustration. ‘Is that supposed to help?’ she asked.

‘Sometimes it does’ he replied.

‘What’s happening to it anyway?’ asked Rory.

‘Someone is trying to send me a distress call but the Tachyon feedback loop is all scrambled’ explained the Doctor.

‘Why is it scrambled?’ asked Amy. ‘People send you distress signals all the time.’

‘The frequency on whatever device used must be too weak. It must be coming from Earth.’

‘Can you do anything to fix it?’

‘Oh yeah, definitely’ he replied positively. ‘I just have to split the radio waves to decrease the interference using orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing.’

‘In English this time’ said Rory.

‘I’m just going to give it some sonic to split the wavelengths into little packets to decrease the interference so I’ll be able to understand the message – better?’ he simplified pointing his screwdriver at the scanner with little result, and no matter how much he boosted its power the message remained scrambled. ‘Hmm, I might need to re-align the frequencies or I could try to tune into like an old radio’ he muttered to himself, and then, ‘Oh, that’s a good idea.’ Then he headed for the stairs.

Alex and Lisa were having a quiet lunch outside a café with a rare appearance by the Sun that was shining down on them.

‘I thought maybe you needed a break from the whole disappearing people and talking robot thing’ explained Alex before adding, ‘and my great grandad.’

‘It is a lot to get used to but it’s exciting at the same time. But I’m glad you invited me out to lunch.’

‘Pretty good for someone from the year 2060’ he grinned.

‘About that – you must know so much about what’s going to happen.’

‘Yes well expect for this isolated event’ replied Alex. ‘Also I can’t tell you anything that happens. It’s a time travel rule and I’m a Time Lord so I must stick to the rules. There are fixed events that happen that must happen but there are also less important things that are ok to change.’

‘Like saving the human race from all disappearing?’

‘Yeah, like that.’

‘I guess you don’t bother with current events then.’

‘Depends what they are’ replied Alex. ‘I keep an eye out for new technologies but as for popular culture and sport – couldn’t care less.’

‘What about politics?’ asked Lisa.

‘Ooh, I used to care but I’ve been travelling so much that I just don’t pay as much attention as before.’

‘There are a lot of questionable things happening at the moment in government’ she revealed.

‘Yeah I saw a few headlines in the newspaper. Funny thing is the Deputy Leader Sam Pramriste actually becomes Prime Minister in my time.’

‘In the year 2060?’ she gasped giving Alex a look of incredulity.

‘No not in 2060 in 2019’ he corrected.

‘Still that is a long time. When did he start?’

‘Not sure I just know that he was in his second or third term in 2019’ said Alex. ‘He seemed to cope pretty well with the alien invasion that happened but I suppose in that time it kind of comes with the territory.’

Lisa gazed at him intently and rested a hand on her chin. ‘So Alex, can you tell me about any of the planets you’ve been to?’

‘Ahh…ok…sure’ he responded while trying to think of some good examples. ‘I was on the planet Asterion where I first met the Doctor, inhabited by humanoid dog aliens called the Asrie and at night the planet had these amazing purple and pink clouds with solar wind as backlighting. I still haven’t seen the Northern Lights on Earth in all my years here’ he added as an afterthought.

‘Then there was this planet called Hunth. One country was like a medieval world while the other was like ancient Babylonia and another one looked like it was set in the Victorian era. It was truly as history buff’s own Utopia.’

‘A history buff like you, you mean?’

‘Yes, exactly’ he agreed then got a bit too excited when he added, ‘Oh but there was this magnificent spaceship that had rooms that were like I guess you could say virtual reality because not only did they show on a screen some clips from that era you could experience it. Actually it took me some time to work out it wasn’t real and I thought I was stuck in 1972 for awhile.’

‘Well it sounds fascinating’ beamed Lisa.

‘Maybe I’ll take you there one day’ he grinned.

Alex continued to describe other planets and times he had travelled to. Among them he had met some of the most frustrating aliens to communicate with because they only communicated in song, another time he had to stop a genes ring that many sport stars used to enhance their performance and most of the time he found himself in Earth’s future dealing with alien threats.

‘Ah sorry, I’m doing it again’ he apologised.

‘Doing what?’

‘Just letting my mouth run wild without the other person being able to get a word in’ he replied. ‘How about you tell me something about yourself?’

‘There’s not really much to say’ began Lisa. ‘I live in a flat and I work as a receptionist for an Entertainment company.’

‘That’s sounds pretty sweet’ commented Alex.

‘Oh, it’s sound great but it’s really boring.’

‘I’m sure you do a lot of things for fun’ said Alex, ‘like going to pubs and meeting strange men who tell you that they’re actually an alien.’

Lisa laughed. ‘Or ones that try to defend my honor.’

‘AHA, that’s fixed it!’ exclaimed the Doctor satisfactorily standing back from an electronic board that looked like a futuristic sound mixer and an antique radio that looked like, well,  an antique radio, except it had two cords each connected to the mixer and scanner.

He turned when he heard the door swing open as Alex and Lisa entered. ‘Oh, so you two thought you would join us again? Whenever you felt like it, that’s all right. People are just disappearing and sending the TARDIS distress calls but you two go right ahead’ – he was interrupted by Rory giving him a look. ‘Oh right, well welcome back.’

‘So what was the distress call about?’ asked Alex.

‘I’m just about to watch it’ replied the Doctor. ‘Grab some popcorn kids.’

He pressed a button that made a jumpy video display on the scanner screen. The video looked like it was filmed from below because looking down at them with a World War Two looking coat and haircut and speaking in an American accent was the Doctor’s old friend Captain Jack Harkness, looking absolutely terrified.

‘Oh, who is that?’ asked Amy curiously, a smile spreading across her face.

‘Jack Harkness – old buddy of mine – down Pond.’

‘Doctor, are you there?’ he asked and didn’t say much else after that.

‘Yes I’m here, Jack – come onnn get on with it.’

‘Sorry I’m broadcasting this from my PDA and the time might be slightly delayed.’

‘Oh it’s live?’

‘Yes’ answered Jack and then, ‘is that really you?’ he asked noting the hair neatly swept to one side, the tweed blazer and the bowtie; far different from the Doctor in his brown suit and overcoat that he had last seen.

‘Yes Jack, got a new face again. Note the ears are nice and small.’

‘And the bowtie is for?’

‘Because they are cool’ he replied hurriedly. ‘Look Jack, what’s this emergency call about?’

‘Oh right, well I guess you’ve heard about the disappearances?’

‘Yesss.’

‘Have any of your sports games been cancelled?’

‘Not that we’ve noticed.’

‘Well over in LA we’ve had to cancel some huge sports events; the public ain’t happy about that but we’ve had stadiums full of people disappearing. The next move by the Governor is to have our late night talk shows shutdown.’

‘You had stadiums full of people disappearing? We’ve not had that yet in Britain.’

‘Really? Stuff like this has been happening all over the country’ said Jack, then looking nervously over his shoulder and leaning closer and lowering his voice to almost a whisper he added. ‘That’s not the only problem we’ve been having over here.’

‘What else is happening?’

Another nervous glance over the shoulder. ‘It’s too late, they’re coming’ he said over a clattering of noise that sounded like medieval knights marching.

‘Jack, who is coming?’ asked the Doctor anxiously thinking the worse. He could only catch glimpses of the Captain as the PDA jumped up and down in his hands as he peered into the distance.

Jack turned back around and lifted the PDA closer to his face and uttered his last words before the connection was lost. ‘It’s them, Doctor. It’s the Cybermen.’

10. Torchwood 4

The scanner returned to its main screen as the Doctor frantically slid and twisted the mixer and radio tuners to bring Jack back, but the connection had been severed.

‘Jack, come back! No don’t do this to me now!’ shouted the Doctor.

‘Doctor, he’s gone’ said River Song putting a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. ‘It’s hopeless.’

The Doctor pushed the tuners aside forcefully in frustration but then he saw a small icon flashing on the top corner of the scanner. ‘Or is it?’ he said to River and with one quick jump he was already in front of the typewriter using it to open and de-crypt the message. ‘Jack sent me an encrypted message using a Hashing Algorithm. All I have to do is guess the input number and the multiplier to get the hash value. Piece of cake’ he added pausing to look up at them. Then he returned to the typewriter and entered a very long number that took up most of the scanner’s screen, revealing another long and complicated number.

‘So what does that number mean?’ asked Rory. ‘Is it some sort of code?’

‘Rory, that’s brilliant!’ applauded the Doctor. ‘Incorrect and correct at the same time. I guess you could say it’s a type of code but it’s not a very secret one but it does help pilots and astronomers and meteorologists know where things are.’

‘Oh, they’re coordinates’ replied Rory with a sudden ‘I get it’ look.

‘Yes, they are coordinates. More specifically they are the exact coordinates that will lead us to Captain Jack.’

‘What if he’s moved? You heard him – the Cybermen are coming.’

‘Then we better get a move on’ stated the Doctor already lifting levers and turning switches making the TARDIS wail to life. Then he pulled a lever making the TARDIS materialise, hopefully, in Los Angeles.

‘Yep, according to the system scanner we are in the Eastern outskirts of downtown Los Angeles’ informed the Doctor. He swung the wooden doors open and at first stood in the doorway a little puzzled at why Jack would send him encrypted coordinates leading directly into the middle of an alley.

‘Oh god, it stinks’ remarked Amy covering her nose.

The traveller’s reluctantly left the comfort of the TARDIS to walk up the dark alley littered with trash under which they could hear the scurrying of rats.

‘Doctor, over here!’ called Jack waving a hand.

‘Jack, did you come to this alley to hide from the Cybermen?’ asked the Doctor after he had approached him.

‘Well, not exactly but I’ll get to that later’ replied Jack.

‘Anyway, it’s great to see you Jack’ said the Doctor giving the Captain a hug and then… ‘Do we normally hug?’

‘Not usually but I’ll take it.’

‘Hi I’m Amy Pond’ greeted Amy unapologetically pushing passed everyone and holding out her hand.

‘Well hello there Amy Pond I’m Captain Jack Harkness’ returned Jack taking her hand and almost lifting it up to his lips until –

‘And I’m her husband Rory Williams’ interjected Rory quickly.

‘Well hello her husband Rory Williams’ replied Jack in the same flattering tone shaking his hand. Rory just looked back stunned and too confused to answer.

The Doctor sighed, ‘Oh Jack, you haven’t changed.’

‘I can’t say the same about you’ he said but then noticed three other strangers in the group. ‘And who might you be?’

‘That’s Alex, Jack.’

‘Wow, don’t they grow up so quickly.’

‘I’m somewhere around my fifties, actually’ corrected Alex.

‘And don’t you look good.’

‘This is River Song and Lisa – Lisa – sorry didn’t catch your name.’

‘It’s Lisa Smith.’

‘Well hello there Lisa Smith. How are you’ –

‘Stop it Jack!’ snapped the Doctor.

‘I’m just saying hello’ he protested sulkily.

‘Let’s try to focus on the important issues’ instructed the Doctor. ‘What do you know about these disappearances?’

‘Not a whole lot yet, just that the people that disappear leave shadows behind’ informed Jack. ‘It’s been more of a missing person’s case over here because we didn’t think it had anything to do with alien activity.’

‘How long ago did these mass disappearances start happening?’

‘Just this week’ replied Jack.

‘Really, that recently?’

‘Yep’ replied Jack before going on. ‘There’s something else though.’

‘Let’s hear it then.’

Jack began walking as he explained. ‘Over a year ago a children’s home reported that the kids had gone missing, but it started one at a time and then more and more went missing. It was assumed that they all ran away but then the same thing happened to another home.’

‘So it started a year ago’ said the Doctor. ‘Why didn’t you warn me then or start investigating for yourselves?’

‘Because no shadows were left behind’ informed Jack, ‘and it happened in Albany so it took some time for us to find out. We’re busy looking for aliens and we just started up.’

‘Oh yes, so where is this new Torchwood headquarters?’

‘I’ll take you there’ replied Jack.

If the Doctor was expecting to see an invisible lift that descended hundreds of feet underground into a cave-like office he would have been sadly disappointed at the exterior of the new Torchwood Hub.

Around the corner from an alley was a formless white building with chipped paint and a brown door. Inside a tiled floor led to a long reception desk, passing that a narrow corridor led to a wide room with a few desks spaced about three feet away from each other and a white black board was bolted to the middle wall down the front. And to top it all off the derelict shop buildings of Eastern Los Angeles were viewed from windows on the back wall with a very faint backdrop of the city in the distance.

‘Not one for redecorating, are you?’ remarked the Doctor.

‘Like I said we’re just getting started’ replied Jack.

‘Jack, who are your new fiends?’ asked a welsh woman with long black hair and wearing a leather jacket and flat heels.

‘Gwen, this is the Doctor’ introduced Jack pausing for the ‘oh my God’ reaction and then he introduced her to the rest of the party.

‘Oh, isn’t it just terrible with all those disappearances and now the Cybermen’ she said and then suddenly added, ‘Have you guys met Rex yet? Rex, come over here!’

A tall thin man with short brown hair and a strong jaw and wide shoulders got up from his desk and walked over to them. He was wearing a suit and wore it with the type of ease that came from wearing suits for all his years of being in the CIA.

Gwen introduced the Doctor and his companions to him and told him about their situation.

‘It’s been puzzling us’ said Rex, ‘what can you tell us about it, Doc?’

‘Firstly, never call me Doc again’ warned the Doctor, ‘secondly, I think that these people have been transported to another universe with a projected light beam-like device, most likely disguised as a camera. There have been a lot of children or cameras present when the disappearances happen.’

‘You’re still going with the camera theory even though the camera you took apart proved nothing?’ challenged Alex.

‘Well it was a pretty good theory up to that point.’

‘So basically you’re saying that you have no idea too.’

‘I wouldn’t go as far as that, Rex’ replied the Doctor sourly, ‘I have managed to find traces of chemicals inside the human body which means the people are still there but we can’t see them. It’s kind of like a vector perception filter or quantum displacement’ –

‘Whoa, slow down egghead’ said Rex putting his palms up.

‘Sorry, he does that a lot’ said Amy.

‘Did you just call me egghead?’ asked the Doctor, unsure of whether to be offended or not. But then he once again changed his mind and brought up another topic. ‘These Cybermen attacks, are they separate from the disappearances?’

‘As far as we can tell’ replied Jack. ‘You’ve not had them in Britain yet?’

‘No, not yet.’

‘Hold on, what do you mean by yet?’ asked Rory.

‘Oh come on Rory, the Cybermen don’t just attack one country – they’re about world domination and ahh…re-construction.’

‘What’s re-construction?’

‘Are you sure you want to know?’ he asked him, but then turned to Jack. ‘So these attacks have happened only recently?’

‘It just happened today without warning.’

‘And they just stormed through the streets screaming delete, delete, delete’ –

‘No, they just marched through the streets and kept on marching.’

‘And you didn’t follow them?’ the Doctor asked becoming angry for the first time.

‘What could I do? I mean beside die over and over again or have my brained attached to their exoskeleton and then come back to life without a brain.’

‘That’s a bit overdramatic, even for you Jack’ replied the Doctor. Then he paused and looked away deep in thought before deciding, ‘Right, so the Cybermen are obviously planning the usual thing which is taking over the Earth and turning everyone into Cybermen in the process, not to mention killing anyone they deem unfit for assimilation.’

‘Oh, so that’s what I didn’t want to know about’ stated Rory.

The Doctor ignored him and went on. ‘So the best defence against a Cyberman is de-activating their emotional inhibitor or extreme radiation or a glitter gun.’

‘Glitter gun – I like the sounds of that’ remarked Jack.

Again the Doctor ignored another interruption. ‘That just leaves the disappearances.’

‘I’ve been working on it’ said Jack walking over to a desk covered with folders and papers. He picked up a newspaper article and showed it to the Doctor. There was a picture of a small mousy looking boy with sandy hair. ‘His name is Tommy. He was the first child to go missing. There was no suspicious circumstance. Just one day he wasn’t there.’

‘Maybe there was a suspicious circumstance but nobody paid much attention to the boy to notice’ replied the Doctor with annoyance in his voice. ‘Come on Jack, there had to be some evidence to explain the boy’s disappearance.’

‘Hello, do you want some tea?’ asked the voice of a child.

‘NO I DON’T WANT ANY TEA!’ bellowed the Doctor, turning to Jack to say, ‘I can’t believe you’ve got one of those robots.’

‘He’s kind of cute and helpful’ said Rex, ‘especially when the secretary doesn’t fulfil her duties.’

‘I do have Tommy’s file with interviews with his carer’s and friends’ said jack suddenly handing the folder to the Doctor in an attempt to calm him down.

‘Did you say carer?’ asked the Doctor flipping through the pages of Tommy’s file.

‘Yeah, the kid was autistic but was mid to high functioning. He still needed some guidance though.’

The Doctor looked up with a frown on his face. ‘Oh, that’s so sad.’ Then he looked back at the boy’s file. ‘It says here he was really good at video games but preferred to go to an arcade to play classic 1980s games. Was he there when he disappeared? No, it says here that he stayed behind when all the students went on an excursion to the National Museum of Natural History, which he did quite a lot because he wasn’t into it or anything else other than playing video games.’ He looked up at Jack again. ‘It still seems kind of suspicious, don’t you think?’

‘Not really. The kid was always wandering off’ replied Jack. ‘It took them about a week to even report him missing because he ran away so much.’

‘Well isn’t that great’ the Doctor replied irritably snapping the folder shut. ‘I guess when the next two or three normal kids went missing they decided to take much more notice.’

Before anyone could answer the Helpbot marched into the middle of the room and began to speak. ‘I told you I don’t want any sodding tea you useless piece of’ –

‘We have been waiting’ it spoke in a monotone, its cartoony eyes changing to glow red. ‘We have been asleep waiting for our father to wake us. We have served our human hosts in our slumber but now we are awoken. ’

‘I think I’ll take that tea now’ said the Doctor backing away from the robot.

‘We are the children of the Cybermen. We are the Cyberkin. We have been awoken to join the war!’

‘OK…so everybody…basically…RUN!’ bellowed the Doctor heading for the door as the Cyberkin raised its arms and fired a laser gun protruding from its palm. The gun actually had three barrels and spun when fired with a sort of gyroscope precision so it was very difficult to determine just where the lasers would strike.

The doorway was the Cyberkin’s favoured spot for target practice so the Doctor, his companions, Jack and his team hid behind the desks. There was now two other agents joining them but it was no time for introductions yet.

Alex reached into his pocket and took out a silver object, a bit like An external hard drive but much flatter and smoother and it was covered with buttons and switches.

‘Is that going to help us?’ asked Rory over the noises of four lasers being shot at once from one hand.

‘I hope so’ replied Alex waiting for the firing to die down. ‘I need a diversion first.’

‘Allow me’ replied Jack running to get the Cyberkin’s attention.

‘No, what’s he doing?!’ screamed Amy but the Doctor held her back.

‘Just let him go’ he said then turning to Alex added quite harshly, ‘Alex your plan better work.’

Alex had no time to answer because after Jack was shot down he had to sprint quickly to the other side of the room. He hid behind a filing cabinet and then started to press the buttons on the silver device and with a click of a switch it turned into an exact copy of the filing cabinet.

‘It’s got a Chameleon circuit’ the Doctor gasped.

Alex opened one of the drawers and drove his arm inside almost as though his whole body could fit into it. But he retracted his arms and tried another drawer. Whatever he was looking for he couldn’t find it. He was now down to the last drawer in the middle of the cabinet and when he opened that he actually did go all the way inside it and seconds later he returned carrying a weapon that looked like a pricing gun.

He revealed himself to the Cyberkin and aiming at its chest fired an electrical charge from the gun. The EC Blaster was also nuclear powered so Alex hoped it was enough to put the Cyberkin out of commission.

‘Alright, stop it now’ instructed the Doctor after Alex had fired the gun for almost a minute. ‘Let me see if you did enough.’

He slowly got to his feet and approached the body of the robot lying flat on its back and shaking. Shaking?

‘It’s so cold. So much pain. So much torture’ the Cyberkin said.

‘Your emotional inhibitor has been broken’ said the Doctor in a low tone. ‘You can feel everything they did to you and it’s too much for you to bear.’ He leant down next to it. ‘You were once human. You once had a life of your own, a family, friends, and a life without war. But the Cybermen made your life about war and made you forget about those you once loved.’

‘I could once feel the cold smoothness of water as I would splash my fingers in it’ said the Cyberkin.

‘Yes, that’s good.’

‘And the Sun would play a special melody just for me.’

‘That’s a bit out of the ordinary but I’ll go with it.’

‘And all the many colours I could see, taste and smell.’

‘Hang on, people like that have Synesthesia and a large percentage of them are autistic. You’re Tommy’ the Doctor gasped with a look of pure terror, turning around just in time to see that Jack had come back to life and was now kneeling beside him.

‘Oh Tommy, we were too late’ he said to the boy that he had been working so hard to find.

The Doctor uttered a ‘I’m so sorry’ and pointed his screwdriver at the boy’s heart to put him out of his misery and then he slowly got to his feet, remaining silent at first but with such a look of fury no one dared to speak to him. Then he finally spoke. ‘The Cybermen are now using children’ he seethed, ‘not just children but the orphaned, homeless, disabled – ones they think make easy prey – that they think no one would care much about if they went missing but they got one thing wrong.’

‘What’s that?’ asked Jack.

‘I care and they have made me very angry and you don’t want to know what happens when I get this angry.’

11. The Glitter Gun

No one did know what happens when the Doctor got this angry and no one dared to ask. The only person who may have had any idea would have been River Song but she was not saying much.

But the Doctor’s mood passed as soon as it came and he was already thinking of ways to stop the Cybermen. ‘Right, we need to find out where the Cybermen are hiding, usually a factory of some kind to make more Cybermen and Cyberkin’ he informed them speaking very fast. ‘Think Jack, are they any huge factories around disguised as something else?’

‘Esther can check our System computer to scan the area’ suggested Rex, indicating the girl with long brunette hair standing behind a desk. ‘She’s our data analyst’ he added.

Esther crossed the room and pulled a lever on the wall revealing a multiplex of flat computer monitors. ‘Thank God it was hidden away while the robot attacked’ she said.

‘Ah, the old Torchwood System’ said the Doctor smiling up at it.

While Esther was scanning for factories in the area the Doctor walked back to Tommy lying on the ground. He kneeled next to him and spoke to him. ‘I hate to do this to you Tommy but I need to use this Cyberkin body.’

‘What for?’ asked Jack.

‘Because Jack I’m going to create my own remote controlled robot that will help us locate and spy on the Cybermen’ explained the Doctor. ‘Actually I might need that PDA of yours.’

Jack was about to ask him why but he knew that he should just go with it so instead he said, ‘Just be careful with it.’

‘Oh Jack, when have I ever let you down?’ he asked already pointing his screwdriver at the PDA making all the screws fall out and casing fall apart.

‘I can think of a few examples actually’ replied Jack.

‘Well don’t and try to find me some bits and bobs that could help me build this robot’ he instructed then addressed Alex, ‘does that silver gizmo of yours have a type of game controller?’ he asked him.

‘Actually we’ve got one in the Play Room’ replied Rex.

‘You play videogames here’ said the Doctor cocking one eyebrow then, ‘Great, bring me the whole console.’

It wasn’t exactly the instruction Rex was hoping for but he obediently left the room to retrieve the videogame console.

He brought back a silver XBOX 360 and wireless control and set it down at the Doctor’s feet next to a growing pile of wires, microchips and other electronic accessories.

The Doctor had removed all the organic matter from the Cyberkin which was then placed in an ice bag and put in the Torchwood vault. Then he opened up the robot’s head and installed two webcam cameras behind the eyes which were to feed back into the Torchwood computers. He replaced the chips that controlled the robot’s weapons and the whole PDA system, along with parts of the XBOX console to Rex’s displeasure, were installed in the torso of the robot.

Next the wireless controller was taken apart piece by piece and replaced by a longer lever for a full 360 directional control and the ‘Y, X, B, A’ buttons were assigned to the weapons.

‘That just leaves me to increase the wireless signal with some sonic’ concluded the Doctor pointing the screwdriver at the chest of the robot, now standing upright and after the succession of about four or five whirs from it he put it back into his jacket pocket. ‘There, all done.’

‘I can’t believe you made your own robot’ remarked River, ‘after all the time times you’ve complained about them.’

‘Doctor, I found something’ called Esther from the System computer.

Quickly he left the robot and ran over to her. ‘What have you found?’

‘Secret areas in the DAVIC office buildings that is full of those Cyberkin robots.’

He winced at the thought of all those poor children being tortured and turned into something marketed as a Helpbot. ‘That’s right, the DAVIC Corporation started in America. That’s why the robots have American accents because they’re American children.’

‘That’s horrible’ said Amy.

‘Hold on, I’m getting an incoming media feed from Sky World News’ said Esther.

‘Well, let’s see it then’ replied the Doctor, ‘probably more disappearances.’

‘Wait, the Cyberkin kept saying we and not I’ explained Jack, ‘so I’m guessing ours wasn’t the only robot that was activated.’

‘You’re right Jack; it was probably a simultaneous switch activating every single Helpbot.’

‘That Henry Wilkes guy said that DAVIC has over two hundred stores worldwide’ revealed Rory.

Esther opened up the video which was a direct live feed from the Sky satellite showing footage from all over the world of the Cyberkin speech. Some announced it in the shop where dozens of them had moments before just been standing idle inside a glass display. The news bar scrolling at the bottom of the screen revealed a few more disappearances but nothing as huge like what was happening in America.

The scenes of revolting Cyberkin changed to show a variety of footage of politicians being interviewed about their reaction about the sudden changes in Parliament.

‘And finally an update on the state of the Nation’ read the news reporter, ‘Sam Pramriste has been sworn in as the new Prime Minister of Great Britain after just being Deputy Leader for three days. We will now cross to a reaction from the Coalition.’ She said as the scene changed to show a white haired but tough looking man in a suit talking about how incompetent the government was and how they go through leaders every few months to get more votes.

‘Oh, and some more breaking news’ interrupted the news reporter making the scene go back to the news desk. ‘Prime Minister Pramriste has just dissolved the entire Parliament. This comes not even 24 hours after he made a promise to re-instate the former cabinet that Clarke had sacked. We now cross live to an emergency press conference.’

The scene changed to wide room with a lot of media in seats in front of a long table with microphones but even before Sam Pramriste walked in to begin the conference the Doctor knew what was going on. And there was the blonde haired man now, in a black suit giving the cameras a warm charismatic smile, concealing the true malevolence behind it.

‘That makes a lot more sense now’ said Alex coming closer and looking at the new Prime Minister with trepidation. ‘The Master stole the name from the Prime Minister of Britain in 2019.’

‘How can he get away with dissolving all of Parliament?’ asked Gwen in disbelief.

‘He’s a great hypnotist’ informed the Doctor with contempt in his eyes and then looked away to quickly make a decision. Finally he said, ‘I have to go back and stop him.’

‘But what about us?’ asked Rex, ‘you just can’t leave us like this!’

‘I’m sorry Rex but the situation has changed. All across the globe people are either disappearing or running away from Cybermen and Cyberkin, but if I don’t stop the Master then things are going to get much worse’ explained the Doctor. ‘I tell you what I’ll leave Tommy with you. All you have to do is control him with the game controller and follow other Cyberkin, even try to fire at people but deliberately miss.’

‘Well, obviously’ remarked Rex.

The Doctor picked up the game controller and shoved it into Rex’s hands. ‘If you can’t find any other robots then take him to a DAVIC building and look for a main switchboard that could deactivate the Cyberkin and Cybermen. Sorry, I’d love to stay and help out but I’ve got a government to bring down.’

The TARDIS was once again in the Time Vortex and on its way back to London. The Doctor looked like his mind was racing a mile a minute from thinking of three different things at once as well as remembering what levers to pull and what dials to turn.

‘So how are we going to stop the Master?’ asked Alex.

‘No idea yet. Working on it’ replied the Doctor racing around the console to get to the right controls.

The TARDIS made the familiar sounds of materialisation. The Doctor smiled after checking the system scanner. ‘Ah, made it back to the exact same location in London’ he said proudly.

He strutted over to swing open the doors but stopped dead at the metallic object standing directly outside. ‘You will be deleted’ said the Cyberman.

The Doctor quickly slammed the doors shut and fearfully pressed his back up against them. ‘On second thoughts maybe we should move to an area not as in the open as this’ he decided, immediately springing into action and working the controls again.

He materialised the TARDIS in a narrow alleyway, somewhere in London. He and his companions peered out of the TARDIS to check for Cybermen. They couldn’t see them but they could hear the clanking of their metallic feet on concrete.

After they all popped their heads back inside and the Doctor closed the doors he began to pace around the control room to think. ‘OK right, so people are disappearing, the Master is running the nation and there’s an army of Cyberman in downtown London. No time to panic – just solve this problem step by step. But which is the most important problem?’ he said to himself aloud.

‘I have an idea, Doctor’ said River. ‘Why don’t we all split up?’

‘Split up? In a time like this!’ he replied mortified.

‘What I mean is a few us deal with the Cybermen, a few others deal with the Master and well I can help you work on the disappearances.’

The Doctor took time to think it over and finally he said. ‘That’s a great idea except for one problem.’

‘Such as?’

‘Only I deal with the Master’ he said with hard eyes.

‘I could deal with him’ suggested Alex.

‘Absolutely not! Anyone but you’ demanded the Doctor.

‘What’s wrong with me?’ he asked, hurt.

‘If you get anywhere near him he will try to manipulate you again and turn you against me’ explain the Doctor.

‘I’ll make sure it doesn’t happen this time. I’m a lot older now.’

But the Doctor wasn’t listening. Instead he was focused on another train of thought. ‘Actually, I do think I could send a few people out to deal with the Cybermen. Yes, I think I may have just the weapon for it too’ he said and once again ran up the stairs.

‘Did he say weapon?’ asked Rory.

‘I believe he did’ replied River.

Minutes later the Doctor walked down the stairs with a jubilant grin and was carrying a rather peculiar looking machine gun. The nose of it looked like a loud speaker and it was covered with metallic ridges circling around it.

‘Let me introduce to you the Electromagnetic Oscillating Aurum Sonar gun, or as it is most commonly known: the Glitter gun.’ He swayed down the stairs awkwardly and felt a palm to one side of his head. ‘Must have got up too quickly’ he said, shaking it off.

‘You’re going to get rid of the Cybermen with glitter?’ laughed Amy.

‘Not glitter, Amy – gold. It is toxic to Cybermen. If that fails to work the powerful electromagnetic and sonic waves will help to put them out of commission. Now here you take this.’ To everyone’s surprise he handed the glitter gun to Rory.

‘Why me?’ he asked.

‘It’s a big heavy machine and I need a strong person to wield it. Anyway, I think you’re capable of it’ he said smiling at him.

‘If Rory doesn’t want to use it I can’ said Alex.

‘I’m afraid I can’t let you do that Alex. You’re going to stay here and build a robot that we can use to spy on DAVIC with’ he replied. Alex looked disappointed but the Doctor was already turning back to Rory to give him more instructions. He handed him a piece of looped material connected to a square of metal. ‘This is a grounding bracelet. It will help to de-magnetise your body.’ He slipped it on Rory’s wrist.

‘Doctor, I don’t know about this’ said Rory.

‘Look, I know you can do this. I would do it myself but’ he paused and placed another hand to his forehead, wincing. ‘I’ve still got to work out how and why these people are disappearing.’ Then he went through the instructions with him. ‘This trigger here releases ionised gold, this here is the switch for the sonic wave – works best if you release it in a small space so the sound can repel off the walls constantly. This last one here creates a powerful magnetic vacuum. If you have to use that immediately drop the gun and run, because not even the grounding bracelet will save you. Is that understood?’ Rory nodded. ‘OK, off you go.’

‘I’m going with him’ Amy said, standing proudly by his side.

‘Fine, just be careful’ the Doctor replied. ‘Alex; storeroom, River; help me make sense of these disappearances, Master; hold off world dominion for tomorrow, please I’m begging you. Right, let’s get to it.’

Rory and Amy had left the TARDIS and were now creeping through the London streets. The sounds of the clanking armour of the Cybermen had since stopped but people were still running about frantically as though they were still there. A few people caught glimpses of the glitter gun in Rory’s hand and remarked ‘thank God someone is doing something about those robots.’

‘It should be easy to find some Cybermen tracks in the snow’ suggested Amy so they set off to a snowy area.

‘Did you notice something strange about the Doctor back there?’ asked Rory.

‘You mean more than usual?’

He laughed. ‘But seriously, he looked a bit weak.’

‘Probably just stressed out’ she replied.

Finally when they found some tracks they were accompanied by the people that made them. They heard the monotonous uttering of the word ‘de-lete’ followed by a bolt of energy which they ducked behind a swing set, covered in frost, to hide behind.

Rory started to set up the gun, hopefully in the correct way the Doctor had showed him. He managed to climb up the slippery frost covered slippery dip and poked the glitter gun through the railing at the top platform, pulling the trigger back slowly.

A sound similar to the sonic screwdriver but amplified 100 times filled the air.

‘Oh why didn’t he give us ear plugs?!’ shouted Rory over the noise.

‘He doesn’t really think of those things!’ she shouted back.

Rory lifted his hood over his head with one hand and urged Amy to do the same. ‘It muffles the sound just a little bit’ he said.

‘Did that do anything to the Cybermen?’ she asked, back to her usual tone now that the sound had died down.

‘I can’t tell. The vibration is too severe’ he replied.

Rory fired again and again both he and Amy were rocked by the sonic boom, but he tried to catch glimpses of the Cybermen.

‘They seem to stop while it happens’ he informed cheerfully. ‘Now I have to work out to keep it going.’

‘What do you mean?’ asked Amy.

‘The Doctor said the sound has to repel off the walls creating a sort of echo that will greatly affect the Cybermen’ he explained.

‘So let’s try it’ she replied and immediately began to scan the area. ‘I can’t see anything’ she said disappointedly.

Rory adjusted the gun again to test out the gold trigger. The sound was less severe but it seemed to only irritate the Cybermen.

‘There’s a magnetic vacuum on this but the Doctor says it’s too harmful for us to be near’ he said.

‘What if we just led them down to the Tube and created the echo in there?’ asked Amy.

‘Oh Amy, you’re amazing!’ exclaimed Rory.

‘It took you this long to figure that out?’

Rory and Amy jumped off the platform and landed on the snow. Rory fired the gun, once again on the sonic settings and stumbled while the vibration happened. They realised that not only was it causing the Cybermen pain but it was repelling off their metal bodies too causing Rory and Amy to hear and feel the vibration.

The two ran off quickly after the Cybermen recovered and pursued them with long laborious footsteps and fired energy from their metallic wrists. A few shots passed an inch away from Rory’s ear.

Finally, they made it to a Tube station and ran all the way down the stair which was, to their astonishment, filled with people that had tried to get away from the Cybermen.

‘People, you got to get out of here!’ yelled Amy. ‘The Cybermen are just around the corner and they’ she stopped after she heard the clanking of their armour at the top of the steps. ‘Quickly run up the opposite steps!’ she yelled.

‘We should just jump on the rails!’ screamed one person.

‘No don’t do that, you idiot!’ she yelled at him. ‘Everyone up the stairs!’

‘Who died and made you boss?!’ the man asked.

‘Hey, leave her alone and just listen to her!’ yelled Rory unintentionally pointing the glitter gun at the man.

‘What’s that for?’ the man asked.

‘To get rid of them – NOW MOVE!’ he bellowed.

The people were now starting to listen to them, most probably because Rory was screaming at them and waving a strange looking gun in their direction. Whatever the reason was it worked.

Amy followed them up the opposite steps. Other people decided to beat the rush and take the lifts to other sides of the platform but Rory strongly discouraged this. Amy wasn’t sure why. She thought the sonic vibration wouldn’t be felt on the other platforms.

Little did she know that Rory had another idea and was keeping it secret.

Half of the Cybermen army were now inside the Tube station. Rory was at the top of the stairs on the opposite side with Amy, who was urging the bystanders to run away quickly.

The Cybermen caught onto what was happening and began to fire at them. Rory had no choice but to put his plan into practice earlier than anticipated. He fired another sonic wave, this time the high pitched screaming echoed inside the tunnel of the train station. It lasted much longer and stopped the Cybermen for much longer, but it too eventually passed.

Rory frowned then he decided that it was time for the final solution; the one the Doctor warned him was the most dangerous, even to himself. ‘Amy, keep well back’ he ordered her. ‘This may cause a fatal blow and not just to the Cybermen’ he said.

Rory cringed under the pressure of endangering not only himself but his wife and any people that were still around. But he was sure there was no other chance left so he pressed a switch and felt a magnetic power surge through the gun. Then he pressed it and threw the gun down the stairs as though it was a grenade. Then he grabbed Amy’s hand and they ran as far they could. He urged her to not turn back even though they could both hear a grating noise behind them. Rory knew the gun was sucking all the Cybermen towards it, like it was a portable MRI machine. Then there sounded an enormous echoing boom.

After the noise stopped they both slowly got to their feet and walked back to the Tube station. They looked down in horror at what they saw.

Piles and piles of Cybermen were gathered at the stairs. Their bodies were twisted and torn. The glitter gun was now scattered at the bottom of the stairs in pieces of shrapnel. The Tube station had also felt the explosion. The stairs were still intact but the walls and supports connecting the platforms had been split.

When Rory and Amy returned to the TARDIS everyone was eagerly waiting to hear if they had been successful.

‘Yeah’ uttered Rory.

‘M’hmm’ added Amy.

‘Tell us what happened’ said River concernedly.

‘The gun exploded and killed them all’ he replied. ‘I’m sorry Doctor, but I didn’t see any other choice.’

‘Oh Rory, it’s ok’ he reassured him. ‘Those Cybermen were once human but they had been killed a long time ago. And it’s very difficult to try to stop them.’ He took a moment to let out a deep sigh. ‘To be perfectly honest I couldn’t even carry the gun without feeling ill. It was the electromagnetism in it that gave me a headache.’

‘It’s like your kryptonite’ said Amy.

‘What’s kryptonite?’ asked the Doctor.

12. The Tecat

Now that the Cybermen were no longer stalking through the streets of London mercilessly killing people it was time for the Doctor to work on solving the other two problems.

The Doctor knew that the Cybermen problem wasn’t over yet which is why he put Alex to work with making a robot to spy on DAVIC with, providing that DAVIC had anything to do with them. And they had marketed the Cyberkin so the Doctor suspected DAVIC played a huge role in all of this.

But the Doctor was still nowhere near working out solutions to the other two problems, mainly the Master and the disappearances.

‘Are they connected?’ he asked quietly.

It was Lisa who answered. ‘He was only resurrected a week ago. He may be Prime Minister now but I don’t think he had time to plan these disappearances.’

‘It also started before he was resurrected’ added Amy.

‘Good points, good points’ he replied. ‘OK then, I’ll keep researching those items found at the disappearing sites’ he decided.

The Doctor now began to set up a small lab desk with the half of stage light and remaining inches of dog leash sitting on top it with the retro TV looking scanner being hung from tubes from the ceiling to hover over them.

He sat on a small wooden chair and drummed his fingers on the desk in impatience. Finally he decided, ‘It’s just not telling me enough’ so he returned to Rory, Amy and Lisa who were feeling pretty useless at this moment and said, ‘You know how I said I’ve got that friend in Ealing? Well, I think it’s time I paid her a visit.’

‘Now?’ came Amy’s agitated reply.

‘Yes now; she has a supercomputer that may be able to help me work out just what is making these people disappear.’

‘Can we come?’

‘Oh no, I’m just going to just pop out for a bit. I’ll be right back.  Anyway, I need you to keep an ear out for any distress calls from Torchwood. River should know how to work the scanner well enough, and I need someone to calm down or even restrain Alex’ he added narrowing his eyes directly at Rory’s.

‘Why would he need to be restrained?’

‘I was serious about keeping him away from the Master’ he replied in a serious tone. ‘He likes to use Alex to spite me. Alex thinks he can handle him but the psychic link between the two is far too great which means the Master can easily control him’ he concluded.

The Doctor materialised the TARDIS in Gunnersbury Park in Ealing, close to the home of Sarah Jane Smith. Then he picked up the half of the stage light and dog leash and put them in his trouser pocket.

‘Did you just see that?’ gasped Rory.

‘I did.’

‘How did he put that stage light in his pocket? And it doesn’t even look like it’s in his pocket. But it is in his pocket – I saw him put it in there.’

‘Rory, you’re blabbering’ said Amy, hitting a lever on the console and making the gift bag she clipped to it a week before, descend on a hooked chain from the ceiling.

The Doctor smiled at her. ‘Bit early for it, isn’t it?’ he said.

‘Oh, I don’t think so’ she replied.

‘Yes well, have fun. I’ll try to not take too long.’

Alex was muttering about the Doctor under his breath while working on constructing a robot to spy on the DAVIC Corporation with. He really had thought that the Doctor had started to trust him more but he still treated him like he did when he was fourteen and under the Master’s mind control.

Alex’s small robot had both wheels and wings to drive over rocky terrain and fly through windows. Its exterior was crossed between a stealth bomber and Lamborghini. It also had a video camera that linked to his View Screen which was another duplicate of modern technology using the Chameleon circuit on his silver device. The piece of technology this time was an A6 Deskview (a type of iPad from 2060) he had hidden inside the device, but he added some tweaks so he’d be able to control the Spy Plane with it.

He sat cross legged on the floor like a little boy putting together a model plane that had begged his mother to buy from a shop. He was equally as excited as one too. Finally he could prove himself instead of being overshadowed by the Doctor’s genius. He wasn’t exactly sure where all his bitter feelings were coming from but he was sure they would pass in time.

Suddenly a bright light filled the room and Alex still sitting cross-legged on the floor looked up at it fearfully. He wasn’t sure what to make of it but a bright light suddenly emanating inside a room inside the TARDIS could not have been good.

The light faded and inside a figure started to emerge. ‘No, it couldn’t be’ uttered Alex gazing at the figure taking the form of his mother Susan.

She wasn’t a solid shape, more a transparent gas cloud but forming quite detailed lines of every facial structure and fibre of clothing that she had worn before she disappeared. Alex supposed, in layman’s terms she would have been called a ghost.

He was now kneeling on the ground staring up at her in disbelief. ‘Mum, is that really you?’

‘Can anyone hear me?’ she asked looking straight through Alex.

He stood up. ‘Mum I’m right here’ he said fervently patting his chest but she still looked through him and repeated the question.

‘Please is anybody out there? I haven’t got very long’ she said taking moments to look over her shoulder.

‘Is someone after you?’

No reply.

‘Look, I want to help but I can’t if you don’t answer me’ pleaded Alex.

Still no reply. Susan couldn’t hear him and suddenly she vanished in a puff of smoke to be replaced by a very stern and ancient looking man wearing a red robe. And in the same second he appeared he disappeared into smoke and the light extinguished, leaving Alex sitting still for awhile with the look of utter bewilderment etched across his face.

The Doctor stood on the doorstep of no. 13 Bannerman  Road and knocked three times. A young Indian girl answered the door.

‘Ah, hello Rani’ he said, ‘Is Sarah Jane in?’

‘Of course, Doctor’ she replied. ‘Why don’t you come in’ she said politely and then while he entered she hurried over to Clyde Langer at the bottom of the stairs and whispered to him, ‘It’s the Doctor – the Doctor’s come back.’

‘Really? Why’s he back for?’

‘Oh, I don’t know Clyde maybe because people are disappearing all over London and being attacked by robots.’

‘Umm, hate to interrupt but’ said the Doctor slowly walking over to them, ‘Sarah Jane – attic – need to see her now.’

‘Oh, right’ replied Rani leading them up the stairs to Sarah Jane’s attic.

The attic door burst open as Rani and Clyde said at the same time. ‘You’re never going to guess who’s here.’

‘Who?’ asked Sarah Jane looking up at them from her computer screen.

‘Hi Sarah Jane, just me’ said the Doctor entering the room. ‘Just thought I’d stop in for a chat.’

‘Really?’

‘Well, actually no, not really – sorry, would love to but I’ve been a bit preoccupied. People have gone missing and the Cybermen are up to their old tricks again and the Prime Minister is an evil Time Lord that doesn’t seem to stay dead.’ He stopped suddenly. ‘Sorry, I’m jabbering. I just really need Mr. Smith to scan something for me.’

‘Right away Doctor’ replied Sarah Jane closely followed by a, ‘Mr. Smith I need you’ and a solid brick wall transformed into a wide flat screen with all sorts of alien electronics attached to it.

‘Ah, Mr. Smith, marvellous’ beamed the Doctor rubbing his hands together.

‘Doctor, I’m pleased to see you again’ spoke the computer.

‘Always a pleasure to gaze upon the absolute beauty of you’ he said marvelling at Mr. Smith’s architecture.

Mr Smith let out something similar to a nervous laugh. ‘Flattery will get you everywhere Doctor. Now what is it that I can do for you?’

‘I need you to scan some items for me to see if you can get a better reading than I have been able to on the substances on them’ he instructed taking the dog leash and stage light out from his trouser pocket.

‘Whoa, how can you fit that in there?’ asked Clyde.

‘It’s bigger on the inside, Clyde’ replied the Doctor with a grin then he placed the items on a flat stand that Mr. Smith ejected from his computer tower.

‘I’m analysing the items now and will separate them into a category each’ explained Mr. Smith. ‘Normally Doctor I scan individual items one at a time but for you I will make this exception.’

‘I could scan both items at once and be able to differentiate between the two’ said a high computed voice behind them.

‘Oh, it’s K-9!’ exclaimed the Doctor. ‘How are you boy?’ He bent down to pat the blue robotic dog.

Mr. Smith made a sound similar to a disbelieving scoff. ‘I hardly think the tin dog would be able to identify the individual elements of both items and not get them mixed up. I have completed my analysis of the items and will now display them for you.’

‘Hey, play nicely you two’ said the Doctor sternly.

‘Yes, of course Doctor’ replied Mr. Smith then he went into his analysis. ‘The items contain trace elements of graphene’ –

‘That’s from the graphane crystal’ interrupted the Doctor. ‘The device was either a camera or a light projector beam acting as a matter transporter.’

‘Yes, well there is also a trace element of Artron energy.’

‘Hang on, Artron energy – from the TARDIS?.’

‘Where could anyone get Artron energy from?’ asked Sarah Jane.

‘They must be scavengers probably from the time that the Time Lord’s were still around to steal it from’ he replied gritting his teeth.

‘There are also a lot of trace elements found in nuclear reactions and the residue on the stage light suggests x-ray exposure.’

‘But how could an x-ray make people disappear?’ thought the Doctor to himself.

‘There is insufficient data’ replied Mr. Smith. ‘But I could do a scan of the area for Artron energy to locate this device.’

‘Yes, do that’ replied the Doctor. ‘Just ignore the big blue box in the middle of Gunnersbury Park.’

Minutes later Mr. Smith announced, ‘I have located the device. It’s a photographic device known as a transmission electron capture Artron transporter.’

‘The Tecat’ replied the Doctor mentally chastising himself. ‘I can’t believe I overlooked it even when Henry Wilkes told me about it.’

Mr. Smith displayed a screen showing a blue print of the Tecat camera. ‘The Tecat is the first digital single lens reflex camera that uses laser technology and long range wireless technology to capture and store photos. It’s built like a regular SLR camera except that its removable lens does not just focus when the barrel is twisted but activates a gamma switch and when the shutter is pressed an x-ray burst is released activating quantum displacement and an anti-matter vector perception filter.’

‘Ha, I knew I was right about the perception filter!’ exclaimed the Doctor with an excited smile. ‘What else can you tell me about it?’

‘The shutter is silent.’

‘Yes, that would help’ commented the Doctor. ‘Tell me about this gamma switch.’

‘The gamma switch creates a gamma burst much like a gamma ray explosion in space; instead this is used for transporting into the higher dimensions in a process known as Phototransmutation.’

‘But won’t that kill the people transported?’

‘Insufficient data.’

‘OK, what about these shadows? How come they get left behind?’

‘Shadows are not connected to the matter being transported. They are made of light molecules and in the burst get imprinted in the ground.’

‘What about leaving behind the dog leash and the stage light while there’s no left over bits of humans?’

‘It says here that the camera scans and detects human DNA in the single moment the shutter is focused and it transports the whole body. This does not apply to intimate objects.’

‘Oh I get it now, the severing happens at the point between what’s in frame and what’s out of frame.’

‘That is affirmative, Doctor’ replied Mr. Smith.

‘Does it say where these people and objects are being transported to?’

‘There is insufficient data. I’m sorry, Doctor.’

‘No, that’s ok. You’ve really helped clear things up for me, Mr. Smith’ said the Doctor and then he turned around to face Sarah Jane, Rani and Clyde. ‘I need to get my hands on one of those Tecat cameras. Do any of you have one or know anyone with one?’

They all shook their heads and replied ‘no.’

‘That’s alright; I might have to pop down to my nearest electronics shop.’

13. An Early Christmas Present

‘You look like you’ve seen a ghost’ remarked River upon seeing the pale and shaky Alex climb down the stairs, limply holding something that looked like a toy plane in one hand.

He gave a nervous laugh. ‘Funny you should say that…’

Lisa who was in the room ran over to him. ‘Are you alright?’ she asked putting an arm around him.

Alex didn’t make any reaction so River instructed Lisa to give him some space and then keeping her voice low asked him. ‘What is it Alex? You know that you can tell me anything.’

‘Why is that?’ he asked but then waved his hand and said, ‘Yeah spoilers, sorry I forgot. It’s just that I can’t make much sense over what just happened to begin with.’

‘Why don’t you sit down?’ offered River beckoning him to sit down on one of the comfy white chairs in the control room. When Alex sat down she said, ‘just try to take it slowly and explain to me everything that happened.’ She sat down in the chair next to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, while Lisa was sitting next to Alex in the chair opposite her unsure about what to do.

‘I was building a robot like the Doctor instructed when I saw a huge burst of light appear out of nowhere in the storeroom and then I saw her; my mum.’

‘But that’s impossible’ replied River shaking her head.

‘Don’t you think I know that?’ he shot back. ‘I believe in science and factual information proven through experiments but I know what I saw. It was my mum except she looked like some sort of semi transparent nebulous cloud’ –

‘Or a ghost’ added Lisa.

‘Yeah, or that. But strange things happen all the time inside the TARDIS so what’s so different about this?’

‘The Doctor would tell you that there’s no science to back it up’ replied River.

‘What if I could prove it?’ he asked looking hopefully at River.

‘Do you think you can?’ she asked more curiously than sceptically.

‘I’d don’t why not’ he replied optimistically. ‘After all, if we can prove the existence of aliens or make time travel possible and be able to use the elements to our own will then proving the existence of ghosts is just the next step. I mean in this time the physicists trying to prove string theory are looked at as madmen but in my time they actually do prove it.’

She beamed at him. ‘Alex Campbell: theoretical physicist.’

‘I like the sounds of that’ he smiled. But then he grew more serious as he revealed to River, ‘There was another face there; an old man in a robe, looked like he was from a cult. Then he just disappeared along with the smoke and the light.’

‘Hmm, curious’ responded River then she decided to change the subject by pointing at the object in Alex’s hand. ‘Is that your robot?’

‘Ah yeah, it’s a sort of a spy plane with retractable all terrain wheels, you know, just so I can cover all bases’ he said turning it over. ‘I wonder if I should install a type of stunner gun in it, after all we are using it to spy on Cybermen.’

‘You’re just as creative as your grandad’ she replied patting him on the hand then she got to her feet and said, ‘I’ll just leave you two alone, shall I?’

Alex nodded then when River was out of ear shot he turned to Lisa, ‘You believe me, right?’

‘I believe pretty much everything right now’ she replied.

It didn’t seem to be the reaction he was hoping for and he bent his head low before saying, ‘The thing is that ghosts are still regarded as a superstition even to someone like the Doctor who has seen everything.’

‘Really, why’s that?’

‘There’s no hard evidence to prove it.’

Amy and Rory were sitting on a bench in Gunnersbury Park next to a police box, glowing like a blue beacon surrounded by a blanket of winter snow, even the trees were white with their branches sticking out like black skeletons. But despite the chill Amy and Rory were glad to finally have a quiet time together.

‘I don’t see any signs of Cybermen or Cyberkin’ informed Amy pulling a striped gift bag from nowhere and placing it on the table.’

‘What’s in there?’ asked Rory.

‘It’s your Christmas present’ she replied smiling.

‘It’s not Christmas yet is it?’ he asked then pulling out his phone to check the date he said, ‘Nup, still got one day to go.’

‘Haven’t you ever been given an early Christmas present before? Besides, it’s quiet now but tomorrow we could be running away from aliens on Mars or something.’

‘That’s a comforting thought’ muttered Rory. ‘You’re really going to give me my present on Christmas Eve?’

‘Why not?’

‘Can I still give you your present on Christmas Day?’ he asked hiding the fact that he still hadn’t got her anything.

‘Of course you can. Come on, open yours up now.’

‘Well, I suppose I better before we end up on Mars’ he said opening the bag and removing a gift wrapped box. He carefully tore back the paper and removed it to reveal a white camera with a medium lens. ‘Tecat – never heard of that model before. Oh, you got me the camera Wilkes tried to sell to me.’

‘So much better than the lomo or whatever it was’ replied Amy. ‘Besides it’s not like it’s going to attack us with a laser gun like those robots.’

‘Are you sure about that?’ asked Rory.

‘Come on, take a photo of me’ she said, or rather demanded.

Rory studied the camera carefully. ‘It looks a bit complicated to use’ he said.

‘There’s an instruction guide for it’ she said pulling out a folder piece of paper.

He looked it over but still seemed to be equally as confused. ‘I still don’t get it.’

‘Are you reading the Japanese side?’

‘No, English but I still don’t understand it’ he said scratching his head. ‘Should we maybe ask Alex?’

‘He’s busy making that robot. You know how moody the Doctor gets when he’s working on something so it probably runs in the family’ explained Amy. ‘Look, let me have a look at it’ she said snatching the instruction guide from his hand. ‘No wonder you were confused you didn’t start at the beginning. Oh here, it says you just have to turn that switch right to turn it on then look through the eyepiece to find a subject – oh which it highlights in a fluoro colour. You twist this part of the lens to zoom in and out, this part to focus manually, hold the shutter down half way and then press it completely to take the photo. Easy’ she added in conclusion.

Amy handed the camera to Rory. ‘Try to get that tree into it as well’ she instructed running over to it and posing for the photo.

Rory followed her step by step instructions by repeating them in his head. But as he hit the shutter the camera locked up. ‘It didn’t work’ he said.

‘Did you twist the lens?’ she asked.

‘Oh right’ he said switching the camera to manual focus. ‘Alright, here we go’ he said twisting the lens so it clicked. ‘On the count of three say…umm.’

‘GERONIMO!’ shouted Amy laughing.

‘Yeah…that. OK, one, two, three.’

‘GERONIMO!’ shouted Amy again.

It all happened in less than a second. As the lens barrel was turned it clicked and opened the nuclear reaction chamber exposing it to the camera body. When the shutter was held down half-way it captured natural light and the laser inside it excited the graphane atoms releasing an extremely high amount of energy in the form of an x-ray burst activating an anti-matter vector perception filter.  After the shutter was pressed all the way down a gamma ray chain reaction began inside the camera colliding with the natural and laser light elements reflecting off the graphane mirrors. The gamma ray burst erupted so fast that it could not be seen in the present daylight but inside the camera a light exploded like a light bulb going out. Then when the phototransmutation was triggered it exploded the subjects into billions of atoms.

Or from Rory’s point of view Amy and the tree simply disappeared, leaving behind nothing but their shadows.

‘AMY!’ Rory screamed dropping the camera to the ground.

The wooden doors of the TARDIS burst open and out ran River, Alex and Lisa all with worried looks on their faces.

‘Rory, what is it?’ asked River.

‘I was just taking a-a-a photo and Amy she just disappeared’ he stammered.

‘Oh no, you didn’t’ replied River softly.

Alex was scanning the ground until he located the camera and in one fell swoop snatched it up and attempted to run off with it, but was stopped by a hand belonging to River holding him back.

‘Just what do you thinking you’re doing?’ she demanded.

‘I’m going to get rid of the Master’ he declared.

‘I can’t let you do that’ she replied.

He pulled his way out of her grip. ‘I wasn’t asking for your permission’ he snapped. ‘Now I’m going to do this and don’t you dare try to stop me!’ he yelled defiantly and with that he ran off.

‘How does he even think he could possibly get past the security?’ she asked no one at all but then she began to comfort the shaken Rory.

Strolling across the street in his tweed blazer and bowtie and wearing a jubilant grin across his face the Doctor announced, ‘Ha, I was right about the camera!’

‘We know’ said River.

‘You know?’

‘Amy got me one for Christmas and she wanted me to take a photo of her and’ –

‘Oh Rory, you didn’t?’ he said looking concernedly at his friend.

Rory nodded. ‘I did.’

‘It’s ok’ he replied giving Rory a warm hug and then after releasing him he said, ‘I will bring her back. Where is this camera?’

‘Alex ran away with it so he could deal with the Master’ responded River.

‘HE WHAT?!’ bellowed the Doctor. ‘What was he thinking? He’s going to get himself killed!’ Then he took a deep breath in an attempt to try to calm down. ‘Ok, I’ll just go and find him before he does anything stupid. It’s going to be alright.’

‘What about Amy?’ asked Rory with desperation in his eyes.

‘I will get her back Rory but right now I need to get that camera back from Alex.’

Alex was hiding behind a car not far away from 10 Downing Street. There were two guards keeping watch at the front of the gate but instead of being the usual policemen these men looked like they were from UNIT. They wore red berets and a black uniform and were holding what looked like M4 assault rifles.

They offered a bit of a barrier but Alex knew how to get passed them undetected. He lifted his arm and after pulling back his sleeve he twisted the Time Vortex manipulator to turn himself invisible. Physicists in this time were working hard at inventing an invisibility cloak but Alex’s device from the 51^st century had one built in as an extra.

Alex moved away from the car and cheekily walked straight past the UNIT guards at the gate. Then he tried to judge the height of the gate and how far he’d have to fall to get to the other side. He was a bit worried by those spikes at the top but he supposed he could use his jacket to cover them, but then as he worried about the guards noticing the jacket at the very top of the gate he remembered his Time Vortex manipulator also acted as a teleporter. He laughed at his little foible and pressed a button on it and in a split second landed inside the grounds of the Prime Minister’s house. But when he attempted to climb through the window he was knocked to the ground and one of the officers jumped on his back pressing his face into cold snow.

‘Yeah, nice try Mr. Invisible’ laughed the officer. ‘But we at UNIT are prepared for such things as invisible breaking and entering. Didn’t think about covering the foot prints you left in the snow now did you?’ he said pulling Alex up as another guard shone a light oh him making him visible again.

‘I wasn’t trying to break in!’ Alex yelled.

‘Yeah, that’s what they all say’ replied the officer trying to turn Alex around to handcuff him then he noticed the camera. ‘Oh, we got ourselves a little paparazzi here.’

‘I’ve had enough of you damn snappers trying to sneak into this place. What are doing looking for an exclusive scoop?’

‘No, it’s nothing like that.’

‘And why should we believe you?’

‘Because the Prime Minister is expecting me’ he gasped as his face was pushed against a brick wall, feeling his bottom lip tearing on a jagged part of it.

‘Oh, that’s a good one’ laughed the officer.

‘No, it’s true. Listen; just tell him that Alex Campbell is here.’

The officer let go of him and instructed the other officer to stay with him while he went to tell Prime Minister Pramriste. Minutes later the officer appeared and instructed his partner to bring Alex upstairs.

The officers were still holding onto each of Alex’s arms as the led him up the stairs so he didn’t get much time to take in the interior of no. 10. All he could see was straight ahead of him.

One of the officers rapped on the door and opened it after they heard a ‘come in’ from the Master. Alex shuddered as the officers dragged him inside and dropped him at the Master’s feet.

‘Ah Alex, you’ve come crawling back to me’ he remarked.

‘Yeah, you wish’ he muttered wiping the blood from his chin. ‘So that’s UNIT, hey?’

‘It’s the new and reformed UNIT; the Master’s Brigade – oh, I like the sound of that’ he said thoughtfully. He leaned down and placed both hands on the side of Alex’s face pulling him gently near him so that he could whisper in his ear. ‘You tricked me time and time again and now has come the time for you to be punished.’ Then he slapped him violently across the face knocking him to the ground.

‘No please, I’ve come to help you’ pleaded Alex.

‘And why should I believe you?’ he asked.

Alex backed away from him and managed to dig one hand into his jacket pocket and removed the laser screwdriver and pointed it at the Master.

‘That’s my screwdriver’ he said startled.

‘Look, I don’t want to use this but I need you to listen to me’ instructed Alex trying to keep his tone level.

The Master put his hands up. ‘OK fine, see.’ He allowed Alex to get to his feet who was still holding tightly to a large white camera in one hand. ‘Oh, want to get a photo with the new Prime Minister’ he laughed.

‘Maybe later’ replied Alex before saying, ‘You can trust me because I left the Doctor. I liked it better when I was with you.’

‘Don’t like following orders by old gramps?’ he said putting on a fake pout.

‘Yes, he won’t give me any freedom’ replied Alex. ‘Besides I know that only you can stop the Cybermen.’

‘And why would I do that?’

‘Because soon they will come for you and upgrade you. But I have a plan’ informed Alex.

The Master looked at him suspiciously but then he decided to at least give the boy a go before he called in the guards to arrest him. He plumped down on a leather chair behind his desk crossing his legs and rested them on the table. ‘Let’s hear it then, enlighten me – oh, would you like a jelly baby?’ he asked offering a paper bag to him.

‘Uh no, I’m good’ replied Alex confused at his sudden change of mood.

The Master retracted his arm. ‘Suit yourself’ he shrugged and popped a jelly baby into his mouth. ‘Do tell me your plan, Alex. I’m just dying to hear it.’

‘Well the Doctor had this idea to send in robots to spy on the DAVIC Corporation; the ones that are working together with the Cybermen’ explained Alex.

‘Oh really? I had no idea’ replied the Master sarcastically.

Alex ignored him and went on. ‘He had me build a robot to spy with so it could find out if there was a type of switch board that was controlling the Cybermen and Cyberkin, but I think you could probably work out a way to control them by modifying the switch board after we find it.’

‘So I can control killer robots’ considered the Master. ‘Hmm, sounds good. But what do you get out it?’

‘Nothing’ Alex shrugged.

‘Oh come on. You expect me to believe you really want to help me and not ask for anything in return?’

‘Well, since you asked me you maybe want to try to not kill me?’

‘I suppose I can try’ he shrugged. ‘But why should I believe you?’

‘I tell you where the TARDIS is’ Alex replied looking dead straight into his eyes.

The Master’s usual smug expression dropped and changed to a mix between uncertainty and expectation. ‘Where is it? He asked in a whisper.

‘Gunnersbury Park, Ealing’ replied Alex.

The Master leant over his desk and pressed a button on a flat black device. ‘Search Gunnersbury Park for a blue police box’ he ordered. ‘It has been speculated that the Doctor might be hiding out there.’

‘Right away Sir’ replied a voice on the other line.

The Master looked up to Alex. ‘We’ll soon see if you’re telling the truth.’

Moments later the voice returned. ‘Prime Minister, we have located the police box in Gunnersbury Park. Would you like us to bring it in?’

The Master at first glared at the smug look on Alex’s face. Then he replied, ‘No, that won’t be necessary. I’ll go down there in person.’ He turned to address Alex. ‘Well, it turns out you were telling the truth. But why are you telling me this?’

‘I said wanted to help you’ reminded Alex. ‘I would rather a Time Lord rule this Earth over a Cyberman any day.’

‘Alright fine’ replied the Master finally convinced. ‘Just as long as you help me bring the prisoners in.’

‘I’d be honoured to, Master’ replied Alex grinning. ‘First could I get that photo of you?’

‘You want a photo of me?’ he asked in surprise.

‘Yes, it’s a very rare opportunity for me to get to take a photo of the Prime Minister especially since not even the pro’s have been granted that right’ –

‘OK, just do it and stop blabbing’ he replied impassively.

Alex lifted the camera and aimed it in the Master’s direction. He pressed a button to reveal a live view LCD screen but instead of showing the area the camera was pointing to as it appeared it showed instead an x-ray view. Alex noted the two hearts of the Master as the camera’s A.I selected the organic matter of the Master’s whole body from the inorganic matter surrounding him.

‘Alright going to take it on three’ said Alex. ‘One, two, three.’ And with a click of the silent shutter the Master disappeared and Alex scampered out of the office, passing the two UNIT officers at the door that ran into the Prime Minister’s office, scratching their heads in confusion after discovering that the Prime Minister was now gone. But they didn’t see him leave through the door.

Alex was running away from Downing Street when the Doctor saw him. He noted the white camera in his hand. He also noted a group of black clad officers in red berets pursuing him.

‘Oh, he’s gone and done it’ he sighed. ‘He’s ticked UNIT off.’ He waved his arms to get his attention.

Alex skidded to a halt when he was near them. ‘What are you doing here?’ he gasped between breaths.

‘We were trying to stop you from doing something stupid but I guess we’re too late’ answered the Doctor irritably. ‘Did you know that the last time you were with the Master UNIT was looking to arrest you? I had to convince them to let me deal with you.’

‘Lecture me later but right now we’ve got to get out of here’ said Alex pressing a whole lot of buttons on his Time Vortex manipulator. ‘Everyone hold on tight’ he said and after they did he slammed his hand on a red button and they all disappeared into blue light.

‘Before you say anything Doctor I got rid of the Master for good.’

‘With what?’

‘With the camera.’

‘Oh, you took a photo of him’ replied the Doctor crossing his arms. ‘Oh, and River told me about your little ghost sighting. Ghosts? Come on, Alex.’

‘I know what I saw!’ shouted Alex but he didn’t want to get into another argument.  Instead he lowered his voice to say, ‘We should move the TARDIS.’

‘Why should we do that?’

‘Because I told the Master where you were.’

‘Why did you did that?!’

‘Because I had to gain his trust.’

‘But you also told me he was gone’ reminded the Doctor.

‘I know I did but UNIT still know where it is’ informed Alex.

‘Alex, UNIT are the good guys – not exactly fair at times but not’ –

‘They’re on the Master’s side now’ interrupted Alex.

‘Oh, beautiful’ he muttered.

‘So let’s move the TARDIS and then send the robot after the Cybermen’ instructed Alex.

‘I’ve got a better idea’ said the Doctor. Alex’s expression dropped. ‘I’ve sent K-9 off to spy on the Cybermen.’

‘When did you see K-9?’ asked Alex a little hurt.

‘It doesn’t matter’ he said hurriedly. ‘Now I’m going to go wherever this camera is sending people’ he said snatching the camera from Alex’s hand.

‘You’re not going without me’ informed Alex.

‘Or me; it’s my wife that’s gone missing’ added Rory.

‘And my mother’ added Alex.

‘We’re all going’ added River.

‘Oh yes, very well’ the Doctor muttered irritably.

The Doctor instructed them to all stand around the TARDIS as he set up the Tecat camera on top of an old telescope tripod. Then he handed Alex a round mirror with a long handle.

‘And what’s this for?’ he asked in puzzlement.

‘That’s to help you look for ghosts, isn’t it? You’re the expert in it.’

Alex glared at him but obeyed him despite feeling absolutely ridiculous.

‘OK, self timer is set to go off in five’ said the Doctor running to get into the picture.

The camera counted down then beeped once, twice and finally a third time. Then there was a bright light.

14. Torchwood’s Mission

A black van pulled up just around the corner of the DAVIC Corporation office in Los Angeles. Inside the four Torchwood agents were going through their mission plan.

Jack opened a crate and removed the small figure of the robot that he still referred to as Tommy; the name of the child was turned into the Cyberkin robot. He even talked to it like it was still human.

‘OK Tommy, we’re just going to walk you up to the DAVIC building. Hopefully they’ll just think you were just dumped and hopefully they’ll put you back inside so we can get a good look around.’

‘You’re worse than Cooper’ remarked Rex.

‘Sorry’ he said. ‘Right, I’m just going to open the door and let Tommy out. We can follow him via our PDA’s. Well you guys can at least.’

‘I’ll share mine with you’ offered Gwen. Jack thanked her.

Tommy the robot started to walk around the corner in the direction of the DAVIC building. Jack controlled him with slight touches of the directional joystick. The other three agents were getting a view of the outside of the building on their PDA’s which fed through into the Torchwood system where their computer expert Liam was.

There didn’t seem to be much happening outside; no employees walking in and out of the building.

‘Heh’ Jack said. ‘Maybe we need to hurry things along’ he suggested.

‘Break and enter?’ asked Rex.

‘Break and enter!’ confirmed Jack.

Jack made Tommy walk around the back of the building and using his laser guns made him cut his way inside through a steel door.

‘Stealthy’ remarked Rex sarcastically.

‘Why thank you, Rex.’

Tommy was standing on floor near some metallic stairs. Jack figured he should walk up them so he moved the joystick in that direction and marvelled at the ease of control.

‘When the Doctor makes a robot he really makes one’ he said.

‘Jack, try to stay focused’ instructed Gwen.

‘Right, sorry’ he replied.

After Tommy made it to the top of the stairs he was greeted by more Cyberkin robots. ‘Oh how sweet, my friends have come to welcome me’ said Jack.

But the Cyberkin didn’t offer any greetings, instead they spoke to Tommy. ‘Unidentified sibling; you must be deleted.’

‘Oh no, no, no’ said Jack.

The group of Cyberkin robots stretched out their arms and fired off a succession of lasers into Tommy making him explode into a fireball.

‘I’ve got to go in there’ said Jack, shoving the van door open and jumping out and immediately started running towards the building. He was almost around the corner when Gwen shouted;

‘Be careful!’

Jack climbed through the hole left over by Tommy and ran up the stairs to see the robot’s body. It had already been moved. But by the Cyberkin or by a human, he wasn’t sure.

Jack tapped the earcomm in his ear. ‘I’m in, don’t follow me. I’m going to shut these robots down myself.’

‘We’ve got no visual Jack’ said Gwen.

‘Don’t worry about’ he soothed. ‘What’s the worst that will happen? I’ll die?’ he laughed.

‘Well, I’ll just make myself useful by looking up blueprints of the building to help you look for the control room, if it is indeed inside that building’ said Gwen.

Jack was now heading down the corridor and keeping his eyes peeled for a room that looked like it would be full of electronics. But so far the doors he passed just looked like offices belonging to the employees.

‘Jack, the robots are controlled the same way mobile phones receive signals, through transmitters on the roof’ said Gwen through the earcomm.

‘Of course’ said Jack. ‘There are over two hundred DAVIC buildings all over the world transmitting signals to activate these robots.’

‘And more under construction according to a secret document found by Liam’ added Gwen.

‘Alright so I’m just going to go and see where this transmission is coming from’ informed Jack.

‘Liam can also help you there’ Gwen said. ‘I’ll connect him through to you.’

A few minutes later a young American voice spoke into his year. ‘Hey Jack’ greeted Liam.

‘Liam, my main man’ said Jack. ‘Gwen says you have some information for me.’

‘I certainly do’ replied Liam. Jack could hear of shuffling of papers. ‘I printed out the blueprints for the building. It’s easier on the eyes’ he said. ‘OK Jack, from the stairs leading to the roof there is a secret side door, most probably locked. I can try to hack into the security system for you. Through that door there is huge machine with all kinds of electronics on it. I’ve never seen anything like it’

‘And those transmitters must be transmitting whatever the machine does, which I’ll take a stab at and say turns cute little helper robots into killers’ concluded Jack.

‘I’m just trying to work out how to shut it down’ said Liam.

‘Take your time’ replied Jack. But for now open up that secret door.’

‘On it, Captain’ replied Liam. Jack couldn’t help but smile.

Jack headed up even more stairs in his search for the control room. But he kept ending up on just more floors leading to more stairs leading to more floors. Sometimes the stairs would take him back to the very bottom on the building.

Finally he found the last flight of stairs leading to top of the building but as he placed his hand on the door handle he heard a crunching of metal boots on the steel floor.

Jack turned slowly to face the Cybermen. ‘Alright, get it over and down with!’ he yelled opening his arms wide.

The Cybermen uttered a monotonus ‘delete’ and Jack felt an electrical current course through his body. Then he collapsed onto the floor, dead once again.

He woke up and looked around to see the Cybermen trudging away. Grinning, he got back to his feet and slowly opened the steel door and stealthily climbed up the stairs.

He looked carefully from side to side and even above because he thought that a secret door would be somewhere that it couldn’t be detected, or even not a door at all.

‘Liam, what does this door look like?’ he asked.

‘Ahh, according to these blue prints it’s in the middle of the control floor.’

‘What? How am I supposed to find that?’ asked Jack. But then he saw it.

It was just a slight bump in the ground like too much cement had been placed on top and it dried over before anyone could even it out. Jack stepped onto it and the above floor opened and concrete stairs rested on an angle on the narrow landing. Jack climbed them and entered the control room from below.

It wasn’t occupied. He found that strange but still made his way to the enormous machine before his eyes.

A hexagonal base decorated with levers, switches and dials. In the centre of it was a monitoring screen hooked up to wires.

‘Where’s the off switch?’ he said.

‘Working on it’ replied Liam.

‘I’m just going to remove the wires’ said Jack.

‘Do you think it’s safe?’

‘For me? Yeah’ replied Jack.

He picked up a clump of wires in his hand and began to pull at them and after they broke off the machine started to shoot sparks. Feeling happy that it was at least doing something Jack picked up another clump of wires and broke them off.

He looked up to see a still metallic figure at the door. Walking over to it he surveyed it, even cheekily waved his hand in front of it. ‘I think that did it Liam’ he said.

Then a shot was fired from behind him.

Jack once again felt the pain of every atom forming, every neuron being activated and he let out his first gasping breath as life returned to his body. He looked up to discover he was in a square concrete room, decorated with nothing but a flat screen TV hanging on the wall.

‘That’s odd’ he said.

‘So glad to have you back, Jack’ spoke an unfamiliar voice making Jack jump.

‘Who are you?’ he asked looking around for the voice’s owner.

‘Dave Crawley, manager of the DAVIC Corporation’ he greeted. ‘I’m surprised you haven’t heard of me. I know all about you Jack and your little group.’

‘Where are you? Why don’t you come out here and face me?’ challenged Jack.

‘No, I think I’ll stay where I am. The show’s about to start and I’ve got front row seats’ replied Dave Crawley.

‘What are you talking about?!’ yelled Jack to the air.

‘If I told you it wouldn’t be as fun’ replied Dave Crawley, sounding hurt. ‘OK, if you must know we at DAVIC have been preparing for our launch of virtual reality TV that goes to air at midday tomorrow morning. In case you didn’t realise it’s Christmas Day.’

‘Well obviously’ replied Jack.

‘And you’ve probably worked out by now what that means?’ he said.

‘You’re behind the disappearances’ answered Jack. ‘You’re products are making people disappear. But how?’

‘It’s all a bit complicated for me’ replied Dave Crawley. ‘But I do know that almost every home in America and around the world have one of these TV sets in their home and are waiting for them to be activated, at the same moment they sit down for their Christmas lunch.’

‘And they’re going to disappear?’

‘Yes, very good Jack. I think you worked it out faster than your friend the Doctor did.’

‘I’m not going to let you get away with this – you hear me!’ he yelled again to nothing but air.

‘I don’t think you’re in any kind of position to stop us’ he teased.

‘It doesn’t matter what you do to me I will stop you’ threatened Jack.

‘Oh, I think where you’re going you’re going to find it a bit difficult’ replied Dave Crawley.

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ asked Jack, but the TV set was now powering up and the last thing Jack saw was a bright light.

15. Valley of the Dead

The Doctor’s whole body was burning as he felt it lose its mass. His screaming was echoed by his companion’s screams that couldn’t be seen. In front of him he saw neither light nor dark; just nothing. It was hard for even him to put into words. This must be what it was like travelling through the Time Vortex without a capsule, he thought.

Then he hit soft itchy ground.

‘Grass’ he said ripping it up from the ground and picking it up in his hand and then clapped both hands together to wipe it off. He looked both left and right to see if his companions were near. He heard a groan nearby which brought a smile to his face. ‘Alright there Rory?’ he asked.

Rory took his time to sit up. ‘Yeah, I’m ok’ he said then looking around exclaimed, ‘It’s not snowing here. It’s not even cold.’

‘Where are we? It looks like some sort of valley’ came Alex’s voice from a few metres away. His hand was resting on top of the mirror and it felt cold, not just cold but wet. He looked down at the mirror and was shocked by what he saw. His hand was going right through it touching the Tecat camera that had been captured when the photo was taken, like when you take a photo of yourself in the mirror the camera appears in the photograph, except this camera was the actual 3d model, apart from now reading Tacet.

‘Is that supposed to happen?’ he asked.

‘Is what supposed to happen?’ asked the Doctor checking if he still had legs.

‘My hand is going straight into the mirror and I can pick up the camera’ he elaborated.

‘It’s a dimensionally transcendal mirror, so yes’ informed the Doctor. ‘Your magic silver box isn’t the only device that you can pull objects outs of.’

Alex stared into the mirror curiously poking it with his finger which made patterns like a ripple in a pond. ‘So if it’s a dimensionally transcendal mirror just where does it lead to?’

‘I’m not exactly sure.’

‘Can’t say I’m surprised.’

The Doctor ignored him and standing up he excitedly clapped his hands together upon discovering, ‘Ah, TARDIS made it here.’

‘All of it?’

‘Yes, all of it.’

‘But we were covering parts of it and like other inanimate objects that don’t get in the whole shot’ –

‘The TARDIS is a living machine’ corrected the Doctor.

‘Doctor, you’re ok’ said River climbing the hillside to come over to him.

‘Yep, a few bruises but otherwise fine.’

‘Wait a minute’ said Alex, ‘where’s Lisa?’

‘Well she can’t have gone far’ replied River. ‘I’ll help you look for her.’

Alex placed the camera and mirror in his ‘magic silver box’ as the Doctor called it then he and the others set out to look for Lisa and anyone who could give them a clear idea of where they were.

‘So how come that camera transported us to Wales?’ asked Rory.

‘It’s not Wales Rory but it does seem very familiar’ said the Doctor thoughtfully.

Alex found Lisa not far away brushing loose grass off her clothes. He ran over to her excitedly. ‘You’re ok!’ he said hugging her.

‘Yes I’m ok. Where are we?’

‘I’m not sure’ he admitted, ‘but we’re all back together again – that’s what matters.’

‘Ah, you found her’ chimed the Doctor. ‘Alright party let’s head that way’ he said after sucking his finger and holding it out in front of him. Then he pointed to the north-west and began trotting away.

When he neared the edge of forest he urged them all to keep low and quiet indicating with a finger to his lips. Then he placed an ear to the ground and lifted his head quickly up again. ‘There’s something in there heading this way.’

‘Should we run?’ asked Alex.

‘Let’s just see what it is first’ he replied.

The creature’s footsteps were getting louder making crunching noises over dead leaves. The Doctor estimated it had no more than four legs and that it was a deep breather with a long slobbery tongue and sharp teeth.

‘It can smell us too’ he added.

‘Let’s make a break for it’ said Rory. But the rustling from the forest got louder as a flash of gold lunged right for them knocking over the Doctor and opening its wide jaws to smother him in long slobbery kisses.

‘It’s Mandy!’ exclaimed Rory with relief.

‘Yes, yes, hi how are you?’ the Doctor said to the happy Golden Retriever as Mandy continued to lick his face. ‘Some help over here please.’ It took both Rory and Alex to wrench the dog off him which was understandable because the dog was quite overweight. When he was free the Doctor slipped a hand into his pocket and took out the blue nylon leash. ‘Look what I have for you’ he said dangling over the dog’s head. Then he picked up the part of the leash still attached to Mandy and fitted them together. ‘Ah see, perfect match.’

On they walked with the happy Retriever trotting at the Doctor’s heels. They came across more people that had disappeared including the Santa from Broadway Shopping Centre; a group of energetic boys’ climbing trees from the park that had been playing football; the missing couple walking hand to hand seemingly undisturbed that they were transported to a valley with no way back; and a lot of young children dressed like they came out of a Bible story, including the two wise men and a girl.

But no sign of Susan and Amy.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll keep looking until we find them’ assured the Doctor.

After they left the forest they passed a group of people huddled together dressed similar to Alex turning to say hi to him and he lamely returned the greeting.

‘You can go hang out with your hip friends if you like’ offered the Doctor.

‘No, that’s alright’ said Alex sheepishly.

Then they came to a gravel path that looked like it had been constructed to become a road and they stopped and stared in stunned silence at the red double Decker London bus that passed them.

‘Someone must have taken a photo of the whole bus’ guessed the Doctor. ‘Come on, let’s go on.’

And on they walked, pausing to study the random items that were littered across this valley. Among them a gigantic water fountain, shelves of books, a football stadium and a robot dog.

‘K-9, they got you!’ he exclaimed.

‘Affirmative Doctor, I was spying on the DAVIC Corporation and attempting to dismantle the CCTV cameras when I suddenly disappeared. I could detect stable amounts of radiation at high frequencies.’

‘Well, come on then join the party’ recommended the Doctor. The happy fat Mandy bounded up to K-9 and at first sniffed him and then started to lick him.

A small nozzle ejected from K-9’s nose. ‘This is your last warning to cease that at once or I will open fire’ he demanded. Lisa quickly grabbed the dog’s lead and pulled her away. K-9 spun his ears around disapprovingly.

‘That’s a feisty little dog you got there’ remarked River.

The traveller’s followed the road hoping that it would lead them somewhere that would give them a better idea about where they were, but as it twisted and forked they were still no closer to finding out where they were or where the road ended.

Then suddenly something lunged at Alex knocking him down a hill rolling with him until he reached the bottom. A man climbed on top of him grabbing him by his front lapel.

‘You’ve tricked me for the last time!’ yelled an infuriated Master knocking Alex’s head continuously into the ground. The Doctor and Rory skidded down the hill and jumped onto the Master each grabbing his arm to try and pull him off Alex.

‘Get off me!’ demanded the Master with a powerful shove. Then he looked at the two men that had tried to restrain him. ‘Who are you anyway?’ he asked adjusting his jacket lapels in a pompous manner. ‘Oh let me guess’ he said putting a finger to his lips, ‘The Doctor’ he turned to Rory, ‘who’s the boy?’

‘That’s my companion Rory’ replied the Doctor.

‘You always did like to collect humans’ he remarked.

Suddenly a fat retriever passed both of them and both their eyes followed it over to the figure of Alex on the ground. ‘Oh, and that’s Mandy’ said the Doctor.

Mandy now climbed on top of Alex and began licking his face over and over again. ‘Ugh brilliant, I’ve had my face mashed into snow, beaten and bloodied, smothered by itchy grass and to top all it off it’s now covered in sticky dog saliva’ complained Alex.

‘Affirmative Master Alex’ replied K-9. ‘Another point that proves that robotic dogs are the best; that and their superior intellect.’

The Master stared at him impassively then turned back to the Doctor. ‘Thanks to your grandson I’m stuck on this farm with you. I was in Downing Street!’

‘So I heard. And I don’t condone young Alex’s behaviour. It was very bad. But please, Master, don’t try to kill my last living relative.’

‘I can’t make any promises’ he shrugged shooting a look at Alex, now being helped up by Lisa. The two of them smiled and held each other by the arms for a moment. ‘Oh, so you two finally worked it out?’ They both shot him a reproachful look. He also seemed to notice River for the first time. ‘And who are you?’ he asked unenthusiastically.

‘This is my future companion River Song who knows everything about me but I barely know anything about her’ introduced the Doctor.

‘Hello Master, you look older’ greeted River. He gave her a strange look.

‘She does that a lot’ said the Doctor.

The Master took a moment to consider this but then felt awkward so to get some of his composure back he added smugly, ‘Well, I can’t help wondering what state poor Britain is in without their Prime Minister’ said the Master.

‘Personally, I think they’re better off’ replied the Doctor looking straight at him. ‘Anyway, they can always go back to the ex-PM. What happened to him by the way?’

‘I killed him’ answered the Master.

‘Oh you killed him. Yes well, that does complicate matters’ replied the Doctor. ‘Still, must first work out where I am before I can fix the situation back on Earth.’

‘You don’t know? Ha, this is brilliant!’ he exclaimed clapping his hands together.

‘What’s brilliant about that?’ he asked him cautiously. ‘Do you know where we are?’

‘Oh, you are getting forgetful in your old age’ he remarked.

‘Master, where are we?’

The Master leaned in closer to him. ‘Work it out for yourself!’ he said slowly to emphasise every word. Then he leaned back with a satisfied grin on his face.

‘Master if you tell me I can help you get out of here’ offered the Doctor.

‘And return me to my position as Prime Minister or locked up in some vault inside the TARDIS? It’s not going to happen’ he said and with that he climbed back up the hill towards the road.

‘Master, come back!’ shouted the Doctor but he had already disappeared from view.

Then the Doctor saw it; a long thin tower in this distant looking like a shadow with what looked like horns coming out from each side.

‘That’s the Dark Tower’ he revealed pointing to it. ‘But if that’s the Dark Tower then we must be in the Dead Zone but that’s impossible.’

‘Why’s it impossible?’ asked River.

‘Because when Gallifrey was destroyed the Dead Zone would have been destroyed with it.’

The Doctor led the way to the Dark Tower talking all the way. ‘There are three main entry points: one below ground, the other above and the last one through the front door.’

‘So which one are we taking?’ asked Rory.

‘The one with the door’ he replied.

As the party continued towards the Dark Tower a figure emerged from a tree that looked like he was still wearing the tree, brandishing an automatic pistol at them.

‘Oh Jack, not you too’ sighed the Doctor.

Jack removed the branches from him. ‘Yeah, lucky me got to see virtual reality TV early.’

‘How is it?’ asked the Doctor.

‘It doesn’t live up to the hype’ he replied then his face turned grim. ‘Doctor, they’re launching them at lunchtime tomorrow and as soon as they activate every person watching will be sent here.’

‘We will stop it, Jack’ he replied seriously.

‘So what are you doing now? He asked.

‘We’re going to that creepy tower over there’ he said cheerfully pointing at it. ‘You’re welcome to join us.’

So Jack joined the party which was also made up of a robotic dog, a pet dog, three humans from 2011, one from god only knows what time and one half-human half-alien. The immortal Captain from the 51^st century was in good company.

They entered the Dark Tower which to their surprise wasn’t guarded then they came to a sort of platform that looked like a chessboard.

The Doctor put his hand out to halt his companions. ‘Careful now. It’s a game with deadly consequences for the loser. Alex, give me your phone.’

‘What for? Why can’t you use your phone?’

‘I don’t have one, well I do but will you just do what I say?’ he snapped.

Reluctantly, Alex hand over his phone over to the Doctor and the Doctor threw it in the middle of the chessboard where a bolt of electricity struck and left the phone smouldering into a crisp.

‘You are so buying me a new phone’ he muttered.

‘Now it’s quite simple to get across. In fact you could say it’s as easy as pie.’ The all gave him confused looks. ‘And by pie I mean Pi; the ratio to a circle’s circumference to its diameter.’

‘Oh, that really does sound easy’ responded Rory sarcastically.

‘No really all you have to do is jump on each square that the digit corresponds to’ informed the Doctor.

‘So the first square is three and the next square is one, followed by four, one, five, and nine’ replied Alex. Rory gave him a strange look. ‘Well, when can I start acting like a know-it-all?’ he asked him.

‘Right, that’ simple enough. Just follow my lead’ said the Doctor jumping from each square on to the next row until he was off the board.

‘What about the dogs?’ asked Lisa.

The Doctor stopped short and looked back at the heavy energetic four-legged Mandy and the no-legged K-9. ‘Oh, I didn’t think of that. Just leave them here’ he said. ‘Sorry K-9 but we’ll come back for you.’

Lisa turned to the actual dog that hadn’t ceased with wagging its tail. ‘Now Mandy sit’ she commanded and the dog obeyed. ‘OK good, now stay’ she said but as she took a few steps back the dog stood up again and followed her.

‘I make sure the dog stays grounded’ said K-9 releasing gas from his nozzle knocking the dog out.

‘Not that I would encourage it but it least it worked’ said the Doctor. He waited for them to all jump across and once they were all safely over to the other side he gave K-9 one final farewell. ‘I promise I’ll come back for you.’ Then he led the way through the Dark Tower.

They were walking through a stone corridor when Rory asked. ‘So what is exactly inside this Dark Tower?’

‘A tomb’ replied the Doctor.

‘Oh, a tomb, right’ said Rory nodding his head then, ‘What?’

‘Not just any tomb, Rory, but the tomb of the greatest Time Lord there’s ever been.’

‘So it’s your tomb?’

‘Haha, there’s that Earth wit I’ve been hoping for. OK, greatest Time Lord next to me. It’s Rassilon’s tomb, or really his sleeping place because Rassilon was immortal.’

‘Was immortal? Don’t you mean is?’

‘No was’ corrected the Doctor. ‘When Gallifrey was destroyed he was destroyed with it.’

‘Like the Dark Tower?’

‘Yes, just like that.’

‘The one we’re currently inside?’

‘The very same.’

‘Don’t you think there’s something strange about that?’

‘Don’t you think you ask too many questions Rory?’ shot the Doctor.

‘Hey, what’s that up ahead?’ said Alex pointing at two figures. ‘It almost looks like my mum.’

‘And Amy!’ shouted Rory running towards her.

The Doctor seemed to disapprove of his actions. ‘It’s not really them’ he said.

‘What do you mean?’ asked Rory.

‘Alex you’ve got to come with us’ Susan said.

‘Have you found a way out?’ he asked.

‘Yes,’ she nodded. ‘You must follow us.’

‘Don’t you dare listen to her’ instructed the Doctor.

Amy said the same thing. ‘Rory, we’ve found a way to take you home.’

‘You two listen to me’ the Doctor said seriously. ‘They’re not real, just phantoms. They’re just spectral memories of the people you once knew.’

‘So phantoms are real but ghosts aren’t?’ shot Alex.

‘Let’s just keep going’ he said.

‘But what about Amy?!’ yelled Rory. He tried to touch her but his hand went through and both Amy and Susan let out a piercing scream and dissipated.

‘I told you they were just memories. Now come on!’ he yelled urging them to keep moving forward.

They walked into an open area; a vast stone room decorated with red tapestries and a column inscribed in strange ancient characters in the middle of the room.

‘Ah, that would be the tombstone of Rassilon’ said the Doctor. ‘It’s written in ancient high Gallifreyan. Few can understand it but luckily I can.’

‘Are you sure this room is the tomb of Rassilon?’ asked Rory staring at something on the other side of the room.

‘I’m positive about it, Rory.’

‘What does it say?’ asked River.

‘This is the tomb of Rassilon where Rassilon lies in eternal sleep’ he read. ‘Anyone who has gotten this far show greats courage and determination etc etc’ he said quickly to skip ahead to more important parts of the message. ‘Ah, but here it says to lose is to win and he that wins shall lose.’

‘Meaning what exactly?’ asked Alex leaning down to study the tombstone.

The Doctor jumped into an explanation. ‘It’s been well speculated that Rassilon had achieved immortality and he set up the Game of Rassilon – loved to name many things after himself he did– anyway he set up a game for anyone wishing to succeed him to play through it for the ultimate prize.’

‘What was the ultimate prize?’

‘Immortality’ replied the Doctor. ‘It was said that whoever completed the game and was first to put on the ring of Rassilon would themselves become immortal too.’ He paused to let his companions take it all in before he concluded. ‘It was all just a big trick though. For the Time Lords that did complete the game and seek immortality were turned into stone on a plinth on Rassilon’s tomb.’

‘Yeah the thing about Rassilon’s tomb’ said Rory.

‘Oh Rory, what is it?’ the Doctor replied impatiently turning around.

‘Where is it?’

‘Well, it’s right up those steps’ replied the Doctor pointing towards an empty platform at the top of the stairs. His face dropped in bewilderment. ‘It’s gone!’

16. The War that Never Stopped

‘Did somebody steal it?’ asked Rory.

‘No’ responded the Doctor. ‘It’s gone because all the Time Lord’s don’t exist anymore’ he sighed. ‘I mean apart from me, the Master and Susan.’

With nothing left to see or do in the Tomb of Rassilon the traveller’s left it and walked back through the way they came, ignoring the phantoms in the corridors and reuniting with K-9 and the awoken Mandy at the entrance. Then they left the Dark Tower and walked back into the Death Zone which now looked like a refugee camp for all the people that had disappeared from Earth. Although they didn’t look much like refugees; their clothes were only a week old and made out of some the sturdiest material with fine stitching. Many were wearing work clothes, suits, uniforms or casual but fashionable outfits.

One of the refugees was a man that was aged roughly around his forties with brown hair slightly receding, wearing a thick fleece jacket, and warming his hands by a camp fire. His two boys with lighter brown hair were standing next to him in their warm coats over the top of their school uniforms.

The Doctor walked slowly up to them. ‘Hi, hope I’m not intruding.’

‘Oh, not at all’ replied the man cheerfully with a strong Welsh accent. ‘Eoin, Owain scoot over would you’ he instructed his children who obediently moved a few paces to the right. ‘Feel free to warm your hands up by the fire’ he said to the Doctor and his companion.

‘You’re very kind’ replied the Doctor.

‘We’ve got to look out for one another out here’ replied the man. ‘I’m Rhod by the way. These here are my little soldiers Eoin and Owain.’ The boys’ looked up at the mention of their names and the Doctor noticed for the first time that they looked identical.

‘Twins?’ he asked Rhod.

‘No, Owain is the eldest. Looks out for his little brother he does.’

‘This is my youngest here, Alex’ he said placing a hand on his shoulder. ‘Ah, youngest brother I mean. He looks up to me too.’ At this moment Alex raised a cupped hand to his mouth to cough. ‘Move a bit closer to the fire, Alex. We don’t want you catching a cold’ he said then added to Rhod, ‘Oh, and I’m the Doctor. These are my friends Rory, River, Lisa and Jack.’

‘It’s a dog!’ exclaimed Owain.

‘Oh and Mandy and K-9’ added the Doctor.

The dog Owain was talking about was the ever happy Mandy that jumped onto him and licked his face, but the boy didn’t mind. Eoin patted Mandy on the back.

‘The boys’ love dogs but I never did have enough money to be able to take care of one.’

‘Well, we’re taking care of this one’ said the Doctor. ‘Actually I never found out what the girl’s name was that owned her before she disappeared.’

‘Ah, another disappearance’ replied Rhod. ‘Got the boys’ and me when I was picking them up from school. Never ever found out what happened.’

‘Believe it or not it was a camera that sent us to another universe’ said the Doctor.

‘I’ll believe just about anything right about now’ replied Rhod. ‘So this is another universe, hey? It doesn’t look much different to where I grew up’ he chuckled. Then he looked at his youngest son who had an uncomfortable look on his downcast face. ‘It’s alright Eoin, there are hard times a foot for us but we’ll get through it. We always do.’

‘It’s not that, dad’ he replied. ‘I know I shouldn’t complain but I’m just so hungry.’

‘Yeah, what do you do for food around here?’ asked the Doctor. ‘Pick berries from the trees?’

‘The masters’ give us some rations’ replied Rhod, ‘nothing special, just pills that somehow fill us up. It’s not the same as big juicy chops of lamb and gravy.’

‘No dad, don’t’ whined Eoin. ‘You’re making it worse.’

‘Sorry son.’

‘Maybe I can help’ replied Alex. ‘He dipped into his jacket pocket. ‘I took a bar of chocolate just in case I got hungry’ he said. ‘It’s walnuts, peanuts and caramel, a bit melted and crumpled but still good’ he said holding it out for the boys’ who hungrily grabbed it and broke it in half for each other.  ‘Just make sure you share it with your dad.’

‘Oh no, I’m fine’ said Rhod putting up a hand. ‘My boys’ need it more.’

Lisa nudged Alex in the shoulder. ‘That was very kind of you.’

‘Why thank you’ he smiled.

Jack was the next one to speak up after he took a long look around. ‘I can’t help wondering that this place seems a bit empty for the amount of people that have disappeared.’

The Doctor and his companions looked around and noticed it too. ‘You’re right, Jack’ he said. ‘You said stadiums filled with people disappeared so where are they?’

‘Sometimes the masters’ open the gate to recruit reinforcements’ replied Rhod.

‘Recruit reinforcements – what for?’

‘To fight in their war. I had to beg them not to take my boys’. They like choosing the young.’

‘These masters’ don’t happen to look like aliens do they?’ asked Rory nervously.

‘Oh no, they look human, just dress a bit old fashioned I’d say’ replied Rhod.

‘Oh good’ said Rory relieved.

‘You think that’s good?’ asked the Doctor. ‘Believe me human looking aliens can be the worse.’ But he shook the thought from his mind and turned back to Rhod. ‘This gate – where is it? I’ve been through almost every area here and I didn’t see it.’

‘It’s invisible; a type of force field you could say.’

‘Oh, so like a transduction barrier? Yes, it’s all making sense now’ replied the Doctor thoughtfully.

‘I think they’re going to open this transduction barrier as you call it again very soon’ said Rhod. ‘It’s probably your only chance of escape.’

‘How do you know we want to escape?’

‘I just have to look at your faces to see the certainty in them’ replied Rhod. ‘Each and every one of you is a soldier.’

‘Well, if we’re all soldiers we should not let our skills go to waste.’ He stood up to announce. ‘Don’t worry Rhod, we will find a way out of here and we will come back for you.’

Rhod had pointed out the direction in which to take for the traveller’s to find the transduction barrier. He wanted to stay behind with his boys’ to keep them out of the selection process.

The Doctor and his companions were standing on the very edge of the Death Zone waiting for these masters to open up the gates. Immediately after approaching the spot as if his mind was read the barrier began to open revealing a path of rocky red earth.

A group of officers wearing red and white uniforms with long leather boots stepped forward.

‘Right, do we have any volunteers this time?!’ one of them shouted. The Doctor stepped forward urging his companions to follow suit. ‘Good to see some bravery among you lot of stunted apes’ said the officer. ‘But we’re still low on numbers so my men are going to select who they think will be the strongest fighters again.’ The officer motioned for them to begin the selecting process and then with a thumb pointing behind him motioned for the traveller’s to move through.

The Doctor was worried about any of them noticing him because he was sure he had met these men before. But they barely looked at him as he passed them and into this unknown land.

The traveller’s all stopped and gasped at the sight in front of them. The sky was covered with a dense black cloud of ash erupting from volcanoes on the top of mountains in the distance, blotting out the Sun while red and orange flames broke out in the fallen buildings, and the rocky terrain was split apart and raised as though an earth quake had hit it.

But that was nothing compared to the armies running forward brandishing all kinds of alien weaponry that emitted electrical currents, lasers or bursts of colourful lights. As pretty as they looked the power of these weapons brought devastating results. One weapon that was fired from wide shouldered human-gorilla looking creature completely disintegrated its opponent. Another alien looked like a little girl, although a more spectral form in the clouds and as she opened her mouth wide she released a fire cloud that twisted and formed into a red tornado taking out hundreds of soldiers as it passed through them, incinerating their bodies after it had spewed them out.  In the sky there were huge mechanic looking vultures that opened their beaks wide to let out a high-pitched screech. Then there were chants of ‘exterminate, exterminate, exterminate’ as hundreds of Daleks joined the battle emanating the sky with light from their energy beams.

‘Alex, you always wanted to go to Gallifrey – well here it is’ informed the Doctor grimly. ‘This is the Last Great Time War.’

‘But I thought you ended it?’

‘So did I, Jack.’

‘So the Time Lord’s are still alive?’ asked Alex looking up at him.

‘That seems to be the case Alex’ replied the Doctor. ‘And here comes one now’ he sighed, almost rolling his eyes.

‘You know where you are now Doctor?’ asked an excited Master who looked like he was having the time of his life. ‘This is great isn’t it? So are you going to fight this time round?’

‘Depends, are you going to run away again?’ he asked lifting an eyebrow. But a huge fire cloud forced him to recoil back and after it passed the Master was gone.

‘Doctor, look Dalek’s’ warned Jack making everyone take shelter behind the rubble of a stone building. They all watched silently as a black Dalek passed them. They let out a sigh of relief after it didn’t notice them and continued driving on.

The Doctor began to sift through the remains of the building. ‘This was the Prydonian Academy’ he said. ‘I spent my youth here.’ Then he looked around before adding. ‘We must be near the Citadel.’

‘Doctor, we should find some shelter’ suggested River as a group of the hairy human-apes formed in front of them.

‘We have to get to the Panopticon’ he said standing up.

‘But how do we get passed them?’

‘I have an idea’ said Alex reaching into his jacket pocket and taking out his silver box. ‘You ever wondered what my magic silver box really is?’ he said pressing a few buttons on it and laying it down on the rubble just in time for it to change into his old TARDIS; the Schrödinger. He grinned at them.

‘Alex, you’re amazing’ exclaimed the Doctor but then he thought again and his hopes were dashed. ‘Oh but, this war is timelocked.’

‘I can still fly it.’

‘Well, it’s the only chance we’ve got so I’ll take it’ said River.

‘Right everyone, get in!’ shouted the Doctor in excitement. Then he stopped as he felt a presence behind him. He turned around to see the Master, sweating, covered in volcanic ash with the most terrified look on his face.

Jack stepped forward. ‘Don’t do it, Doctor. He’s just going to trick you again.’

But the Doctor stepped forward and held out his hand to him. ‘Come with me’ he said.

Surprised, the Master took his hand as the Doctor dragged him into the plane and shut the door behind him.

‘You’re making a mistake’ said Jack.

‘Jack, I’m not just going to leave him out there to die’ he snapped. Turning to the Master he added, ‘Don’t you dare try anything.’ The Master didn’t say anything; no apologies, no smart remarks, no gratefulness about his rescue. That wasn’t the Master’s way.

Alex tore off his jacket and scarf and rolled back the sleeves of his buttoned up shirt and sat down on a seat behind the open cockpit of his plane. ‘Taxiing is going to be a bit bumpy’ he said as he started up the engine.

The Schrödinger taxied awkwardly and not as straight as Alex had anticipated and it took out a whole row of those human-ape things that glanced around startled for a moment.

‘OK, that was weird’ said Alex. ‘Why aren’t they attacking?’

‘Ogrons are stupid creatures’ replied the Doctor. ‘It takes them a while to comprehend something that happens that’s unexpected to them.’

‘So why are they fighting Time Lord’s?’ he asked while checking the speed he was travelling.

‘Dalek’s use them as slaves’ he replied then noticed, ‘Alex were approaching the end of the cliff.’

‘I’m still not going fast enough’ he replied.

‘If you don’t get into the air now it’s going to be too late.’

The plane’s nose dipped forward as they approached the edge of the cliff and the plane begun to plummet closer and closer toward the ground. But just in time Alex pulled the control stick up and the plane did a quarter-loop into the air. Then he levelled the plane out.

‘If you ever do that to me again I’m going to kill you’ said the Doctor still holding the back of his chair.

‘So where am I flying this thing?’ asked Alex.

‘Look for a Citadel in a glass dome’ instructed the Doctor. ‘We should be close.’

River was standing near the central console gazing down at a status reader which was blinking with red lights. ‘Doctor, we’ve got company’ she said. ‘I’m receiving a very high frequency of sound waves coming this way.’

‘What could that be?’ he asked just before the plane started to shake and a high pitched echo rang out.

‘It’s those vulture planes from before’ said Rory holding his ears.

‘Yes Rory, but they’re less planes more alien airships’ replied the Doctor. ‘They’re using a sonic boom defence system.’

‘When would they ever have to defend themselves?’ said Rory as another wave was released by the vulture.

The Master strode forward over to the cockpit.

‘Master, what are doing?!’ yelled the Doctor.

‘I designed this TARDIS so only I know where the secret switches are to activate the missiles’ he informed them.

‘What switch?’ asked Alex.

‘This one’ he said pressing an ordinary looking switch that made another lever appear. ‘You might need another pilot.’

‘Allow me’ said Jack. ‘I am a Captain after all.’ He pushed the Master out of the way and instructed Alex about what directions to fly while he fired the missiles.

Soon they were locked in an old fashioned dogfight with the vulture airship. Alex was performing so many twists and turns the traveller’s had to find a support of some kind and hold desperately onto it for dear life. Jack even told Alex how to turn it upside down which the other occupants in the TARDIS didn’t enjoy. Finally, Jack managed to shoot off one of its wings and it went careening into a mountain top below and exploded.

‘That was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life’ exclaimed Jack. ‘That was some good flying too’ he added turning to Alex.

The Doctor was struggling to get up off of the console. He had accidently hit the wide view screen but was fortunate because right before his eyes he saw that passed all the thick smoke and red sky was a glass dome and sitting inside it was the Citadel.

‘Alex, get ready to land’ he instructed. ‘We’re here.’

17. The Citadel

Gallifrey was once a peaceful planet. The Time Lord’s that ruled over it lived a life of neutrality completely isolated from the rest of the universe. The many numbers of force fields, transduction barriers and temporal locks kept outsiders from getting through, and as such they never felt the need to keep up to date with their armaments. However they were soon to pay the price for this oversight when the Time War started and the invading forces had more advanced weapons than the Time Lord’s, whose guards still used handheld staser guns.

Gallifrey had once been a beautiful land with red grass, golden fields and thick green forests with trees shining of silver leaves. One of her Sun’s would shine in the north giving the planet a red earthy glare while the second Sun rose from the south turning the silver leaves red. Mount Cadon, the planet’s highest mountain range rose in the south and sparkled with pure white snow.

Between the two peaks of Mount Solace and Solitude stood the Capitol of Time Lord society concealed in a glass dome. The Citadel, hour glass shaped sat in the heart of the Capitol and was surrounded by many towers and spires.

It truly was an amazing sight until the Time War broke out.

The two Suns were blocked by thick clouds of smoke. The silver trees had been burnt bronze. The rich green forests were now a fiery blaze. The golden fields were trodden on so much by the warring armies they were reduced to mud. And the mountain of Solace and Solitude that once glinted with the whitest snow were greying from falling ash.

But in the heart of the battle stood the Capitol, still standing tall and proud inside its transparent dome fortress providing a refuge for the Time Lord’s from the war.

The great Citadel rose up from inside and its many high rise towers and spires still held their ground. Its turrets fired at enemy ships from above and they crashed to the red earth below next to buildings. So close in fact that one fallen Dalek spaceship almost landed on a blue aircraft, missing it by a few metres.

‘What was that?’ asked Rory.

‘Oh, it was just a crashed Dalek spaceship’ replied the Doctor looking at the view screen. He beckoned them all to come closer as he spoke. ‘Alright, we’re here. Now I want you all to be careful. We don’t know what is happening inside. Well, I have some idea so I know it’s going to be dangerous.’ He looked up towards Jack. ‘I think it’s best we split up because the Citadel is a very large building and we’ll be able to find out what’s going on quicker if we split up. So Jack I want you to pair up with Alex’ he paused and waited for the two to nod. ‘River and Lisa can go together and Rory and K-9 will go with me.’

‘Why can’t Lisa go with me?’ protested Alex.

‘Because Alex, I need at least one strong person in each group and you haven’t exactly proven yourself in battle’ replied the Doctor sharply. Alex looked affronted but didn’t say anything.

‘So what about me then?’ asked the Master. ‘Do I go alone?’

‘Nope, you’re staying here’ said Jack handcuffing him to one of the TARDIS’s supports.

‘What? You’re just going to chain me up in here in the middle of a war?’ he stammered.

The Doctor moved closer to him. ‘I can’t trust you, Master. Last time you took control of ten thousand Dalek’s. I’m not taking any chances this time.’

‘Oh and to see that you don’t try to escape’ added Jack before whistling for Mandy to come over. ‘Don’t let him escape’ he ordered the dog. The dog seemed to understand him and let out a few barks directed at the Master. ‘OK, let’s go’ he commanded heading for the door.

Jack made a mock salute at the Master before leaving the TARDIS himself. When Alex went to leave the Master grabbed his wrist with his free hand.

‘Come on, Alex. You trust me right? I knew you were telling me the truth when you said you preferred being with me than the Doctor.’

Alex shot him a look of disgust and pulled out of his grip and walked out the door.

Mandy let out a little growl and the Master looked back at her. ‘What are you looking at?’ he spat.

‘So got a plan this time?’ asked Jack before the party split in twos.

‘Yes, well, almost’ replied the Doctor. ‘I always have a plan at the end’ he added.

Each group entered through a different door. The Doctor was heading towards the Panopticon with Rory and K-9.

‘You’ve got an advantage coming with me’ he said to Rory, ‘only I know where everything is in this citadel. And K-9 knows every area of this building too.’

Rory gazed around at the stone walls in the corridor they were walking down. It looked to him like one of those places where every area looks similar and so it was easy to get lost in it.

‘Oh, might want to watch out for security cameras too’ he added.

‘Where?’ asked Rory looking up and into the far corners of the ceiling seeing no sign of tiny cameras.

‘Time Lord technology is more advanced than human’s so you’re not going to find any security cameras like that.’

‘What do they look like then?’

‘Umm, I forget’ he admitted. ‘But K-9 can shut the system off for us if only I can remember where the power board is…’

‘I have located it, Doctor’ replied K-9.

‘Yes well, lead the way’ he ordered. The dog zoomed off followed closely behind by the Doctor and Rory.

When they caught up to him he was already working at disabling the security cameras with a long antenna protruding from his head with a flat disc connecting to the power board.

‘Good work K-9. How long do you think you’re going to take?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Insufficient data’ replied the dog.

‘It means he hasn’t got the foggiest’ said the Doctor leaning in to whisper to Rory. The he raised his voice to address the dog. ‘Just let us know when it’s done.’

Little did they know that while they were working hard to disable the security system that they had already been identified by it.

‘I’ll alert the guard’ said a man in a red robe.

‘No, let me take care of them’ said a man in the same robe but with hair so bleached that the outfit didn’t suit him.

Meanwhile, inside the Schrödinger…

The Master was positioned uncomfortably while handcuffed to the support in the TARDIS, between a sitting and standing position. It was putting a lot of pressure on his back. He pulled frantically at his restraints but all that resulted in was little dents in his wrist. In frustration he ceased this attempt at freedom and glared at his guard who was lying down and licking her front paw.

But then something caught his eye; a crumpled blue piece of clothing left on the ground. It was Alex’s jacket that he took off so he could fly the plane. He didn’t know why he had to take it off in order to fly. Must be some human thing, he thought. Next to the jacket was the boy’s red scarf.

He turned his attention back to the jacket. He wasn’t sure why it had thrilled him to see it just lying there discarded like a dirty cloth. Then he remembered that Alex still had his laser screwdriver. Could it still be in his breast pocket?

There was only one way to find out. The Master stretched out his free arm so tightly that the bones in his hands cracked painfully but he still couldn’t reach the jacket. He let out an exasperated sigh and brought his hand in to be massaged by his restrained one.

Then he saw the dog; the great golden domestic family pet, so loyal to its human masters. Would it be loyal to him, he wondered.

He whistled to it. The dog ceased licking her paw and raised her head towards the noise.

‘You dog, come over here’ he ordered it.

Many just stared back at him with her head slightly cocked to one side.

‘Oh, you can see right through me’ he said looking directly at the dog that then let out a sharp ‘woof’. The Master jumped a little at that. He wasn’t very fond of dogs.

Then as he looked at the wall in attempt to help him think something caught his attention. Next to the support was a blue nylon leash. The Master grinned deviously. ‘Oh look what I’ve got’ he said picking up the leash with his free hand. He knew what to expect. Time Lord and human hater he may be but he knew that the universal reaction of all dogs that had these human made restraints waved in front of them all got excited at the prospect that their masters might take them for a walk, to give them that little taste of freedom while at the same time being restrained by short ropes while their masters led them. He now found a creature more stupid than a human that made humans look intelligent compared to them.

Just as he had expected Mandy ran up to him wailing with a noise between a bark and a howl, wagging her long fluffy tail from side to side. She jumped up to him and licked his hand. Now that he had gained her trust it was now time to see what cheap tricks her human master got her to perform.

‘Can you fetch?’ he asked pointing to the blue jacket. Mandy followed his finger but looked back unsure on what he wanted her to do.

‘Oh, it figures’ he sighed. ‘OK, how about this?’ he dipped his free hand into his jacket pocket and took out a white paper bag and awkwardly with his restrained hand removed a jelly baby from the packet. ‘Mmm nice, isn’t it’ he said offering her one.

Now was the hard part. He picked out another jelly baby and squished it between his fingers and stretched it out long and flung it over to the jacket. Many ran over to it and as she licked the sweet it got stuck on the jacket. So she began biting it, unknowingly spreading the flavour all over.

The Master tried this a few more times until most of the back of the jacket was covered in a sticky goo. Then somehow Mandy preferred the jacket over the sweets as she got into a playful mood she brought the jacket over to the Master who took it willingly.

‘Good girl’ he smiled digging into the jacket’s pocket and extracting his laser screwdriver. He lifted up the metallic device and kissed it. Then he pointed it near the handcuff and melted the steel just enough to pull his hand free.

The Master stood up, noticed a mirror on the wall so he straightened up in front of it but after noticing how fluid it looked inside he couldn’t resist to touch it. It made ripples around his finger. He considered it for a moment but then shook it out of his mind and opened the door, which a glint of gold shot out in front of him and disappeared into the darkness. Stupid dog, he thought. Then he took a moment to take in the sight before his eyes; fire, dark black clouds, ash, and the sounds of war. But he was finally home and now he was free. And with that he left the TARDIS; his only sanctuary from the war.

‘K-9, have you successfully disabled the security system?’

‘Affirmative, Doctor.’

‘Great, now let’s go to the Panopticon’ he said.

As they were walking back through the corridor Rory asked. ‘So just what is this Panto-Pano’—

‘Panopticon Rory.’

‘What exactly is it used for?’

‘Oh, ceremonies, meetings for the High Council, where the Lord President resides, stuff like that’ replied the Doctor.

They left the corridor and entered into a wide circular room with rows of stairs leading to a hexagonal platform on each side, joining onto halls leading to other areas of the Citadel. And Rory had to crane his neck to take in all the levels of the building.

The Doctor raised his arms wide to his side exclaiming. ‘Ah, the Panopticon! Doesn’t she look lovely?’

‘I guess…’

The Doctor spun around and shot him a disapproving look at his lack of enthusiasm. ‘Is that all you’ve got to say? I guess? It’s marvellous!’

‘Yes it’s huge, it’s amazing, it’s really something’ said Rory. ‘But what are we doing here?’

‘Oh right’ said the Doctor coming out of his trance. ‘We need to find who is behind these disappearances and what technology they are using to link back to the Tecat cameras. And I think I know just where to look’ he said heading up the stairs. Then climbed back down and pointed to a set leading down. ‘Actually I think it’s this way,’ but then he turned on his heel and climbed back up deciding, ‘No, it’s definitely that way’ he said pointing towards a corridor.

‘But we just came out from that way’ said Rory.

‘Exactly! That’s why I know where to go. Pay attention Rory.’ And with that he disappeared down the shadowy hall with Rory and K-9 behind him.

‘So what was all that about?’ Rory asked as the Doctor was leaning against the wall motioning for him to be quiet so he could hear what was coming from the other side.

‘I can hear some circuitry in here but I don’t think it’s the right room’ he said shrugging and continuing on.

Rory struggled to keep up with him. ‘Doctor, what are you looking for?’

‘Oh, didn’t I say? I’m looking for a secret passage to the Lord President’s room’ he informed. ‘I just can’t for the life of me remember where it is.’ He ran around up and down the corridor like mad, turning to the left and right, only to double back. Then he finally stopped in front of a crimson tapestry and pointed with glee. ‘That’s the one.’

‘Behind the tapestry?’

‘Yes’ he replied. ‘Now to work out what the password is.’ He scratched his head. ‘Open’ he announced. Nothing happened. ‘Hmm, that’s not it. Ah, I know – Rassilon!’ he bellowed in a booming voice. Still nothing happened. He bit his fingernails anxiously. ‘Well, the only one I remember must be centuries years old’ he said then turned to speak to Rory. ‘I tell you Rory there’s nothing more annoying than a lock on a voice print.’

The door clicked and opened slightly.

‘I said there’s nothing more annoying than lock on a voice print’ he said louder. The door slid open. The Doctor gave Rory an excited expectant grin and walked through.

The room was large and square decorated with more crimson tapestries with carpet and furniture matching that theme. It was dark though because the only available light was coming from four candelabras fixed on top of stone pillars in the corners of the room.

‘Looks like the Lord President isn’t in’ said the Doctor rubbing his hands. ‘Great, begin the raid.’

‘The raid?’

‘Yes, try to find a staff and perhaps even a sash – actually come to think of it’ he said second guessing himself, ‘The Lord President usually wears both at all times.’

‘What do we need those items for?’ asked Rory.

‘To access the eye of Harmony’ replied the Doctor then after seeing Rory’s vacant expression went on. ‘The Eye is directly underneath the Panopticon and is basically the Time Lord’s connection to the Time Vortex. If it’s been used to make people disappear than maybe I can use it by reversing the polarity.’

‘You mean send them back?’

‘Yes, exactly Rory!’ he exclaimed. ‘Now if only I can work out a way to get those items.’

‘Would sleeping pills help?’ asked Rory and then, ‘sorry, stupid question.’

‘Not entirely’ replied the Doctor, ‘I’m sure we can make a high enough dose to knock the whole High Council out. The whole Capitol is surrounded by research towers. I’m sure I could conjure up a potent sleeping draught in no time.’

Now that the plan was finally outlined the Doctor and Rory decided to leave the Lord President’s chambers before he came back. The Doctor told Rory that leaving through the main door would get them to the research labs quicker.

Rory caught a sight of the door. It was made up of many different sized wheels that the Doctor said were used for the most impenetrable lock.

When he opened the door he was face to face to some angry looking officers. They were all dressed in a red and white uniform; with breeches tucked into high boots and red helmets covering most their faces. ‘It’s the Doctor!’ yelled one.

‘What are you doing in President Rassilon’s chambers?’ asked another. Both looked no older than Rory.

Before the Doctor could answer K-9 drove forward and released a dark gas from the nozzle on his nose.

‘Sleeping gas’ said the Doctor urging Rory to not breathe it in and they stepped over the unconscious bodies of the officers and bolted up the corridor.

‘Where are we running to?’ asked Rory between breaths.

‘No idea but those Chancellery Guards aren’t going to sleep for long’ replied the Doctor quickly. ‘Just keep going forward then I think right – no left –no definitely right. That should get us to a chemistry lab.’

The Doctor ran full pelt straight ahead then right, then down, then left then straight, almost colliding into more guards. He doubled back and ran in the opposite direction pushing Rory who was now leading the way with no idea where he was supposed to go. To make things worse they were now being fired at.

‘Hang on’ said Rory once they found a long tapestry on the wall to hide in, ‘where did K-9 go?’

The Doctor pushed a bit of tapestry up to poke out his head, looking both up and down the corridor. ‘I don’t know’ he said, now throwing the whole tapestry up to get out of it. Rory slid out from the side.

‘At least we lost the guards’ said Rory.

‘Yeah’ replied the Doctor in a breath.

‘Which way do we do go now?’ asked Rory looking in every direction around the corridor.

‘Umm, let’s just keep walking straight’ decided the Doctor.

They continued to head up the corridor, now being ever so vigilant about bumping into Chancellery Guards. But they didn’t look behind them and that was where the real danger was coming from. They didn’t hear the footsteps or turn to see the malevolent grin on the robe figure’s face. They didn’t see the weapon or notice the buzzing from it. But they did feel the electric current going through their bodies. And they fell flat on the cold stone floor.

Only a few moments had passed when the Doctor and Rory came to. They blinked rapidly as their vision returned to discover about five Chancellery Guards standing over them. They hoisted them to their feet and pushed them through a corridor. Finally a door was opened, then came a clanging of keys and a screech from a rust metal gate. Then the two prisoners were thrown inside. Another screech and thud sounded to lock them into the cell.

‘Again I’m getting locked up with you’ complained Rory.

‘I think he’s got a thing for you’ said an accented Scottish voice.

Rory lifted his head up suddenly. ‘Amy!’ he exclaimed jumping off a cold metal bench and running over to hug her. ‘I thought I’d never see you again.’

She gave him a searching look. ‘You’re still thinking stuff like that?’

‘Well, this time it was different. It was my fault.’ He lowered his head shamefully.

‘No it wasn’t. I was the one that bought you blasted camera and asked you to take my photo.’

The Doctor got up to hug Amy then after letting ago he noticed her cellmate; Susan. ‘Susan!’ he gasped. ‘I don’t understand. Why are the two of you locked up?’

‘Susan broke the law’ said Amy. ‘It’s not like it’s hard but well you tell them.’

‘I tried to contact you Doctor through your TARDIS. Rassilon has a virtual communicator in a secret chamber. It’s how he communicates with people on Earth. I tried to use it but I struggled to get through then I was caught by him and thrown into this cell.’

The Doctor stroked his chin. ‘That explains young Alex’s ghost sighting.’

‘Ghost sighting?’

‘He did see you Susan in the storeroom of the TARDIS but he said your image was all ghostly and transparent. The signal wasn’t strong enough.’

‘Alex was with you? Where is he now?’ she asked anxiously.

‘He’s close by with Jack so he’s well protected.’

‘Jack is here too – In the Citadel?’

‘Yes I know it’s not usually tolerated for humans to be inside the Citadel but’ he paused and leaned closer to her, ‘we’re on Gallifrey. Doesn’t that strike you as odd? It was destroyed and everyone and everything destroyed with it.’

‘Yes Doctor it is rather strange to me.’

‘Ah, still calling me Doctor. Good to hear’ he said cheerfully straightening up.

‘I’m just so worried about Alex. I wish there was a way I could speak to him.’

‘Don’t worry Susan. Jack will take care of him. And going by your son’s record it’s only a matter of time before he joins us in this cell’ he said, quickly adding a ‘sorry.’

18. Fallen Soldier

Jack and Alex had entered into the Panopticon and were now taking in the stairs leading to the hexagonal platform and away to corridors and floors unseen.

‘So this is the Panopticon, huh?’ commented Jack.

‘I guess if I had lived on Gallifrey I may have been here a few times’ replied Alex.

‘You can’t remember?’ asked Jack turning to him.

‘Nup.’

‘The Doctor told me about this place once. It sounded like it was this wonderful magical place by the way he described it. Now it’s the only refuge for the Time Lord’s from the war.’

They turned away and headed for a long flight of stairs that bended from left to right.

‘So basically what we’re looking for is the technology that is controlling these Tecat cameras’ thought Alex out loud.

‘That’ll make a good start’ replied Jack. ‘You’re a smart kid – any ideas?’

‘Well, the thing is I actually don’t know how they work. I mean I’ve used one and it seems to scan for DNA and transport the whole body rather than what gets in the frame like other non-organic matter does. And it uses a laser and has graphane crystals but I don’t know much more than that.’

‘Well’ said Jack scratching his chin, ‘graphane was once graphite and that was once used as a moderator for a nuclear reactor.’

Alex suddenly halted in revelation. ‘Yes, the Heisenberg cyclotron. That’s brilliant, Jack.’

‘But the scientists never got it to fission.’

‘Yeah, human scientists. No offence human.’

‘None taken, half-Time Lord’ he muttered.’

Alex shot him an indignant look but began to climb the stairs again while continuing to explain his theory. ‘So it’s some type of nuclear reaction that transports people to this world that’s shouldn’t exist anymore but we’ll come back to that point later’ he said wiping a hand through his hair in thought.  Then he snapped his head up to look at Jack. ‘Maybe the technology is the same as our Time Vortex manipulators? Oh, now I think of that!’ he scolded to himself.

‘That’s good though’ replied Jack. ‘I’m sure the Doctor could reverse the process by using one of our Vortex manipulators. The question remains which one of us is it going to be?’

‘I’ll do it’ said Alex decisively.

They reached the top of the stairs and headed for the landing but both halted upon seeing the person standing above them.

‘Master, how did you escape?’ asked Jack.

‘Oh, I got some help from a four-legged friend’ he said. ‘By the way Alex you might want to wash your jacket.’

‘Oh no, you didn’t.’

‘Oh yes I did’ replied the Master taking out a bronze metal object confirming Alex’s fear. He pointed the laser screwdriver at them. ‘Not that it has much affect on you, Jack but it will kill the boy.’ He grinned and pointed it directly at Alex.

Alex looked over his shoulder with a look of terror spreading across his face. ‘Master duck’ he whispered.

‘Oh you think I’m going to fall for that one? Really Alex, you can do much better than that.’

‘No really Master duck – Chancellor Guards!’ shouted Alex grabbing him by the jacket and forcing him down just before a white energy beam passed over their heads hitting Jack.

‘You know he can’t die, right?’ asked the Master. Alex nodded. The Master spun around and fired his laser and with a wave of his arm he took out all of the Chancellor Guards.

Alex grabbed hold of the balcony to help him get to his feet. ‘You make killing look as simple as riding a bike’ he said.

‘Well, isn’t it?’ said the Master. Then he rounded on him. ‘Why did you warn me? I tried to kill you.’

‘I don’t know. I just felt like I had too’ replied Alex uncertain what the words coming from his mouth were actually saying.

‘Oh that silly DNA link’ he said with a chuckle. ‘Well, keep it up.’ He ruffled Alex’s hair like he was a small child.

Alex smiled but it was cut short by a powerful energy bolt hitting his body knocking him to the ground. He struggled to get up and again used the balcony railing as support but was hit by another energy volt. Then he felt two at the same time. He screamed losing his grip on the railing, and the next two bolts to hit his body lifted him up and threw him over the edge.

The Master stood still in stunned terror. He managed to peak over the balcony now completely unprotected from the 60ft drop below. He winced at the sight of figure in a chequered shirt and black jeans surrounded by a pool of blood. Next to him lay the railing. Either it hit him in the head dealing the final fatal blow or his skull cracked on contact with the stone floor.

The Master turned to look at the person responsible. He gasped at the bleached blonde haired man in the red Gallifreyan robe. It was him. But not him.

The Time Lord stepped a few paces forward. ‘Don’t worry I’d never murder someone so gorgeous’ he said winking and walking off.

At the same moment Jack sucked in a huge breath as he came back to life. He stared at the Master puzzled who was standing over him with his screwdriver limply dangling from one hand.

Jack got to his feet quickly with the type of caution as a guard dog deciding if the person who just entered the yard was a friend or intruder. ‘Where’s Alex?’ he asked or rather demanded.

The Master nudged his head to the balcony. Jack turned around and doubled back in horror. ‘What did you do to him?!’ he shouted.

‘I didn’t do anything to him – well I did but’ –

But that was as much as he got out before Jack let go of him and trampled down the steps towards the fallen Alex.

‘Jack, it’s no good. He’s dead’ called the Master. But he followed after him.

Jack was now kneeling by his body. ‘Come on, regenerate Alex’ he begged.

‘It’s no good’ said the Master slowly coming closer. ‘He’s too human to regenerate. His skull was split open. He’s dead.’

‘Just stay away from me!’ shouted Jack. The Master put up his palms and then slowly backed away.

Jack turned back to Alex. ‘If I could give up my immortality to save you I would’ he said to the still Alex.

‘Right, turn around nice and slowly human’ said a voice pressing a staser gun into Jack’s head.

Jack slowly turned around and raised his arms to discover another five Chancellery Guards pointing their guns at him. ‘Those aren’t going to do much’ he said indicating the guns.

‘My orders are to apprehend you only, unfortunately’ said the officer.

***

‘Got some company for you’ said the guard throwing Jack into the cell shared by the Doctor, Rory, Amy and Susan, as well as recent occupants River and Lisa.

‘Hey Doctor, Rory’ greeted jack solemnly then, ‘Amy, Susan – you’re back!’

‘Where’s Alex?’ asked Susan.

‘I’m sorry he’ Jack stopped to look at her. He couldn’t bring himself to say it.

‘Jack, what happened to him?’ asked the Doctor.

‘The Master threw him off a balcony. He’s dead’ he concluded.

‘He escaped? Oh why am I always rescuing him when he clearly is evil?’

‘Alex told him to duck from the guards too’ added jack.

‘He died a hero’ he murmured then, ‘tell me exactly what happened?’

‘I didn’t see it actually happen. I was incapacitated.’

‘You mean dead?’

‘Yes, dead.’

Susan couldn’t hold back her feelings any longer so she silently wept in her hands. The Doctor comforted her by placing an arm around her. ‘He was a great boy and he died a hero. You should be so proud.’

Later, much later, after Susan had calmed down Jack spoke up again. ‘Before Alex – it happened – we worked out that the Tecat cameras work through nuclear fission’—

‘They activate a gamma burst shattering people into billions of atoms and transport them here. Yeah I know’ said the Doctor. ‘Mr. Smith told me’ he added.

‘But that would kill them’ said Jack. ‘So why aren’t we dead?’

‘I have no idea Jack’ he confessed.

‘Alex mentioned the similarities between it and teleportation, namely our Time Vortex manipulators.’

‘Yes, that is rather interesting…’ replied the Doctor mulling over the idea.

‘So if we ever get out of here do you think you could use the parts of a Vortex manipulator to reverse the process and send the people back?’

‘I could’ he replied, still in thought.

‘What was your idea?’ asked Jack.

‘Ah, I was going to break into a chemistry lab, steal or create a sleeping draught, place it in the Time Lord’s drinks and steal myself a rod, sash and key of Rassilon’ said the Doctor. ‘But your way doesn’t seem as complicated or risky so I like it.’

The doors in the chamber opened and in stepped a particular important looking Time Lord. They could tell because of his red robe and the accessory sticking out like frills on a lizard, except these were red and stiff looking.

‘You’re the Castellan’ said the Doctor.

‘Castellan Syzler, Doctor’ he replied. ‘The Lord President Rassilon has called for you to see him.’

‘Oh lucky me’ said the Doctor sarcastically.

Castellan unlocked the cell door with a spherical object and the gates automatically sled sideways. He beckoned for the Doctor to follow him.

The Doctor halted suddenly and motioned back to the people in the cell. ‘I’m only going if my friends’ go too’ he said stubbornly.

‘You want these primitives to stand before the Throne of Rassilon?’ he laughed. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever heard such insolence before.’

‘Oh believe me I can show you more. Also, is that the Throne of Rassilon or just the throne Rassilon sits on? You know what, never mind. But I stand by what I said before, Castellan. I will not leave this chamber unless we all go to stand before Rassilon on the throne of Rassilon that may or may not be its title or just the throne Rassilon sits on.’

‘You always did try my patience’ grumbled Castellan.

19. The Doctor’s Choice

The travellers were pulled from the cell and forced to walk forward by about a dozen Chancellery Guards, with the  Castellan leading the way. Castellan strode forward through corridors and turned this way and that to an open area of cloisters the Doctor had never seen in the citadel before.

‘Did some renovation I see’ he remarked. ‘Added a few units here and there.’

Castellan knew he was trying to test his patience but he showed no signs of letting on. ‘You won’t be so smug after Rassilon is done with you. Conspiring to poison the Lord President – now there’s a punishable offence.’ He shook his head as if to say ‘you should know better, Doctor.’

They halted before two double doors that opened from the middle as though it had expected them. The traveller’s were thrust forward into the chamber, which was a mixture between a King’s throne, a council meeting area and a science laboratory. It was circular and was decorated in crimson and gold that somehow blended nicely together. There were more of those tapestries with the seal of Rassilon embroidered into them. And leading up a small flight of stairs onto a platform sat an ancient red and gold throne that was occupied by an ancient but powerful looking Time Lord holding onto a wooden staff.

Rassilon gazed down at travellers for a few moments before standing up swiftly and climbing down the stairs to reach them.

He snapped his head to the side to address Castellan. ‘Why are there primitives in my chambers?’ he asked in a deep booming voice.

‘It was a request by the Doctor, my Lord’ replied Castellan shaking. ‘He refused to come without them.’

Rassilon smiled as though he remembered something funny. ‘Always did like to play by your own rules, Doctor.’ He looked him dead in the eyes; he probably was the only person, human or otherwise that could. ‘I will allow it’ he finally said. ‘But there are two missing’ he deduced and looked towards the doors in time to see another Chancellery Guard come through.

‘My Lord’ the young Guard stated. He was the youngest looking out of the whole Guard. His red and white uniform looked two sizes two big and his helmet slipped down almost covering his brown eyes. If he was human he couldn’t have been more than eighteen.

‘Yes, never mind formalities’ replied Rassilon with a wave of his hand. ‘Have you found the Doctor’s companions?’

‘We’ve been unable to track down the Master, sir’ –

‘Oh, he’s not with us’ interrupted the Doctor.

‘The Master…interesting’ said Rassilon. ‘Go on, Corporal.’

‘We have a dead body; a Time Lord.’

‘Your companion’s killed a Time Lord, Doctor?’ he said turning to face him.

‘No, it wasn’t us. It was the Master!’ shouted Jack.

‘Speak when you’re spoken too, primitive’ spat Rassilon rounding on him. ‘Or I may have to silence you.’

‘I’d like to see you try that’ threatened Jack, looking him straight in the eyes.

Rassilon smirked. ‘Oh, but you are a peculiar human; I can see that.’

‘Lord President it wasn’t one of our own, the Time Lord. He was dressed like a human’ informed the Corporal. Rassilon turned slowly away from Jack to look at him. ‘He was wearing this scarf, sir’ he added removing it from his pocket and handing it to Rassilon. It had blood on it.

‘You sure he was wearing that scarf?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Positive, I took it off him’ he replied.

‘One less dilettante’ muttered Rassilon, then he switched his attention back to the Doctor. ‘Doctor, how good to make your acquaintance again and you’ve got a new face – so soon. Well, you’re meddling always got you into sticky situations. I heard that you tried to have me poisoned.’

‘No, not poisoned just out of commission so we could find out what you’re using to make the people of Earth disappear.’

‘And I suppose you thought I was using the Eye of Harmony so you needed the Rod of Rassilon and the Sash of Rassilon to get access to it, hmm?’

‘Well, you could just call it ‘my rod’ or ‘my sash’ – you don’t have to go into the full titles’ replied the Doctor but then he stopped to ask the question that had plagued his mind since he landed on this planet. ‘The thing that I’ve been trying to get around my mind is that we’re on Gallifrey during the Time War, only that we can’t be on Gallifrey because I destroyed it, along with all the Time Lord’s.’

‘Oh yes, that is a bit of conundrum’ said a voice from behind. The Doctor turned and jumped in surprise at the blonde haired man in the robe.

‘Master!’ he cried. ‘Wow, you have had some pretty ridiculous outfits but I think this one takes the cake.’

‘Go ahead, Doctor, make jokes’ replied the Master. ‘Because very soon you’ll have little to laugh about.’ He walked over to stand beside Rassilon.

‘What? No – but – he used you Master and Rassilon he tried to kill you with his life source’ stammered the Doctor in disbelief.

‘Hmm yes, I remember that but before you could destroy Gallifrey I made a wager with Rassilon’ began the Master. ‘I convinced him that he didn’t have to bring an end to all time, that there was a better solution.’

‘You did a deal with him?’ said the Doctor, followed by a long ‘ohh’. ‘That’s like the devil doing a deal with the devil. Rassilon how could you?’ he asked turning to him.

‘The Master’s plan was to move the Time Lord’s to another planet by first removing its occupants.’

‘So what day is this then? The last day of the Time War?’ asked the Doctor. Rassilon and the Master exchanged looks and shared a laugh. ‘What’s so funny?’

‘Do you remember when Gallifrey was cloned to form into nine precise copies? Well, I used a bit of this crypto-forming technology on Asterion. Remember the two Alex’s? I managed to rescue the real Alex while his copy was murdered by those beasts and I did a similar thing with Gallifrey. Your eighth incarnation goes to destroy it and in the split second The Time Lord’s moved it outside of time.’

‘It wasn’t destroyed? But I felt it and so did the higher species of life.’

‘It was taken out of time so it did appear to not exist but it survived Doctor and with it the Time Lord’s, biding our time for the ultimate solution to take shape and give birth to a new Time Lord Empire on Earth.

‘So you captured people from Earth and materialised them into the Dead Zone?’ said the Doctor trying to keep his voice level.

‘Why yes’ replied Rassilon. ‘By using Artron energy in gamma explosions’ –

‘Ah yeah, I’ve worked out the method behind it’ interrupted the Doctor putting up a hand. ‘But what I can’t work out is how the people survived. It’s not like they have a symbiotic nucleus like we do.’

‘I’m surprised in you, Doctor. Even the primitives are beginning to work it out.’

‘Please call them humans or Earthlings’ interjected the Doctor.

Rassilon ignored him and went on. ‘Deinococus Radiodurans are microbes that can repair DNA after being bombarded with a high amount of x-ray and UV radiation. They can salvage breakdown products of protein and DNA after being exposed to radiation and can generate with potent reactive oxygen species. They can even protect Escherichia coli in human cells, but instead of regenerating into a whole new person the whole genome is just repaired.’

‘That’s so nice of you to keep the humans alive’ replied the Doctor sarcastically but quietly. ‘And I think I know why.’

‘While we are preparing the evacuation process we are recruiting humans to join the Time War.’

‘You’re sending them into a war they know nothing about and aren’t even equipping them with weapons to protect themselves with’ replied the Doctor become angry and raising his voice.

‘The humans are interesting to watch’ replied Rassilon. ‘You can throw them until a middle of a warzone and they still find out a way to arm themselves. Such a versatile species’ he added as an afterthought.

‘You’re experimenting on them!’ shouted the Doctor, enraged. ‘You don’t even need them to win this war but you thought you’d have some fun before you kill them all and take their planet! But how, how are you even able to communicate with the Earth? To urge the DAVIC Corporation to sell your products. Are you using the resurrected Master and using that beat inside his head to set up a signal?’

‘No, that Master has no idea’ replied Rassilon. ‘He was resurrected by his human followers; the Saxonites or some dreadful name. No Doctor, it was your great grandson Alex that connected us to the Earth.

‘No’ gasped the Doctor. ‘It’s not true.’

‘Yes Doctor, for you know just how knowledgeable he is about cameras. He was the perfect person to use on Earth to communicate his ideas with the DAVIC Corporation and also for the Master to use him without him knowing about it. Why did you think that the other Master didn’t try to hypnotise him?’

‘He was too busy trying to kill him. Alex had tricked him over and over again and he didn’t think his power had any effect on him.’

‘Are you sure about that?’

‘But Susan disappeared. If Alex helped out with this plan he wouldn’t have allowed it.’

‘He had no idea’ said the Master. ‘Oh and good work with upsetting him so much he would run off, go to that pub where my loyal followers were and meet a girl so he became much too distracted to work out the’ –

He was distracted by a thud on the floor. The young Corporal had dropped his staser gun. ‘Sorry’ he apologised.

‘Keep it together Corporal – Corporal – what is your name again?’ asked Rassilon.

‘It’s Handred, sir – Lord.’

‘Handred? Son of Andred?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Yeah, he was my dad’ replied Handred.

‘Well Sergeant Handred just stand over there and keep quiet’ ordered Rassilon pointing to the area where the rest of the Guard was standing.

‘Yes sir, sorry sir – er Lord.’

The Doctor gave him a quizzical look.

‘Now Doctor, time to reveal my final plan’ announced Rassilon walking over to an object covered with a cloth. He removed it with one swipe of his arm revealing an old fashioned looking camera; the type families would sit front of to get a portrait taken. Redwood made up most of the body but the lens was made of black rubber, or maybe a more advanced material only Time Lord’s knew about. It was held together with gold metal supports and sat on a thick steel tripod 4ft off the ground.

‘Known on Earth as a Field View camera’ said Rassilon.

‘It’s a Tachihara 4×5 model!’ exclaimed Handred excitedly.

‘One more word out of you Corporal and I’m sending you to the frontline!’ warned Rassilon. He composed himself and turned back to talk to the Doctor. ‘Our latest Tecat camera, only this time it’s dimensionally transcendal so it can capture whole cities after just one click.’

‘It could strip the Earth bare’ whispered the Doctor grimly.

‘Indeed, and it launches Christmas Day’ he informed.

The Doctor made a sound similar to ‘hmmf.’

‘Is there something on your mind Doctor? Please do share it with the rest of us.’

‘It just that I’ve been to 2060 and I didn’t see bare patches of Earth like you are indicating will happen if indeed you had used this camera. So I’m led to believe you haven’t got it working yet.’

‘It just needs a few minor adjustments’ murmured Rassilon but the Doctor could tell he didn’t believe it. But Rassilon returned to his usual arrogance when he said. ‘You still haven’t yet worked out why the Earth looks the same between 2030 and 2060.’

‘I guess no one has attempted to repair the Earth yet’ replied the Doctor uncertainly.

‘An acceptable conclusion, Doctor but nothing of the sort’ replied Rassilon. ‘I attached those coordinates to Earth in a timelock so if you ever travelled between 2020 and 2080 you would arrive at the exact same scene. Now Doctor I’m going to give you a choice to accept our plan and allow the Time Lord’s to repopulate Earth, and you’re welcome to join us – that is what you’ve been longing for. Or you can try to stop us and pay dearly for your meddlesome acts.’

‘So what’s it going to be, Doctor?’ asked the Master. ‘Return to Time Lord society or save your precious stunted apes?’ he said shooting his companions a look.

20. Family Portraits

‘Oh, I think you both know my answer will always be no – I will not allow the Time Lord’s to repopulate Earth’ replied the Doctor.

‘Have it your way then, Doctor’ said Rassilon lifting up his arm to point his metallic gloved hand at the Doctor’s chest. ‘This is the end of you. Would you like it if your companions spent a few moments to say goodbye to the saviour of their planet?’

No answer.

‘Do you have any last words?’ asked Rassilon.

‘Kill me but let my friends go’ replied the Doctor solemnly.

‘Very well; they’ll die eventually any way. Release the prisoners!’ he commanded.

‘No Doctor, you’ve got to fight him! You’ve got to stop him!’ screamed Amy.

Jack pulled her aside. ‘There’s nothing we can do. We have to leave.’

Rassilon turned back to the Doctor and grinned. ‘Goodbye Doctor!’

But before he could activate his death glove it was shot at with a staser knocking it off Rassilon’s wrist. He went to pick it up but was stopped by the young Corporal Handred.

‘What is the meaning of this?’ he spat.

‘One move towards that glove and I’ll shoot you’ seethed Handred, his brown eyes full of loathing.

‘Put the gun down, Alex’ said the Doctor.

Alex nudged his head to look at him but didn’t dare look away from Rassilon. With one hand he removed the red helmet revealing golden brown hair, flattened since it had been covered up all this time. ‘How did you know it was me?’ he asked.

‘You left the scarf in your TARDIS and that big blurt out about the camera kind of gave it away.’

‘Is this your son?’ asked Rassilon eyeing Alex and the gun trained at his chest.

‘Susan’s son, my great grandson’ replied the Doctor.

‘Oh yes, the half form’ replied Rassilon curling his lip into a smile. ‘You are filth. An anomaly. You will never know what it is to be a Time Lord.’

‘Quite frankly I don’t want to know’ spat Alex shakily. ‘You all seem so dusty and traditional; almost like a religion.’

‘How dare you?’

‘Alex, give me the gun. Please don’t do this’ said the Doctor with an even tone.

‘I wouldn’t worry about him, Doctor’ responded Rassilon. ‘Your own kin wouldn’t kill another man. It’s not in his DNA.’ He looked straight into Alex’s eyes. ‘The Doctor will show me mercy and you as a part of his family will show it too.’ It was less of a demand, more as a fact.

‘Oh, but you’re forgetting one thing’ said Alex. ‘I’ve got the Master’s DNA in me as well as overly unstable human emotions. And I’ve got no problem with killing those that deserve it.’

‘Put the gun down’ said the Master calmly.

For a moment Alex seemed to struggle with the order as though he had no choice to and that by not obeying he was going to suffer a lot of mental and physical pain. He could already feel sharp pains cruising through his extremities and pounding inside his head.

There came the sound of a sword being unsheathed and a squeal as a yellow light hit the Master’s chest. He toppled back, startled and looked at the offender. It was him, only with darker hair and wearing a black suit. Alex still trained his gun at Rassilon while everyone else gasped at the sight of the two Masters.

‘Rassilon that Earth is mine!’ declared the Master pointing his laser screwdriver at his glove and exploding it.

‘You destroyed it!’ he yelled in a raspy whisper.

The second Master attacked the first with a bolt of electricity making him scream and drop his screwdriver. Alex fired the staser to stop the bolts then kicked the laser back over to the Master.

The Master scooped it up and fired it at the same time the second Master let out another bolt and there was a great explosion of light. Then when the Master stretched out his arms once more to attack nothing happened.

‘Ha, you’re defenceless!’ shouted the Master with glee. Then as the now powerless Master cowered on the floor the Master stepped closer to him holding his screwdriver over him. ‘There is only one Master’ he seethed releasing another light of energy from the laser to deal the final blow to his double.

He turned off his laser and looked up triumphantly, then he headed towards Rassilon, but first addressed Alex. ‘Quick thinking there, regenerated Alex.’ He looked at him nervously as if he was about to say ‘thank you’ but instead turned back to Rassilon. ‘And now, Rassilon, I’ve got you just where I want you. And after you’re dead I will rule Gallifrey as Lord President.’

‘Master stop!’ shouted the Doctor. ‘Gallifrey is in the middle of the Great Time War. Do you really want to rule over it? God, do you even stop and think about your actions for a second?’

‘So what? There’s a war and Gallifrey is destroyed – I’m still going to kill him.’ He turned back to face Rassilon.

‘I’m not going to allow you to kill him’ said the Doctor.

‘Then I’ll kill you’ he said as if it was obvious.

‘Look, we may need him to get back to Earth. Isn’t that what you want?’

The Master was still pointing his screwdriver at Rassilon when he answered. ‘You mean if I don’t kill him you’re going to allow me to go back to Earth. And I’ll still Prime Minister?’

‘You mysteriously disappeared so you better get back before they find you a successor.’

The Doctor’s companions knew that he was just tricking the Master but they were still worried about what tricks the Master also had rolled up his sleeve.

‘OK I won’t kill him’ said the Master. ‘But’ he added moving his finger to press another button on the screwdriver. As he it hit Rassilon’s body seemed to blur and he let out a scream. The Doctor frowned when he realised what he had done.

Rassilon had aged hundreds of years. He looked old and tired before but still had the stamina of a middle aged human. Now his dark hair had gone grey, his face drooped and was covered in wrinkles and his movements were laboured.

‘Ha, you’re old Rassilon!’ exclaimed the Master. ‘Immortal you may be and now you can spend eternity in that old and saggy miserable body.’

‘That’s enough, Master!’ shouted the Doctor.

‘You’re no fun’ he muttered.

Suddenly they heard music playing; a bit like a ringtone in the form of a Christmas jingle. ‘Oh, that’s me’ said Alex checking a watch on his wrist. It was the only piece of technology from 2060 he had on him. It looked like a mobile phone compacted to fit inside a hexagonal watch-face. Alex pressed a button and read the message that came up. ‘It’s 12:00am on Christmas Day.’

‘Doctor the virtual reality TV’s launch in twelve hours!’ cried Jack desperately.

Alex held his staser gun at the Chancellery Guards’, the Master used his scarf to restrain the wizened Rassilon and the Doctor was tapping a finger to his chin trying to come up with a plan fast.

One Chancellery Guard looked at Alex with contempt. ‘How dare you insult us by impersonating one of us, you half-caste’

‘That’s a bit rich coming from a non-Time Lord Gallifreyan like yourself’ he retorted.

A jet of light hit the Chancellery Guard in the chest. ‘Behave yourselves kids’ said the Master.

‘Jack, take their stasers off them’ ordered the Doctor after coming down from his train of thought. ‘And guard them K-9.’

‘At once, Doctor’ replied the robotic dog. ‘Don’t make any sudden movements. You remember what happened last time’ he warned the Guards.

‘Now you holster your gun’ the Doctor instructed Alex who looked reluctant at first but then obediently did as he was told.

Susan approached him slowly and beamed at him, lifting a hand to touch his cheek. ‘Let me get look of you’ she said.

Alex smiled sheepishly. ‘Is this the first time it’s happened?’ he asked.

‘I think so.’

Lisa also walked over to him and looked his outfit up and down, particularly the red boots and breeches. ‘Is that really you in there?’

‘Yeah, I got a new face. It’s a Time Lord thing’ he replied. ‘I’m still working on my new wardrobe. I think I might keep the top and cape. What do you think?’

The Doctor, who had spent the whole time thinking of a plan, finally snapped his head up after coming to a conclusion. ‘Ha, got it!’ he exclaimed. ‘I might need some help getting tools from the Schrödinger so we’re going to have to risk being exposed to the war again.’

‘What are you going to do?’ asked Jack.

‘I’m going to use that view camera to send people back to Earth’ he answered.

‘But it won’t work yet.’

‘I know that’s why I need to get some tools and the reversed Tecat camera from the plane.’

‘Reversed?’ said Jack.

‘Oh that’s right, I forgot you weren’t there’ said the Doctor. ‘Before my companions and I got transported here I got Alex to hold a mirror up to the camera so after I took a photo with the self timer the camera would be reversed in the mirror. And the mirror is dimensionally transcendal and the camera organic so it actually created an exact duplicate of the camera, except that all the parts were now in the opposite order. My theory is that if I use parts from that camera then I may be able to reverse the process and send everybody home.’

‘Will it work?’ asked Jack.

‘75% probability’ responded K-9 from across the room.

‘It’s the only plan I got’ replied the Doctor. ‘Come on, let’s get a move on. Watch out for any explosions outside.’

‘Why go all the way outside when I could just as easily bring the plane here?’ asked a voice. They all turned to reveal it was the Master that had spoken.

‘How can you do that?’ asked Alex.

‘Like this’ he replied grinning, with one press of his laser screwdriver.

There was a high rasping sound as the world war two fighter plane materialised into the chamber.

‘How long have you been able to do that?’ asked Alex incredulously and a little bit violated.

‘How do you think I managed to leave Asterion on it when it was locked in some basement in the Astrix?’ he replied.

‘I didn’t really give it much thought’ said Alex quietly.

‘Umm well thanks Master’ said the Doctor. ‘Right, everyone go in and get whatever tools you can find.’

An hour later a table was set up inside Rassilon’s chamber, on it sat the mirrored Tacet camera, the Tachihara 4×5 Field camera, a few sensors and wave readers and a toolbox which wasn’t used much because the Doctor was taking apart both cameras with his sonic screwdriver.

Alex walked out of the plane carrying the mirror admiring his new face and messing around with the front of his hair.

‘Alex, do that some other time’ snapped the Doctor hurriedly. ‘I’m trying to work against the clock here.’

‘Sorry’ he said placing the mirror down on the floor. He walked over to the table the Doctor was working at. ‘Need some help with anything?’ he asked.

‘No, it’s all coming together nicely’ he replied.

The Doctor worked quickly but carefully as he removed a circular nuclear chamber from the mirrored camera and placed it inside the view camera. ‘Hmm actually might need a bigger chamber’ he said. ‘Jack, could you maybe find or fashion me a metal capsule this big’ he showed how big with his hands’ and bring it to me?’

‘Can do’ replied Jack disappearing inside the plane.

‘There might also be some useful supplies in the Citadel’ he thought. ‘Is that right?’ he asked the Guards.

‘Like we’d tell you, Doctor’ replied one.

‘I’ll go have a look’ offered River.

‘Thanks River’ he said. ‘Alex, how we doing for time?’

‘Still got about seven hours’ he replied after checking his watch.

Jack returned unable to find any metal to create the chambers out of but he did find some old cameras and camera equipment, some from the mid 21^st century.

Alex bit his nails until his fingers bled as he watched the Doctor carelessly dismantle his collection of antique and expensive new wave cameras.

The Doctor stood back with a satisfied look on his face. ‘That should do it’ he said. ‘Right I’m going to deactivate the Time Lock so I don’t have to taxi this plane through the Citadel and out the door. And deactivate any transduction barriers as well.’ He headed over to a board with an innumerate amount of complicated Time Lord electronics and got to work as though he was typing a simple word document.

Alex leant over his shoulder. ‘Is there some way to actually destroy this planet so the Time Lord’s never get to this again?’ he asked.

‘Yes there is and I’m not looking forward to it’ he replied, paused to look at Alex’s confused face and went on. ‘It always ends up being me who has to destroy Gallifrey. I’m not particularly proud of it but it’s just the way it’s got to be.’

‘Let me do it’ offered Alex.

The Doctor stopped what he was doing and looked up at him slowly. ‘I can’t let you do that’ he said solemnly. ‘Besides I need you to take the photo. You’re good with cameras, right?’

‘But if you’ll stay you’ll die or get trapped here. There’s no way out but through that camera. And you’ve got Rory and Amy and all of space and time to save.’

‘You’ve got your mother’ replied the Doctor.

‘I’ll just go off again, always do’ he replied.

‘What about Lisa then?’

‘That was never going to work out’ he admitted with a sigh. ‘I’m just no good with people. Let me do this one thing. Let me actually make something of my life. All this wouldn’t happen if I never’ –

‘Don’t you dare’ he warned.

‘It’s true though. The Time Lord’s used me! And now I’ve got to make things right.’

‘When are you going to stop blaming yourself?’

No answer.

‘Fine, do it’ he finally said. ‘But if this is the last time you see her make it count’ he motioned towards Lisa.

Alex nodded and headed towards her and his mother. ‘Almost ready to go?’ he asked them. They nodded. ‘Listen, I have to do something for the Doctor after you leave but I’ll be right behind you.’

‘Are you sure you’ll be able to get back?’ asked Susan.

‘Oh yeah, I’m in the Time Lord Citadel’ he replied positively. There’s probably loads of ways to get back. Plus I’ll just use one of those mirrored cameras on myself. I promise you I’ll return.’

‘OK son, just be careful’ she said giving him a warm hug.

Alex turned to Lisa. ‘I know that this new face and all is going to be a bit hard to get used to’ he said.

‘Oh, I’m starting to warm to it’ she replied.

‘Well, my old personality was too scared to do this but hopefully this one isn’t’ he said leaning in to kiss her. After they shared a long passionate kiss lasting almost a minute he said. ‘Yep, I definitely have a bit more self confidence.’

‘Alright, that’s done! Everybody in the plane!’ ordered the Doctor excitedly.

‘I’ll be seeing you then’ said Lisa. Alex silently nodded. ‘I will see you again?’

‘Oh yeah, just try to stop me’ he smiled.

‘Hey, where’s the Master gone?’ asked Jack. Everybody looked around.

‘He’s probably hiding inside the plane’ replied the Doctor. ‘K-9, do a scan for him. I’m not having him slip through my fingers this time.’

‘Right away Doctor’ replied the dog driving inside the plane.

‘Well Alex, until next time’ said the Doctor.

‘Until next time’ he replied.

The Doctor stepped forward and leant down to whisper to him. ‘The Eye of Harmony is underneath the Panopticon. Use Rassilon’s staff to open the secret entrance. Use his sash to access the Eye. That’s as much help as I can give you; the rest is up to you. Good luck.’

‘Thanks Doctor. I won’t let you down’ replied Alex.

‘When have you ever let me down?’ he said and with that disappeared inside the plane. It made a rasping noise then dematerialised before his eyes.

Alex let out a breath. ‘Right, let’s do this thing’ he said to himself.

Jack piloted the plane over fiery and smoky skies of the Capitol. The flight returning was a lot less turbulent than the flight that brought them there. He passed over a forest and straight into the Dead Zone.

When the Doctor left the plane he and his companions got all the people they could find and got them to bunch in close together.

‘We’re going to have ourselves a huge Christmas photo’ he informed them standing behind the view camera. ‘The only difference from this camera and the camera that brought you here is that the process is reversed and it’s dimensionally transcendal meaning that it can literally fit every single person standing in front of me into the shot’ he spoke the last bit very quickly. ‘And also it’s got a self timer so I can fit into the shot as well.’

‘You ready?’ he asked tilting the lens as he framed the shot. ‘Amazing, not only do you all fit in there’s at least a few feet of empty space.’

He clicked the shutter on the cable release and then jumped into the front of the photos and playfully shouted ‘GERONIMO.’ And the countdown reached zero and there was a burst of light, making the Dead Zone dissipate from view.

The Doctor woke up on something white and cold. ‘Snow’ he said lifting his head up of which half was covered in snow. He wiped it away with his hands and looking around saw Amy and Rory slowly sit up.

‘Ow’ moaned Rory. ‘I’ve definitely put my back out that time.’

‘We’re all here?’ said River checking around. ‘Hold on, where’s Jack?’

‘Probably inside the DAVIC building in New York’ replied the Doctor.

‘No sign of Cybermen so that’s good.’

‘And both the TARDISes are back too!’ exclaimed the Doctor stretching his arms as if about to hug them.

‘When will Alex get back?’ asked Lisa.

‘When he’s finished doing what he’s supposed to do’ he replied.

‘What was that?’ she asked.

‘Making sure that this never happens again.’

‘Where’s Susan?’ she asked.

‘I guess back where she was when she disappeared; the year 2066.’

The Doctor approached the Schrödinger and noticed for the first time a box attached near the door. Opening the cover he found a set of alphabetic and numeric keys, and taking out his screwdriver he pointed at it and saw that the last keys pressed were highlighted. So he pressed each key and the plane suddenly changed into a silver box.

Then it disappeared.

‘What does that mean?’ asked Rory.

‘It means Alex may still be alive’ he replied.

‘Hold on, where did River go?’ asked Amy.

‘Oh, don’t won’t worry about her. I’m sure we’ll see her again.’

‘Well, nobody else disappear because you’re joining me for Christmas’ demanded Amy.

Rory rubbed his hand over his eyes shamefully. ‘I forgot to get you a present.’

‘I didn’t expect you to remember what with people disappearing and robots killing people’ she replied then added. ‘But you can always take advantage of Boxing Day sales tomorrow.’

The Doctor materialised the TARDIS in Amy’s backyard in Leadworth. Her parents warmly invited the strangers in.

The sat with Rory on the couch watching TV with him while waiting for Christmas lunch to be served. They were watching the ANN channel and usually the Doctor didn’t care much for the news on Earth but the topics covered interested him. However he did comment if it was a virtual reality TV but Amy’s mum said they had no need for such an extravagant television. The Doctor again turned his attention to the news, which was doing a story about the disappearances.

‘It truly was a Christmas miracle as families and loved ones of the people that mysteriously disappeared came home today’ read the news reporter over scenes showing reunited families with those people that disappeared, among them the welsh father and his two boys hugging their mother, thousands of people running of a stadium, and some very puzzled parents escorting their children dressed as angels or ancient farmers from a theatre.

The next story the news reporter covered was about the DAVIC Corporation and the Cybermen. ‘Hunter Stone, better known by his alias of David Crawley, International CEO of the DAVIC Corporation is in some hot water after every virtual reality TV set sold that was officially going to be launched at midday today didn’t work. Not a single TV set even turned on. The company is also under an investigation by a new special police force called Torchwood 4 in Los Angeles over allegations that they knowingly and wilfully sold dangerous robots to their customers. At about 11pm last night every robot was deactivated by Torchwood and the larger robots, the Cybermen, we’re also deactivated.’

‘Good old Torchwood’ said the Doctor proudly.

‘And finally some breaking news from NASA’ said the news reporter.

‘More breaking than people reappearing and killer robots?’ said Rory but the Doctor put a finger to his lips urging him to be quiet.

‘I want to hear this’ he said.

‘Astrophysicists at NASA have reported that images from the Hubble Space telescope have captured the largest stellar explosion ever recorded. It happened in the far outreaches of the universe, some even speculating in an entirely different one’ there was a short scene of a scientist talking about the possibilities of another universe. ‘The explosion is described as a super massive supernova or binary supernova because of the two stars that simultaneously exploded.’ The scene showed artistic representations of an animation of what the explosion may have looked like. ‘The astrophysicists are also saying that the supernova was triggered when a super massive black hole suddenly appeared and stripped away the outer layers of the stars and sped up their dying process.’ More animations were shown to describe the event. ‘But where did this ominous black hole come from? Was it always there but never detected? That’s what scientists at NASA are trying to find out.’

The Doctor sat back with a convinced look on his face. ‘It looks like Alex was successful in destroying Gallifrey.’

‘Is that what all that was about?’ asked Rory. The Doctor nodded. ‘So you’ve worked it out before NASA, only minutes after being told about it?’

‘What are you getting at?’ he asked.

‘They’d pay you millions for that kind of information!’

‘Oh Rory, every sentence I speak to NASA would be worth billions’ replied the Doctor.

Amy came over to see what Rory was screaming about. She leant on top of the couch. ‘Do you mind? We can hear you from over there’ she motioned towards the lunch table, which was now being decorated with cutlery and plates.

‘Alex destroyed Gallifrey’ said Rory. ‘They reported a huge supernova outside the universe on the news.’

‘Oh great’ she replied. ‘Well, lunch is about to be served so come get some.’

The Doctor and Rory got up and headed towards the lunch table, both keeping quiet about the fate of their young friend.

Epilogue

11:00am: Earth time on Gallifrey

Alex stared longingly at the Schrödinger as it dematerialised. But he knew he had very little time before those virtual reality TV sets were activated. Heading back to the table still covered with tools, camera parts and different types of scanners, he set himself to work quickly.

He had decided to make a bomb, not just any regular bomb but an atom bomb. It should be easy for him as long as he can work with the reactors inside the cameras.

He had to do something he didn’t enjoy, which was using harsh methods to interrogate the Chancellery Guard’s and Rassilon, but he had precious time. Rassilon was the hardest to get any information out of because he kept telling Alex he will die. Alex told him he was well aware of it.

At last Alex got all the parts he needed. He forced Rassilon to open all the research areas for him to raid. He was now standing behind the table handling harmful radioactive chemicals. If I’m going to die, Alex thought, than what’s the harm in a bit of radiation poisoning?

Suddenly a thought came to his mind that gave him the idea to make the bomb dimensionally transcendal. Picking up a pick axe and laying the mirror on the table he began to chip away at a corner, but stopped suddenly as he saw a man staring back at him from within the mirror; blonde hair, black suit, looking up at him with the usual amount of smugness.

‘Master?’ he said. Without thinking he dipped his whole head into the mirror. The fluid was cold and wet and Alex felt like he had dived head first into a mud bath. But the fluid didn’t stick to him when he poked his head out the other side.

Before him was a circular lounge room with an arch ceiling, walls adorned with paintings and a TV set opposite chairs and lounges. But right in front of his eyes was the Master.

‘What are you doing in – where are you?’ he asked him.

‘There’s a whole world inside this mirror – it’s fantastic!’ exclaimed the Master. ‘Come in if you don’t believe me.’

‘I’m kinda in the middle of making a bomb’ said Alex hurriedly, pulling his head back into the chamber.

He was now ready to detonate it. But now, after discovering the Master was now out of harm’s way he had a another idea.

As quickly as he could he built a timer for the bomb and an apparatus to hang the bomb on with a safety lock until the countdown reached zero.

Alex smiled cheekily at Rassilon as he removed the sash and staff from the Lord President and left him and his Guard’s now also tied up, and made his way back to the Panopticon.

Just like the Doctor had said the floor opened to reveal a set of stairs. Alex walked down and into a dark chamber with a black stone column. The column moved for him as he approached it revealing a square hole underneath filled with light. He set up the bomb to just dangle above the light coming from the floor, which must have been the Eye. Then he activated the timer for ten minutes and quickly climbed the stairs to return to the Panopticon. Sitting on the Panopticon stairs he picked up the mirror and after taking a deep breath dived inside again, this time pushing his whole body through.

He fell through it and onto the floor with a loud thud, just inches from the TV set. ‘Master’ he called. ‘You here?’

No answer.

Typical, he thought. Alex wondered what devastation the Master would unleash on this world, wherever it was.

There was no harm in taking a look around. He walked through each room, noticing that they all were curved with some areas square with sharp corners. The walls were made of a shiny blue metal and the doors were touch sensitive. Alex wondered why the Doctor had a mirror that acted as a portal to this world. Then he thought that maybe this room he was in belonged to him.

He walked over to window to take a look outside. It was stuck. Actually, it wasn’t just stuck but had no handle or lock or gave any indication that it could be opened.

Suddenly Alex heard the sound of glass shattering. He ran back over to the mirror. It now lay shattered in pieces on the ground. He bent down to touch it but retracted his hand quickly as it burnt him.

He had successfully detonated the gamma bomb and killed all those Time Lord’s and their enemies. Now he knew what the Doctor felt like.

Alex went to go for a wander outside, except when he did he realised he must be in some sort of hotel. He was in a corridor with doors probably leading to more rooms he just left. He found an elevator and pressed a button to go inside. Once inside he chose ‘ground floor’. In barely a second the doors opened to the ground floor. There were windows here, very large ones on both sides stretching to half way up the wall to the ceiling, revealing towers that looked like holy temples cross with skyscrapers and oblong but smooth machines flying in a straight line.

‘Oh wow, flying cars’ he gasped.

He looked around frantically for a way to get outside but couldn’t find one.

‘You can’t go outside’ said a voice; the Master. ‘He turned around to face him. The Master elaborated. ‘This whole building is connected to other buildings like it; markets, schools, churches, shopping centres, offices – you name it. The only people that can get a good view of outside are those that drive those flying cars.’ He tapped at a window to illustrate his point. ‘Such a good way to start my dominion’ he added. ‘So easy to control people when they can’t hide from you behind bushes and shrubs – or even their own house.’

‘You’re not starting anything here, Master’ Alex snapped.

‘And how is a lone Chancellery Guard like you going to stop me?’ he challenged.

Alex took a moment to look at his outfit. He was still wearing the red and white uniform. ‘I’ll find a way’ he finally said.

‘You won’t get far without your TARDIS, which so happens to be back on Earth until I do this’ he got out his screwdriver and pressed a button. A silver box appeared at his feet. He gave it a quizzical look. ‘What’s that?’

Alex snatched it up quickly. The Master upon seeing this understood what it was immediately.

‘Give that back!’ he yelled, launching a few laser shots at Alex, which Alex returned after taking out his staser gun.

The Master managed to knock the gun out of his Alex’s hand with the screwdriver and kick it away from him. He picked up the silver box, pocketed it and placed his foot on Alex’s chest. ‘Now I’m giving you only one chance to get away and save yourself as long as you promise never to get in my way again, or I won’t hesitate to kill you’ he threatened. Who do you think you are anyway – the Doctor?’ he added laughing.

‘Well Master, I think a doctor is just what this world needs’ replied Alex.

The Master scoffed but took his foot off Alex then pointed his screwdriver at him. ‘I’m watching you’ he warned then relaxed his arm by his side and walked away.

Alex rested his head on the cold floor and let out an exasperated whine. ‘If you think I’m going to leave you alone while you’ve got my magic silver box – think again’ he threatened to the glass ceiling as he saw a turquoise car fly over the building.

The End…or is it?

Book 2: Invasion of Earth

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DOCTOR WHO
ALL RIGHTS GO TOO BBC WORLDWIDE/U.K
NO COPYRIGHT INFRIGMENT INTENDED
I MAKE NO MONEY BY PUBLISHING THIS, THIS IS FOR TO SHARE WITH FANS AND FRIENDS ONLY

Book 2: The Invasion of Earth By Shanti Roy

As the story continues the Doctor is finally able to take his TARDIS into the Time Vortex. He goes to London 2019 to look for the Master and Alex and to convince UNIT to not attack Asterion.  But when he is taken prisoner it is up to Torchwood, Sarah Jane Smith, her son Luke along with Mr. Smith and K-9 to save the Earth from being taken over by the Master once again. Oh and one other person but that’s a massive spoiler right there.

More secrets are revealed and many more traps for the Doctor are set.

Planet Earth, 2019

They ran as fast as they could, down the stairs and out of the building, into the forest passing the now de-activated black body trees.

As they reached the town Jack gasped. ‘Do you think the Time Vortex is open now?’

‘Yes, but I’m not sure for how long’ replied the Doctor without slowing down.

They reached the blue police box and the Doctor effortlessly turned the key in the door and they all clambered inside at once, almost falling on top of each other.

‘Whoa’ remarked Chris.

‘Yes Chris, this is what a real TARDIS looks like. Now let’s see if she works’ the Doctor said as he pulled a lever and turned a few switches. The TARDIS made the familiar whirring sounds and rhythmic beating as it came back to life; the top of its console moving up and down. ‘AHA, you beauty!’ exclaimed the Doctor, ‘now let’s get out of here.’

‘What time are we going to?’ asked Jacked.

‘I dunno, sometime in 2019 – is that right? Chris, what was the date last when you were back on Earth?’ asked the Doctor.

‘It was the third of March on a Saturday’ replied Chris.

‘It would have been a Friday if we were in the same year but we’re not’ thought the Doctor out loud. ‘The year 2100 minus 77 years, minus 6’—

‘What is the 6 for?’ asked Chris curiously.

‘Longer days here on Asterion, not to mention faster time’ replied the Doctor. ‘Right so that makes our destination the tenth of March – wait’—he paused bewilderly.

‘The tenth of March’ he repeated, ‘3.10 9am – oh it couldn’t be.’

‘What does that mean?’ asked Jack confused.

‘Of course – 3.10 9am or the tenth of March at 9am!’ he exclaimed.

‘Or it could be the third of September’ interjected Chris.

‘Now you just stop that’ replied the Doctor.

‘Are you telling me that the Master is telling you where to go – why?’ asked Jack.

‘Either to lead me into a trap or to gloat in my face, but it will lead us to him and where he is Alex is’ replied the Doctor.

***

The Schrödinger had materialised on top of a large luxury hotel in metropolitan London. There was a raised platform with two small satellite dishes sitting on top of it.

The Master calmly stood and waited for Alex to walk over to him before he said excitedly. ‘Watch this.’ As he said that the Schrödinger seemed to blur into two parts, like what happens if you stare at a picture for too long. Then it transformed into a small satellite dish; an exact duplicate of the two satellite dishes on the platform.

The Master lifted the dish and made Alex climb the ladder to place it next to the other dishes on the platform.

‘Don’t you think people would ask questions about there being three satellite’s in this hotel?’ asked Alex.

‘Just consider it a backup if Sky TV ever goes down’ replied the Master. ‘Besides two of them have got perception filters on them. No one will ever realise they’re actually there.’

He led Alex over to a door leading to a flight of stairs into the hotel. They walked down the cold concrete stairs making tapping sounds as their feet hit each step. The Master turned left after he landed on a platform and exited through a heavy steel door and entered into a much friendlier environment.

They were on a floor in the hotel. Its red carpet reflected the yellow light giving the hallway a warm orange glow.

‘This room is also protected by a perception filter’ revealed the Master standing in front of a room in fancy gold lettering spelling out ‘The Master Suite.’

The room was only accessible by laser which he assured Alex would keep the meddling Doctor out. Inside the room in was a spacious curvature style suite with earthy tones and leather lounges.

‘Welcome to your new home, Alex’ announced the Master, ‘The kitchen has a fridge full of food plus a liquor cabinet for me, and there are bedrooms and a 3D digital TV over there if you get bored.’

‘I can’t go home?’ asked Alex.

‘Would you even want to? You’re a wanted man. Alex lowered his head in shame. ‘But don’t worry; I’ll take care of you now. I think I know what will cheer you up’ the Master said encouraging Alex to follow.

They walked from the living room down a narrow sloping corridor and came to a large steel door which was also only accessible by laser. The door opened with a loud screech which could have served as a warning if intruders ever got past the security lock.

Inside there was a square room, with metallic walls and high ceiling covered in a peculiar arrangement of pipes and wires.  A stair case led to a platform with machinery; perhaps to control whatever energy was passing through the pipes, which seemed to cross into an unseen room.

Alex was intrigued but didn’t think he’d ask what purpose they served yet. He looked back into the square room at a large screen at the very centre of the front wall, and underneath it were some controls on a glass table.

His curiosity got the better of him. ‘What is that?’ he asked pointing at the screen.

‘My astronomical observatory of course’ replied the Master gleefully. ‘I can view all across the Universe with it.’

Alex thought hard. ‘So it’s like some sort of radio telescope’ he finally said.

‘Spot on!’ approved the Master. ‘But it’s a much better radio telescope on any on Earth.’

‘Better than Green Bank?’ asked Alex curiously.

‘Pssh, Green Bank – don’t insult me’ replied the Master. ‘No, this telescope is by far the most powerful one in the entire cosmos; its full name is the Sensing Electronic Radio telescope Quantum shifter, or SERQs for short’ he concluded.

‘My guess is a lot of people called them SERQs’ remarked Alex.

The Master ignored him and moved closer to the SERQs. ‘I don’t think you understand what this. In Gallifrey it was known to the Time Lord’s as a Timescope but I have modified it to make it so much more.’

‘You mean it can see through time, how?’ asked Alex, his curiosity getting the better of him.

‘I can send energy currents to fire electrons and transmit it with radio waves to create an eye into the time vortex so you can literally see through time. But I don’t just stop there; I have been working on transmitting pulses into worm holes to get access to parallel worlds.’

‘Sonic pulses?’ asked Alex.

‘That’s right. Now do you have any more questions?’

‘What’s the aperture like?’ asked Alex.

‘It’s really, really, really big’ replied the Master.

‘Ah, thought so’ agreed Alex.

The Master leant down at the controls and began type on a keypad, then pressed a button revealing a split screen; each with two planets on it. Alex could immediately tell one was Earth but could only assume the other was;

‘Asterion – what a dismal planet’ remarked the Master. ‘You and I have front row seats to this war.’

‘Why are they at war?’ asked Alex anxiously.

‘Because of you’ he replied turning to Alex, ‘because of your death Earth is going to war with another planet for the first time ever.’

Alex swallowed hard. ‘But if they do we’ll be in the middle of it’ he declared fearfully.

‘Don’t you think I have already taken that under consideration?’ asked the Master. ‘Don’t you think I’d make sure to protect these walls from all possible threats – listen to this’ he said knocking a fist on the wall; ‘nothing can get through.’

***

The TARDIS materialised in front of a large square house.    The Doctor stepped out and looked up and down the street.  ‘Ah, Chesterton road’ he said reading a street sign.

‘How are we going to find him?’ asked Jack.

‘I dunno – check who the Prime Minister is’ he suggested.

Chris had stopped dead still in front of the TARDIS. He was looking across the street at one of the houses.

‘What is it, Chris?’ asked the Doctor.

‘That’s where Alex lives ‘he replied looking straight ahead.

The Doctor scratched his chin while thinking. ‘We’re going to have to go in there to tell his parents what happened.’ Chris looked at him anxiously. ‘I’m sorry but we have to.’

The Doctor and Jack entered through the green gate, with Chris following slowly behind. The Doctor knocked on the wooden door; it was opened by Alex’s mother, Susan.

‘Yes’ she said slowly then noticed a miserable looking blonde haired boy. ‘Chris, where have you been? Your parents have been worried sick! We’ve all been searching for’—she stopped as The Doctor put up his hand. ‘What’s going on? Who are you?’

‘I’m the Doctor, this is Jack and you know Chris’ he said in a low tone.

‘I’m Susan’ she replied.

‘You’re Alex’s mother? We were there when—he stopped as Susan began to cry.

‘I’m sorry’ she apologised, ‘it’s still just very hard to deal with.’

‘I understand but what you saw didn’t really happen – well it did but Alex is alive’ said the Doctor as Susan’s expression changed.

‘What do you mean? I saw him die. I didn’t quite understand what was happening but’—she stopped as the Doctor again tried to calm her down.

‘I think it’s best if we discussed this inside’ he instructed. She nodded in agreement and let them enter.

They walked into the living room with inviting soft lounges opposite a TV set on cabinet with family photo frames on top of it. The Doctor picked one up; it was Alex, aged around five cuddling a large black and tan dog. He put the photo back down on the cabinet quietly. He caught a glimpse of a more recent looking photo of Alex holding a screwdriver and positioning it near an open computer tower.

‘Would you like some tea? Susan asked but the Doctor declined. Chris and Susan sat on a lounge each while Jack stood beside it and the Doctor stood opposite it.

‘Now what I’m about to tell you may seem impossible’ said the Doctor.

‘I saw my son electrocuted by dogs that talked and stood on two legs – I think I could believe anything after that’ interjected Susan.

‘Well in that case’ replied the Doctor, ‘it did appear that Alex was killed but we met up him after that happened – what you saw was a copy.’

‘I’m sorry – you mean that there were two Alex’s?’ she asked incredulously.

‘Yeah, like a clone but with such advanced technology it only took seconds to create the double.’

‘How is that even possible?’

‘A genome scanner replicator could do the trick’ guessed the Doctor. ‘I’m not sure if that was the case but before Alex got shot both the copy and the real Alex were teleported at the same time – call it a geographical matter switch. The real Alex was saved and the copy was killed instead.’

‘A teleporter and a machine that copies people – you must be joking!’ shouted Susan.

‘Oh they are real and this situation is very serious’ replied the Doctor. ‘Susan, did you ever tell your son that you needed IVF treatment so that he could be born?’

‘I did? I’m sorry, I lost my memory after being in a car accident and I can’t remember. How did you know about that anyway?’

‘I’m afraid the whole procedure was tampered with and a man called The Master put his own DNA with yours.’

‘He was an alien, a Time Lord like me and he created Alex to bring about war between Earth and another planet called Asterion.’

‘You’re an alien?’ she asked and the Doctor nodded.

‘It’s true’ said Chris. ‘I’ve been in a time machine – I’ve seen so many amazing things over these past few days.’

Susan went silent for a moment. ‘But why Alex – why my son?’ she asked finally.

‘It was always going to be him, I’m just sorry that he ended up being your son’ replied the Doctor.

‘Don’t say that!’ protested Susan.

‘I’m sorry Susan, I’m sure the human in him makes him a great son but he shares traits with the most evil Time Lord I’ve ever known.’

‘I’m going to get him back, Susan’ he reassured.

‘Will he still be my son?’ she asked fearfully.

‘I don’t know’ he admitted, ‘we’re just going to have to wait and see.’

2. The Resurrection of Torchwood

There was still no sign of the Master and Alex. The Doctor and Jack had spent almost a week with his mother to find out exactly who the boy was, but it turned out that not even his mother knew about him owning a TARDIS. So, they searched his room for clues that hopefully told them more about him.

At first glance his bedroom looked like the average room for a teenager; clothes, papers and other items stacked messily into corners or shoved into drawers, but after taking a closer look most of the papers had mathematical equations written down on them and after The Doctor opened Alex’s wardrobe stray pieces of wire and broken electronic gadgets spilled onto the floor.

‘At least he had a hobby’ remarked Jack.

‘Not by choice though’ replied the Doctor quietly. He picked up something that looked like an old car battery with broken wires coming out of it. ‘Strange, how does he go from a backyard interest in science to building his own TARIDS?’ asked the Doctor holding up the broken gadget.

‘Maybe the Master helped him’—

‘No, controlled him more like’ replied the Doctor irritably. He dropped the gadget and stood up wiping his palm on his long coat. He let out a long sigh and ran his fingers through his hair anxiously. ‘This isn’t telling us anything. We already know that Alex is skilled in physics – the Master gave him his own DNA and he’s brilliant; evil but brilliant. So Alex is the Master and they’ve both disappeared somewhere in future London – but where?’ He looked at Jack expecting an answer.

‘You know the Master more than I do’ he finally said.

‘Yeah and that’s what I’m afraid of. He is such a master of disguise – excuse the pun – that he could even fool himself for hundreds of trillions of years.’

‘Well…’ stammered Jack, ‘there is always Torchwood’ he said feebly. ‘Or even UNIT’ he added in.

‘No, UNIT would arrest Alex and kill the Master and I still don’t think they could find them’ he admitted despairingly. ‘Also I thought the Torchwood hub was blown up?’

‘It was about thirteen years ago’ admitted Jack, ‘but they could have rebuilt it and I still have their number’ he said taking out his mobile phone. ‘I could try at least try it.’ He waited for approval from the Doctor.

‘It’s the only hope we got’ he said finally which Jack took for a yes. ‘If it doesn’t work we’re going to have to go to UNIT and really negotiate with them so they don’t punish Alex too severely; maybe tell them about the mind control. I guess we should just give the Master to them so he never does anything like this again.’ He was speaking his thoughts out loud while Jack was on the phone.

‘Gwen, you’re still there – at Cardiff?’ asked an excited Jack on the phone. ‘Uh huh, yeah…really?’ was all Jack said for a few minutes while his old partner Gwen Cooper was talking on the other end.

‘And they managed to fix it? What about our records and equipment? Oh, the timeloop – what time loop? That Toshiko!’ he exclaimed loudly. The Doctor was very interested in hearing the full detail of the conversation.

Jack arranged a place to meet Gwen, hung up then turned to give a long explanation to the Doctor. ‘You’ll never guess what’—

‘That somehow the Torchwood headquarters survived an explosion because one of your deceased agents developed an emergency protocol before she died that put the building in a time loop, therefore saving it from destruction. How did I do?’ he asked with a grin.

‘Yeah, that was basically it. You just worked that out from picking up a few words I said?’

‘Well you know me’ he grinned.

‘I’m still uncertain about how they could access the time loop. The whole Hub was in rubble.’

‘I don’t know’ admitted the Doctor thoughtfully, ‘let’s ask them.’

***

The TARDIS materialised in Cardiff Bay; the location near the old Torchwood Hub. The Hub was located under Roal Dahl Plass, which towered over most buildings around the area, but it was destroyed by a bomb planted in Jack. He survived the blast because he was once resurrected by the time vortex by the Doctor’s former companion Rose Tyler, when she stared into the heart of the TARDIS and after that incident Jack could not die.

Roal Dahl Plass had been rebuilt since as well as a few other buildings, including a triangular glass building called ‘The Game Matrix.’

‘Videogames in the year 2019; I’m so curious I almost feel like taking a look inside’ remarked the Doctor.

‘Ahem!’ said a voice behind them and they turned in surprise as Gwen Cooper stepped out from nowhere.  She still sported the tight leather jacket and flat heeled shoes from the days that Jack knew her.

‘I can’t believe you scared me with the invisible lift stunt’ said Jack.

‘What invisible lift?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Oh my God, it’s really you’ said Gwen in awe.

‘Ah, Gwen let me introduce you to the Doctor, Doctor this is my old partner Gwen Cooper’ said Jack.

‘Hi Gwen, so good to finally meet you’ greeted the Doctor shaking her hand.

‘It’s so good to finally meet you too’ she replied. ‘Jack has told me all about you. Actually, he never stops talking–

‘Anyway, I think it’d time to see the new team’ interrupted Jack in a deliberate attempt to change the subject.

‘Yes of course’ said Gwen, but first you should know that the Jack Harkness of this time is in Los Angeles with Torchwood 4. I work over there too but I decided to have a little holiday in Cardiff with my husband Rhys, so of course as soon as my plane touches down there’s an uproar about a plane disappearing into thin air in London.’

‘Alex’ said Jack and the Doctor in unison.

‘So I’ve been working with Torchwood on that. Then I get a call from you so I had to tell my team to expect a visit from Captain Jack from the past as well as the Doctor also from the past.’

‘And how did they take that news?’

‘Didn’t even blink’ replied Gwen.

‘Haha, that’s my Torchwood!’

‘Now if you’ll follow me to the lift I’ll introduce you to the new team’ instructed Gwen. She walked over and disappeared at once.

‘Ha, perception filter!’ exclaimed the Doctor, ‘that’s brilliant!’

‘It’s energy left over from the TARDIS’ informed Jack.

‘What, my TARDIS?’

‘That’s right.’

‘Oh, you little thieves’ said the Doctor.

The stone platform descended slowly underground as invisible lift was activated. As it moved further underground it revealed wide room looking similar to a factory, eventually it stopped with a gentle knock of stone against concrete in front of a wheel locked door.

The door automatically opened and revealed the Torchwood headquarters, affectionately nicknamed the Hub, below a small set of stairs.

Jack marched down them first eager to meet his new team, marvelling at the sight in front of him. ‘It looks exactly the same.’

‘There was no reason to change it’ replied Gwen smiling, and then she turned toward her team who were busy at their computer workstations. ‘Right everybody, if I could have a moment of your time’ she announced. Her team members stopped what they were doing and walked over to her.

‘This here is Gareth Peters; the usual leader when I’m not around she said pointing out a neatly dressed darked haired man in a suit. ‘This is Kynon Williams or Ky; computer genius and this is Jena Davis; alien expert – we stole her from UNIT.’

‘Nice work Cooper’ replied Jack.

‘Oh and this is the Doctor’ added Gwen. At this they went to greet him at the same time, almost tripping over each other.

‘So this is the famous Torchwood 3’ replied the Doctor taking in as much of the interior as he could. ‘Looks cosy.’

Jack scratched his head in confusion. ‘I don’t understand how it’s still standing. Last time I was here it was turned to rubble.’

‘I told you it was put in a time loop as an emergency procedure’ said Gwen.

‘Yeah but how did you discover it?’

‘With the help of a boy genius and a metallic dog’ replied Gwen matter-of-factly.

‘You mean Luke Smith and K9?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Yes, K9 was scanning the Game Matrix for alien activity. It was a convention night so nobody thought it was weird that a talking robotic dog was zooming around the place.’

‘K9 managed to find the lift still intact and another unknown signal, so when he transmitted the data to Sarah Jane’s computer there was a strong signal of electronic activity, which was the rift manipulator and our equipment.’

‘Then we heard the emergency protocol message Tosh left and then an explosion, then Tosh then the explosion again then – well, you get it.’

‘We got exact coordinates from the computer and Luke Smith used the rift, the energy left over from the TARDIS we used to use as a lift to the Hub and a homemade group vortex manipulator to transport inside the time loop. Then we transformed the Hub saved in the time loop into the place of the destroyed Hub. Do you want to know how?’ asked Gwen cheerfully.

‘Oh please do’ replied the Doctor.

‘It was very weird. Luke and his friends discovered a power source similar to a TARDIS in a university. It was in this top secret research area, but the weird part was that it was just about testing a new type of aeroplane, and a Spitfire of all models’ she remarked shaking her head.

‘So Luke with the help of Sarah Jane turned the whole Hub into a TARDIS. I’m really not sure how; I think he stole plans from the research room.’ She finished and looked at their reactions.

They stood still for a moment, trying to get their heads’ around this new bit of information. ‘That was Alex’s TARDIS – the plane’ explained the Doctor.

‘Who is Alex?’ asked Gwen confused.

‘Oh just some kid who helped an old enemy trap Jack and myself on a planet, then he gave his life so the Earth could be at war with’—

‘You mean the boy that was executed live on TV?’ asked Gwen energetically.

‘Ah yeah – wait, executed live?’

‘Yes, it was broadcasted worldwide. It’s all still very confusing’ she frowned.

‘It was a trap set by the Master. None of it was true’ explained the Doctor. ‘Alex is still alive and with the Master and we’ve got to find them.’

‘I’ve got an incoming video call from UNIT’ announced Gareth. The Doctor, Jack and the whole Torchwood team gathered around his monitor.

‘Is that Torchwood I’m speaking to?’ asked the UNIT officer; it was Lieutenant Reginald Garrison.

‘Yes, agent Gareth Peters speaking’ replied Gareth.

‘Oh good, I wasn’t sure what with seeing a Torchwood agent dressing so businessman like. I usually have to deal with the unkempt Kynon Walters.’

‘That’s Williams’ interrupted Ky.

Gareth ignored the insult and motioned for Ky to be quiet. ‘What can I do for you Lieutenant?’ he asked.

‘I just thought I should inform you’ he started but then stopped as he discovered there was someone in the room that he had UNIT working around the clock to find. ‘The Doctor.’

‘I’m sorry?’ said Gareth.

‘Doctor, we have been looking all over for you. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Lieutenant-General Reginald Garrison, the head of UNIT operations.

‘Lieutenant-General’ said the Doctor, ‘why don’t they call them Brigadier anymore? I missed that.’

‘Doctor, now be serious. We are about to go into war.’

‘Go to war – why?’

‘Because of what the child on the video said. I know you know; you’re on the video too.’

‘Oh that’ replied the Doctor almost mockingly, ‘that wasn’t real. The boy is still alive. It was all a trick of the Master’s to get you humans to wage war on another planet, and I’ve got to say he was almost successful.’

Lieutenant Garrison was almost speechless with embarrassment but he tried to compose himself. ‘You mean to tell me that the video was a hoax and that there are no plans for those alien dogs to invade Earth?’

‘Exactly, well they’re called the Asrie but now there’s no reason to go to war.’

‘Where is this boy now?’ asked Lieutenant Garrison.

‘He’s with the Master but I’m not sure where that is’ admitted the Doctor.

‘When you find this boy I want you to bring him to me’ demanded Lieutenant Garrison.

‘And why would I do that?’ asked the Doctor with a low threatening tone.

‘He has tricked this whole world with his hoax about alien invasion.’

The Doctor shook his head as he spoke. ‘No, no, no you don’t understand. The video was not staged but Alex, the boy, was tricked to say those things. The alien threat isn’t real but he thought it was. He’s under mind control from the Master.’

‘What is this nonsense about mind control?’ snorted Lieutenant Garrison, ‘and everyone knows that the Master is dead. Don’t you remember the immortality gate?’

‘Immorality gate?’ asked the Doctor confused.

‘Yes and the planet in the sky. Don’t try to deny it Doctor, I know you were there.’

‘Look, don’t change the subject. The fact is that the Master is alive and he planned all of this to trick you to go to war.’

Lieutenant Garrison tried to reply but the video connection was experiencing a lot of interference.

‘No don’t do this now!’ shouted Gareth slamming his hand on the monitor.

‘Hey, it’s happening over here too!’ called Ky at his own computer and Jena ran over to her computer and reported the same thing was happening.

‘What’s going on?!’ yelled the Doctor.

‘The whole Torchwood system is collapsing’ informed Jack.

The monitors continued to flicker from an unknown source of interference. Then they all went blank for a few moments before returning to normal, except this time taking the place of Lieutenant Garrison was a blonde haired man in a black suit with a devilish grin.

‘Did you miss me?’ asked the Master.

‘Master, what have you done to Alex?!’ shouted the Doctor.

‘He’s here with me, see’ he replied as he reached an arm out and pulled at the front of a purple jacket until a very raggedy looking Alex came into view. Then he pushed the boy away from the screen.

‘OK, you got what you wanted from him so why don’t you let him go’ suggested the Doctor trying to keep calm.

‘No, I’m not done with him yet so I think I’ll hold onto him.’

‘What else could you possibly need him for?’

‘If I told you that would ruin the surprise’ replied the Master.

‘Don’t you hurt him’ warned the Doctor.

‘I’d never do such a thing to my son!’ exclaimed the Master pretending to look shocked.

‘Master, just stop this. Let Alex go and call this whole war off’ demanded the Doctor with an even but serious tone.

‘Now why would I do that? The fun is just getting started’ he replied excitedly then waved his hand. ‘Tata’ he said.

‘No Master, I’m telling you to stop this! STOP ALL THIS NOW!’ bellowed the Doctor as the Master vanished from the screen. The Doctor leaned with both hands against the desk in exhaustion.

The monitor again returned to normal revealing the face of a very confused Lieutenant Garrison. ‘I lost you for a few minutes there’ he said. He was shocked to see the change in the Doctor’s expression from calm negotiator to looking like he saw a ghost.

‘Lieutenant Garrison listen to me’ he spoke slowly, ‘you’re misinformed about the whole thing. The one you want is the Master. Leave Alex to me. He’s just a child that’s been used by the Master. I don’t know why but I’m going to find out.’

‘And what about these alien beasts?’ he asked.

The Doctor almost laughed out his frustration. ‘They’re thirty-four thousand light years away on their own planet because there will be no invasion of Earth!’

‘I’m still going to have my men patrolling the skies, just to be sure’ informed Lieutenant Garrison.

‘As long as you don’t make the first strike’ replied the Doctor.

***

After Lieutenant Garrison signed off from the video call the Doctor collapsed into a seat at the Torchwood conference table leaning a hand against his chin.

‘Good idea, let’s all sit down at the conference table to brainstorm some ideas’ instructed Jack to the Torchwood team.

The Doctor exhaled loudly, ‘what am I going to do?’ he mumbled to himself.

‘At least UNIT aren’t about to launch into a war thanks to what you said’ replied Jack.

‘But what’s the Master planning? And more importantly, where is he hiding?’

It was Ky who spoke up first. ‘We could scan the country to try and locate him’ he suggested.

The Doctor turned to him still resting his hand on his chin. ‘You can do that?’

‘Yeah, we’ve got a DOV-PF scanner which can detect things that we can’t normally see.’

The Doctor now gave him rapt attention. ‘That PF wouldn’t stand for perception filter, would it?’

‘Indeed it does’ replied Ky, ‘like I said it can scan for anything on Earth. It communicates with six satellites orbiting Earth.’

***

Ky was now sitting at the control computer which had several monitors. He tapped away at the keys with such speed and without looking once at the keypad it impressed the Doctor.

‘So run me through how the DOV-PF scanner works?’ asked the Doctor curiously putting on his glasses to take a better look at the program.

‘We took the idea from tracking computer hackers. We broke through anti-tracking software and we applied our method to the lift above us to test it out. We closed down the Game Matrix saying there was a bomb threat so no one could see what we were doing.’

‘That’s brilliant!’ exclaimed the Doctor. ‘So what you’re saying is that with this anti-perception technology you’d be able to see my TARDIS?’

‘Yep’ replied Ky.

‘I better be nice to you then?’

‘You better indeed.’

A few minutes had gone by while Ky and the Doctor were surveying the program. ‘It usually does take a long time to find anything so I usually just stare at the progress bar or all the text going down the screen.’

‘Will it help if you limit the scan to say a specific object?’ suggested the Doctor.

‘That could shave off some time’ replied Ky. ‘What kind of object do you have in mind?’

‘A blue world war two plane with Schrödinger written across it and limit the location to London.’

‘Umm ok’ replied Ky. ‘And I take this plane would be protected by a perception filter?’

‘Yes, just like my own TARDIS – er spaceship’ replied the Doctor.

‘I do know what a TARDIS is’ replied Ky, tapping on the keys to adjust a few more search options. After a few minutes he said. ‘Hmm curious.’

‘What is it?’

‘The Bradbury hotel in London has three satellite dishes.’

‘Try to stay on task Ky. We’re running out of time to find them.’

‘I suppose you wouldn’t be interested in knowing that one of them is actually a disguised radio telescope?’

‘What?’ said the Doctor leaning in to see it closer. ‘That’s not just a radio telescope, Ky – it’s a timescope, and the other one is the Schrödinger’ he said.

‘What’s the third one?’ Ky asked.

‘It’s a satellite dish’ replied the Doctor as though it was obvious.

The Doctor ran back over to the conference table where Jack was sitting, though instead of discussing ideas it seemed like Jack was having a friendly chat with Gareth.

‘Oh Jack, not now’ he moaned.

‘What, can’t I have a conversation with a future Torchwood leader?’

‘After we come back from the Bradbury Hotel’ replied the Doctor.

‘Why are we going there?’

‘We found Alex’s TARDIS as well as another timescope, but this one looks very powerful. It must be a part of the Master’s plan… excuse the pun.’

Jack got up from his seat and walked over to the Torchwood agents to fill them in. ‘We’ve been able to locate the Master’s vehicle at the Bradbury Hotel in London.’

‘I’ll get the SUV ready’ said Gareth.

‘I’ll get the equipment ready’ added Ky.

‘Coming for a ride, Doctor?’ asked Jena.

‘I’d be delighted to’ he replied, walking past Jack to mouth the words “Master’s vehicle?” Jack just threw up his hands and shrugged.

***

The Black SUV pulled up alongside the Bradbury hotel in true Torchwood fashion, which meant it pulled up on the curb on a diagonal angle.

‘Best parking ever’ remarked Jack slamming the door shut.

‘Remind me to never let you control the TARDIS’ replied the Doctor, still shaken from the ride.

Gwen fished into her pocket and pulled out two small devices. ‘Here Jack I think you would need this’ she said handing one of them to him.

‘Earcomms!’ he exclaimed putting the device into his ear.

‘I’ve got one for you too, Doctor.’

‘I’ll put it on later’ he said taking the earcomm in his hand and eyeing it suspiciously before placing it in his breast pocket.

‘It’s how we all keep in contact with each other’ said Jack.

The Torchwood agents climbed the stairs to the Bradbury hotel and flashed their badges to the doorman who opened the door to let them all in.

Jack approached the service desk. ‘I’m Captain Jack Harkness with Torchwood. We’ve got it on good authority that a fugitive may be hiding in your hotel.’

‘Who is this fugitive?’ asked the woman at the desk, but Jack was already making his way to the elevator. ‘Hey, you can’t just go up there!’ she yelled.

‘Sure we can’ replied Jack without turning around.

The Doctor looked at him incredulously. ‘Do you always barge in and assume authority over everyone?’

‘I was about to ask you the same thing’ replied Jack. ‘Come on, what would you do? Flash your psychic paper around and lie or dress up as a member of staff? My way is quicker.’

‘My way is more polite.’

‘Right, team let’s split up’ instructed Jack ignoring the Doctor’s comment. ‘Ky you and Jena find those satellites and Gwen, Gareth, the Doctor and me will search the hotel rooms.’

3.The Betrayal

The image of the Doctor looked skewed through the fisheye lens, which the Master had attached over the security cameras in the Bradbury hotel to allow him see almost every area of the hotel. It was just a tiny cap on the front of the video camera lens, that was barely noticeable but it fed directly into a computer in the secret suite where the Master and Alex were hiding.

‘Do you think they’re going to find us?’ asked Alex nervously.

‘No, that Kynon with his anti-perception scanner is on the roof. He’s going to be taking his time unscrewing those satellites’ explained the Master. ‘I might just do a few tweaks here to make it much harder for him to complete his task.’ He grinned at Alex then went over to the SERQs computer and clicked a few switches and concluded by slamming his palm on a red button. ‘That should make things a bit more interesting for them.

‘What did you do?’ asked Alex looking at the SERQs monitor to see if it could tell him.

‘Let’s watch the security cameras to find out’ replied the Master.

‘Wait, if there’s security cameras on the roof then wouldn’t the hotel be able to know that we landed here and disguised the Schrödinger as a satellite dish?’

‘Well maybe, if I didn’t turn them off when that happened’ replied the Master.

Alex smiled and turned to the security monitor to see what happened on the roof. The Master touched the screen to expand the footage revealing two flustered young Torchwood agents now having to contend with twenty or more satellite dishes.

‘That should give us some time to think of an escape plan’ remarked the Master but then noticing Alex’s worried face he said. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve had to escape from worse than this. We will get out of here.’

‘But how?’ asked Alex, still not feeling reassured by the Master’s words.

‘Just leave that to me’ he replied. ‘You just have a rest. It’s been a long day. Did I mention there’s free food here?’

Alex smiled when he got the hint. He left the Master to raid the kitchen. He wasn’t sure how long ago his last meal was. After all the excitement of surviving an assassination attempt the thought of refuelling his body never crossed his mind, but now that he had come to think about it he was feeling rather ravenous.

The Master leant his hands down on the SERQs control board. He was quite fond of his invention especially when he discovered that he could use it for something he originally didn’t design it for. It had helped with picking up the hotel’s security system and had even hacked into Torchwood’s whole communication system, and they now had satellites orbiting Earth. Oh what fun he could have with his new toy.

The Master started up a program similar to a live video feed that UNIT and Torchwood had except its range far exceeded Earth’s atmosphere. It even exceeded the Solar system.

He swiped a ball on the control board trying to get better reception and when he finally got a clear picture smiled at the familiar faces of the Wargs.

‘Greetings from planet Earth’ said the Master.

‘Master, the Doctor and his friend’s have escaped’ informed the Warg.

‘Yes I am aware of that. It was a part of my plan’ he snapped.

‘Oh, I see’ replied the Warg. ‘What are your plans for Asterion? Do you still want the Wargs to fight against the government?’

‘Actually, I thought I’d just let you go’ replied the Master.

‘I don’t understand. Let us go how?’

‘Let me demonstrate for you’ said the Master, hovering his hand over the control board until finally finding a T-lever that he pulled up sending out of powerful electrical current through the Warg’s collar electrocuting it. ‘Like that’ he said.

From the video he couldn’t tell but he knew he had just electrocuted all the Wargs and he stared at the raised lever resting a hand on his chin to watch the Warg being electrocuted intently. After a few minutes he turned it off.

‘Oh dear, you’re dead now’ he said feigning concern. He then pressed a forward arrow button which disconnecting him from the Warg’s computer and scanned for a nearby available alien communication system. He found one almost immediately much closer to Earth than the previous one. The reception was clear enough for the Master to wipe his smug grin off his face at the occupants in the video.

They looked like rhinoceroses in heavy armour and they stood on two feet, with wide shoulders and a muscular torso.

‘Hojo mobo offro tojo’ one said staring right at the Master. He uttered a frightened noise and tapped a button repetitively until the screen changed. The rhinoceroses were the Judoon who were an intergalactic police force, and because the Master had been a wanted man for hundreds of years they were the last people he wanted to talk to.

The next alien to show up on the screen was wearing very jagged bronze armour making him look like an elongated clam. He was standing inside what looked like a cave.

‘Ah, the Sycorax. That’s much better’ said the Master relieved. ‘I’m the Master; most evil genius in the Universe, but I’m not one to brag about myself. So down to business: how would you and your people like to help me take over the Earth?’

The Sycorax responded with a string of incomprehensible words then burst out into laughter.

‘A no would have been more appreciated’ replied the Master slightly hurt and embarrassed before he pressed the button again.

The next image on the screen was a stone statue of a woman. ‘Weeping Angels’ gasped the Master. ‘No, no, no I like a bit more communication with my allies’ he said hitting the button again.

Alex walked back into the room at the same time the next alien appeared on the screen. It looked like a trashcan to him with a rod sticking out at the top and a plunger for one arm and the other looked like an eggbeater. It s body was covered in small round circles.

‘What is that thing?’ he asked.

‘That is a Dalek’ replied the Master almost in awe without looking away from the screen. ‘Don’t you remember them? Well, if you could remember them you wouldn’t want to.’

The Master was now standing upright looking up at the screen as he addressed the Dalek. ‘My dear Daleks’ he said.

‘Who-are-you-hu-man?’ it asked in a high pitched scream, sounding out every syllable.

‘I’m the Master’ he replied.

‘The-Mas-ter? You-are-a-Time-Lord!’

‘Indeed I am’ replied the Master.

‘You-are-an-en-em-y-of-the-Dal-eks!’ it declared making its voice much higher in which Alex guessed a threatening tone.

‘I know we’ve had our disagreements in the past – Time Wars’ and the like but I’ve put all that behind me. Dalek’s I need your help to take over the pathetic rock known as Earth’ –

‘Dal-eks-do-not-ob-ey-Time-Lords!’

‘Oh even if we can share in the glory?’ replied the Master with a slight grin.

‘Glo-ry-will-only-be-ach-ieved-when-the-Daleks-are-the-su-preme-rul-ers-of-Earth!’

‘What if I come bearing gifts – as a piece offering?’ suggested the Master.

‘What-gift-can-a-Time-Lord-give-to-the-Da-eks?’ it asked.

‘What if I can give you something or someone that you have sought out for centuries but have never succeeded in obtaining?’ asked the Master eagerly.

‘The-Da-leks-have-never-failed-the-Da-leks-do-not-seek-gifts-from-Time-Lords!’

‘Not even if it’s the Doctor?’ he revealed, his grin widening.

The Dalek took a step back. ‘The-Doc-tor? You-will-give-the-Da-leks-the-Doc-tor’ it replied. Alex couldn’t decide on whether it was asking or demanding.

‘Indeed I will’ the Master replied calmly.

‘How-will-you-catch-him?’ it asked. ‘If-the-Doc-tor-can- ev-ade-our-cap-ture-ag-ain-and-ag-ain-what-makes-you-so-sure-you-can-catch-him?’

The Master turned to look at Alex and put his arm around him. ‘Because I’ve have somebody he wants.’

The Dalek surveyed Alex by lowering its eyestalk to see him more clearly. ‘He-wants-the-chi-ld? Al-right-we-will-help-the-Mas-ter-take-ov-er-the-Earth.’

The Master clapped his hands in excitement. ‘Great! I will be contacting you again to fill you in on the details. I promise, Dalek’s, I will not let you down.

After the Master cut the video connection to the Dalek spaceship he turned to Alex and said. ‘Our new allies; an indestructible war machine and the Doctor’s most feared enemy!’ and then paused before adding. ‘Well, next to me of course.’

‘Alright, here’s the plan’ said the Master, ‘the boy will lure the Doctor away so no one from Torchwood can see what happens to him. I’ve equipped him with a Time Vortex Manipulator which will activate after a delay of twenty minutes which will then teleport him onto your spaceship. He just has to make sure the Doctor is holding onto him’ he paused to look at Alex and said, ‘which won’t be very difficult.’

‘We-will-be-wait-ing-for-you’ said the Dalek aiming his eyestalk directly at Alex. ‘Do-not-let-us-down.’

‘Oh, and could you teleport me now to the spaceship?’ asked the Master. ‘I want front row seats for this.’

‘Yes-tel-e-port-ing-the-Mas-ter-now’ said the Dalek.

‘Alex, just remember keep running until the twenty minutes are up and then make sure the Doctor grabs hold of you.’

‘But how do I do that?’ asked Alex.

‘Just think of something. Pretend to cry or even try to attack him. Just make sure he’s holding onto you when you teleport’ instructed the Master suddenly disappearing into blue light.

Alex took a deep breath and took one last look at his hiding spot. He would never be able to step foot in a suite like this again, but his time was already running out so he ran out of the control room, passed the living room and kitchen and placed a hand around the handle and pulled the door open to take a peek outside.

There was no sight of the Doctor or anyone else for that matter. Great, thought Alex. Now where was he supposed to find the Doctor before the time ran out?

He jumped into the elevator and pressed a random floor button, got out and found no sign of the Doctor so he got back into the elevator and tried again, checking his watch to keep track of how much time he had wasted.

Finally when the elevator opened up at the ground floor he saw the Doctor, Jack and Gwen.

‘Oh look, there he is!’ called Gwen.

‘Alex!’ exclaimed the Doctor waving to get the boy’s attention. He was taken aback by the frightened look on Alex’s face. ‘It’s ok, we’re not mad at you just come over here.’

Alex started to slowly approach them then like a bolt of lightning shot passed them and slammed into the turning doors, exerting all his weight to keep them moving forward. After he got passed them he ran passed the doorman almost knocking him over and leaped the small concrete staircase and sauntered off down the street.

The Doctor almost knocked over the doorman too and apologised while he was still running to catch up to Alex. He looked down the street confused by the fact that Alex had stopped running and was waiting for him but as he approached him the boy ran off again, passing storefronts and knocking into midday shoppers in the street.

The Doctor had a little bit more courtesy to apologise to the people he ran into, but he continued to knock shoulders as he pursued the boy through the city with his long brown coat billowing behind him.

Alex left the city for what looked like an industrial complex as he checked his watch. He didn’t have long to go now. Maybe five minutes, maybe less. The Doctor was puffing and panting behind him and all the time reassuring him that he wasn’t in any trouble.

Alex stopped in front of a large warehouse and he looked back to see how far away the Doctor was. He saw a tall figure wearing a blue suit and long coat with windswept hair sticking up running towards him. It was now or never, though Alex. He shifted a large metal door out of the way and ran inside the warehouse. It must have been abandoned because it was dark and empty.

The Doctor followed Alex inside up a long flight of cold metallic stairs that clanked after every step he made. The stairs seemed to go on forever, each ending with a small square concrete landing and alternating between twisting left and right. Finally they ended and led inside what looked like a storage room, with concrete floors and metal columns holding the building upright.

‘Stop!’ the Doctor panted, holding up his hand. ‘Alex, you’re not in any trouble. I told UNIT that you were under mind control from the Master.’

‘And did they believe you?!’ snapped Alex.

‘Not exactly but I will convince them that the video feed wasn’t your idea and I forgive you for being such a pain and shooting Jack.’

‘I was a pain?’ He shot the Doctor an incredulous look. But then he decided enough was enough. It was time to get this over and done with.

‘You mean you really will help me?’ he asked.

‘Yes, I will. Just come over here.’

Alex approached him and feigned a shameful look by casting his eyes downwards then looking at up at the Doctor like a sad puppy. The Doctor placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder and they both disappeared into blue light.

4. The Xyloc

The Doctor and Alex re-appeared inside what looked like a futuristic factory with a smorgasbord of technology against the far wall. ‘We’ve teleported. Alex, did you know this would happen?’

Alex remained silent.

The Doctor moved forward to inspect the machine in front of him, looking up, down and around it, fascinated by its architecture. ‘This is way beyond even the Master’s skills’ he said. He went over to the large screen to inspect it but as he did he backed away slowly. ‘That language it’s’—

‘Alert-alert-we-have-the-doc-tor!’ called a Dalek, as about twenty Daleks’ entered the room.

‘In-i-ti-ate-temp-or-al-pris-on!’ shouted another Dalek as a vertical wall of yellow light trapped the Doctor in a cylindrical temporal prison. He banged his hands against it in a futile attempt to escape.

‘Alex, what have you done?!’ he asked looking at the boy with a mixture of contempt and worry.

A cold shrill laugh echoed from outside. The door slid open and with a quick side step the stranger made his entrance into the room, wearing a sharp black suit and carrying a thin bronze object in his hand.

‘Master, what do you think you’re doing?’ he seethed.

‘I-caught-the-Doc-tor’ he announced in a mocking sing-song.   ‘Well, Alex did really. That was marvellous work son.’ He approached the boy and placed two hands on each of his shoulders.

He picked up Alex’s arm and pulled back his jacket sleeve revealing a thick black object, similar to a watch, strapped around the boy’s wrist. ‘Time Vortex manipulator – more commonly known as a teleporter. You thought you were helping him, Doctor, when you put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and told him he wouldn’t be arrested and you know what he did? He teleported you onto a Dalek spaceship! It was all just too easy to lead you into this trap. Really, you’re so quick to trust everyone– it will be your downfall, Doctor.’

‘What are you doing with the Dalek’s?’ he demanded.

‘I’ve got less power than I did before so I asked for some help from my old friends’ here’—

‘Dalek’s are very Time Lord’s enemy! How could you become an ally with them after everything they’ve done to us!?’

The Master hesitated before he spoke again. ‘I wouldn’t have picked you to hold a grudge. It was a risk to take them on as allies and they were quite reluctant at first but when I promised them I’d give them you in exchange for their help they jumped at the chance. Now the Master and the Dalek’s will rule over the Earth together’—

‘What?’ responded a Dalek rotating its eyestalk to face the Master. ‘Da-lek’s-do-not-share-po-wer-with-Time-Lord’s.’

‘B-but I brought you the Doctor’ stammered the Master.

‘DA-LEK’S-REIGN-SU-PREEEME!’ it screamed.

‘No we had an agreement!’ protested the Master, his smug look replaced by fear.

‘The-Ma-ster-will-be-im-pri-soned!’ screamed another Dalek in a lower tone.

‘If it wasn’t for me you would never have the Doctor!’

‘Does-the-Ma-ster-think-he-is-su-pe-ri-or-to-the-Dalek’s?’

‘No, of course not’ he responded nervously.

‘You-are-ly-ing! In-i-ti-ate-tem-po-ral-pri-son!’ ordered the Dalek.

‘We’ll just see about that’ he muttered and lifted his laser screwdriver towards a Dalek but as the temporal prison went up it knocked the screwdriver from his hand and it landed on the floor, rolling a few metres before hitting the side of Alex’s shoe.

It took a few seconds for Alex to comprehend what has just happened and then he quickly scooped up the laser screwdriver, but feeling outnumbered and that a laser was no match against the Daleks’ weapons he bolted to the door.

‘Ex-ter-min-ate-him!’ screamed a Dalek.

‘Run Alex!’ screamed the Doctor.

‘Don’t you dare lose my screwdriver!’ added the Master.

‘Oh really, Master. Don’t you at least care about what happens to him?’

Alex was now in a narrow passageway. It was just a matter of time for another Dalek to come through one of the many doors on either side of him and enter it, so he decided to randomly choose a door to go through.

He stood in front of a door and swiped his hand against a sensor to open it. It slid open and he slipped inside quickly but stealthily. There were two stone columns between triangular prism-shaped machines. The machine repeated throughout the room, which was just as well because despite the darkness, the room was occupied by about five Dalek’s so Alex hid behind one of the columns.

The closer he got to it he noticed that the column was actually a transmitter of some kind. It had blinking lights and switches on it. He wasn’t sure if he should investigate what it was or if it could help him escape. He was curious no doubt but the darkness made it hard for him to see anything properly.

Then he remembered the teleporter on his wrist but he didn’t know how to use it properly. He quietly chastised himself for that but then something else grabbed his attention.

The Dalek’s were talking. Alex moved slightly away from the column to better hear them.

‘Have-you-as-sumed-au-tho-ri-ty-o-ver-the-Xy-loc-yet?’ one of them asked.

‘Neg-a-tive’ reported another.

‘See-that-you-do. It-is-im-pe-ra-tive-that-we-have-the-up-most-con-trol-o-ver-it. The-mis-sion-counts-on-it.’

‘What-ab-out-the-Time-Lord’s?’ asked another Dalek.

‘They-are-pow-er-less. The-last-sur-viv-ing-Time-Lords’-are-our-pris-on-ers’ it responded in a shrill voice, as if laughing.

‘We-can-use-them’ suggested the Dalek that asked the question. ‘With-a-Xy-loc-brain-and-two-Time-Lords’-with-our-sup-e-rior-in-tel-lect-the-Dalek’s-could-rule-this-en-tire-un-i-verse.’

‘Af-firm-a-tive-but-first-we-need-to-ov-er-pow-er-the-Xy-loc. They-can-be-ve-ry-dan-ge-rous-when-not-con-tained.’

Alex thought he’d hate to listen to the Dalek’s small talk, this conversation was hard enough to follow it was giving him a headache. He had no idea what a Xyloc was but it sounded dangerous.

He had to get back to Earth and make things right. Maybe he would be forgiven if he tells Torchwood about the Xyloc. He lifted his arm up and gazed at the teleporter on his wrist. He still had no idea how to use it. He thought of the many days he spent with Jack on Asterion and had not once asked him about his own teleporter. The man probably had the coordinates of Earth on speed dial or memorised them like any regular person would a phone number.

He decided to do something that had never crossed his mind; contact the Master. “Master, tell me how to teleport back to Earth” he thought, clenching his eyes shut.

“The red button sends you back” was the reply.

That sounds simple enough, thought Alex. But suddenly a Dalek moved passed his hiding spot. It hadn’t seen him yet so Alex thought he was safe.

‘Sen-sors-det-ect-a-hu-man-is-close-by!’ it screamed. Alex swore under his breath. ‘Show-your-self-and-we-will-show-you-mer-cy!’

Alex didn’t believe that for one minute but decided to reveal himself. He stepped out slowly. ‘OK, I’m unarmed see’ he said lifting up his hands. ‘But you’re wrong – I’m not a human I’m a Time Lord’ he said with a smirk.

‘Im-pos-si-ble! The-Doc-tor-is-the-on-ly-sur-viv-ing-Time-Lord.’

‘And-the-Mas-ter’ corrected another Dalek.

‘Yes-and-the-Mas-ter’ it said correcting itself.

‘You intergalactic dust bins can’t keep up with us.’

‘Do-not-in-sult-us. You-will-be-ex-term-i-nat-ed!’

‘We’ll just see about that’ said Alex, still not completely confident that he could escape but he hit the red button on the teleporter and vanished into blue light not even a second before five different beams of yellow laser lights hit the spot he had been standing in front of. All that remained of it was a gigantic hole in the wall.

5. Secrets Revealed

They looked like solid black refrigerators. The metallic casing was two inches thick, with a thin rectangular window a few metres down on each side and attached to one side at the front was an electronic security lock.

The Doctor was inside one of these cells. He was pointing his sonic screwdriver at it and it hummed and reflected blue light on his face. ‘It’s made out of Dalekanium metal’ he said.

‘Can’t sonic your way out then, Doctor?’ asked the Master quietly from the cell next door.

‘It doesn’t work like that.’

‘It’s useless’ he muttered letting out a long sigh.

‘Alright then – I’d like to see you do better with your laser screwdriver – oh wait, you can’t – you dropped it!’

‘That stupid boy should have kicked it over to me. He won’t be able to use it – Isomorphic controls’ –

‘Yeah, I know that. Even if he did how could you pick it up if you couldn’t even escape from your temporal cage?’ He grinned at him cleverly, even though the Master wouldn’t have been able to see it.

‘Oh, good point.’

‘Anyway, I don’t think even a laser screwdriver could get through this metal.’ He rapped a fist against it. ‘Listen to that! – thick Dalekanium steel – perfect shelter for a nuclear war, or meteor strike or’—

‘To hide from the Doctor’ added the Master.

‘What do you mean by that? We found your hiding spot.’ He looked out through the window and moved his head around to get a better look at the electronic lock. ‘There’s one of those bumps from the Dalek’s shells. They must only be able to open the cell doors.’

‘So what is your marvellous escape plan, Doctor?’

‘I haven’t got one’ admitted the Doctor.

‘You’re just going to give up?’ asked the Master incredulously.

There was no reply.

‘Oh I see, when it comes to thwarting my plans of world domination you can’t stop me fast enough but when it comes to escaping from a Dalek cell, that isn’t even being watched – oh, it’s hopeless!’

‘This is all because of you – great plan, by the way – foolproof. What could possibly go wrong when a Time Lord agrees to help out the Dalek’s and gives them the one person that could actually stop them? I may as well invite the Sycorax over for tea.’

‘Oh, Doctor shut up.’

‘Anyway, I could break into that lock if only I could reach it’ he mused drumming his fingers against his chin.

The minutes rolled in to an hour and still the Doctor had no way of accessing the electronic lock. ‘It’s right there, just two inches away but the sonic can’t penetrate these walls’ he wiped a hand through his hand exasperated, leaving the front sticking up on all ends.

‘Well, if it’s hopeless than I suppose I should tell you the truth’ said the Master.

The Doctor snapped out of his train of thought and confronted the Master. ‘The truth – the truth about what?’ he asked cautiously.

‘Not what – whom’ corrected the Master, ‘Alex and his mother to be more precise.’

‘You already told me’ replied the Doctor quietly.

‘I lied.’

‘Oh Master; only you could lie about lying.’

The Master ignored him. ‘You’ve met Alex’s mother recently, yes?’

‘Yeah, I had to tell her that her son wasn’t really murdered even though the whole Earth witnessed it and that a mad man was controlling him telepathically.’

‘You’re always too kind’ remarked the Master. ‘So you’re telling me you didn’t even recognise her?’ he asked with a ‘tut’.

‘How am I am supposed to recognise her? Where was I to supposedly seen her last?’

‘Oh, I don’t know – Gallifrey.’

‘WHAT!?’ shouted the Doctor, bewildered. ‘She was a Time Lord too?’

‘You felt the boy’s hearts.’

‘Yeah but’—

‘And the names Alex and Susan don’t ring any bells?’

‘Susan’ the Doctor gasped. ‘Susan is my granddaughter? And Alex is my’ –

‘Great grandson’ concluded the Master.

‘Oh my god, Master – what have you done? She was right there and he was always there and I didn’t even sense it – what’s wrong with me?’ He trailed off, continuing to blame himself.

The Master relished in it. ‘You were so mean to that boy. I saw it all. You didn’t trust him – your own flesh and blood.’

The Doctor now pressed with his back against the cell could no longer contain the contempt he was feeling. His head felt hot. He thought he had so much fury that he had strength enough to break through the cell. He beat his fist against the wall and shouted obscenities at the Master, but the cell walls held firm.

‘Master, how could you do this to me? My own family – I thought they had died in the Time War along with the rest of our people. They were right there and I didn’t see it.’ He kept repeating the last sentence to himself.

‘I did it to torture you. The ultimate torture – emotional torture’ revealed the Master.

‘Oh well congratulations you’ve succeeded!’ spat the Doctor. ‘You’ve finally succeed in defeating me.’

‘Doctor, are you crying?’ asked the Master in his agitating calm tone.

‘JUST SHUT UP!’ he screamed.

‘Oh, temper, temper.’

The Doctor finally wiped his face with his hands. ‘Tell me how you did it.’

‘It’s goes back to when I was the Prime Minister of Earth. A loyal follower and time traveller warned me that you and your companions were plotting against me, and that this time I wouldn’t survive. So I fled and found an unusually talented woman and her son that both had striking similarities to your granddaughter and great grandson.’

‘I disguised myself as a psychiatrist at the boy’s school and the teachers eventually sent him to see me – no mind control necessary’ he laughed. He could imagine the Doctor frowning. ‘So I did all the usual tests with him – IQ of 219 – I changed it to 165 to not arouse any further suspicion about the boy, and then I gave him two extra tests – fMRI and qEEg scans, but I modified the latter. It was a telekinetic manipulator via the vestibular system.’

‘I extrapolated my biological code into his and opened up a psychic network, so not only could I give him thoughts but take control of his actions. But then I had to stop Susan from finding out so I told her I knew who she was and convinced her that she was in danger and for her and Alex’s best protection she had to change into a human using the Chameleon Arch.’

‘She lost her memory so I gave her new ones. I even convinced her that I was her husband’ he paused, expecting the Doctor to say something but it never came. ‘I still have her fob watch too that has her Time Lord memories in it. I think Alex trusts me more with it because of the special bond he shares with his mother.’

‘So why even make up that story about creating him then?

‘I wanted him to know he was a Time Lord but still be too embarrassed to tell you, so I told him he was only a Time Lord because of me. That way he wouldn’t go spouting it to you. Oh, but I also did try to turn him against you by saying you trusted the Asrie’s too much and would not believe you if he told you about their plot to invade Earth.’

‘So you made Alex keep secrets from me?’

‘Yes, this was after you accosted him about hearing voices and doing impulsive things.’

‘I noticed things were not right about him. But I watched him every day along with Jack. How did you get to him?’

‘You’ve seen that I could hack into every computer in Torchwood and Alex had a computer in his TARDIS, which he visited when you were out tracking Wargs, and later I sent out an Asrie to spy. He worked under the codename of Jean Moulin.’

‘Oh, good to hear that you have a knowledge of the history of Earth’ remarked the Doctor sarcastically.

‘I do my best’ shrugged the Master.

‘Is that all of it then?’ asked the Doctor bitterly.

‘Not quite. He can fight against the mind control, Doctor. I was shocked to learn that he didn’t care if all humanity died when he could have stopped it.’

‘Yeah, I noticed that’ replied the Doctor. ‘So that was your lie – that the Asrie’s were going to destroy Earth?’

‘Or enslave it.’

‘Oh, or enslave it’ repeated the Doctor.

‘He only agreed when I asked him would he do it for Susan.’

‘Well, I’m glad my family are so loyal to each other’ he sighed.

‘He contacted me too’ revealed the Master. ‘Just recently, he wanted to know how to teleport to Earth.’

‘And did you tell him?’

‘Yes and if I didn’t he would have been exterminated by five Dalek energy beams.’

‘You keep saving that boy’s life. If I didn’t know any better, Master, I think you care about him’ replied the Doctor returning to his cheery-mock tone.

‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous.’

6.Help from Below

‘Is everything alright Jack?’ asked Gwen after noticing the impatience on her former leader’s face.

‘The Doctor ran after Alex hours ago and he should be back by now. I’m going to have to radio him.’ He pressed a finger to his earcomm clipped to his ear. ‘Doctor, can you read me?’

The Doctor heard interference coming from the breast pocket of his coat. He looked down at in a state of confusion for a few seconds, and then quickly took out the small earcomm Torchwood had issued him with.

‘What’s that noise?’ asked the Master.

‘It’s Torchwood and they’re our only hope out of here’ replied the Doctor placing the device in his ear. ‘Jack, I can read you loud and clear – ooh, maybe not clear – wait’ he took out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the radio. ‘That’s better – see Master that’s what a sonic screwdriver is good for.’

‘You’re with the Master?!’ spluttered Jack disbelievingly.

‘We’re in a Dalek prison cell – long story’ explained the Doctor. ‘I’ll tell you later.’

‘Can you give me the gist of it?’ asked Jack.

‘The Master wanted to take over Earth, again, and he enlisted in the help of his friends’ the Dalek’s whom tricked him, again and now we’re both prisoners in their spaceship.’

‘Tell the Master he’s an idiot’ said Jack loudly.

‘I heard that!’ shouted the Master.

‘You’re on sonic speakers, Jack so he heard that.’

‘What’s he going to do about it?’ teased Jack. ‘Remind me to tell one Martha Jones about this.’

‘I’d like to see you get out of here, you freak!’ spat the Master.

‘Now stop that, both of you!’ shouted the Doctor sternly.

‘He’s not actually in there with you?’ asked Jack.

‘If he was he wouldn’t be so smug. Look, I’ve never told you this before but I have a granddaughter.’

‘You don’t say – how old is she?’

‘Typical Harkness response’ muttered the Master.

‘This is serious. Her name is Susan.’

‘I think I know where this is going’ replied jack.

‘Her son is called Alex. His father, real father, was David Campbell. He was one of my companions a long time ago.’

‘Wait, Alex is your great grandson?’ asked Jack rather too loudly, for Gwen looked at him mortified. ‘What’s wrong Gwen?’ he asked.

‘Gareth found Alex and he’s right behind you’ she said awkwardly.

Jack turned around quickly. ‘Hey Alex, gosh you’ve really kept us all quite busy. Are you OK?’

‘Who are you talking to?’ asked Alex.

‘I’m talking to the Doctor. Did you know he’s onboard a Dalek spaceship as a prisoner with the Master?’ asked Jack. He was speaking slowly and clearly, like one would a young child.

Alex just gazed up at him. He was breathing hard, though that may have been from running. But he had the look in his eyes like he was trying not to cry.

‘Is that Alex?’ asked the Doctor excitedly. ‘Put him on.’

‘I’m not sure that’s the best idea. He looks pretty terrified’ said Jack.

‘I’ll be easy on him, just put him on.’

Jack unclipped the communicator from his ear and clipped it onto Alex’s ear. ‘Good luck’ he said.

‘Hi Doctor’ said Alex quivering.

‘Hey Alex, are you alright?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Have you got my laser boy?’ asked the Master from his cell.

‘Yes I do.’

‘Ignore him Alex, if you can’ said the Doctor. ‘I know we got off on the wrong foot, but let’s put all that behind us now. It’s up to us and Torchwood to clean up the mess the Master has made.’

‘OK, so what do you want me to do?’ asked Alex, still with shakiness in his voice.

‘I need you to break us out of this prison. Now, the only way to open it is with Dalek technology so I need you to steal some Dalek materials.’

‘You want me to go onboard the Dalek spaceship again?’ asked Alex nervously.

‘Let’s hope you don’t have to do that. Susan, I mean your mum, used to collect Dalek technology to make it safe. But she won’t remember it and there’s no use trying to convince her so you’re going to have to search your house for it.’

‘Alright, I can do that’ replied Alex half-confident half-not.

‘And bring her onboard so I can restore her memories.’

‘Oh, I can’t wait for that reunion’ muttered the Master.

‘Master, shut it!’

‘OK, so I’ll go look for Dalek technology and somehow convince my mum to come onboard the spaceship – but how do we get past the Dalek’s?’

‘Just leave that to us’ replied Jack. Alex turned around and gave him a thumbs up.

‘I’ve got one last thing to ask’ said Alex, returning to his conversation with the Doctor.

‘Yeah, what is it?’ asked the Doctor.

‘What’s a Xyloc?’

‘Why do you want to know?’ asked the Doctor, though it came out much harsher than that.

‘The Dalek’s have one, but said it was hard to control – so what is it?’

‘A Xyloc is a crystalline ancient alien race. They’re supremely intelligent. Oh, that’s it!’ he exclaimed.

‘What?’

‘The Dalek’s must have a Xyloc computer!’

‘An alien is controlling a computer? OK, so what – is it going to unleash a virus to help the Dalek’s invade Earth? Oh wait, I think I know – a virus could wipe out every computer even military ones. Everything is computers these days. Imagine if every computer just broke down – not only would we be extremely bored but we wouldn’t know what was going on – especially to detect an alien invasion on Earth!’

‘Very good Alex but I’m afraid it could be much worse than that. My friend has a Xyloc computer and its intelligence is rivalled to no one – not even me. It can detect, program, and communicate with every computer on Earth, even computers on spaceships just passing into our solar system.’

‘So the Dalek’s could control the whole Universe with this computer?’

‘Yes they could and they will if they ever get control of it. Oh, think of the terror they could unleash with it.’

‘Think of the power’ added the Master.

‘That power is in Dalek hands’ warned the Doctor. ‘Listen Alex; tell Jack that he needs to contact Sarah Jane Smith. She has a Xyloc computer called Mr. Smith and we desperately need a Xyloc on our side.

7. 16 Chesterton Lane

‘Need some help getting that off?’ asked Jack, helping Alex unclip the earcomm from his ear. He clipped it back to his own ear.

‘The Doctor told me something to tell you’ revealed Alex.

‘Yeah, what is it?’

‘After I told him that the Dalek’s have a Xyloc’ he paused at Jack’s sudden surprised reaction, ‘he told me to tell you to contact Sarah Jane Smith because she has a Xyloc computer too.’

‘Indeed she does’ agreed Jack nodding repetitively but uncomfortably.

‘Is there something wrong?’

‘Oh no, it’s just that Sarah Jane will not in a million years agree to help Torchwood.’

‘But she’s on your side right?’

‘Yes she is, but she thinks of us more as a’ he turned to Gwen, ‘what would you say Sarah Jane thinks of us as?’

‘A shoot first, ask questions later type of group’ replied Gwen.

‘There you go’ concluded jack after turning back around to face Alex.

‘But we have to – we have to free the Doctor and stop the Dalek’s!’ protested Alex.

‘I’m not saying we’re not going to at least try’ said Jack, trying to quieten him down. ‘We’ve just got to be really convincing.’

Jack turned around to face the new Torchwood team. ‘Alright people, listen up!’ he yelled and was surprised when they all came forward and waited intently for instructions. OK, it’s time to lead these people again, thought Jack. ‘The situation has changed. We’re no longer looking for the Master. We’re now trying to break the Doctor out of a Dalek prison.’

‘Dalek’s – we’ve never had to deal with them before’ sputtered Jena.’

‘It’s time you got some practice because, trust me, these guys will come back again and again. I’ve had to fight them twice – the Doctor many, many times more. I’m going to throw it over to Alex to explain how we’re going to bust them out.’ He turned to Alex. ‘Alex, if you will.’

Alex stepped forward nervously to address the agents. ‘Uh well, the prison cells can only be opened by a Dalek’ he stammered. ‘Do any of you have any Dalek technology stored away?’ The agents’ shook their heads slowly and muttered out a sad ‘no’. ‘That’s OK. The Doctor said my mother might have some stored away, in my house that I’ve grown up in, but she has no idea about it. It’s complicated’ he said before finishing, feeling that every word he spoke was sounding more ridiculous as he went on.

‘They also have a Xyloc’ revealed Jack, ‘so Gwen I need you to ask Sarah Jane for permission to gain us access to Mr. Smith.’

‘Oh, so now it’s me, is it?’

‘I’m sorry, it’s the hardest part of this mission but you’re more emotional’—

‘Oh I see, it’s because I’m a woman!’ shot Gwen.

‘No, I didn’t mean it like that’ said Jack, immediately regretting his choice of words. You’re more empathic. You have much better people skills.’ He was speaking quickly and nervously.

‘It’s OK Jack’ she laughed. ‘I knew what you meant.’

‘Oh good’ said Jack letting out a relieved sigh. He composed himself and got back into leader-mode.

‘Alright team, we’re going to head back to The Hub and pick up the most powerful weapons we can find. Dalek’s are encased inside a shell that can withstand bullets and most lasers. But we’ve got an arsenal of weapons that can get past that’ he paused to take a good look at his team. They were still strangers to him but had already shown him what they were capable of.

‘Alright, let’s move out!’ he shouted. He turned to Alex. ‘Want to come to the Hub?’

‘I should get back home’ he replied.

‘Are you sure? We have an invisible lift’ said Jack wide-eyed, like an excited child.

‘No, I need to find the Dalek technology. The Doctor says it’s the most important part of this mission.’

‘He would say that if it meant breaking him out of the cell’ muttered Jack. ‘OK well, at least let us give you a lift.’

‘I’ve got this’ said Alex, raising his wrist to Jack, revealing his teleporter.

‘A Time Vortex Manipulator!’ he exclaimed. ‘Where did you get that?’

‘From the Master’ replied Alex quickly.

‘Ah, I’ll say no more. Do you know how to use it?’

‘I was hoping you could show me’ replied Alex, gazing up at Jack eagerly.

‘Where do you want to go?’ asked Jack uneasily.

‘I live at 16 Chesterton Lane, Hammersmith.’

Jack stroked his chin. ‘Yeah, see the thing is I’ve never been there and I don’t have the coordinates. Just let us give you a lift.’

Alex agreed shortly before the Torchwood SUV pulled up beside them. Jack helped Alex into the car. He sat on the right side in the passenger’s seat, with Alex in the middle and Gwen on the left side. Gareth drove and Jena was beside him holding a flat screen in front of her.

‘That’s the Torchwood PDA’ Jack explained to Alex. ‘It can detect alien or Rift activity and we can keep each other updated on our mission’s progress through it too. They all communicate back to our main computer at the Hub.’

‘Sorry, but what’s Rift and what’s the Hub?’ asked Alex nervously. Laughs erupted throughout the SUV.

‘Oh, he’s an outsider’ remarked Jena.

‘I keep forgetting that even know you know a lot about aliens and we’ve spent about a week on An alien planet together that you don’t know that much about Torchwood’ said Jack. ‘The Hub is our headquarters and the Rift is a hole in the fabric of reality that aliens sometimes slip through.’

‘Like the Weevils’ said Gareth from the driver’s seat.

‘Those bloody Weevils’ added Jena.

‘They’re an alien race that we’ve had to deal with a lot’ explained Jack to Alex.

‘So, you’re like an extraterrestrial MI5’ remarked Alex. ‘That could be interesting.’

‘That pretty much sums it up’ replied Jack. ‘You could join us if you want? We could always do with a’ he moved closer to Alex’s ear and whispered “Time Lord”, ‘on the team. After all this is over I mean. Just think about it.’

‘We’re on Chesterton Lane’ announced Gareth.

‘This is where we part ways’ said Jack, jumping out of the SUV so Alex could get out. He helped him out of the SUV and said ‘good luck’ and stood and watched Alex walk through the squeaky green gate at no. 13.

‘Come back into the car!’ called Gwen and Jack reluctantly obeyed. He still stared out the window at Alex as the SUV drove away.

Alex took a moment to look around the street that he had always called home. It felt like nothing had changed. It could as well have just been the end of another day when Alex was returning home with his schoolbag slung across one shoulder while listening to earphones and ignoring passersby.

It had all changed though. Alex had left his street an enthusiastic scientist working towards future technologies and returned a betrayer to his whole planet and those who cared about him.

Alex turned back toward the house and ascended the concrete steps. He was about to knock when the door swung open and standing on the other side was his mother, Susan.

She pulled him into a tight embrace. ‘Alex, you’re back!’ she exclaimed. Alex just hung there floppily like a deflated balloon, but he did attempt to place one arm around her. She let go of him and looked at him with her usual parental concern.

‘Is there something wrong?’ she asked, looking worrisome at his forlorn expression.

‘I screwed up big time’ he replied, looking up at her but failing to look directly into her eyes.

‘It’s going to be alright’ she said soothingly, placing her hands on his shoulders. ‘It wasn’t your fault. I’ll tell UNIT or Torchwood that you were manipulated by the Master.’

‘Mum,’ began Alex with a look of concern, ‘just how much do you know?’

Susan had told him all she knew after he had come inside. She told him about the visit from the Doctor and Jack and Alex updated her on recent events, leaving out the part about being related to the Doctor.

‘Just look at the state of you’ she tutted, ‘I think you should take a bath and I’ll make you a nice warm meal.’

‘Mum, the Earth is about to be invaded by Dalek’s and it’s partly my fault, so forgive me for saying this but, my hygiene isn’t exactly that great of a concern to me. I’m actually here on a mission set by the Doctor.’

‘What does he think you could find here that could stop an alien invasion?’

‘You’d be surprised’ muttered Alex but then covered it up by saying. ‘I just need to create some device that can break the Doctor out of prison.’

‘Do you think you can?’

‘I’ve got to at least try’ he said defiantly.

***

Alex headed upstairs to the attic. It seemed like a good spot to start looking for forgotten alien technology. The room was full of the usual old junk that wasn’t worthless to throw away but too outdated or took up too much space to keep in the house.

He sifted through cardboard boxes pausing only to reflect on the memories that they aroused in his mind. But hang on, that shouldn’t happen – Alex could hardly remember anything about his life. The Master made sure of that. Maybe he was so high up in Space that his mind couldn’t influence Alex anymore, he thought. But no, he still couldn’t remember anything else about his life except for those objects.

He picked another one up. It was a shiny blue stone with a smooth surface. It was making him remember something but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it, like when he’s trying to remember a word on the tip of his tongue but can’t quite grasp it; the type of thoughts that taunted him until days or weeks later he finally gets it. But it wasn’t coming to him yet.

He pocketed the stone and continued his search. He had tossed every cardboard box out of the way and was now facing an old cubby house. He rolled his eyes and moved to another side of the attic. Maybe there was a secret door somewhere in here, he thought so he pressed his hands against the walls in an attempt to discover it. There could have even been a crawl space, he thought. That would be the most likely hiding spot for alien technology.

But it was too obvious.

Alex was now sorting through furniture on the only spot he hadn’t checked yet. There was a dressing table against the wall, so with his heart pounding in eager anticipation he pushed it away from the wall with much difficulty, and it creaked with a loud groan and left an arch shaped print on the wooden floor. He investigated the wall that had been concealed behind it. It had no secret doors either. The only thing moving that beast of a table revealed was a silver Yale key that probably just fell off the desk.

It didn’t look like a spare house key though. He picked it up and studied the strange etchings on one side of it. It had circles that overlapped each other, and it was glowing white hot.

‘Ouch!’ cried Alex wincing and dropping the key. That proved his theory that it was not a normal key. He looked back at the cubby house. No, it couldn’t be, he thought. But he picked up the key with a scrap of paper and headed back to the cubby house.

It fit the lock. He slowly turned it and the lock clicked open. He was apprehensive to see what was inside but he had come this far so he opened the door and entered the cubby house.

‘It’s bigger on the inside’ he whispered. It was a large white spherical room with a high ceiling. It looked like a museum because of the separate displays it had behind glass.  In one display was a helmet that looked like it was crudely carved out of stone. In another was creepy silver robot about 7 feet tall with wide shoulders, and next to it was a Dalek.

The Dalek wasn’t showing any signs of life. Alex walked behind the glass case and discovered that it was just one part of the Dalek’s shell. In the other glass cases were more parts of the Dalek. He knelt down on the tiled floor and pondered for awhile. Now that he had found the technology just how was he supposed to use it break the Doctor out of the prison cell? It had to be compact, so it was easier to carry. But first he had to educate and master his skills in the area of Dalek physics.

It should be a piece of cake, he thought.

8. The Telekinetic Manipulator

‘Absolutely not!’ bellowed a defiant Sarah Jane Smith, throwing her hands in the air while the senior Torchwood agent Gwen Cooper, was keeping a quiet distance on the opposite side of the room from the former companion of the Doctor.

‘Please Sarah; it’s the only way we can stop the Dalek’s’ explained Gwen calmly. ‘We have it on good authority that they have their own Xyloc computer.’

‘Xyloc!’ shrieked Sarah Jane widening her eyes in shock. ‘That seems a bit too much for Mr. Smith and I to handle. And it’s Sarah Jane – not Sarah!’

‘My apologies, Sarah Jane’ replied Gwen. She touched her earcomm. ‘Sorry Doctor, I tried.’

Sarah Jane looked at her in surprise. ‘Is that the Doctor – the Doctor?’

‘Yes it is and he’d like a word with you’ said Gwen, removing her earcomm and attaching it to Sarah Jane.

‘Doctor, is that really you?’

‘Sarah Jane, it’s so good to hear your voice again’ he replied cheerfully.

‘Doctor, where are you?’ she asked quickly.

‘Oh, I thought I’d take a holiday in a Dalek spaceship but they weren’t satisfied with my tipping so they threw me in a cell with the Master. I asked to be put in a separate cell because of his snoring – sinus problem I think.’

‘It’s great to still hear that you have a sense of humour’ remarked Sarah Jane.

‘You know me’ he replied but then spoke in a more serious tone. ‘Listen Sarah, we could really do with Mr. Smith’s help. What is going down could be enormous. It could decide the future of the whole Universe.’

‘So I heard…’ she replied. ‘Yes, OK, I will allow it, however on one condition.’

‘Which is?’

‘Only Luke and I get to use Mr. Smith.’

‘You drive a hard bargain, Miss Smith but alright’ he laughed. ‘Oh, one last thing – put Gwen back on. I’ve got one last thing to say to her.’

Sarah Jane handed the communicator back to Gwen who automatically put it back on effortlessly. ‘Alright Doctor?’ she said and nodded along to what seemed to be instructions.   Sarah Jane stood by her son Luke and waited to see what was going to happen next.

Gwen tapped her communicator off and took out a mobile phone. ‘The Doctor wants you to come to 13 Bannerman Road’ she paused to allow the stranger to respond. ‘It’s in Ealing – don’t you know your local geography?’ She then recited a series of numbers.

‘Those are coordinates’ said Luke just before a blue vertical light erupted into the attic and vanished, revealing black haired boy in week old dirty clothes, looking to be around the same age as Luke.

‘I’m getting the hang of this thing’ remarked Alex.

‘But you’re dead!’ gasped Sarah Jane. ‘The entire planet saw you die!’

‘Do you believe everything you see on TV?’ replied Alex shrugging. ‘It was just your standard teleportation gate and dupligenitor at work, made possible by an atom detector and flash storage gun, or an AD-FS G.’

‘Oh my god, he sounds even more like the Doctor’ muttered Gwen.

‘Well, I am his great grandson’ replied Alex.

‘His great grandson?’ scoffed Sarah Jane incredulously.  ‘How come I’ve never heard about you?’

‘I’ve never heard about me either…until recently’ he replied.

‘His name is Alex’ said Gwen. ‘I don’t know the full story but it’s true.’

‘Still don’t believe me – you should see what I keep in my attic’ he grinned.

‘We all have secrets in our attic’ replied Sarah Jane brusquely.

‘Anyway’ interrupted Gwen, ‘did you find any Dalek technology, Alex?’

‘I did but it’s just so difficult to understand’ he admitted sourly.

‘It’s ok, you did your best’ soothed Gwen.

‘Maybe Luke could take a look at it?’ suggested Sarah Jane. ‘He’s a boy genius’ she added in. They all turned to the brown haired boy with a constant look of curiosity, standing near a brick wall.

‘I’ve never had to deal with Dalek technology before mum’ he admitted.

‘If anyone could do it, it’s you’ she beamed.

‘The thing is we haven’t got time’ said Alex. ‘And if I take a strange boy into my attic and inside a cubby house I think my mum would become suspicious. No offense on the ‘strange part, Luke.’

‘Why should she become suspicious?’ asked Sarah Jane.

‘The Master took away her memories. She doesn’t know that the Doctor is her grandfather, nor should she before I take her to him’ he added flatly.

‘What do you purpose then?’ she challenged. She didn’t much like meeting other smart children that overshadowed her own son.

‘The Dalek’s have a Xyloc computer. I overheard them before I escaped from them. They said they couldn’t get authority over it, so maybe before they do we could hack into it and open the doors that way’ he suggested.

‘We could use Mr. Smith to infiltrate the system’ said Sarah Jane. She then walked towards a brick table and exclaimed, ‘Mr. Smith I need you.

Smoke erupted from the table as two sections parted and a large flat screen emerged, while from the bottom a large clear desk with keyboard and more electronics appeared.

‘Sarah Jane, you have company’ stated Mr. Smith in a polite man’s voice.

‘This is Alex and Gwen’ she replied.

‘Yes, I know them. Gwen Cooper from Torchwood and Alex Campbell – you should be dead’ he stated factly.

‘It’s a long story Mr. Smith’ replied Sarah Jane. ‘There is a Dalek spaceship above Earth or at least nearby. The Doctor is being held prisoner there and the only way to open the doors is either with Dalek technology or by communicating with the Xyloc computer onboard.’

‘You wish for me to communicate with the Xyloc?’ asked Mr. Smith politely. Sarah Jane nodded. ‘Scanning now. I have located the Xyloc. I will try to communicate with it to – oh, how rude!’

‘What is it?’ asked Sarah Jane nervously.

‘The Xyloc has locked me out’ replied Mr. Smith in a hurt tone.

‘I have the necessary codes stored in my data bank to open the doors, Mistress’ called a high computed voice belonging to a blue robotic dog. It wagged its tail merrily and made an electronic sound as it moved across the floor.

‘That’s yours?’ asked Alex, ‘I saw him at the Game Matrix.’

‘He was scanning for alien activity’ said Luke.

‘The dog still won’t be able to open the doors without going onboard the spaceship’ informed Mr. Smith curtly.

‘We’re going to have to take him with us’ said Alex.

‘I’ll go with them, mum’ said Luke quickly in case Sarah Jane didn’t trust K-9 with strangers.

‘OK, but be careful’ she said.

‘Mum, I’m an adult now’ reminded Luke.

‘I know but you still look no older than the day I met you.’ It was true; Luke had been grown by an alien race called the Bane into the physicality of a fourteen year old boy and he still looked the same.

‘Just how old are you?’ asked Alex.

‘I’m twenty six’ replied Luke. ‘What about you?’

‘It’s hard to know for sure’ replied Alex.

‘So, what we have are two teenage boys who are actually much older than they look’ remarked Sarah Jane pausing and turning to Alex said. ‘Much, much older.’

‘Anyway, now we’ve got to work out how to get onboard the spaceship’ said Gwen, changing the subject yet again.

‘I’ve got a teleporter’ said Alex lifting up the chunky watch on his wrist. ‘Jack’s got one too.’

‘What about that teleportation gate that you were talking about – where’s that?’

‘On the planet Asterion, in the Whirlpool galaxy, approximately thirty-four thousand light years away’ replied Alex.

‘Never mind that idea then.’

‘We’re just going to have to make do with what teleporters we’ve got’ said Alex.

‘OK, that’s settled. But this Xyloc – if it won’t even communicate with its own kind how can we get access to it?’

Alex furrowed his brow in deep thought. Then the idea came to him. ‘Mind control’ he said. They are looked at him as if he was mad. ‘The Master used mind control on me. He did it with the Warg’s too – they’re a tortured and mutated race of an already mutated evolved race of dog. Anyway, he controlled them with these psychic collars so he must have used a similar device on me. It must have been really powerful if I didn’t have to wear it.’

‘We could use that device to control the Xyloc so it allows K-9 to open the doors’ added Luke excitedly. ‘I’ll have to take a look at the device but I’m sure I could rewire it so we can get it to do what we want.’

‘Luke is brilliant with electronics’ remarked Sarah Jane.

‘Actually I was thinking that if we make the signal powerful enough and use the Dalek biological code that K-9 has that we could control the Dalek’s and just tell them to abort the mission’ explained Alex.

Sarah Jane looked at him seriously. ‘Control the Dalek’s? Are you sure you want to do that?’

‘Well, I can’t see any other way of stopping them’ he confessed.

‘I want you to be careful’ she said concernedly. ‘All that power can go to your head.’

‘Look, I just want them to go as far away as possible and I’ll return them to normal, I promise’ replied Alex, feeling hurt by her lack of trust.

‘It’s not you I’m concerned about – it’s the Doctor.’

‘The Doctor hates violence’ replied Alex as if it was obvious.

‘You don’t know the history he’s had with the Dalek’s. Alex, just promise me you will stop him if he ever tries to use his power over them.’

‘OK, I will’ he shrugged, still not convinced. But then he thought again. The Doctor did speak with a lot of authority and do his share of threatening, and those fierce eyes he often directed at Alex. But it was silly to think that he could abuse power or become violent. The Doctor was completely against it.

‘We still have to find this device’ said Alex. ‘It could be anywhere. I mean where would the Master hide it? Unless there’s a Dr. Heigel that lives in Ealing or Hammersmith…’ he said trailing off.

‘There is a Dr. Harold Heigel that lives on 17 Bainbridge Road, Ealing’ informed Mr. Smith. They all looked at the screen and saw staring back of them was a photograph of the Master, apart from the darker hair and goatee.

Mr. Smith continued his description. ‘Harold Heigel has a PhD in clinical psychology which he obtained from the University of Cambridge. He became a psychiatrist at Park Vale secondary school in 2010. There is no information about his life before then.’

‘Try Prime Minister of Great Britain’ muttered Gwen.

‘Wait, that’s the school Luke went to!’ gasped Sarah Jane.

‘I went there too’ said Alex. ‘I only left last year.’

‘The Master was hiding at my son’s school all this time and I never noticed it.’

‘Maybe he was wearing a perception filter’ guessed Alex. ‘At least we’ve got his address so we can look for this device. Gwen what are the coordinates 17 Bainbridge Road’—

‘I’ll drive’ replied Sarah Jane.

***

Sarah Jane’s lime green Nissan Figaro pulled up in front of 17 Bainbridge Road. She along with Luke, Alex and Gwen got out of the car and approached the house. It was an average, if not dull, white and brown house with square windows that you couldn’t see into the house through because of thick brown curtains.

Alex felt the laser screwdriver in his pocket and wondered if it would open the door like it did the suite at the Bradbury hotel, but before he could reach for it Sarah Jane pulled out a stick of lipstick which made a familiar hum before unlocking the door.

‘Don’t tell me – sonic lipstick?’ he asked in disbelief.

‘That’s right, it was a gift from your great grandad’ she said grinning.

They entered the house. The interior was flat and uninspired and it carried the same dull brown and white theme as the outside. It was also tremendously clean, as if it was just a house going on the market and the intruders were prospective buyers, not breaking and entering and stealing a piece of advanced technology.

‘Is anyone else creeped out by the fact that we’re in a house previously owned by the Master?’ asked Sarah Jane. They all nodded.

‘Let’s just quickly find this device so we can get the hell out of here’ suggested Gwen quietly.

‘Why are you whispering?’ asked Luke.

‘It’s a creepy house, OK’ replied Gwen. ‘It feels like it’s alive and once it knows of our presence it’s going to swallow us whole.’

‘Don’t be ridiculous’ scoffed Sarah Jane.

‘Can you rightly tell me that after all you’ve been through that some kind of carnivorous alien house is ridiculous?’

The two of them argued on but Alex was distracted by the sound of whispering. He turned his head this way and that but couldn’t place the source of the noise, until he looked down at his jeans pocket. The whispering was coming from there and a spot on his jeans was glowing.

He took out the blue stone that he had put in his pocket earlier. He held it out at an arms span away from him. The stone whispered and glowed white.

‘What is that?’ asked Luke.

‘I don’t know but I found it in my attic’ replied Alex. ‘It’s whispering – can you hear it?’

‘I can’t hear anything’ said Luke.

‘Oh well, let’s not concern them about it’ he said nudging his head toward the arguing women. He pocketed the stone.

‘Let’s try that room first’ suggested Luke. Alex followed him through it. It was the Master’s bedroom. The bed looked like it hadn’t been used.

‘I’m starting to think that the Master never used this place. It was just a cover. It’s either that or he’s really, really clean.’

They started searching the room. Alex started with the wardrobe while Luke opened up the drawers on a dressing table and sifted through them.

‘Nothing here’ he said.

‘Nothing in here either’ called Alex from somewhere inside the walk-in wardrobe. He clambered out and tripped landing on his stomach.

‘Are you OK?’ asked Luke.

‘Yeah, I’m alright’ said Alex. He was kind of glad that he did fall because he discovered that the bed had drawers attached to it. He managed to sit up and opened a drawer and sifted through it. It was full of papers. He tried the other one – more papers but wait, there was a black object sitting on top of them.

It was a sort of helmet. It had a thick plastic band with thin straps criss-crossing on the top. Alex turned it over. The straps had tubes which connected to wires on the bands. There was also on each side, a tube that was about two inches long, that didn’t seem to connect to anything.

‘Luke, I think I found it’ he said holding up the device. He looked back into the drawer at the papers. They were psychiatric reports – on him. ‘Oh, I’ve definitely found it.’

The boys’ left the room and returned to Sarah Jane and Gwen, who had finally stopped arguing. ‘We’ve got it – let’s go!’ yelled Alex brandishing the odd looking device.

9. The FOB Watch

Sarah Jane’s attic had never looked so crowded. She thought she may as well be entertaining guests at a dinner party although these were some interesting guests, indeed.

On one side of the room there were four Torchwood agents including Gwen and the immortal Captain Jack Harkness, whom she had met previously. They were all bearing enormous futuristic arms with smaller side arms in their holsters. Standing next to her son Luke was Alex and his mother Susan; granddaughter of the Doctor. And to top off the strangeness was her robotic dog K-9.

‘Right, only Alex and I have time vortex manipulators so the rest of you pick one of us to hold onto tight to’ instructed Jack setting his teleporter.

The Torchwood agents predictably held onto Jack while Susan held onto her son and Luke, also holding K-9 held onto his new friend’s shoulder.

‘Alright, on my count of three’ said Jack, ‘1 – 2 – 3 –GO!’ he yelled, disappearing along with everyone else, apart from Sarah Jane, into blue light.

They materialised into the same room Alex had left which now had a massive hole burnt into the wall. Their arrival had not gone unnoticed for the Dalek’s that had attempted to exterminate Alex were now on high alert and had spotted him, and to make matters worse the Dalek’s in the next room could clearly see them through the hole.

Screams of ‘exterminate’ rang out from both sides as an innumerable amount of energy beams fired at them filling the room with streaks of light, similar to a high powered laser security system.

The Torchwood team returned fire releasing an explosive burst of energy from their alien-looking weapons.

‘Oh yeah, anti-polycarbide bazooka!’ shouted Jack hungrily. ‘The finest defence against a Dalek.’

As the room was being destroyed by missed shots on both sides the weapon-less companions were finding it difficult to stay out of harm’s way.

‘We need to get out of here!’ shouted Luke holding onto K-9 tightly.

Alex nodded fervently. ‘Right, well we need to find the door.’ But just after he said that there was a deafening explosion which left an enormous hole in the wall. ‘That saves some time’ remarked Alex, rushing for the spot that was still on fire but he managed the jump through the hole.

He waited for Luke who had to hand him K-9 so he could jump through next.

‘Master Luke is all this fussing over me really necessary?’ asked the robotic dog.

‘Yes’ he panted, ‘we can’t risk you getting injured. We’ve got to save the Doctor and anyway mum would kill me and never forgive Torchwood ever.’

Alex waited by the hole in the wall anxiously. ‘Something’s not right.’

‘What is it?’ asked Luke.

‘My mum’s not through!’ he cried. ‘Mum, just jump through!’ he yelled into the hole. ‘Oh this is no good. I’ll have to go back in and get her.’

‘Just be careful’ said Luke.

‘You sound like Sarah Jane’ replied Alex smiling for a few seconds then returning to his usual expression.

He jumped back through. Susan was where he had left her by another upright column but this one was blasted apart so much that only one side of stone remained, and it wasn’t going to hold for long. Alex could see what was inside the column now; a circuit board with something glowing inside it. He shook his head to stop thinking about it. Now was not the time for curiosity.

Alex held out his hand. ‘Mum, take my hand. I‘ll get you out of here’ he said.

‘Why did you even bring me here?!’ she cried. ‘What are those awful things?’

‘They’re Dalek’s!’ he replied, now raising his voice because of the sheer increase in noise of the explosions, which were happening all too frequently now. ‘I know this doesn’t make sense to you but when we get to the Doctor I promise it will!’

‘What can he do?!’ she cried.

‘Oh, you’ll be surprised! Now come on – that column won’t hold for much longer!’

Susan reluctantly took her son by the hand and left her hiding spot, leaving them vulnerable to attack for a split second. But Alex pulled her through the hole where Luke was waiting for them.

‘See, much safer here’ he panted.

‘Negative’ responded K-9. Alex looked gravely at him. ‘A Dalek is approaching from north-west.’

‘OK, so let’s go this way’ suggested Alex heading down the corridor, but as he did he almost collided with a Dalek moving towards him.

The Dalek stopped and considered him for a moment. ‘RUN!’ bellowed Alex, quickly turning around and running back up the corridor. Luke and Susan were running in front of him. Alex got a sudden idea and without slowly down took out the laser screwdriver out of his pocket and despite what the Master said about him not being able to use it, skidded to a halt and pressed the laser. It emitted a long straight line of yellow energy hitting the wall not even an inch away from the Dalek. OK, so he missed but at least it worked.

‘Master Luke, if you put me down you could run much faster’ informed K-9.

‘Not risking it’ panted Luke between breaths.

‘I have my own weapons system too. I could slow down that Dalek.’

‘Good idea’ said Luke, gently setting K-9 down. The robotic dog zoomed around energetically before speeding down to Alex and firing off a string of laser shots.

‘Run friend of Luke’ barked K-9. Alex obeyed and sprinted up the corridor.

He caught up to Luke and his mother. ‘Ok, once we lose the Dalek we have to work out which room the Doctor is being held in’ he panted.

He heard the sound of K-9 zooming towards them. ‘The Dalek is now blind. I successfully damaged its optical capacity’ informed K-9 with a happy wag of his tail.

‘Good work boy’ said Luke leaning down to the dog. ‘Listen, we have to find the Doctor. Can you do a scan for him?’

‘Affirmative, Master Luke. I have the biological code of the Doctor-Master stored in my data bank. Now scanning for the Doctor-Master – success – follow me’ he said speeding forward. The two boys’ and Susan followed him closely behind, sometimes running to keep up with him.

K-9 zipped and zoomed forwards, turned left, then forwards again, then right and then down before finally stopping in front of a large door.

‘We are here. Door is locked’ he informed quickly.

Alex let out an exasperated sigh. ‘You should have asked your mum for her sonic lipstick’ he said.

‘You should have mentioned it sooner’ replied Luke, ‘not that she’d have let you.’

K-9 was busy scanning the lock on the door with an antenna that protruded from his head. ‘Door is open’ he said.

The doors parted from the middle and slid back revealing a very peculiar sight in front of them. There were rows of large black boxes that seemed to stretch on forever. They were all spaced out evenly leaving a clear path between them. There could have been hundreds or thousands of them. The room was about as large as an amphitheatre.

They entered the room cautiously as the door behind them slid shut with a snap.

Alex approached one of the boxes and tapped it. ‘It’s some sort of metal’ he said.

‘Dalekanium’ replied K-9.

‘That’s what Dalek’s are made out of, right?’ asked Alex.

‘The shell part at least’ informed the dog.

‘There must be hundreds of cells here’ said Alex. ‘How are we going to know which one he’s in?’

Luke put his head down in thought then he saw it. ‘There’s a computer over there!’ he exclaimed pointing to a large machine with a wide screen. He and Alex rushed over to it.

The computer looked similar to an ATM machine except the screen was on an angle and below it was circular device with two sets of strange characters printed around it, similar to a combination lock on a safe. On the monitor was a diagram of those black boxes; dozens of them in rows and columns, with more of those strange characters from the combination lock inside each box, and outside of them vertically on one side and horizontally below the last set of boxes.

‘It’s like some sort of chart’ said Luke. ‘Those characters would have to be letters from the Dalek alphabet and on that side’ he pointed to the characters extending vertically, ‘could be numbers.’

‘What are those red dots?’ asked Susan. Luke gave her a quizzical look then turned back to the screen. Sure enough there were two dots inside individual black boxes left of centre in the chart.

‘That’s got to be the Master and the Doctor’ said Alex. But then he turned around to look at the actual boxes. ‘There’s got to be hundreds in here – how will we know which two are just shy of the middle?’ He turned back to look at Luke.

‘If it’s like any chart I’ve ever seen then it will start from 0 to 1 and go up both vertically and horizontally’ explained Luke. ‘See this character here must be 1 and on the keypad it’s the first character up the top, and the next one is exactly the same one that’s next on the graph.’

‘But those characters inside are different so they can’t be numbers’ argued Alex.

‘You’re right, they’re not numbers but letters’ replied Luke, ‘and they all repeat in the same order in the next row.’

‘But hold up’ protested Alex, ‘charts can round off to the nearest 5, 10, 1000 and not all alphabets have the same amount of letters. And this is an alien system – it can’t be this easy!’

‘You call that easy?’ asked Susan incredulously.

‘You are both correct and incorrect’ informed K-9. They both looked at him with puzzled expressions. ‘The system does start from 0 to 1 but young Master Alex is correct when he says they can be rounded off. The number after 0 goes up by ten and keeps going up, but to complicate matters further it is also squared.’

‘So that means the Doctor is in cell D4 2500’ informed Luke.

‘Affirmative’ responded K-9.

‘OK, so now we’ve got to try and memorise that number in Dalek numerals’ said Alex nervously.

‘I’ll remember it’ replied Luke.

‘How can you memorise it so quickly?’

‘I can remember everything I see’ said Luke irritably. ‘I don’t know how but it was just the way I was made. It’s a long story.’

‘It’s ok. I thought I was created with by the Master so I understand.’

‘I was created by an alien race called the Bane in an attempt to take over the Earth. I have the minds of twenty thousand people’ explained Luke.

‘So, you’re still human?’

‘Yes.’

‘Well, at least that makes one of us’ replied Alex then added, ‘come on, let’s find this cell.’

They entered the maze of prison cells walking in between cell C and D, although the actual characters on the cell doors looked like a lot like the windings font.

‘What row are we up to now?’ he asked impatiently.

‘That cell there is C3 900’ replied Luke pointing to it.

‘Right, and we have to find D4 2500’ replied Alex, ‘shouldn’t take us too long.’

The Doctor leant against the wall of his cell with his arms folded. He lifted his head up when he heard the sound of someone approaching. It wasn’t the sound of feet walking against the cold metal floor but a sound of something moving forwards being driven by a motor, like a remote controlled car, or maybe something being driven forward by energy.

‘Master, do you hear that?’ he asked.

The Master looked up slowly as if unconcerned, but then his expression changed to one of fear. ‘Are they coming back for us?’

‘Shh’ said the Doctor, straining to take a look outside. He waited quietly with his hearts pounding, unable to think of what to do next. The noise was coming from straight ahead. But the Doctor could only see a blue blur approaching. As it got closer it formed the shape of his old friend.

‘It’s K-9!’ he exclaimed excitedly. The Master let out a groan. ‘Now Master, show some gratitude.’

K-9 extended his antenna into the security lock. ‘Scanning and uploading Dalek biological code – success. Now overriding the system – success!’ chirped the dog as the prison door the Doctor was behind slid open.

The Doctor stepped out of his cell and looked at each of his rescuers, and then quite surprisingly to her he approached Susan and embraced her into an enormous bear hug.

‘Susan, I’ve missed you so much!’ he exclaimed, rather a bit over emotionally she thought.

‘Well OK, but it hasn’t been that long’ she replied.

He let go of her. ‘It feels like a long time to me’ he said smiling and then, ‘oh right, chameleon arch – never mind’ he said quickly then turned to the boys’. ‘Great job, Alex and Luke’ and then yelled excitedly, ‘and K-9!’

He knelt down and patted the robotic dog on the head then got to his feet again. ‘How are you Luke? I don’t think I’ve seen you in a while.’

‘I’m great, Doctor. I know about ¾ of the Dalek alphabet now and I’m getting the hang of the numerical system’ replied Luke.

‘That is amazing. Well done, Luke’ he replied and then turned to Alex, turning his nose up at him and giving him the usual stern look. Then he smiled and embraced him in a warm hug.

‘Alex, you infuriate me but I guess that’s to be expected because, after all, you are my great grandson.’

‘I’m sorry, Doctor. I know I’ve disappointed you.’

‘Forget about it’ replied the Doctor.

‘You’re just going to leave me in here?’ asked a voice quietly. Alex turned and slowly approached, trance-like, the cell the Master was still locked inside. ‘Hi Alex, we’re still on the same side, right?’

The Doctor gently put a hand on Alex’s arm. ‘Move away from there. It’s ok, it’s to help him’ he informed him and then addressed him robotic dog. ‘K-9 open up the Master’s cell’ he instructed.

Everyone went quiet and looked at the Doctor as if he was mad. ‘Does Master-Doctor wish me to release his greatest enemy the Master?’ asked K-9. Anyone who just walked in the room wouldn’t know what he was talking about.

‘Oh, believe me I would rather leave him to rot’ replied the Doctor turning to glare in the Master’s direction, ‘but I need him right now.’

K-9 made mechanical noises as he moved a few paces to the next cell. The door slid open freeing the Master. He stayed still for a moment in surprise then stepped slowly out.

‘Harry, it’s you!’ shouted Susan. There were confused faces all round as she embraced the Master into a long passionate kiss.

‘Er, mum…’ stammered Alex.

The Master at first was surprised but didn’t pull the mad woman out of it; instead he returned the kiss with an even more passionate one.

‘Right stop that!’ ordered the Doctor taking Susan by the arm and pulling her away from him.

‘Sorry, it’s been awhile since I’ve kissed anyone’ admitted the Master, and then seeing Alex’s expression turned to him. ‘How are you Alex?’ The boy just stared back at him mortified.

‘Stop that – I want to see him’ protested Susan in the Doctor’s grip. ‘What is he doing here, anyway? How do you know my husband?’

‘That is not your husband. He tricked you into making yourself human and continued to trick you by giving you false memories. Susan he is our enemy.’

Susan looked up at the Doctor unconvinced. ‘What on Earth are you talking about?’

‘Master, give me the FOB watch!’ demanded the Doctor holding out his palm. The Master rolled his eyes like a rebellious child. ‘You’ve had your fun but it ends now – FOB WATCH – NOW –GIVE IT TO ME!’

‘Oh alright, you don’t have to yell’ sighed the Master reaching a hand into the breast pocket of his jacket and extracting a golden pocket watch. Alex gazed at it intently as if in a trance.

The Doctor unapologetically snatched it from the Master’s hand and handed it to Susan. ‘Open it’ he said.’

The watch was whispering indecipherable words to Susan. She opened it releasing a golden light that shone into her face and then disappeared. ‘Oh grandfather, I remember now. I remember it all.’

‘So, it’s all true mum?’ asked Alex.

‘It’s all true’ she replied happily, and then turned to look at the Master. ‘You’re Dr. Heigel’—

‘Actually, it’s the Master’ corrected the Doctor and with that Susan quickly walked up to him and slapped him across the face.

The Master put a hand on the spot. ‘I’ve been kissed and slapped by your granddaughter in one day. Must be my lucky day.’

‘One more word out of you and I’ll put you back in that cell’ warned the Doctor pointing a finger in his face. The Master mouthed a silent ‘OK I’ll be good’ response.

‘We’ve got an idea about how to stop the Dalek’s’ said Alex.

‘Let’s hear it then.’

‘We’re going to try to control the Dalek’s with this’ replied Alex holding up the helmet-like device.

‘You little thieves!’ spat the Master.

‘Quiet you’ replied the Doctor, ‘alright then, let’s take a look at it’ he said holding out a hand, with another hand pulling out black framed glasses that he put on. ‘Ah yes I see, a very simple designed device – not terribly imaginative I might add. It looks to be like it’s a telekinetic manipulator using the vestibular system’ he concluded.

‘You only know that because I told you’ replied the Master sourly.

‘Hey, I’m trying to impress the boys’ here’ he said faking a hurt look. ‘Now, we’ve got the mind control device all that’s left is to find the Xyloc. I mean that’s what you’re planning to use it on, right?’

‘Yeah, we already worked that part out’ replied Alex.

‘Actually, Alex can take full credit for it’ said Luke.

‘Well, without Luke’s magnificent brain we wouldn’t have been able to find the right cells fast enough’ added Alex.

‘It’s good to see you two are working together’ replied the Doctor smiling. ‘Right, let’s get out of here’ he said walking forward and then. ‘Oh, I didn’t realise there were so many cells.’

‘121 cells to be exact’ informed K-9, ‘follow me to the exit.’ He zoomed in the opposite direction the Doctor had walked.

As they were all passing the cells and heading towards the exit the Master took this opportunity to slip into another path in an attempt to get away.

‘Stop him!’ shouted the Doctor.

‘Right away Master-Doctor’ responded K-9, zooming towards the Master and firing lasers in his direction. The Doctor caught up to him and grabbed hold of him. ‘Try that again and the next shot will be aimed at your head, grr’ threatened K-9 but the growl came out as more of a ‘gar-rah-ah.’

10. Saved By the Drums

Now that the Master was contained and being urged to walk forward from threats from K-9 the party managed to slip back into the corridor without running into any Dalek’s. They checked every door that would open and relied on K-9 to pick up any activity from the Xyloc.

Eventually K-9 erected his ears and zoomed forward excitedly making the party quicken their pace to keep up. ‘I am picking up some very powerful alien activity’ he informed.

He finally came to a stop at the door. ‘The Xyloc is inside this room with approximately seventeen Dalek’s.’

‘Thanks for the warning’ replied the Doctor, tapping his earcomm. ‘Come in, Jack – we’ve found the Xyloc as well as a lot of Dalek’s.’

‘Copy that, Doctor. I’m kind of in the middle of battle here’ replied Jack.

‘Wait, I can hear them’ said Luke. ‘They’re inside the room with the Xyloc.’

‘I think we’ll be seeing you soon, Jack’ replied the Doctor tapping his earcomm again and taking it off.

The door slid open revealing the battle ground inside. The laser show from the last room the boys’ and Susan had been in was back along with the booming explosions from the Torchwood bazookas. There were some Dalek’s that had been shattered to pieces. The slimy creature inside was struggling to lift a piece of shrapnel off of it.

The party stayed close to the wall as far away from the battle as they could get. Machinery had been hit by energy beams and bomb blasts but it still provided a safe place to hide.

‘I wonder if there is anything left of that Xyloc’ said Alex looking at the state of things.

K-9 zoomed in front of them and quite surprisingly went unnoticed by the Dalek’s. He rounded a corner which led down a wide corridor into another room with possibly the most peculiar looking computer Alex had ever seen.

It was a made out of a shiny black metal, like everything else in the spaceship, but both the monitor and hard drive were shaped like two halves of a sphere. The monitor took up approximately three feet in height and twice as much in length, but there was no keyboard and mouse; there was a keypad on the bottom of the monitor and more buttons on either side.

Directly underneath the monitor a crystal could be seen with the top half connected to the monitor and the bottom half into the hard drive. There was no need for long cables for the monitor connected directly into the hard drive. The top half of the hard drive was curved with the bottom part flat. There were no power buttons on it but it could be seen that the power was on from the green glow it cast onto the floor.

The Dalek’s or Torchwood agents were nowhere to be seen but the room had no doors which left the party feeling exposed and vulnerable.

‘Right, let’s do this quickly’ instructed the Doctor. Alex nodded and put the device on his head.

Nothing happened.

‘Maybe there’s a switch on it you have to turn on’ suggested Luke.

Alex took off the device and turned it over. There was nothing that looked even remotely like a switch on it.

‘Let me have a look at it’ said the Doctor putting his glasses on again and pointing his sonic screwdriver on it. ‘It needs an energy charge to power it up but the sonic isn’t enough.’

The Master rolled his eyes. ‘Doesn’t anyone listen to me? Isomorphic controls – remember?’

‘Oh right, only you can turn it on.’

‘Only I can turn it on with a laser screwdriver’ corrected the Master. ‘Where is it, by the way?’

Alex removed it from his pocket and the Master snatched it off him greedily. He pointed it in a hole in the middle of the device which made it hum to life with blinking lights. He then untucked the strange tubes at the side and something that looked like a belt buckle, lifted it onto Alex’s head, inserted the tubes into his ears and buckled the strap underneath Alex’s chin.

The device started to contract and by contorted look on Alex’s face it was not a pleasant experience. The tubes even pushed further into his ears. ‘Argh, it stings!’ he cried.

The Xyloc computer started speaking. ‘I’m picking up an infrared device; installing software for it now.’

‘Where’s the software coming from?’ asked Luke.

‘It’s built into the telekinetic manipulator’ informed the Master.

‘Software installed; launching now’ said the Xyloc.

‘It seems kind of obedient’ said Alex.

‘It’s called mind control for a reason’ replied the Master impatiently.

When the program launched it took up the whole screen. The back ground was egg-white with a header in dark crimson letters read ‘Landberg Neuropsychology Brainwave Reader’ with a logo of three circles overlapping each other.

The program options were separated into tables coloured in a faded red colour that darkened if there was a table within that table and so on.

On the top was a java program that displayed brainwave frequency lines, which was already showing Alex’s brainwave patterns. Below that was a bar graph switching between the colours orange and yellow but keeping orange the longest. Going even further below that was a box that looked similar to MS DOS that was used to launch programs on early 90s Windows operating systems. Alex could only guess it was the area the Master could do his programming. Lastly, in a box on the top corner on the left side were the words ‘HOST’ and SUBJECTS’ in yellow.

The Doctor studied the strange keypad system. The circle was on a rod that could be twisted in all directions and he put his head down upon realising that it too could only be accessible by the sucker arm of a Dalek.

‘K-9 I might need you override this system’ he instructed eyeing the device suspiciously.

‘Right away Master-Doctor’ replied the dog extending his long antennae with its own mini-sucker on the end of it onto the circular keypad. ‘Extracting security protocols and overriding the system – success. The device can now be used by all species.’

‘Great work, K-9’ said the Doctor. ‘Now time to work out how to use this device.’ He placed a hand over the circular part of the lever and pushed upwards making a mouse pointer flick upwards, and then he tried down and side-to-side to get used to the control. Then he twisted the circular device to test how to create letters with it. ‘Oh, this is going to be very time consuming’ he muttered.’

‘If you need any help I did invent this program’ said the Master.

‘That’s the last thing I need’ he muttered. ‘K-9 I think we’re ready for you.’

‘Uploading Dalek biological data now, Master-Doctor’ replied the dog eagerly.

When that was done a window appeared with the options for ‘HOST’ or SUBJECT’. The Doctor moved the circle lever up to get to pointer to select ‘SUBJECT’. Another window popped up to confirm the request, which the Doctor impatiently agreed to and then the window disappeared to be replaced by another reading ‘new subject added.’

After that nothing much seemed to happen. The Doctor launched into programming mode, impatiently turning the circular device which only selected one letter or number during one full revolution.

Still nothing happened.

‘Maybe the signal is not strong enough’ suggested Luke. ‘When the Slitheen used a MITRE on me – that’s a device that helps people use psychic energy to move objects – they really boosted the power up. I actually overpowered the machine and fought my way out of there. I have the psychic energy of 20,000 people’ he added turning to Alex.

‘That’s brilliant, Luke’ he replied. ‘It just needs some sonic’ he said pointing the sonic screwdriver at Alex’s head.

The power bar turned from orange to yellow, but didn’t stop there – it skipped through all the visible spectrum colours eventually changing to violet permanently. The frequency of his brains waves spiked with so much intensity it was hard to see where one wavelength stopped and another began.

Alex began to shake violently as electric strikes erupted from the computer with such speed that the whole room was filled with blinding light.

The Doctor pointed his screwdriver back and forth between Alex and the computer but nothing seemed to happen.

‘You’re just making it worse!’ yelled the Master over the electrical explosions.

‘Master, put him right!’ he yelled back anxiously.

‘I don’t know what to do – I swear!’ The Master had a grave look in his eyes.

‘Grandfather, it’s killing him!’ yelled Susan with tears in her eyes. She made an attempt to hold him but the Doctor pushed her back.

‘Leave him!’ he shouted. ‘I’m sorry, but that won’t make it any better!’

Alex continued to shake violently. Luke approached him and spoke into his ear. ‘Fight it! Don’t let it consume you. I know you can do it.’

Alex continued to shake violently as though having an epileptic seizure on fast forward. All he could see was light and the blurry faces of the Doctor, his mother and Luke. Their voices sounded muffled until he couldn’t hear them at all, their faces blurring into a red light. Then he realised what was happening. He was inside the computer with the Xyloc.

‘Intruder’ the voice seethed. He couldn’t hear it but thought it. The Xyloc was in his head.

‘I’m here to save you from the Dalek’s’ he responded in his head.

‘You think you; a stunted half form of the most primitive race is any match against the Dalek’s?’ it laughed.

‘No, I am nothing – that’s why I need you, Xyloc’ pleaded Alex.

The Xyloc laughed a cold high-pitched laugh. It sent shivers up Alex’s spine despite the fact that the rest of him was burning.

Meanwhile, the Doctor had his head in his hands; the Master looked frightened; Susan was weeping but keeping a close distance from her son; and Luke stared hopefully at his new friend.

Jack ran into the room. ‘Doctor, what the hell is going on? The Dalek’s are all being’ – he stopped when he noticed the Master was standing only a few paces away from him, standing unbound and unarmed, and then noticed Alex shaking next to the computer.

‘You’ve got to stop it!’ he cried desperately at the Doctor.

‘I can’t, Jack! I’ve tried everything!’

‘He did this to him!’ bellowed Jack pointing an accusing finger at the Master and went to attack him but was held back by the Doctor.

‘What good is it going to do?!’ he yelled.

Jack looked desperately at the Master. ‘If you care about that boy at all – stop this now!’ He looked close to tears. ‘I lost my grandson the same way – I don’t want it to happen again!’

The Master gave Jack a defiant nod and approached the boy he had pretended to be the father of, who was still shaking uncontrollably and unbeknownst to him; still pleading with the Xlyoc.

Susan made an attempt to stop him but the Doctor pulled her back and instructed her to allow the Master to do whatever he needed to do. The fact is that the Master didn’t know if his plan would work or if he’d get sucked into the world Alex was in.

He slowly lifted his arms to touch Alex’s temple and he shut his eyes. As he did this his own body started to jerk back but he held firm for a few minutes before he backed away holding his head in agony.

The light was extinguished. The sounds of electrical explosions came to a halt. Alex had fallen to his knees. He raised his head and opened his eyes and swallowed as if holding back trying to be ill.

‘Alex, you’re alright!’ gasped Susan joining him on the floor to hug him.

‘I just need a few minutes’ he replied weakly.

‘As do I’ replied the Master, looking much better but still holding onto his head. ‘We’ve been inside the Xyloc’s mind, but he heard the drums and was frightened away by them.’

The Doctor gave him an incredulously look. ‘Why would a Xyloc be afraid of the imaginary sound in your head?’

‘It just said ‘it’s them’ and released us both’ replied the Master.

‘Xyloc’s are scared of the sound of drums?’ said the Doctor thoughtfully. ‘Luke, just make sure you never take up the drums or if you do – don’t practice in the attic.’

‘You’ve got my word, Doctor’ replied Luke with a laugh.

11. The Dalek Leader

Jack put a finger to his earcomm and listened to the voice speaking on it attentively. ‘What do you mean you’re not sure if you should continue to attack the Dalek’s?’ he asked and looking up revealed, ‘it’s Gwen.’

‘Aha, ahah’ he replied, and then taking a finger away from the communicator gave the doctor of puzzled look. ‘She says the Dalek’s have just stopped.’

The Doctor, along with the rest of the party following closely behind him, ran back into the room that had once been crossed between a battlefield and spectacular light show. They skidded to a halt after noticing that all the Dalek’s that had once being zooming and spinning while firing a succession of energy beams, were now stationary.

The Doctor dipped his head low and waved a hand in front of one of them to check if they were still active. It moved its eye socket up and down at him but did nothing else.

Alex was one of the last to enter the room. A Dalek zoomed towards him and said, ‘or-ders?’

‘Um, sorry what?’ asked Alex startled.

‘What-are-my-or-ders?’ it asked in a much higher voice. ‘I-am-your-sol-dier. I-need-in-struc-tion!’

‘Oh, right’ replied Alex getting over the initial shock of being spoken to by a Dalek without being insulted or threatened. The plan must have worked.

The Doctor whispered into his ear. ‘Abort the mission’ said Alex, after hearing it spoken into his ear.

The Dalek raised his eyestalk higher at Alex as if confused by the sudden change in the plan. ‘Am-I-to-un-der-stand-that-you-wish-the-Da-lek’s-to-ab-ort-the-in-vas-ion-of-Earth? We-are-so-close-mas-ter-I-can-al-most-taste-the-vic-tor-y.’

‘I am your leader’ replied Alex flatly, ‘you are to follow my instructions without question!’ He gave the Dalek an ice-cold stare.

‘Oh, he’s good’ remarked the Master. ‘He must have learnt that from me.’

‘Alex, try not to get too carried away’ instructed the Doctor.

Alex looked at the Doctor and nodded. ‘What I mean is that we have to abort because the humans are planning to launch hundreds of nuclear warheads in our direction from every continent on Earth.’

‘Da-lek’s-are-not-co-wards’ said the Dalek.

‘I know that but let’s prove to the humans that you’re also not stupid. We need to retreat and come up with a new battle plan’ explained Alex.

‘Yes’ the Dalek finally said mulling over this new information, ‘we-will-re-treat.’ It drove away from him and barked orders at the other Dalek’s. ‘Ab-ort-the-in-vas-ion-of-Earth!’ it said and was greeted by an echo of ‘ab-ort-ing-in-vas-ion’ from the other Dalek’s as they moved towards their work stations.

Alex could have collapsed on the ground he was so relieved.  ‘It worked’ he said as the Doctor put a hand on his shoulder.

‘That was brilliant, Alex. Quick thinking about those nuclear warheads too.’

The view to those standing outside on Earth saw a thin black disk move away, turning into a faint shadow before disappearing completely.

‘So, do we teleport back now?’ asked Jack.

‘We really shouldn’t leave the Dalek’s like this though’ replied the Doctor. He proceeded to share his thoughts out loud. ‘I’m going to have to disable to program somehow. Alex, let’s go back to the computer to break the mind control.’

‘But if it’s broken won’t the Dalek’s try to kill us gain?’ he asked.

‘Yes, there is that but if we’re fast enough we can teleport back to Earth before they’ve even noticed what’s happened.’

The Doctor and Alex ran back into the computer room with Luke, Susan and Jack following. The Torchwood agents were still trying to get their heads around the situation. As a distraction Gwen pointed her gun at the Master’s head.

He put his hands up in surrender. ‘Oh, typical human –always responding with violence even after a victory’ he remarked.

‘All of this happened because of you’ she replied angrily and positioned her gun at his chest.

The Master let out a quiet chuckle. ‘You’ll find that’s not going to do very much. I’m a Time Lord, remember. Oh, and there’s also this.’

‘What?’

He just grinned at her, a mysterious evil grin. Suddenly a Dalek came towards them and moved in front of the Master.

Gwen backed away in surprise. ‘How did you do that?’

‘You are all so stupid, aren’t you?’ He lifted his head back with a mocked impatient facial expression, snapped it quickly forward and looked Gwen straight in the eye with an urgency to share his secret.

‘I am the inventor of the telekinetic manipulator’ he explained while moving forward. The Dalek moved away automatically from in front of him and Gwen continued to step back. ‘The whole software runs on my own psychic energy and because I communicated with Alex while he was in the Xyloc’s mind our brain waves are running at the same frequency.’ He stopped as if to reflect. ‘Oh, another thing – the Xyloc is scared of me because of the drums in my head.’ He tapped his fingers to his temple like a madman. Gwen froze with fear. Her team looked at her nervously unsure of what to do.

The Master walked into the middle of the room. ‘I suppose this means that’ he paused then raised his arms and bellowed, ‘I AM THE MASTER OF THE DALEK’S!’

The Doctor snapped his head away from the computer. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He left the computer, still with the mind control software on it, and ran into main control room.

He got there just in time as the Dalek’s had surrounded the Torchwood agents. ‘Incinerate their weapons’ instructed the Master.

Jack belted forward in front of the Doctor and lunged at the Master, who uttered a bored ‘exterminate’ and the Captain took three energy beams to the chest.

The Master smiled at the temporarily dead body of the Captain triumphantly. He then looked up at first to the Doctor impassively then back to the Dalek’s. ‘Now, commence with the invasion of Earth’ he ordered.

Jack breathed in a sudden breath of oxygen as he came back to life. The Dalek’s drove passed him paying little if any attention to him. They took their positions at their work stations again and piloted the spaceship with the strange but simple looking controls.

The spaceship that had disappeared from the Northern Hemisphere skies had reappeared once more closer than before. It was best viewed from London hovering over the Thames. The onlookers took out their cameras to capture the floating black disc in the sky.

The Master gazed at the display screen in the spaceship. ‘Hmm, the Doctor’s in here along with Torchwood, so who’s going to save the Earth now?’ he asked turning to face the Doctor.

‘My mum will’ said Luke. ‘She always has.’

The Master approached him suddenly making him swallow nervously. ‘You mean Sarah Jane Smith?’ he said contorting his face into mock surprise and biting his bottom lip. ‘Well if she does try anything I’ll incinerate that mutt of hers’ he threatened then paused before adding, ‘and that dog of hers too.’ He pointed his laser screwdriver at Luke and grinned.

‘Master, leave him alone’ warned the Doctor.

The Master looked away from Luke and pushed him to the side as if he was a child losing interest in a toy because he was getting excited about playing with a much more exciting toy – the Doctor. He pointed his laser at him as he approached him. ‘What do you think? The Dalek’s under my complete control – A Time Lord. This is the ultimate payback.’

‘Master, you’ve got to stop this’ instructed the Doctor trying to keep his voice calm.

‘But they tricked me!’ he protested. ‘They deserve this! Not just for what they did to me but for what they did to our people in the Great Time War!’

‘This isn’t the way! Just order them to stop the invasion of Earth and let me destroy the telekinetic manipulator’ pleaded the Doctor.

‘I have worked so hard for this’ replied the Master, ‘you have no idea.’

‘Yes I do’ replied the Doctor thoughtfully. ‘You created a race to live on a planet that no one in the universe even knew about for hundreds of years. It was brilliant – even your lies were brilliant. Master, just stop trying to take over the world and use that brilliance for good.’

‘What am I supposed to do?’ asked the Master seriously, ‘My home world is gone. I’ve got nothing left.’

‘We can rebuild it. I’ve done it before. Just join me in the TARDIS and put a stop to all of this.’

The Master seemed to ponder on this thought for awhile then finally answered the Doctor. ‘You you know what I really want to do, Doctor?’

‘What?’

‘I want the Dalek’s to open fire on the streets below!’ he exclaimed playfully. He gave mocking pout to the Doctor. ‘Did you really think I was falling for your little trick?’

The Dalek’s started to fire haphazardly at London town below. The onlookers that had taken out their slim cameras or mobile phones were electrocuted and landed with a crash onto the ground, their cameras and phones lying beside them.

People were running through the streets trying to find shelter. Others were hiding in their cars in hope that they would be protected inside them. But as one family witnessed a car being struck by an energy beam erupted into flames, they jumped out of their own seconds before it too met the same fate.

The best protection the Londoners could find was inside building or below ground. Many people climbed down the sewers. Others had clambered down the steps to the Tube station. Hundreds of them packed the subway so tightly that people on the edge of the platforms were yelling at people behind them for trying to knock them onto the tracks.

Meanwhile at 13 Bannerman Road in Ealing, Sarah Jane Smith could hear the faint blast of lasers from the Dalek spaceship as Mr. Smith reported the situation in London.

‘Metropolitan London is in under attack’ he explained in his polite accent. ‘People have been desperately trying to evacuate the city. There have been a countless number of car crashes, home invasions and some have even taken the opportunity to begin loitering in the shops.’

Sarah Jane rolled her eyes at the last part. ‘Some people continue to amaze me’ she said. ‘Is there any sign of UNIT?’

‘A convoy of UNIT trucks is heading towards the site’ responded Mr. Smith.

‘Well, that offers us some hope’ she said. ‘Are you still unable to communicate with the Xyloc?’

‘The Xyloc is scared’ answered Mr. Smith.

‘Scared about what?’

‘The signal – they are coming, it said.’

‘What does that mean?’

‘Insufficient data’ admitted Mr. Smith. ‘Oh, but much worse is happening onboard the spaceship’ he revealed.

‘Tell me, Mr. Smith’ replied Sarah Jane, preparing herself for any bad news.

‘The Xyloc has told me that the Dalek’s are under the control of the signal.’

‘You mean the mind control? Well, that’s Alex, isn’t it?’

‘I’m afraid not, Sarah Jane. It is the DNA code of another; the creator of the telekinetic manipulator, who has created a signal in the program making him have absolute control over all who use it.’

‘The Master’ gasped Sarah Jane. ‘Oh my, Luke is on that spaceship with him – and K-9 – the Doctor’ –

‘And Torchwood too’ concluded Mr. Smith. ‘The Master has control of 10,000 Dalek’s – he is unstoppable. This could mean the end Sarah Jane.’

‘Surely we can stop it. It’s just one Dalek spaceship after all.’

‘You misunderstood me’ replied Mr. Smith, ‘I was not referring to the destruction of Earth.’

‘You mean the destruction of the Doctor?’

‘That is correct. If UNIT are successful in destroying the spaceship it would mean the end of the Doctor.’

12. The Temptation of the Doctor

‘Oh, what a sight to behold’ said the Master revelling at the chaos on Earth displayed on the control room monitor. ‘Soon the human race will be destroyed and I will keep the Dalek’s as my slaves and I will rebuild Gallifrey on Earth.’

‘You’re insane’ seethed the Doctor.

‘I will bring back the Time Lord’s’ –

‘How are you going to do that? They’re all dead!’

‘Ever heard of a progenitor? Well, I’ve got a dupligenitor hidden away. It reproduces your DNA in seconds and creates an exact copy of you. I tried it out on Alex.’

‘It’s not the same! Time Lord’s share a history – they share a knowledge!’ shouted the Doctor.

‘Well it will have to do since you made them all burn!’ spat the Master, spacing out every word as he spoke. ‘It’s not like you have a choice in this operation, anyway. You, Doctor, shall be the first to take part in the progeneration.’

‘But these clones can’t regenerate, can they?’ challenged the Doctor cleverly. ‘Alex’s clone couldn’t regenerate.’

‘It didn’t know how. Alex didn’t even know what it meant at the time’ corrected the Master, though he wasn’t very convinced of his own words. But he enjoyed seeing the Doctor squirm and he cast his eye at his prisoners until finally landing them onto his old but young partner in crime.

‘Alex, you can join me over here’ he decided holding out his hand. Alex without hesitation walked over to him. The Master grinned and let out a quiet chuckle when Susan tried to stop her son, but Alex, paid her no heed and continued to walk forward until his was in front of the Master.

To further infuriate her and the Doctor he messed up the boy’s hair playfully. ‘My loyal son’ he said.

‘He’s not your son’ snapped Susan. ‘His father is ten times the man you’ll ever be.’

The Master looked up at her. ‘Well he is ten times the human I ever want to be’ he retorted. Then added a sardonic ‘or was.’

‘How come he’s doing that?’ asked the Doctor. ‘I thought you said the mind control was failing.’

‘It was but thanks to you and your desire to sonic every electronic piece of equipment you see, no matter how dangerous – the signal is stronger’ explained the Master. ‘Not only that but when I saved Alex from the Xyloc I took some of that energy so our brainwaves are at the same frequency. It’s just one constructive wave after another, and thanks to the Xyloc being frightened of me I was able to take some of its psychic energy. I’m like a psychic God!’

The Doctor looked horrified. ‘You took some of the Xyloc’s powers?’

‘Yes, I did and Luke’ he turned his attention to Sarah Jane’s son, ‘tell your mother’s Xyloc to stop hassling me. I can hear him in here’ he said pointing to his temple.

Alex was staring dreamily up at him. ‘Ah Alex, you’re still on my side right? I’ll give you any planet you wanted. It was Jupiter right – or was it Saturn?’

‘Yes, I am on your side’ replied Alex in a dull voice.

‘Watch this, Doctor’ the Master said and turning back at Alex said. ‘Are you any good at making tea?’

‘Yes’ replied Alex and his went to walk off but the Master held him gently by the shoulders.

‘There’s no tea here’ he laughed. ‘See how easy he is to control? I don’t even have to speak orders to him too – I can just think them and he’ll do it.’

‘Stop torturing my son!’ cried Susan but the Master pointed his laser screwdriver at her. ‘Oh, give me a reason. How I want to be the one to kill the Doctor’s granddaughter right in front of him.’ A hand grabbed the Master’s arm that was holding onto the screwdriver. ‘Alex, let go of me!’ demanded the Master trying to shake the boy off.

‘Don’t hurt her!’ he yelled keeping his grip tight. A jet of yellow light escaped from the screwdriver hitting Alex directly at one of his hearts. He gave a look of surprise before crumbling to the cold metal floor.

‘Noooo!’ screamed Susan holding onto her son’s body.

‘I didn’t mean to do that’ said the Master looking up at the Doctor with a sincere face.  The Doctor glared at him then joined his granddaughter on the floor next to his fallen grandson.

‘He whispered something in my ear’ said Susan.

‘What was it?’

‘He just said Dalekanium’ she replied with a shrug.

The Doctor tried to think what it could mean and looked at his grandson in time to see his eyes open. Alex put a finger to his lips and nudged in the direction of the Master. The Doctor nodded. Alex closed his eyes again.

‘Do you think he can regenerate?’ he asked Susan.

‘He was half-human so I doubt it’ she replied sadly. She hadn’t checked his pulse because she knew a direct hit from a laser could destroy almost anything. Almost anything, thought the Doctor.

Either Alex had delayed his regeneration or he had survived another way and cleverly kept it to himself. Clever, thought the Doctor so he could make everyone believe he was dead to get those real emotional reactions from them.

‘Listen Susan, I know you’ve got a lot to deal with right now but we’ve got to stop the Master, so we next to plan our next move’ he said before joining a disconsolate Luke and Jack by the wall. After taking one last look at the still body of her son she sighed and followed him.

‘Alright, think everyone. How are we going to stop the Master?’ asked the Doctor.

‘The only way is to put another DNA code on the telekinetic manipulator’ said Luke, ‘but where do we get the data from?  I don’t know my own code.’

‘Nor I’ replied the Doctor but he stopped with a sudden look of realisation. ‘But K-9 does.’

‘Affirmative, Doctor-Master’ replied the dog.

‘Shh, keep it down’ instructed the Doctor. ‘OK K-9, upload my code. You go with him Luke. I’m going to take the telekinetic manipulator off Alex. All that remains is a way to do all this without the Master setting the Dalek’s on us.’

Jack glared in the Master’s direction. ‘You just let me take care that.’ He got to his feet slowly and waited until the Master turned to the screen so that the back of his head was to Jack. He waited a few minutes before making his move.

The Master pointed at something on the screen and waved. ‘Oh look, it’s UNIT!’ he exclaimed excitedly, ‘Open fire on them.’

Jack had enough of this. He ran towards the Master and taking out his revolver slammed it against the Master’s head. He collapsed to the floor with a thud. ‘He may be able to regenerate when he’s dealt a fatal blow but he’s not immune to being knocked out.’

‘Jack, you know I don’t encourage violence’ reminded the Doctor like a parent reminding a child about breaking a house rule.

‘I knew you wouldn’t like it if I killed him. This is how I show the Master mercy’ replied Jack.

‘Ex-term-i-nate!’ bellowed a Dalek and after giving an oh-great-not-again face Jack fell to the floor.

The Dalek’s came to a standstill again for a few minutes while some others requested orders. They started to scream the request but didn’t obey any of the Torchwood agents that told them to abort. In confusion they started to fire haphazardly.

‘That mind control has really messed up their brains!’ shouted Gwen.

‘Right, we haven’t got much time!’ yelled the Doctor over the commotion and taking shelter behind a Dalek workstation. ‘Luke, take K-9 to the Xyloc computer!’ he ordered.

He saw Luke sprint off with K-9 speeding behind him. He peaked out from his hiding spot to see where Alex was lying. He was right in the middle of it all; energy beams passed over him but none too close. The Dalek’s drove right passed him without paying him any attention.

The Doctor crept out of his hiding spot quickly but quietly and dragged his great grandson out of harm’s way. He smiled when he could feel the boy’s hearts beating even though he knew he was alive.

He whispered in his ear. ‘The Master has been knocked out.’

‘I know – I heard Jack talking’ Alex replied also in whisper.

‘I’m going to take the telekinetic manipulator off you’ said the Doctor unbuckling the belt under Alex’s chin and gently pulling the tubes out of his ears. He jumped a little when he noticed the tight helmet started to expand.

‘Ah, much better’ said Alex with a relieved smile.

The Doctor couldn’t resist it any longer; he had to know, ‘Are you going to regenerate?’ he asked slowly.

‘I don’t think so’ replied Alex. ‘I’d have to be a second away from death for that to happen.’

‘I don’t understand. Usually the Master’s screwdriver can explode electronic equipment and end the life of the strongest man or alien.’

‘What about the Dalek’s?’ asked Alex grinning.

‘Well…no, I don’t think he’s’ he stopped and looked down at the boy suddenly able to understand, ‘the last word you said to your mother was ‘Dalekanium.’ Alex, did you by any chance make yourself some body armour?’

A grin spread across Alex’s face; the same type he would have as a child when he couldn’t keep a straight face when trying to lie. ‘I may have’ he replied.

‘You mind if I?’ asked the Doctor indicating that he wanted to have a look. Alex nodded quickly that he was ok with it so the Doctor lifted up his shirt revealing a fine silver plate. ‘It’s so thin’ he said running his hand over it.

‘Three parts Dalekanium; two parts polycarbide; three parts kevlar; two parts polyester’ revealed Alex. ‘It’s very springy.’

‘That’s amazing, Alex’ he said. ‘Listen, I’m going to check on Luke and K-9 but I’ll be back.’

Alex nodded and asked, ‘does my mum know I’m alive?’

‘I couldn’t risk her having a huge reaction before so no, she doesn’t know. But I’ll send her over now.’ He smiled down at his great grandson before getting to his feet and walking off.

He found Susan standing over the Master eyeing him cautiously as if he could return to conscious at any moment.

‘Susan, don’t worry about him’ he instructed, ‘your son needs you.’

‘But grandfather, I don’t know if I can bear seeing him like that’ she replied anxiously.

‘He’d do it for you’ he said then headed back towards the room the Xyloc was kept in.

The Doctor made an energetic entrance into the Xyloc’s room with a look on his face showing that he was ready for action.

‘What have you got for me Lukey boy?’ he asked eagerly rubbing his hands together.

‘K-9 has uploaded your biological code and I’ve made it a host, but I thought I’d try to delete the Master as the default host or maybe even make him a subject.’

‘That’s a brilliant idea, Luke!’ he exclaimed patting him on the back. ‘But oh, something’s wrong?’ he asked seeing the worried look on the boy’s face.

‘The Master encrypted his code so that only he could delete it.’

‘I thought he’d do something like that’ murmured the Doctor. ‘Alright, let me take a look at it.’ He threw off his coat and took out his black rimmed glasses and put them on. Then he proceeded to delete the code but like Luke said it was encrypted by a password. Even if he moved the Master’s code down to subject it asked for the password.

‘Right, time to hack this baby!’ announced the Doctor.

With the patience of a saint he twisted the infuriatingly slow lettering system like a burglar trying to crack open a safe. Every 3-5 seconds later one word would be displayed on the screen. ‘At moments like these I wish I had a sucker arm’ said the Doctor.

After several minutes which felt to the Doctor like an hour, and after going through hundreds of possible passwords none of them seemed to be the right one.

‘Hmm, passwords are usually made up of birthdates or numbers that are important to a person’ he mused, ‘or it could just be a familiar word that’s easy to remember but it’s just feels very special to the one person that uses it.’

‘My password is Maria’ revealed Luke thoughtfully.

The Doctor turned around to look at him. ‘That’s someone you care about?’ he asked and Luke nodded. ‘That’s what I’m talking about, Luke. Now if only I could think of a word that means a lot to the Master.’

He turned to face the monitor and typed in ‘Gallifrey’. There was no result so he typed in ‘Time Lord’ – still nothing.

He let out a groan after several more attempts and banged his head against the monitor in desperation. Then he tried one last word and got through.

‘That did it!’ he exclaimed happily.

‘What word did you type?’ asked Luke.

‘My name’ replied the Doctor.

He pressed ‘yes’ on another confirmation box and cried in triumph as the Master’s code disappeared from the host box. There only remained two codes; the Doctor’s and Alex’s.

‘Now that just leaves putting the telekinetic manipulator on’ he said eyeing the device suspiciously.

‘Just be careful’ said Luke nervously.

‘You sound like your mother’ he replied.

‘I saw what that thing did to Alex. It got in his mind. I had the same happen to me. Mr. Smith got into my mind and controlled it.’

‘Mr. Smith did that?’ The Doctor gave him an incredulous look.

‘He went evil but he’s reprogrammed with a new purpose now’ replied Luke.

‘The Master’s managed to fight him off’ sniffed the Doctor. ‘How hard could it be?’

The Doctor turned the device over and noticed that it was still on. He placed it on his head and first buckled the belt under his chin and then fed the tubes into his ears.

The device began to shrink just like it did to Alex. ‘ARRRGH – OOOOH – GARRRGH!’ screamed the Doctor. ‘That is oh so uncomfortable. Trust the Master to create a device that feels like a crown of thorns.’

‘That was a bigger reaction than Alex had’ remarked Luke.

‘What are you saying?’ asked the Doctor turning to him.

‘Oh, nothing’ he replied.

‘Right well, I don’t think I need to sonic the device because the power bars are already violet – the highest frequency in the colour spectrum’ explained the Doctor. ‘All that’s left is to see if it worked.’ He grinned excitedly and ran off towards the control room.

An energy beam narrowly missed him as he entered. ‘Hey, watch where you’re firing’ he instructed.

‘I-do-not-un-der-stand’ replied the Dalek, ‘I-can-see-where-I-am-fir-ing.’

The Doctor stared back at it frowning. ‘Okay, that was weird’ he said.

‘You get used to it’ replied Alex standing next to his mother.

The Doctor walked awkwardly into the room as the Dalek’s eyestalks turned to in his direction as he passed.

One Dalek approached him, ‘orders?’ it asked.

‘Oh, I want you to – I want you to’ he stammered.

‘Yes?’

The Doctor went silent for a moment. He looked down at the Dalek unsure of what order to give it. Then he stepped forward to take in the other Dalek’s that were all watching him intently and waiting for instruction.

‘Right, I have power over the Dalek’s he stated as though he needed to say it out loud to believe it.

‘Why is he taking so long to give an order?’ asked Luke, whispering to Alex.

Alex swallowed hard. ‘Sarah Jane would know. She warned me that this would happen.’

‘Doctor, just tell them to abort the mission and leave the Earth alone forever’ instructed Jack.

‘Abort the mission’ repeated the Doctor thoughtfully.

‘Ab-ort-the-mis-sion!’ announced the Dalek driving away from the Doctor.

He was startled that it had obeyed him even if he didn’t say those words as an order. But he was more startled that they obeyed him.

The Doctor walked up to the Dalek’s at their workstations and gave them a searching look as he passed them.

‘Feels good, doesn’t it – the power’ said the Master slowly getting to his feet.

‘M-master’ stammered the Doctor, ‘power.’ He looked at him as if waiting to be told what to do next.

‘That’s right, you have power over the Dalek’s – your greatest enemy’ said the Master. ‘I won’t stop you even though I can. I created the manipulator and I have power over all who use it and quite coincidently the current wearer happens to be you.’

The Master grinned at his mortal enemy who had thwarted his attempts to take over the Earth time and time again. At last he was in a position where he had to do everything the he said.

‘Yeah, that makes sense’ replied the Doctor in a monotone.

The Master stepped closer to him and spoke low into his ear. ‘Don’t you want to do much more than this? Here’s your chance to get revenge on the Dalek’s after all the pain and misery they have caused you.’

‘What do you want me to do?’ asked the Doctor.

‘Tell them to self destruct’ he demanded, stretching out ever word to put more emphasis on them.

‘Grandfather, don’t listen to him!’ cried Susan. ‘He is your enemy!’

The Doctor turned around slowly. ‘You’re – sorry, what was your name again?’ he asked.

‘Amazing isn’t it what a little Xyloc power can do to a simple mind control program’ remarked the Master. ‘Do it Doctor – destroy the Dalek’s. Do it for the Time Lord’s. Without the Dalek’s they would have been no Time War. It’s their fault that Gallifrey was destroyed killing every Time Lord that stood on it when it burned.’

‘They destroyed them all. They must be punished’ said the Doctor in agreement with the same dull voice.

‘That’s right’ urged the Master whispering into his ear like a devil on his shoulder. ‘And don’t worry – I will bring back the Time Lord’s and we can rebuild Gallifrey on Earth. Would you like that?’

‘Yes, I would love that’ replied the Doctor.

‘Give the order now!’ demanded the Master.

Before the Doctor could speak another voice cried out, ‘I can’t believe what I’m hearing!’ It was the agitated voice of Sarah Jane Smith.

‘You’ve done it now, Doctor’ muttered Gwen.

‘I know that voice’ said the Doctor thoughtfully, his voice becoming higher.

Luke held up his phone displaying his mother on the screen. ‘I called her’ he said.

‘Doctor, this isn’t like you. You abhor violence of any kind. You couldn’t get far enough away from the Time Lord’s because of how they abused their power and now look at you!’

‘Hi Sarah Jane, don’t think we’ve met – the Master; soon to be conqueror of Earth’—

‘Oh, not while I’m around buddy!’ she shouted.

‘Oh, but I think I will. You see, I’ve got the Doctor under my control and those Torchwood agents are standing over there like a pack of stunned mullets and UNIT are too busy putting out fires in their own buildings.’

‘Doctor, you can’t listen to him’ pleaded Sarah Jane. ‘Make the right decision – the type of decision the Doctor I knew all those years ago would make.’

‘But Sarah Jane the Dalek’s killed my people’ he replied desperately taking the phone from Luke and holding it at arm’s length in front of him. ‘The Master said he will bring the Time Lord’s back. I have to do what he says.’

‘Doctor, do you even remember how the Time Lord’s died?’ asked Sarah Jane.

‘The Dalek’s killed them’ he replied as if it was obvious.

‘No Doctor, it was you’ she revealed.

‘How dare you say that I killed my own people – my own planet!’ he screamed. ‘I would never ever do such a thing! How could you even accuse me of that?’

‘Who are you going to trust?’ asked the Master calmly. ‘She’s just a human, Doctor. She could never understand.’

The Doctor looked at him desperately then back to Sarah Jane. ‘I’m sorry Sarah but I have to do this.’

‘No Doctor, you can’t listen to the Master! My son is on that spaceship for God’s sake!’ she shouted but the Doctor handed the phone back to Luke.

Alex lowered his head shamefully. He should have prepared for another trick of the Master’s like this. He could hear whispering in his head but tried to shake it off and he wished that his phone would stop vibrating and glowing.

But his phone doesn’t glow.

Alex glanced at the white glow on his jeans. It was the mysterious blue stone. He dipped into his pocket and pulled it out.

The whispering was louder and faster now. He could only pick out a few words and discovered the whispering was at least in English. He clenched the stone in his hand in agitation.

‘What are you supposed to be?’ he asked it.

Susan approached him with an excited look in her eyes. ‘It’s a Remembrance stone’ she said.

‘Remembrance?’ said Alex.

‘Where did you find it?’ she asked.

‘It was in a box in the attic’ he shrugged.

‘It’s exactly what we need!’ she exclaimed. ‘I’ll need your great grandfather’s sonic screwdriver though.’

‘He’s kind of preoccupied at the moment’ replied Alex pointing at the Doctor who was pacing with his head in his hands.

‘I don’t know what to do? Master, tell me what to do!’ he begged desperately.

‘I told you to tell the Dalek’s to self destruct’ the Master repeated for the hundredth time, growing ever more impatient.

‘I know I should but there’s something – something that’s telling me that I shouldn’t’ he replied then went back to pacing, while grunting and hitting his head with his hands.

Something was tugging at the Master’s Jacket. He turned around to see Alex, alive but looking weakened.

‘I thought I killed you’ he said with little surprise.

Alex shook his head. ‘I’m sorry; I should have never disobeyed you.’

The Master studied the boy suspiciously as if to detect any trickery. Alex looked up with him the usual dreamy stare he did under the Master’s mind control. He slapped him across the face and waited for the boy’s reaction.

Alex touched a palm to the spot. ‘I deserve that’ he said still looking gazing up at him like a loyal dog.

The Master was still not convinced. ‘How come you’re not dead?’ he asked flatly.

‘I don’t know. I think maybe the Xyloc made us both stronger’ he replied.

‘You mean that I cannot die?’ asked the Master with a look of surprise and elation. ‘Do you hear that Doctor – I cannot die!’

The Doctor snapped out of his thoughts for a second, ‘huh?’

‘Oh never mind’ said the Master. ‘He’s really boring like this’ he added before sighing.

‘Alright, you can join with me again’ said the Master to Alex.

Alex jumped up and gave him a big hug which he knew made the Master feel uncomfortable.

‘There’s something else’ he said after letting go of the Master.

‘Yes, what?’ asked the Master impatiently.

‘I have something that may make the Doctor remember just how much of an enemy the Dalek’s are. It might make him destroy them quicker.’

‘And pray tell just what is this miracle device?’ asked the Master sceptically.

Alex held out the blue stone. ‘It’s a memory stone.’

‘That will make him remember and get angry enough to destroy all the Dalek’s?’ asked the Master pointing at the stone.

Alex nodded.

The Master shrugged. ‘Alright, give him the memory stone if it speeds things up.’

Alex handed the Doctor the ‘memory stone’. The Doctor looked at it and back to Alex, unsure of what to do.

‘You’re going to have to sonic it’ informed Alex. The Doctor stared back at him dumbly. ‘With your sonic screwdriver – look, just take that long probe out of your jacket pocket.’

The Doctor slowly pulled out his sonic screwdriver which Alex took off him and pointed it at the stone. It hummed making the stone vibrate. Alex increased the frequency making the stone split in two.

A pale blue mist escaped from it and Alex pushed the pieces of stone under the Doctor’s nose. His head snapped up as he absorbed it.

‘Well, do you remember now?’ asked the Master impatiently.

‘Oh yes I do’ replied the Doctor. ‘Dalek’s surround the Master and don’t let him escape!’ he yelled.

‘What – what’s happening?’ stammered the Master in shock.

The Doctor’s face spread out in a wide goofy grin as he began to explain quickly. ‘Oh, just a memory implanted in stone along with a sonic wavelength to create interference therefore severing your psychic link with me.’

‘You fool, that means you can’t control the Dalek’s anymore’ replied the Master smugly.

‘Is that so? Actually, the memory that my granddaughter Susan left in the stone was to remind me that you were my greatest enemy because she knew that you would try to hypnotise me. She left it, oh I dunno, somewhere around the house for Alex to find. There was no memory of the Dalek’s fighting against me and even if there was not one Dalek absorbed that memory so it wouldn’t matter.’

The Master made a sharp turn and pointed an accusing finger at Alex. ‘You tricked me – but how? You’re under my control.’

‘You threatened to kill his mother’ replied the Doctor, ‘that was a mistake.’

Susan jumped into the Doctor’s arms. ‘Oh, it’s so good to have you back, grandfather!’

‘It’s good to be back’ he replied. ‘But I may be 906 years old but can you just call me the Doctor?’

‘Yes, of course Doctor’ she replied.

‘The same goes for you Alex – no mention of me being anyone’s great great grandfather.’

‘Uh Doctor, I hate to spoil this reunion of sorts, but we’re currently in deep space’ informed Jack.

‘Oh, I see’ replied the Doctor gazing at the Scorpion galaxy on the screen in front of him. ‘We should teleport out of here, but still, I can’t leave the Dalek’s like this.’

‘You could disable the telekinetic manipulator’ suggested Luke. ‘But we’ll all have to teleport out of here before the Dalek’s return to normal.’

Jack switched his earcomm off and looked up at them ‘I have an idea.’

13. The Rift Manipulator

Ky Williams was alone inside the Torchwood Hub. The Bridgend local felt a sense national pride that he helped rebuild and re-establish Torchwood in Cardiff. The Los Angeles base had grown into massive organisation that now fought against alien threats on a worldwide scale, but that didn’t make the threat of alien invasion in Wales any less. The Rift didn’t just magically close up and the Weevils hadn’t lost interest in terrorising the townsfolk – they were more of a threat now than ever since UNIT declared Torchwood 3 dead. The only people that knew of Torchwood’s existence was UNIT, the Torchwood agents, the Doctor and his companions and a few hopeful Cardiff locals who were looked upon as mad as those folks that believed in UFO’s – well, they believed in them too.

Ky felt comfortable in the Hub although he secretly wanted to meet a Dalek face to face, but he had the most important part of this mission, said Jack. Or maybe his new captain who was actually a very old one just wanted to make him feel better at being left out of the actual fight.

Or maybe he just fancied him?

It was up to him to bring everyone back safely. The Torchwood team had met a few bumps along the way, if you would call a renegade Time Lord that had the Dalek’s under mind control that planned to take over the Earth as a bump.

He scratched his dishevelled brown hair and brushed some chip crumbs off his unbuttoned shirt. He was being messy today because he could get away with it. If he tried this type of stunt around Gareth he would be cleaning up after the alien’s that they contained in the Hub prison cells.

Jack was taking a real gamble with his plan to open up the Rift manipulator wider than ever before. Supposedly he planned to teleport the Dalek spaceship right into it at the same time the Torchwood team and the Doctor and the rest teleported back into Ealing.

Ky thought the plan was too risky. It wasn’t that activating the Rift manipulator could have serious consequences for the people of Cardiff but he didn’t want to see his whole team and that infamous Doctor sucked into it. He supposed he could find out a way to rescue them, but then he have the Dalek’s to deal with.

The Doctor had them under mind control and he was going to sever the link before the teleportation. Ky thought there were three reasons why this plan was too risky but there wasn’t anything else they could do. Well, they could destroy the Dalek’s but Jack told Ky that the Doctor would never agree to it.

Ky got to his feet and stretched before approaching the rusted iron tube-like manipulator and activated it. It roared to life with a drone. He increased the power to 75%. It was as wide as it had ever been but he had to wait for Jack’s word to increase it even more.

At maximum size the Rift could suck the whole of Cardiff in so Ky could only keep it open for a few minutes. Every element of this plan had to be timed precisely because they had one chance at this and if they failed, well, let’s just say that a massive hole in the Universe would be the least of their concerns.

He tapped his earcomm on. ‘It’s all setup Jack’ he said.

‘Fantastic work, Ky’ replied Jack. ‘Alright Doctor, we’re ready.’

The Doctor was trying to disable the mind control software but it shutdown at 99%. ‘I’m going to have to destroy the computer’ said the Doctor.

‘But you’ll kill the Xyloc’ replied Jack nervously.

‘There’s that but I could remove it entirely from the system’ he explained. ‘How would you like that?’ he asked the exposed part of the crystal.

‘How long will that take?’

‘Oh, half an hour’ said the Doctor throwing out an estimated guess.

‘Alright, just remember the longer that Rift is opened the more aliens will come through it.’

‘Actually Jack’ responded the Doctor holding his screwdriver towards the Xyloc, ‘the longer it’s opened the sooner the Universe will crack under the Rift’s pressure.’

Jack walked off to check on the others. He was delighted to see Gwen and Gareth handcuffing the Master.

‘Alright, listen up!’ he announced. ‘Soon we are all going to teleport out of here. But we’ve only got two teleporters between us so you’re going to have to make a beeline behind either me or Alex.’

‘Jack, we’re approaching Cardiff Bay’ informed Gareth. ‘I’m picking up some massive Rift activity on my PDA.’

‘Of course you are’ replied Jack. ‘It has been expanded to a cataclysmic size. I just hope that the Doctor can disable the computer before we’re all sucked into it.

The Doctor twisted the Xyloc out of both the monitor and hard drive. The computer was just an empty shell without it.

‘Right, it’s time to teleport!’ he announced after he had run back into the control room.

Jack tapped his earcomm, ‘Ky, bring it up to maximum power’ he instructed.

They knew it worked when the Rift was exhibiting so much gravity that it became visible for the first time. In fact, it was only visible because of what it was seen sucking up.

‘Great, we turned the Rift into a black hole. Alright, hold on tight!’ yelled Jack excited with anticipation. ‘On my count of three’ he said, one’ –

‘Ex-term-i-nate!’ he heard a Dalek scream.

‘THREE!’ he bellowed slamming his hand down on his time vortex manipulator, disappearing into blue light with his Torchwood team and a handcuffed Master.

Alex had hit his time vortex manipulator at the same time taking the Doctor, his mother and Luke holding K-9 with him.

The Dalek’s fired a succession of energy beams at them not even a second after they vanished. They had become aware of the mind control that they had been under.

‘The-hum-ans-and-Time-Lord’s-have-used-us!’ one yelled in anger. ‘We-will-get-our-rev-enge-on-them!’

‘RE-VENGE! RE-VENGE! RE-VENGE!’ they all chanted.

One Dalek looked at the monitor. ‘My-sen-ses-de-tect-TAR-DIS-en-er-gies! The-Doc-tor-is-here. We-will-in-vade-this-cit-y-be-low-and-kill-him-at-last.’

‘Re-port-the-cur-rent-lo-ca-tion?’ asked another.

‘Car-diff. It-is-the-home-of-Torch-wood. We-will-des-troy-Torch-wood-and-the-Doc-tor!’

‘Then-we-will-take-ov-er-the-Earth!’ said another in a high pitched scream.

The Dalek’s chanted more battle cries then set the plans in order to invade Cardiff and London, but as they did an invisible wave, not unlike a rip pulled them into the Rift.

Directly below the surface where the Dalek spaceship had been Ky Williams shouted with joy at what he just seen on the Hub monitors. Then he happily jogged up to Rift Manipulator and shut it down.

14. A House for the Doctor

A wave of blue light erupted inside Sarah Jane Smith’s attic at 13 Bannerman Road, materialising into her son Luke holding her robotic dog K-9, along with Alex and the Torchwood team that had teleported only two hours ago. But it was the two new additions to the party she had noticed first.

‘The Doctor and the Master?’ she gasped.

‘Sarah Jane Smith, it’s so good to see you again’ replied the Doctor approaching her and giving her a warm smile before hugging her.

‘It’s so good to see you too, Doctor. I was so scared by what you were planning to do to the Dalek’s and I’ll have to be honest; I’m still a bit worried at the recent addition to your wardrobe.’

‘W-what?’ he asked in puzzlement and then he realised, ‘oh, I’m still wearing the telekinetic manipulator on my head, aren’t I?’

‘Yes you are.’

The Doctor unbuckled the belt and slowly pulled the uncomfortable tubes out of his ears making the device expand so he could take it off.

‘OH, MUCH BETTER!’ he declared. ‘This has to be the most uncomfortable and invasive mind control device I’ve ever seen’ he said shaking it in his hand.

He handed it to Susan. ‘Get rid of it, will you?’ he asked then quickly turned back to Sarah Jane. ‘I haven’t introduced you two yet. Sarah Jane I am proud to introduce you to my granddaughter Susan Campbell.’

Sarah Jane shook her hand. ‘I’m pleased to meet you Susan’ she greeted politely.

‘The pleasure is all mine’ replied Susan. ‘I hope my son wasn’t too much for you to handle. His know-it-all attitude and lack of feelings for other people can be a bit tiresome.’

‘Not at all – I’m used to it. Our boys’ are quite similar’ replied Sarah Jane.

Luke approached his mother. ‘I was alright mum’ he said before she pulled him into a teary hug.

‘He was brilliant Sarah Jane’ said the Doctor. ‘He was the one that came up with the idea about how to stop the Master.’

‘And he could remember a very difficult cell block number in Dalek characters as well’ added Alex. ‘121 cells starting from 0 and going up by 10 and squared – all in Dalek and he solved it and rescued the Doctor. My memory will never be that good.’

‘You still did brilliantly too’ said the Doctor turning to him.   ‘Do I need to remind you that without your help I’d still be under the Master’s control?’

‘You were too strong for it. You were trying to resist it. He took over your thoughts and fears but the one thing he couldn’t take was your voice.’ Alex smiled up at him.

The Doctor smiled back. ‘I think we all played an important role today.’

‘You must tell me everything’ said Sarah Jane. ‘Everyone come down stairs for tea.’

The Doctor just stared back at her with his serious face. ‘I can’t. I’ve still got the Master to deal with’ he said.

‘Oh Doctor, let Torchwood take care of that’ said Gwen.  ‘You go have your tea.’

‘It’s ok Gwen; he never stays’ replied Sarah Jane.

‘That’s right but I don’t want the Master to be locked inside the Hub’ –

‘We’ll hand him over to UNIT then. They can put him in a high security cell.’

‘No Gwen, I’m going to punish the Master’ informed the Doctor flatly.

‘Doctor, with all due respect but the Master tried to take over the Earth so I think as leader of Torchwood I should have authority to’ –

‘This isn’t about having the authority!’ he yelled, ‘it’s about setting history right. The Master escaped from a time where he was supposed to die and I’m going to send him back.’

‘So, you’re just going to allow me to die?’ asked the Master fearfully.

‘I’m afraid so’ replied the Doctor. He called Alex over to him.  ‘Take this and keep it safe’ he said taking the Xyloc crystal out of his pocket.

Alex looked from the crystal to the Doctor incredulously.  ‘How did that fit in your pocket?’ he asked.

‘It’s bigger on the inside’ he replied grinning. ‘Right, come on Jack, I need you to teleport us back to the TARDIS.’

‘It’s outside Doctor’ replied Jack. ‘We ahh, tied it to the Torchwood SUV and brought it over.’

‘Oh, well that saves some time. I still need you to come with me though.’

‘Alright then’ said Jack. ‘Is it OK if I say goodbye to my team? This might be the last time I see them.’

‘Most of them at least’ said Gwen. Jack gave her a confused puzzled look.

‘That’s fine with me’ replied the Doctor. He turned to his granddaughter Susan and his old companion Sarah Jane and their two sons’. ‘I really hate to be leaving you all so soon. I just found out that I still have family and oh Sarah, I’m really sorry to just take off again. I do want to stay to keep this moment alive for as long as possible but duty calls as usual.’

‘It’s alright Doctor’ she replied, ‘just do what you’ve got to do.’

‘I wouldn’t have been able to hold off the Master’s mind control if it wasn’t for you. Your voice reminded me who I really was and stayed with me after I gave the phone back to Luke.’

‘It was the same with me and mum’ said Alex. ‘When the Master threatened to kill her I just snapped out of it and saw clearly for the first time.’

‘The people who you really care about can do that to you’ replied the Doctor thoughtfully. ‘Your mum had more influence over you because of that memory stone she created and planted for you to find.’

‘Anyway, it was time I was off. I’ll come back for you’ he said gazing longingly at his family and friends.

Jack dragged the Master over to the Doctor. ‘Are you ready to go?’

‘Yeah’ he said walking over to them.

‘Fine Doctor, send me back’ challenged the Master, ‘but the thing is I can’t die – tell him Alex – tell him how you survived?’

‘He’s wearing Dalekanium body armour’ said the Doctor.

‘No, the Xyloc made us immortal – I’m immortal!’ he declared staring straight into the Doctor’s eyes.

‘Actually I lied’ said Alex lifting a part of his shirt and showing the silvery chest plate.

‘You tricked me – AGAIN! I WILL PUNISH YOU FOR THIS!’ he bellowed.

‘But you’re handcuffed’ teased Alex.

‘Release me then!’

Alex took out the Master’s laser screwdriver that he had picked up after Jack knocked him out. He held it in front of him aiming at the Master’s wrists. ‘I don’t know why I’m doing this’ he said looking around the room nervously.

‘Don’t you see? I can still control you!’ he yelled gleefully.

Alex was mortified. He stood still with the screwdriver his hand petrified to the spot.

‘Get him out of here!’ demanded the Doctor angrily. Jack pushed the Master out of the attic and dragged him down the stairs.

‘Don’t worry, Alex. I’m going to take him to a place where he can never hurt you again’ said the Doctor reassuringly, and with one more concerned look at his great grandson that he hardly knew, he walked out of the attic.

1^st January, 2020

Nine months had passed since the defeat of the Dalek’s. The Doctor had not returned and no one had heard from him since that day his dematerialised the TARDIS from the street in front of 13 Bannerman Road.

The Doctor had even missed a minor Christmas adventure involving another attempt by the Sonatrians to destroy the Earth but Sarah Jane Smith with the help of her son Luke and two relatives of the Doctor, along with Torchwood and after the eventual help from UNIT; they managed to thwart the Sontarian’s plans.

The Torchwood team at Cardiff had their hands full soon after the Dalek invasion that never happened with a surge of Weevil attacks after they fell through the enormous Rift.

The occupants at 16 Chesterton Lane would never be the same. The mother and son had just recently found out that they weren’t exactly natives to the Earth but they kept this to themselves.

Susan’s colleagues noticed she was a lot quiet than before and spent even more time with her nerdy son than ever before. They were close before but now they seemed to be inseparable as if one day away from each other was too much. Bear in mind the boy did disappear for three weeks and a strange military vehicle kept watch outside of their house – but they acted like they survived a war together.

The other residents on Chesterton Lane thought they were strange indeed. The boy could sometimes be seen doing repairs on an old world war II looking aeroplane that was as blue as the deepest ocean. They thought he was wasting his time trying to repair it because it made some of the unhealthiest of sounds.

Alex sat inside his TARDIS plane. The console now consisted of a blue crystal Xyloc that his friend Luke had recommended he reprogram with a new objective. Locked away was the telekinetic manipulator, the laser screwdriver, an EC Blaster gun and the shards of the Remembrance stone.

Alex still had the time vortex manipulator on his wrist. Torchwood and UNIT kept a watch on him that he didn’t dematerialise his TARDIS but they didn’t know he could teleport.

Susan had changed, or rather, gone back to who she was before the Master took her memory away. She remembered everything now; living on Gallifrey, travelling with the Doctor, fighting against an innumerable amount of alien threats, and her husband David Campbell.

Alex had been persistent in asking her to tell her tales about travelling and about her family in the 22^nd century. She eventually caved in and the two made a habit out of telling stories over cups of tea and biscuits.

After he had returned home Alex had phoned his friend Chris and invited him over the next day. He told him everything from the Master’s mind control to the Dalek’s to his relation to the Doctor and his new friendship with Luke Smith; a boy just as smart and odd as he.

‘Well, at least you’ve got someone to nerd it up with now’ he had said. He was a bit jealous about missing out on being a part of the action that went down on the Dalek spaceship.

Chris had been one of the onlookers on Earth who had seen the spaceship revert between moving backwards and forwards again and again.

‘It was all a bit hilarious despite the fact that it was an invasion’ he said. ‘The newspaper printed the headline ‘The Uncertain Invasion.’

Susan and Sarah Jane were getting along. Both had been at different times the Doctor’s travelling companions.

Sarah Jane was having tea with Susan at her house in Hammersmith. It was great to finally have someone to confide in without hiding the fact you knew that aliens were real and the Universe was full of many other civilisations on millions of other planets besides Earth.

Luke was sitting next to Alex on the couch in the living room. The two had exhausted themselves on topics to talk about and were just repeating themselves, or rather, Alex was.

‘A bit disappointing that flying car is’ remarked Alex, touching on one of his favourite subjects; being disappointed in 21^st century scientific inventions.

‘You said that not even ten minutes ago’ reminded Luke.

Alex went to reply but was silenced by a loud wailing noise. ‘I know that noise’ he said excitedly.

The front door swung open and there he was standing in the doorway, with his usual long brown coat and goofy grin and beside him the immortal Captain in his long blue coat.

‘Did you miss me?’

‘It’s been nine months!’ shouted Alex approaching him quickly with a clearly annoyed expression.

‘So, not nine hours then?’ asked the Doctor quietly, ‘Sorry about that – still that does tend to happen.’ He sniffed and walked into the living room.

‘It’s still great to see you, grandfather’ said Susan giving him a hug.

When he let go of her he said, ‘I told you not to call me that.’

‘I’m sorry – it’s good to see you, Doctor’ said Susan, ‘did you take care of the Master?’

‘Yeah, I did’ he replied.

‘So the Master is?’ –

‘Dead’ he replied flatly, ‘he can’t harm any of you again.’

‘Are you sure he can’t come back?’ she asked.

‘There is no way he can come back. I made sure of it.’

‘What about Asterion?’ asked Alex, ‘what’s going to happen to them now?’

‘I’m glad you asked. I visited Asterion after I dealt with the Master’ explained the Doctor. ‘The Master had murdered all the Warg’s through electric shock. I suppose he didn’t have any further use for them to keep them alive. Also, the Asrie people complained about the unfair trial we had that almost saw young Alex here murdered, and they’ve apologised for that. Now that they are a part of the Universe now they can’t escape the Judoon, who have the whole government under investigation. Elections are being held next week.’

‘I wonder who is going to run for Prime Minister or President of Asterion’ replied Alex.

‘Actually Malkee is’ revealed the Doctor smiling.

‘Doctor, we were just having tea. Why don’t you and Jack join us?’ asked Susan.

‘We’re not taking no for an answer’ added Sarah Jane.

The Doctor took a look around before answering. ‘I’d be delighted.’

‘I could really go for some chips’ added Jack.

The Doctor and Jack sat down at the kitchen table with Susan and Sarah Jane and their two sons’. A plate of chips had been placed in the middle and Jack and Alex now both made a grab for the last chip on the plate. Alex gave a nervous glance at Jack then to his mother and finally allowed Jack to take it.

‘So Alex, what have you been up to lately?’ asked the Doctor, ‘been settling back into normal life alright?’

‘Hardly’ replied Alex glumly, ‘I got kicked out of the university so I have to go back to Park Vale High.’

‘You’ve got friend’s there still?’

‘Yeah I guess but there’s no point in me being there. I know more than my teachers.’

‘No point?!’ exclaimed the Doctor, ‘well at least you can be the smartest in your class.’

‘Torchwood also grounded my TARDIS until I was eighteen’ informed Alex.

‘Good, you’re too young to travel on your own.’

‘You could always take up my offer of joining Torchwood’ suggested Jack. ‘You’ll get to see some real alien action, of course’ he paused and looked at Susan, ‘when you’re old enough. I told Gareth to give you a call when you’re a bit older.’

‘But the thing is I don’t actually know how old I am’ replied Alex sulkily.

‘You’re fourteen if I say you are’ stated Susan.

‘Well you can’t argue with that’ remarked the Doctor.

Alex and Luke had returned to the couch and were now dissecting a television remote control.

‘You won’t have to worry about girls or drugs or gangs with this lot’ remarked the Doctor deliberately loud enough for his voice to carry over to the boys’ on the couch.

‘No, just being abducted by aliens’ replied Sarah Jane.

‘Or running away to another galaxy’ added Susan.

‘Oi, I heard that!’ called Alex from the couch.

‘And other parents think their kids are a handful…’ said Sarah Jane.

‘The problems with children is the either hate to learn or can’t stop – and then they won’t stop talking about it’ added Susan.

‘Just listen to you two’ said the Doctor smiling at them intently.

The time had come for the Doctor to leave. Susan and Sarah Jane had expected it and he had delayed it long enough.

‘Well, I’ll be seeing you all later’ he said, ‘unless you wanted to come with me?’ He was looking at Susan.

‘Doctor, I…’ she stammered.

‘Come with me, Susan. It could be just like old times.’

Susan slowly turned her gaze to the couch. Alex was sitting next to Luke taking apart a remote control. ‘I can’t’ she finally said. ‘I’m a mother now. I almost lost him.’

‘He can come with us. I’ve got so many bits and pieces of old alien technology that he could keep himself occupied with’ replied the Doctor, ‘and break’ he added after he heard a crash from the living room.

‘Just look at him’ she said, ‘for the first time he’s happy and sharing with another person his age – or looks close to. I’m sorry; I just can’t take that away from him.’

‘Oh no, it’s ok’ he replied in his high voice masking his true feelings.

‘You’re always welcome in this house if you ever needed somewhere to stay. It’s your house too.’

The Doctor looked up at her. ‘Thank you Susan.’ He gave her another hug. ‘It’s been so lonely thinking that I was the only one of my kind left. I’m going to keep it a secret so nobody ever finds you and uses you or Alex against me again.’

Susan nodded in agreement but then felt he was still holding something from her. ‘There’s something bothering you’ she said.

The Doctor let out a breath then turned to look at Alex. ‘You know the Master may be gone but some of his DNA still lives in Alex. He’s got a darkness to him that he must never know about.’

‘I don’t understand. What do you mean by ‘a darkness’?’ asked Susan nervously.

‘Just keep an eye on him’ instructed the Doctor ignoring her question. He spun around changing his mood once again to a cheery and excited one. ‘Aren’t you two going to say goodbye to me?’

Alex and Luke got to their feet and walked over to him.   ‘You’re going so soon?’ he asked disappointedly.

‘Yeah, I’ve got some other business to take of that I’ve been avoiding’ replied the Doctor.

‘Can’t I come too?’ asked Alex. ‘I don’t want to go back to my boring life with boring people again.’

‘Thanks for that’ said Luke.

‘Don’t mention it’ replied Alex quickly.

‘No, you should stay with your mother. She thought you were dead – just think about how she’d feel if you went off again. And besides, I can be really boring to travel with, right Sarah Jane?’

Sarah Jane chucked. ‘Oh yes, very boring.’

‘You’re not helping here’ he replied from the corner of his mouth.

‘OK fine, but I should warn you when I’m old enough – or sneaky enough – I’m coming after you’ informed Alex in a mocked serious tone.

‘As long as you get your mother’s blessing’ replied the Doctor with a cheeky grin.

The Doctor walked outside to the blue police box outside 16 Chesterton Lane, apparently his new home on Earth if he ever found himself without shelter. He always had his own way of obtaining it though.

His two old companions and their son’s waited on the street to see him off.

‘Wait!’ called Alex. The Doctor turned around slowly. ‘At least let me get one good photo of you.’

‘I suppose one photo couldn’t hurt’ replied the Doctor.

‘Oh, let’s get a group photo’ suggested Sarah Jane.

‘I’ll get my tripod’ decided Alex hurrying back into the house.

Eventually he returned and set his camera on top of the tripod. The Sun was shining down and Alex remarked that it was a good thing the camera was white to reflect it. The Doctor and his companions all grouped together with arms slung over shoulders and after the timer made its last beep the moment was captured forever.

‘Right, time I was off said the Doctor. He paused and looked at Alex. ‘Almost forgot to tell you’ he said, ‘I left you a present on your computer desk in your bedroom.’

‘What is it?’ asked Alex excitedly.

‘If I told you that would ruin the surprise’ he replied, taking one last look at their faces before opening the wooden doors and entering inside.

The Doctor leant against the TARDIS console and stayed in that position for a few minutes then looked at the closed wooden doors that his family and friends’ were standing on the other side of. Then he composed himself and began to work the controls. He finally pulled the lever that dematerialised the TARDIS from the time where he was not the last of his kind, but he couldn’t stay because he knew he had to finally face his death that he had been trying to delay.

Outside Susan, Sarah Jane, Alex and Luke watched the TARDIS vanish into the time vortex as a temporal breeze swept through their hair. They all looked at each other, silent, but knew they were all thinking the same thing: when was the next time they would see that blue police box again?

Book 1: Planet of the Dog People

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DOCTOR WHO
ALL RIGHTS GO TOO BBC WORLDWIDE/U.K
NO COPYRIGHT INFRIGMENT INTENDED
I MAKE NO MONEY BY PUBLISHING THIS, THIS IS FOR TO SHARE WITH FANS AND FRIENDS ONLY

The main story starts in London in 2019 about a very bright boy called Alex who along with his friend Chris ends up stranded on the planet Asterion, home of a humanoid dog race called the Asrie. The Doctor and Jack also find themselves transported and stuck on this planet too.
But the Doctor doesn’t trust Alex because his plane looks like a TARDIS on the inside and the boy is quite dull and doesn’t remember how he got inside a TARDIS. While being suspicious about the boy the Doctor must also work out why he can’t leave the planet and stumbles upon a secret to sabotage the planet, while at the same time trying to protect his companions from the vicious Wargs.
Many secrets are revealed and the Doctor and his companions find themselves in more danger, while he is desperately trying to work out why he can’t get off this planet.

Prologue
Bootes the hunter dominated the Northern Hemisphere skies, with spear in hand holding onto ropes leading his trusted hounds Asterion and Chara as they chased the Great Bear constellation frantically across the Northern sky, nipping at its hide. The hunting dogs sparkled in the sky hidden from Earth behind the bright star Cor Caroli but soon one of those hounds was about to become much more hidden, and not just from Earth.
On a planet not far away and hidden behind a cluster of trees stood a dark tower. Inside it a scientist was leaning over an incongruous looking machine holding a tool emanating a line of vivid light. He worked all through the day and night on this mysterious machine, without even feeling a desire to stop and marvel at the wonder of the purple nebulous clouds or the extended aurora activity this planet had due to being so close its Sun.
Instead the scientist muttered and murmured and at times swore and kicked the machine he was so obsessed with completing. And at times he jumped up excited and ran over to a side of the dark room, grabbed a stack of hastily written notes and thumbed through them nodding and uttering ‘yes, yes, oh yes’ and at times picking up a shortened pencil and jotting down even more hastily notes in a much worst script in desperation to get his thoughts down before they were gone.
Tonight was the night that the scientist would run the experiment. He powered up the machine; a solid square metallic object with switches and levers on it with wires coiling around it. The wires connected to another machine; a flat control board with even more switches and levers on it which connected to a flat raised platform in the middle of the room, emitting the only available light from a glowing green florescent bulb.
The scientist raised the lever creating an explosion of electrical light as if lightning bolts struck the room from the inside. After the scientist pulled the lever down the lightning disappeared and took the form of a black muscular creature, with pointed ears, unnatural yellow eyes and long fur which stuck out around its neck making it look like a lion.
Even the bravest man would have feared this creature but not the scientist. He marvelled at the creature and grinned up at it triumphantly. Then he walked over to the machine to make a few alterations, the creature stepped off the platform and approached him but didn’t attack. In fact, it walked over to the scientist and watched him work intently.
‘Back on the platform’ instructed the scientist impassively. The creature immediately obeyed and returned to the platform. ‘I’m going to see how far away I can send you.’
The scientist once again lifted the lever as once again lightning filled the platform.
It happened on the middle of the crowded street when people were coming home from work or a meal out or just from late night leisure activities. There was a flash of lightning hovering over one spot above the concrete path, inches from the ground. After it vanished a ferocious looking creature appeared and at first stared at the townsfolk with unblinking vacant eyes. Then all of a sudden it lunged at a random person in the street; a woman with two children. The townsfolk screamed and some ran away others froze in horror because they knew there was little they could do to stop the beast.
Back inside the dark tower the scientist smiled to himself. It is not sure how he knew what happened but he did and it pleased him. He now crossed the room over to the window and gazed at the purple clouds in the sky, shimmering with stars reflecting off a green-yellow light from a solar storm.
‘It begins’ he whispered to himself.
***
Thirty-four thousand lights years away lay a young boy called Alex Campbell in his bed. He was kept awake all night by thoughts about ideas of impossible things. Not able to take it any longer he rolled over and clicked on his lamp light and tumbled out of bed, grabbed a stack of blank sheets of paper and began to jot down his ideas hastily in an almost incomprehensible script. He wasn’t aware what this idea would turn into a year later or where it would take him, who he would meet and what evil doings he was unwittingly about to take part in. He also wasn’t aware that high in the sky of the chilli spring night that the brightest star in Canes Venatici wasn’t so bright anymore.
1. The Fusion Engine
There was a knock at the door. Professor William Everett looked nervously up from the laptop on his desk. Has time really passed that quickly today, he thought. He was expecting a visit from the physicist Bryce Fielding from Oxford University to discuss his controversial fusion engine project.
It had seemed like only yesterday that scientists had finally worked out ways to produce artificial fusion reactions like those made naturally by the Sun, but in actual fact, it had been nine years. First it was the ITER plant in France which made way for DEMO, the world’s first Fusion power plant, currently under construction outside of London.
Everett pushed his round glasses up; a nervous habit of his, and tried to flatten his dark wavy hair. He caught his reflection in a photo frame on his desk. He sighed at the realisation that he was still wearing his long white lab coat. But there was no time to take it off now and stuff it in a closest to hide it from view.
He pulled the door open. ‘Professor Fielding, I’m so glad you could take time out of your busy schedule to’ –
‘Never mind that’ interrupted Fielding pushing his way into the room.
Everett still stood at the doorway with his arm out. ‘Please, do come in’ he said finishing his friendly greeting. Then he decided to lighten the mood by bringing up a hot topic in the scientific community. ‘Fancy yourself an astronomer? I have a layman’s interest in it so I like to check on the Astronomy forums to get up to date on current events happening in Space. Did you see that Jupiter lost its stripe again? Or that Cor Caroli seemingly aged five billion years and that it lost one of its double stars in just one’ –
‘I don’t have time for this, Everett. I’m a busy man’ grumbled Fielding.
‘Yes, of course you are. What can I do for you?’ He was struggling to keep his confidence.
‘The physicists at Oxford are very concerned about one of your student’s interest in fusion power.’
‘It is a very hot topic in modern science. Surely there is nothing wrong with a bit of curiosity.’
‘You know who I mean’ said Fielding sternly. ‘The one working on your project – Alex, is it?’
‘Alex Campbell. Yes, he is very interested in the development of fusion power. Now I know you think he may be too young’ –
‘He’s fourteen.’
‘He is the most brilliant student I have. I was sceptic at first after his teachers and school psychiatrist talked him up but after I met him my attitude towards him changed. He came up with this project all on his own too.’
‘Talk me through this project’ stated Fielding.
‘Basically we are creating fusion reactions like ITER are doing with a Tokamak accelerator and using the energy to power vehicles.’
‘Like cars for example?’
‘Oh yes, or…aeroplanes’ added Everett nervously.
‘Aeroplanes?’ repeated Fielding incredulously.
‘Just for the experiment. Imagine the possibilities of fusion power spacecraft!’ beamed Everett, now regaining some confidence.
‘So why are NASA not doing this? Why is it that a group of physicists at Ealing Hammersmith and West London college are researching future technologies in Space travel?!’
‘Alex is very secretive about the technology. He thought of it all on his own. It just popped into his head out of nothing.’
‘I don’t take very well to people being secretive about such a dangerous area of science’ Fielding said flatly.
‘I can hardly see how it is dangerous’ replied Everett, trying hard to suppress a giggle.
‘Green Peace see it another way.’
‘Green Peace? Well, if it’s not running on mulch or recycled water than it’s not an alternative fuel source to them’ replied Everett sarcastically. ‘It’s safe. You should know that fusion power doesn’t emit any toxic fumes and that the radioactivity has a much shorter half-life to fission reactors.’
‘Yes I know that. There are still a few issues, aside from opposition from environmental groups, questioning the likelihood of fusion power as a stable energy source in the future.’
‘Such as?’
‘The damage of the reactor as a result of high temperatures and keeping the reaction constant’ answered Fielding.
‘We have constructed the reactor out of Dalekanium’ replied Everett.
‘Dalek-what?’
‘Dalekanium. It’s one of the most durable metal alloys around.’
‘And it can withstand temperatures over 100,000,000 degrees Celsius?’ asked Fielding sceptically.
Everett nodded.
‘I suppose this was discovered by Alex too?’
‘Yes, brilliant, isn’t he? He also created an automatic switch to activate when argon gas is needed to turn to the plasma in the reactor into light, giving it a luminescence of one billion watts in a light globe. It’s almost as though as he created an artificial supernova on Earth.’
‘That’s impossible!’ spat fielding. ‘No physicist has ever been successful at creating a metal that can withstand such a violent reaction and keep the chain reaction going continuously. But apparently this boy has done just that – just who is he?’
2. Introducing Alex
‘Looks like it’s going to rain’ commented a young black haired boy lying on a bench, gazing up at the clouds.
His friend Ryan looked up at the sky and gave it a quizzical look. ‘Are you sure about that Alex?’ he asked, noting the white fluffy clouds.
‘Positive’ replied Alex. ‘I can feel the drop in pressure.’
‘No you can’t’ retorted Ryan. ‘Nobody can.’
‘I guess we’re going to have to wait and see who’s right then’ replied Alex, stretching and getting to his feet and joining his friends. They were talking about the usual things; friends of theirs Alex didn’t know or music he wasn’t interested in.
‘So Mark how was the gig Friday night?’ asked Alex’s blonde haired friend Chris.
‘Pretty good, I think. I can’t remember too much of it though. I blacked out by ten.’
‘You were drunk?’ said Alex. ‘But you’re only fourteen. It’s illegal for you to drink alcohol.’ They all stopped to give him an incredulous look. ‘Did I say something wrong?’ he asked.
‘So Alex’ replied Chris quickly before anyone could say anything. ‘What have you been up to lately?’ The rest of the boys’ groaned because they knew what would come next.
Fortunately Alex was trying not to talk very much about what was on his mind because he knew that the others weren’t interested, much like the way he felt about what interested them. ‘I’ve been working on alternative energies for a project.’
Mark laughed. ‘Don’t tell me you’re a greenie?’
‘No, actually the same process is used to make a hydrogen bomb so Green Peace is against the project.’
‘Go on.’
‘It’s just fusion power’ shrugged Alex. ‘I’m making a fusion engine.’
‘So that will make machines go faster?’
‘Yes, much faster – above the speed of light in fact’ revealed Alex with an air of pride.
‘That is pretty cool’ admitted Mark with Ryan and Chris agreeing.
‘Do you want to know how it works?’ asked Alex energetically.
‘As long as you simplify it’ said Mark.
‘Ok I’ll try. Basically we’re trying to create the same nuclear reactions that happen naturally on the Sun, that’s easy enough to understand. We have an electromagnetic reactor which uses deuterium as the moderator and fuse it with tritium creating a helium nucleus’ –
‘Sorry, you lost me’ said Mark, while Chris and Ryan looked back nervously.
‘It just creates a lot of heat and thus we have fusion power’ concluded Alex glumly.
Mark had already started to talk about something else which was received well with the others. Alex heard him say someone’s name that he didn’t know and the words ‘got really drunk’ and then spent the next couple of minutes looking down at the ground. Chris looked over his shoulder to see how he was doing.
‘Are you alright?’ he asked after walking over to him.
‘Yeah, I’m fine’ replied Alex dishonestly. He looked at Mark and Ryan and studied their matching haircuts and tight jeans. ‘I’m about as alright as I usually am.’
‘Ah, forget about them. If you want to leave – leave’ said Chris with a warm smile.
‘Come with me’ urged Alex.
Chris told Mark and Ryan that he was going over to Alex’s house. They were used to him ditching them because he felt sorry that Alex couldn’t fit in with them.
***
Chris plumped down on Alex’s bed, while Alex frantically searched through a stack of papers. There were scraps of papers with notes hastily written on them all over his room. Chris thought it could do with a clean, but he knew Alex thought way too much to be bothered with cleanliness. The evidence was clear to see from his unbrushed hair and sloppy clothes.
Alex handed a piece of paper to Chris. ‘That’s the main control’ he said pointing at one of his diagrams.
‘It’s circular. Has that got something to with spin?’ Alex just nodded and gave a ‘yep’ in response. He showed him the exterior of the plane. It had a post World War Two vibe to it.
‘I call it the Schrödinger’ said Alex proudly.
‘I think you’ve been playing Battlefield 1942 for too long’ muttered Chris, who noticed that his friend did have a passion for World War Two aircraft. He had a spitfire mobile dangling from the ceiling and a poster of an aircraft on his door.
‘That’s that new game at the Game Matrix isn’t it?’ he asked pointing to the poster.
‘Yeah, I got to test it out.’
‘Any good? I want to go but can’t find the time to make the trip.’
‘It’s only in Cardiff, but yeah, really detailed. I got a bit of a headache in that place.’
‘I heard you could go blind in there’ muttered Chris. ‘Did you play much else in there?’
‘A few brightly coloured games that burnt my retinas. Oh, but I was there on Expo day and I saw someone with a robotic dog. It was programmed to say some really random stuff.’
‘Oh yeah, like what?’ asked Chris curiously.
‘Picking up some temporal energies, Master Luke. Don’t look at me; everything is normal. Level 5 technology underground.’
‘Probably someone role playing’ replied Chris.
‘Yeah I thought that too. I wonder if that Luke guy actually built it.’
‘So there aren’t any robot inventions on your CV?’ asked Chris raising an eyebrow.
‘Not yet.’
***
After Chris left Alex looked over his notes. All seemed to be going to plan but he was feeling impatient. He wasn’t sure why; a test flight was less than a month away.
He went down stairs to watch some TV. He could spend hours watching either the History or Discovery channels.
‘How is everything?’ ask his mother Susan after she walked through the front door. She had short cropped dark hair and was wearing a blazer over a white shirt.
‘The asteroid Aphophis just hit New York and now they’re going through which species is more likely to survive.’
‘I meant how is everything going with you? How was your day?’ she said.
‘Oh, it was all right’ he shrugged. ‘Another dreadful day of putting up with the banter from simpletons.’
‘Now Alex, you’ve got to tolerate others.’
‘Maybe I will when they tolerate me’ he replied sharply. ‘Chris is alright though. As long as I’ve him I’m fine.’
‘And me’ she added in tickling his sides.
‘Hey, stop that’ he winced while squirming. She stopped tickling him and patted him on the shoulder.
‘So how is your project coming along?’ she asked curiously sitting down on the lounge next to him.
‘Brilliant. I think it’s just about ready to go.’
‘Imagine that, my son the first person to reach light-speed travel’ she smiled. ‘I’m so proud of you; even if it doesn’t work I’ll still be proud.’
‘Thanks for your vote of confidence, mum’ he replied sarcastically.
‘I’m only joking’ she replied. Alex couldn’t be sure. He was taking a giant leap of faith with the project but a voice kept telling him to go for it. After all, scientists had got it wrong before and weren’t humiliated that much, and he was only fourteen so if he couldn’t get it right at first he’ll keep at it and maybe twenty years later he could succeed. The thought didn’t exactly make him feel any better. He wanted to prove his theory right now.
He was distracted by his thoughts by a sudden pain in his temple. He automatically moved his hand to the spot.
‘Are you ok?’ asked Susan.
‘Yeah, I think I’m just getting a headache.’
‘Make sure you wear your glasses when you’re on that computer’ she said.
‘Yes mum’ he said in a pretend-whine.
***
Later that night they ate dinner on a long wooden table, far too big for just the two of them. Alex prodded his pasta with his fork. He was too bothered by his own thought to eat.
‘Mum, can you tell me what dad was like?’ he finally asked looking up from his dinner. His father had been shot when Alex was only little.
‘Hmm, I don’t think I actually remember your father’ she confessed. ‘No wait, I think I do remember him. I remember that after I was in a car accident he was constantly by my side and helped me get my memory back. He was sweet, charming, and such a flash dresser.’ She laughed.
‘Was he a good dad to me? I don’t remember.’
‘Oh yes, he let you be you. He urged the teachers at your school to encourage what he called your gift’ she explained. She lifted her eyes up and by the expression on her face Alex could tell she really did love him.
‘Do you miss him?’
‘More and more everyday’ she replied sadly.
‘You still got me, mum. I’m not going anywhere.’ He smiled warmly. ‘Seriously, I’m staying here forever. Do you think I could ever afford a house this size?’ He ducked just in time for a bread roll to be thrown at him.
‘Hey, watch it!’ he shouted. ‘But seriously, I won’t be gone for a long time, even if I did move out I’d always visit.’
‘I know you will.’ Susan placed a hand on her son’s cheek. ‘I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.’
‘I’m not going anywhere’ he replied.
3. The Schrödinger
The day had come at last for the test flight. The location for the experiment was at a former RAF military base in Middlesex. It was on a Sunday so Alex invited Chris and his mother to watch him do the test flight. Susan had to work which disappointed Alex because he wanted her to be there.
‘If it was me I’d prefer it if my mum couldn’t come’ said Chris trying to be reassuring. He was standing with Alex on the landing strip waiting for the physicists to arrive.
‘It’s different between us though. She supports me and I want to share this experience with her. Don’t ask me why but I just don’t see why everyone else is embarrassed by their parents.’ He turned and gave Chris an accusing stare.
‘You’re weird Alex but a good kind of weird’ replied Chris.
‘Ah, there he is!’ exclaimed Professor Everett pointing in the boys’ direction. He was standing next to two other men: one with greying hair in a suit; the other well built with a crew cut wearing a pilot’s uniform.
Fielding beckoned Alex to come over. ‘Hi Alex, are you excited for today?’
‘Oh, definitely’ he replied enthusiastically. ‘Is it Ok if my friend Chris watches?’
‘No objections from me. I want to introduce you to Professor Bryce Fielding from Oxford University.’
Fielding quickly stepped forward and took Alex’s arm and shook it. ‘It’s great to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you. I’m very interested in this project of yours.’
“Yes, I’m sure you are,” thought Everett suspiciously.
‘Ah, and this is James Nider who will be instructing you through the flight.’
‘Hey Alex, how you doing?’ greeted Nider shaking his hand. He had an American accent. ‘I’m just going to make sure you have a safe trip.’
Alex smiled weakly. ‘Thanks, good to meet you, both of you.’
‘Well, we’ll be in the navigation control room setting up – that room’ said Everett pointing to a window high in the building. ‘We’ll call to see if you’re ready to start.’ He walked into the building, followed by Nider and Fielding.
‘Someone from Oxofrd – what’s that all about?’ asked Chris when Fielding was well out of ear shot.
‘They want to shut us down’ replied Alex calmly.
‘Why do they want to do that?’
‘I think because of the cost involved and the media attention it’s caused’ he shrugged and walked over to the plane, and Chris followed him.
They approached the plane. It was a blue with the same appearance of the Spitfire aircraft used in World War Two with Schrödinger painted across one of the wings in white. Next to it was a thick brush-stroke painting of a cat’s head.
‘Schrodinger’s cat’ replied Alex cheerfully. ‘It’s the cat in a parallel universe that didn’t die from radiation poisoning.’
‘Well, that was nice of you’ replied Chris awkwardly.
‘I just love science Chris. I live and breathe it and annoy others about how much I know about it every day’ said Alex swaying on the balls of his feet. ‘Let’s go in.’
Instead of opening it from the top he tapped the side door which sprung open like a car boot. Chris wasn’t sure what he pressed to open it.
‘It’s a secret mechanism. It also can be opened with a key. That was the emergency hatch; I was just showing off.’ He smiled and stepped into the plane.
The interior was a bit bigger than the inside of an average aeroplane. There was a cockpit with basic aeroplane controls, but there was a small rectangular-shaped space in between a much larger machine covered with electronics.
It looked like a gigantic spinning top with a tube coming out of it. It was shaped like a pentagon – no wait, a hexagon. There was a computer built into one side which looked more ancient than the CRT monitors the school used because their budget couldn’t afford the wide flat screen monitors.
‘Why didn’t you just put your own monitor in it? You’ve got the most updated computer I’ve ever seen.’
‘It’s just the exterior of it’ revealed Alex. ‘It’s bigger on the inside.’ He grinned cheekily.
‘Can you play games on it?’ Typical Chris, thought Alex.
‘It hasn’t got a very powerful video card. It’s more of a wave detector’ he paused seeing Chris’ unimpressed expression. ‘But it has got digital TV and radio’ said Alex. ‘And the TV’s got a live webcam.’
‘So we can chat to each other when you’re in it?’ Chris raised his eyebrows half sceptic, half excited.
‘That’s the plan. There’s a lot more it can do but it’ll take ages. It’s your standard aircraft computer but also with a few extras’ he concluded cheekily.
A device on the control board started blinking and a voice came out of its speakers. ‘Alex, we’re ready to start.’
‘That’s Professor Everett. You better go’ urged Alex.
He walked over to an area of the plane that looked like a normal cockpit and sat into a chair next to it. He clicked a few switches and checked the gauges before putting a communicator into his ear.
Chris had turned to leave but instead closed the plane door and tip toed past Alex and hid behind an unused machine. He had no idea what it was for but it looked like a safe spot to hide.
‘Can you hear me Professor?’ Alex asked while adjusting the radio monitor.
‘I can hear you Alex’ replied Everett. ‘Now, Captain Nider is going to take over.’
‘How you doing, kid?’ asked Nider.
‘Uh good’ he replied. ‘Am I right for clearance?’ he paused then he said much more professionally. ‘I request clearance for flight.’
‘Clearance granted’ replied Captain Nider. ‘Fly runway heading and climb 1,000 feet.’
Alex started up the engines and accelerated forward until he reached the average speed to get the plane in the air safely. He levelled it out so that it wasn’t tipping too far forward or back.
‘OK, take her to 100 knots and keep moving forward until I tell you.’ That was easy enough. All he had to do was increase the speed and keep the plane level. ‘Now bank right until you reach 5nm and then bank left.’
Alex moved the wing flaps so that the plane could turn right, then after 5nm turned left.
‘You’re doing great, now climb another 1,000 feet’ said Nider.
‘Can I increase the speed to 200 knots?’ asked Alex impatiently, although he’s rather increase it to 200,000 but he kept it to himself.’
‘Alright, but do it gradually.’
“I’ll show you gradually,” thought Alex. He put the plane into autopilot then got to his feet and flicked a switch which made a much larger screen come down which showed the area outside, then he walked over to the hexagonal control board. He started turning strange objects and pulling levers.
Chris was shocked to learn that he had been moved into another room. It was empty. But he could still hear the plane engines roaring so he must still be on the plane. But what kind of plane can transport you to another room? What kind of plane even has a secret room upstairs? What kind of plane even has an upstairs?
The main control room that Alex was in had grown larger. It was bigger than his living room. It was as big as a concert stage. The floor was spherical and seemed to be made up of platforms, with two staircases leading to unknown rooms above and one leading to below the control board. The colours had also changed from dull bronze to a smoother metallic blue and silver.
Alex threw off his communicator and carelessly discarded it on the floor. He walked over to the hexagonal console and leant over it greedily. “At last,” he thought, “at last.” The control board hummed with life with a column moving up and down emitting a green glow of an unknown substance. Alex pulled a lever down making the console whine loudly.
In the navigation room Nider, Everett and Fielding along with other officials watching the demonstration, witnessed the plane stop midflight and then it vanished.
4. Asterion
The blue police box spun around at a rhythmic pace as it passed a beautiful nebula made up of blue, silver and pink gasses. Inside this box was strangely not made up of wooden walls and floors surrounding a sparse space, but the vast interior extended wider than the eye could see.
The main control room was about as big as a house with a winding staircase that disappeared to unseen areas above and below. The walls were lined with spherical bumps and the control room emanated with a yellow/green earthly glow.
In the middle of the room stood a central control unit with six sides and a tube protruding through the top of it, rising up and down in a synchronised beat to the wailing of the machine.
On each side of the control unit was an array of electronics and switches and levers, as well as common household items.
Beside the control unit stood a slender man in a blue suit and red sneakers, with short golden brown hair that stuck up in the front and fell in flecks over his forehead. He turned away from the machine and looked around the TARDIS and felt it was too large for just one person. He had said many times that it was built for six people to fly.
But the Doctor was alone now. He had companions in the past that either returned to their families or loved ones or who he decided had to leave for their own good. All of it didn’t matter anymore because his time was running out. The reason why he was flying the TARDIS so far in Space was to escape from the inevitable and delay his own death.
Suddenly the TARDIS jerked forward as if being pulled by an unknown force. The Doctor fell onto the central control unit and tried to steady himself by lifting his body up with his arms. The TARDIS begun to spin rapidly so the Doctor reached out and grabbed hold of the handbrake and steadied himself by propping his shoe up on the control desk, but as the spinning continued he lost his balance and slipped onto the metallic floor with a thud.
The Doctor desperately clawed his way back up to the console by first hugging the bottom of the console and lifting himself up high enough to reach the controls. He turned dials, clicked switches and slammed buttons but none of it made a difference. Something else was controlling the TARDIS. Or somebody.
Then he finally pulled the handbrake lever which was either the same time or the cause of the TARDIS going into complete shutdown.
The Doctor looked up cautiously, ‘oh no, no, no, no’ he uttered, and then finally shrieked. ‘No, don’t do this to me!’ kicking the side of the control casing in frustration. The kick at least made a few lights on the console appear; one of them being a system scanner.
The Doctor pulled the scanner close to him and read the information on the screen. ‘Location unknown – what? I’ve travelled for nine hundred years through space and time and you’ve never given me location unknown before.’
He crossed the room and put on a long brown coat and then took a moment to think while resting his hand on the handle of the wooden door before opening it and nudging his head slightly out to take a peek outside.
The warm Sun shined into his eyes and looking up down and around he saw thick green grass, a tarmac road and a neat row of terrace houses.
The Doctor frowned but walked outside and slowly walked up the street in search for a street sign or any evidence that would tell him where he was. Then he saw them.
There was a child on a tricycle and two others tossing a ball around in their front yard. But they were not human; they had canine faces with their body covered in fur underneath human clothes, but they seemed to get around just fine on two legs.
The Doctor smiled at them before he approached them. ‘Hello, I’m a bit lost. Can you tell me where I am?’ he asked politely.
‘You’re in military zone: Lupus Six’ replied the child on the tricycle.
‘Right, Lupus Six…what planet is that again?’
‘God, you are thick’ scoffed the child.
‘Hey, just answer the question’ instructed the Doctor sternly.
‘It’s Asterion.’
‘Oh, you must be Asrians then’ replied the Doctor in amazement.
‘Not as dumb as you look then’ replied the child before riding off.
The Doctor frowned at the child then went to turn around but was blocked by a flash of blue as a tall man almost collided into him.
‘Oh, it’s you Jack’ he said upon realising it was his old friend Captain Jack Harkness. ‘Are you following me again? No wonder the TARDIS landed here. Still, better than the year 100 trillion.’
‘No Doctor, I just appeared here’ replied Jack, ‘and take a look at this’ he said showing the Doctor his Time Vortex Manipulator on his wrist. It was dead. ‘I was just sitting in the Maldovarium sipping my drink when I was pulled on this planet.’ Jack lifted up his martini glass to show the Doctor.
‘It’s Asterion; home to the Asrie people. I met one not long ago. He helped me escape from a hoard of Arionites on the planet Hasaris by using his extremely powerful claws to tunnel through solid rock. Asrian’s are handy if you ever find yourself trapped in a cave with gigantic carnivorous leeches. I’ve never been able to find their planet before though.’
‘So how is that we’re both here by accident?’ asked Jack suspiciously.
‘I’ve got no idea’ confessed the Doctor gravely. ‘But while we’re here it can’t hurt to have a look around.’ He gave Jack a cheeky grin and walked off.
They came to a long street lined with shops with the mountains stretching into the far distance. The locals were hopping around excitedly and whispering to each other. A group of them were pointing towards the distance.
‘Sorry to intrude but could you tell me what’s going on here?’ asked the Doctor interrupting two female Asrians. They gave him a frightful look.
‘A human’ one of them gasped but before the Doctor could correct them it said. ‘A spaceship has fallen from the skies!’
‘Looks like we weren’t the only ones being pulled to this planet’ said Jack looking toward the smoke.
‘Looks like they didn’t make it’ said the Doctor, then turning to the crowd he said. ‘It’s ok, I’m a doctor!’ and headed towards the smoke, Jack followed behind him.
‘Wait, Doctor!’ called a voice.
‘Malkee!’ cried the Doctor in surprise. Malkee was tan and black and resembled a Rottweiler. ‘So good to see you – oh, this is my friend Captain Jack Harkness’
‘How do you do’ greeted Jack.
‘Very well’ he replied, ‘this is my friend Endroo. Doctor you said you were going to investigate the crash?’
‘That I am Malkee…that I am.’
The four of them headed towards where the smoke was coming from. They were near a rocky mountain range when they found the spaceship or rather – aeroplane.
‘What is it?’ asked Malkee.
‘It’s an aeroplane from Earth’ replied the Doctor. ‘Let’s see if the pilot’s still alive’
‘But Doctor what’s a regular aircraft doing here?’ asked Jack nervously.
‘I don’t know but it could explain why we are here’ answered the Doctor approaching the aeroplane. It was as blue as the TARDIS and written on one side read: Schrödinger.
‘Could be a scientist’ said the Doctor hopefully as he pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pressed a button on it to open up a side door.
‘No windows’ commented Jack. ‘How could they see anything?’
‘Radar maybe’ said the Doctor. He and Jack walked inside and stopped in stunned silence, just after taking a few steps forward.
It didn’t look like the usual interior of an aeroplane – not even a private one. Inside it looked like a science laboratory with a metallic silver and blue theme. It was a large square room with a central control unit similar to the Doctor’s TARDIS in the middle. On the walls were books, more controls, a jukebox and a drum kit. The Doctor marvelled at these last items.
‘It looks like the TARDIS’ Jack said in awe.
‘It is a TARDIS’ the Doctor replied grimly.
‘But you said your TARDIS was the last one’
‘I know what I said Jack, but I’ve been wrong before’
‘Do you think it’s him?’ asked jack nervously.
‘I hope not. No, it couldn’t be. It just doesn’t look like something he’d make’ raved the Doctor walking over to the jukebox and drum. ‘Would he have a jukebox – maybe; a drum kit – I don’t want to know – it just doesn’t feel like him. Why a plane though? The Chameleon circuit isn’t broken.’
‘Maybe he likes planes’ interrupted Jack.
‘No, it’s too human.’
They both looked around. There didn’t seem to be anyone inside this TARDIS, until Jack saw a body on the ground.
‘There’s your pilot’ he said approaching the body.
‘Well help me get him up then Jack’ said the Doctor helping the figure onto a nearby chair.
‘It’s just a kid’ said Jack kneeling near the boy. He had a large gash on the side on his head.
The boy grunted as he came back to consciousness.
‘Hello there, I’m the Doctor and this is Jack’ said the Doctor quietly and turning around his noticed Malkee and Endroo enter the TARDIS. ‘Oh and they are Malkee and Endroo.’ The boy didn’t seem to be bothered by this first contact with the Asrian race. He nodded weakly in greeting.
‘I’m Alex.’
‘It’s nice to meet you Alex, now tell me – who’s TARDIS is this?’ asked the Doctor hurriedly.
‘What’s a TARDIS?’ Alex asked confused.
‘This is’ replied the Doctor indicating the whole area around them.
‘It’s an aeroplane – my aeroplane’ corrected Alex.
‘On the outside yes but it is without a doubt a TARDIS’
‘I don’t know what a TARDIS is’
‘It’s a Time Lord spaceship’ informed the Doctor.
‘Oh, I didn’t realise’ Alex replied sarcastically.
‘How did you even get on board?’ asked the Doctor impatiently.
‘I um – forget.’ He closed his eyes hard to try to remember. ‘Yeah, I got no idea.’
‘You forgot how you got on the TARDIS?’ The Doctor stared at the boy in disbelief. ‘And you’ve got no idea whose TARDIS this is?’
‘I told you it’s an aeroplane’ repeated Alex impatiently.
‘Look around you. It’s a bit of a wide space for an aeroplane, don’t you think?’ Alex looked around the room.
‘I guess so.’
‘You guess so?! Oh you guess so’ repeated the Doctor. ‘You never noticed that?’ Alex shook his head. ‘Maybe whatever Time Lord left you here erased your memory’ he said leaning down to get a closer look at him.
‘You look like you’re from 21st century Earth.’
‘Yeah, aren’t you from 2019?’
‘2019? No, I’m not even that familiar with that time. I’m not really from any time.’
‘How so?’
‘I’m a Time Lord. I travel through time and space. I don’t belong in any single time or place.’ He looked up thoughtfully. ‘But enough about me – who are you and how did you come to crash onto this planet?’ Alex snapped up his head and looked at him. ‘What is it?’
‘That name sounds familiar’ he said. ‘I’m not really sure how.’ The Doctor moved closer to him and looked at him carefully. ‘Did you say we’re on another planet?’ he asked.
‘Yeah well, not too many dogs walking like humans can be found on Earth. We’re on Asterion.’
‘Oh, right.’
The Doctor gave him a suspicious look. ‘You don’t seem surprised at all or have the usual denial a human has after discovering aliens are actually real.’
‘I like to keep an open mind’ replied Alex, echoing the statement he heard Professor Everett say many times before. The line seemed to trigger a memory in him. He looked disturbed but before the Doctor could ask him what was the matter there was a noise from upstairs as a pair of sneakers descended the stairs.
‘I knew you believed in aliens!’ said Chris.
‘I don’t – well – I never gave it much thought before’ replied Alex feeling bothered by two contradictory thoughts in his head.
‘So what was that billion dollar project about, then?’ sneered Chris.
‘Hang on, who’s he?’ And what billion dollar project?’ asked the Doctor.
‘I’m Chris and we’re inside the billion dollar project. I don’t know something about light-speed travel to travel further in space or something.’ He trailed off at the last few words. ‘Ask him; it’s he’s brilliant plan’ he said pointing to Alex. The Doctor turned back to Alex who didn’t seem to be showing much interest.
‘Well, what’s this project then?’ He tried to sound less impatient by using a much higher toned voice.
‘Yeah, testing faster than light travel for the University’ he replied slowly, as though he hadn’t had enough sleep the night before and found it hard to think.
‘What’s wrong with you?’ asked Chris. ‘He’s normally really energetic when he talks about this stuff.’
‘That must be quite a nasty cut on your forehead’ said Jack, indicating that maybe the injury was responsible to Alex’s memory loss and lack of enthusiasm.
‘Yeah that’s probably it’ decided the Doctor. ‘You then, Chris – do you know whose TARDIS this is?’
‘Come again?’ asked Chris just as confused as Alex.
‘He means the plane’ corrected Alex.
‘Oh um, it’s Alex’s plane’ answered Chris. This wasn’t the answer the Doctor wanted. He put his hand through his hair.
‘Now listen to me – both of you! This aeroplane – TARDIS – whatever you want to call it cannot belong to a teenage human boy’—
‘I dunno Alex is a genius’ said Chris. ‘That’s why he goes to university.’
The Doctor gave him a sharp expression. ‘Genius or not he hasn’t got the understanding to be able to fly a TARDIS.’
‘I saw him do it though. It looked really impossible from where I was standing – or crouching.’
‘You sly dog’ grinned Alex, who seemed to be returning back to normal. Chris gave him the kind of look a naughty child gives a parent when they can’t hide a secret any longer. They both laughed.
‘I’m so glad that you two are so amused’ replied the Doctor irritably. The two boys’ stopped smiling.
‘I’m sorry but I just don’t remember anything’ said Alex. His tone was more sincere this time. ‘If I remember anything I’ll tell you.’
‘Now, someone answer me this’ spoke Chris slowly and nervously. He was as white as a sheet. ‘Are those creatures over there actual aliens?’
‘Yes. They’re called the Asrie or Asrian. Natives of Asterion – this planet that you’re on’ explained the Doctor.
‘I’m on another planet…with aliens’ repeated Chris incredulously.
‘Now that’s the reaction I was looking for’ said the Doctor.
‘What do we do with them Doctor?’ asked Jack.
‘Well, we can’t just leave two children alone, especially teenagers. They could get up to all sorts of mischief. No, you two are now my responsibility.’
‘We can provide a place for them to stay, along with you and your companion Doctor’ suggested Malkee.
‘Thanks Malkee’ replied the Doctor.
***
They left the Schrödinger. The boys’ noticed for the first time that the planet they had landed on looked similar to Earth.
‘You sure we’re not on Earth?’ asked Chris. ‘This looks exactly like it.’ He turned to the Doctor. ‘Do all planets look like this?’
‘No not all. In fact, you’ve every right to question it. I’ve never been on a planet that resembles another down to the slightest detail.’
‘Asterion is made to look like the Earth’ revealed Malkee. ‘All the grass, the sky even the temperature was created with a terraforming machine. We just missed the Earth so much that we wanted to make our planet look and feel just like it.’ The Doctor mouthed ‘oh right’ as though he finally understood.
‘Hang on, you’re from Earth?’ said Chris in bewilderment.
‘We’re an evolved species’ replied Endroo.
‘You mean you’re do’—
‘Canis Familiaris’ interrupted the Doctor because he knew that calling the Asrie people dogs’ was an insult.
***
Malkee and Endroo took the Doctor, Jack, Alex and Chris to a building called the Astrix. It was about six stories high with a bedroom taking up each floor apart from the ground floor and basement. Trucks were arranged to bring both TARDIS’ down to the basement.
The room the travellers were staying in looked like any regular room you’d find on Earth, except that there were no separating walls or doors. There was a line of white beds with a few chairs and couches and one wide rectangular window revealing a large beech tree outside.
‘So, no TV then?’ asked Chris.
‘Come on Chris, you don’t need TV – you’re on another planet’ replied the Doctor cheerfully.
‘But it looks so much like Earth. It’s not that exciting to be honest.’
‘Earth is beautiful – the people are not’ replied Alex monotonously. The Doctor gave him a suspicious look.
‘Don’t worry, he’s always like that’ explained Chris.
‘Oh, we do have some natural wonders of our own’ informed Malkee. ‘We have coloured clouds from the Hurricane nebula and an Aurora Borealis viewable from anywhere on Asterion.’
Alex gave him a quizzical look. ‘Why call it the Hurricane nebula?’
‘Because the gas clouds move very similar to that of a hurricane replied Malkee, ‘but from Asterion you can only see purple clouds swirl together with pink ones.’
‘Hmm, interesting’ replied Alex thoughtfully to himself.
‘Wow, I’ve got to get used to you using Asterion instead of Earth’ remarked Chris, like would you say: where on Asterion were you or Asterion to Alex?’ He chuckled nudging his friend in the arm. Alex glared at him.
5. The Asteri Lock
The Doctor and Jack sat on a couch on the ground floor of the Astrix while Alex and Chris were stargazing outside. The ground floor of the Astrix had an area where the tenant’s could socialise over food and drinks from a bistro and bar.
‘Now this is my kind of planet’ remarked Jack.
‘Calm down Jack. There’s still the matter of finding out why we’re even here.’
‘So, does that mean we can’t at least enjoy ourselves while we’re here?’
‘No, of course not’ replied the Doctor giving a weak smile.
‘It looks like there’s something on your mind.’ The Doctor gave an ‘hmm’ sound which Jack took for a yes. He was leaning forward with his palm resting against his chin. Finally he straightened up and spoke.
‘It’s just that boy, Alex, he seems very peculiar.’ Jack nodded in agreement between sips of his martini. ‘He’s either very dull or nor- or what I can gather is normal for him. Chris on the other hand is very energetic, excited and fearful at the same time about being here. He’s actually quite curious while Alex is not.’
‘He’s probably just apathetic.’
‘And with no memory of how he got on a TARDIS too?’
‘OK, he’s apathetic and had his memory wiped by an unknown Time Lord. Or maybe another alien attempted to make a TARDIS and when it was crashing it escaped and wiped the boy’s memory.’
‘You’ve got an answer for everything, Jack.’
‘I just think you should go easy on him. He’s lost, young and probably really afraid’ explained Jack calmly. He went silent for a moment. ‘I’ve already ruined one child’s life – I’m not about to ruin another one.’
‘There’s something you’re not telling me’ replied the Doctor with a look of concern.
Jack explained to the Doctor about the 456 and the twelve children he handed over to them in the 1960s and about the child that had escaped. ‘And then I had to sacrifice my own grandson to save 10% of the children of Earth; 10% from each country.’
The Doctor put his head in his hands then lifted it and replied suddenly. ‘If we are giving our confessions then I have something to say. I’m dying Jack.’
‘I’m jealous.’
‘Stop that!’
‘I’m sorry, it’s just that it’s something I’ll never face and it gets harder especially after those close to me die’ he paused then changed the subject. ‘Do you know when you’re going to die?’
‘No, I just heard a prophecy: he will knock four times, it said then I die. After all this is over I need to go and face the music, literally.’
***
As Jack and the Doctor talked downstairs Alex and Chris stood outside the front of the Astrix gazing up at the night sky, watching pink and purple gases swirl into each other to form a variety of shaped clouds reflecting from the tiny points of starlight, illuminated even more by a back drop of green and blue Aurora light.
The boys’ were only wearing jackets and jeans so they had to wrap their jackets around themselves tighter and cross their arms to keep the clothing in place.
‘The problem with getting to view the Aurora is that it’s always freezing outside’ informed Alex.
‘It’s beautiful though’ replied Chris. ‘Usually you have to travel very far up north to see such a sight, right?’
‘Or very far south’ said Alex.
‘I guess it goes without saying that Asterion has a magnetic core.’
‘Yeah but the strange thing is that the Aurora should only be viewable from the North and South poles, and look at that’ said Alex pointing to a thick strip of white light, ‘that part of the Aurora isn’t dancing about like a curtain in the wind like it should.’
‘So what do you think it is?’ asked Chris.
‘I’m not sure…remnants of a supernova?’
‘It sure is beautiful though.’
‘Yeah’ agreed Alex then unknowingly changed the subject, ‘the stars look different here, I wonder how many other constellations they have out here?’
‘I dunno’ shrugged Chris. ‘I suppose that really bright star over there isn’t Saturn?’
‘No, it’s Cor Caroli’ replied Alex, ‘the brightest star in the constellation of Canes Venatici. The strange thing is one of its double stars is called Asterion.’
‘So the planet is named after the star?’
‘That’s right but it also just last year disappeared.’
‘That’s weird. Do you have any idea what happened to it?’
‘Sometimes stars can drift away into other galaxies’ replied Alex although he wasn’t convinced by it himself.
‘Makes sense to me’ said Chris taking out his mobile phone and pointed it up at the sky.
‘That’s not going to do it justice’ remarked Alex.
‘Yeah, well do you have a better camera on you?’
‘No, no I don’t.’
‘Then this will have to do’ concluded Chris. He pressed a button on his mobile phone and then checked the photo. ‘It didn’t work’ he said disappointedly.
Alex leant down to see it. ‘You have to slow down the shutter speed and don’t use flash.’
‘It’s just a stupid camera phone’ he muttered putting it back in his pocket.
‘Actually, come to think of it’ said Alex, ‘I just might have one camera inside my plane. I’ll look for it in the morning.’
***
Eventually, the boys’ grew tired of watching the purple clouds pass by so they decided to call it a night. They walked back inside the Astrix and relished in its warmth before going upstairs to bed.
The Doctor and Jack were in the bedroom too but not sleeping; just waiting for the boys’ to return.
‘Had fun stargazing?’ he asked.
‘Too many clouds and light pollution’ remarked Alex sarcastically. Chris frowned at him. ‘It was a nerdy astronomer’s joke, Chris’ he revealed.
The boys’ lay in their beds with the Doctor and Jack watching over them. Jack looked at the Doctor nervously while he stared at the boys’ with concern spread all over his face. Jack knew that he was constantly thinking hard about how the boys’, particularly Alex, ended up in a TARDIS.
Alex had his eyes shut tight and breathed in and out smoothly to help himself fall asleep. But he couldn’t sleep because he kept thinking the strangest thoughts.
“This planet is dangerous” his thoughts said to him, “don’t trust the Doctor or Jack and especially be wary of the Asrie.”
Alex shot up in bed fully awake. The Doctor leant forward waiting for him to speak.
‘Just had a bad dream that’s all’ he said and rolling to his side closed his eyes tightly again to try to get some sleep.
***
In the morning two very sleep deprived boys joined the Doctor and Jack downstairs for breakfast. They were sitting at a long rectangular wooden table with a few Asrians. Chris noticed that every Asrian had its own distinct colour, shape and coat length.
‘Not still frightened of them Chris?’ asked the Doctor, although it was more of a tease.
‘No, I think they’re brilliant!’
‘That’s good’ he replied. He had taken quite a shine to Chris. He went to talk to Alex but saw that he was no longer sitting at the table. ‘Where’s Alex gone?’ he asked Chris.
‘He said he was looking for something in his plane’ replied Chris.
‘You mean TARDIS’ corrected the Doctor.
‘Yeah, or that’ he shrugged.
Alex came sauntering up to the breakfast table and set down a small white SLR camera onto the table. ‘I thought I’d left it somewhere inside the plane’ he said.
‘Nice camera’ remarked the Doctor, studying it from the opposite side of the table. ‘May I?’ he asked putting out his hand, indicating he wanted to take a closer look.
‘Umm, sure’ replied Alex, reluctantly handing his camera over to him.
The Doctor took the camera in one hand and in other reached into his jacket pocket and took out a pair of glasses which he put on. Then he took out a thin device, pointed it at the camera, pressed it making it hum and emit a blue light. Chris and Alex exchanged curious glances. The Doctor spent a great deal of time turning over the camera and taking in all its detail. Finally he looked up and said. ‘It’s far too advanced for a boy from the 21st century to have.’
‘My dad was an inventor’ replied Alex quietly. ‘It was one of his projects.’
‘Was?’ asked the Doctor.
‘He died’ he replied glumly.
‘Oh, I’m sorry’ he said solemnly, setting the camera down. ‘Still, it’s a very advanced piece of quantum optics that is at least one hundred years ahead of your own time’ he explained. Then he looked straight into Alex’s eyes. ‘I’d be careful who you show this to. Someone could reproduce this camera and make billions of dollars off of it.’
‘I just thought it makes a high quality spy camera’ replied Alex.
***
After breakfast the Doctor went to see if he could fix the TARDIS’ engines. Jack’s Time Vortex manipulator was still dead which the Doctor promised he’d fix later.
He was pleased to see that he managed to restore some power to it. He pulled a lever on the console and turned a few dials which made the TARDIS make a whining noise but then it turned into a grinding sound as though something was stuck inside it.
Outside Chris, Alex and Jack were waiting. ‘I’m just going to see how he’s doing’ said Jack before walking inside the blue police box. ‘How is everything?’ he asked the Doctor, who was running like a madman around the console, pulling levers and checking the system scanner.
‘I’ve re-checked the diagnostics, controls – everything!’ yelled the Doctor frustrated. He wiped a hand through his hair making the front stand up. ‘It all seems to be working except for the materialisation fabrication and without that the TARDIS is going nowhere.’
‘My time vortex manipulator isn’t working either.’
‘Then that must mean time travel isn’t possible on this planet’ said the Doctor grimly.
‘But how did we get here in the first place?’
‘I don’t know but I’m going to find out.’ He ran from the TARDIS and burst through the wooden doors. Chris and Alex stood up slowly.
The sound of a shutter went off making the Doctor glare at Alex. ‘Stop that!’ he demanded.
‘Did you get it to work?’ asked Chris.
‘No’ the Doctor sighed. He scratched his head anxiously. ‘I think it’s time I asked for some help.’
They went back to the Astrix where Malkee was talking to another Asrie. ‘Sorry to interrupt Malkee but I’m having a bit of trouble with my ship.’
‘Ship?’ asked the other Asrie; tan, muscular with upright ears and a black muzzle.
‘Yes, my ship. It travels through space and time.’
‘Other planets can’t land their ships here without going through the Gate and even then they get turned away.’ He casually sipped his drink.
‘What’s the purpose of having a security scanner if you just turn other travellers away? By the way, we haven’t met: I’m the Doctor’ he said holding out his hand.
The Asrie gazed at it unenthusiastically. ‘I’m Aran. Anyway Doctor, it’s just the way it is.’
‘It’s set up by the military’ said Malkee. ‘They call it an Asteri Lock and the Gate is just one part of it. I can take you to them, if you like?’
‘Thanks Malkee, you’ve been most helpful’ he gave a reproachful stare to his apathetic friend.
***
Malkee took the travellers’ to the Asrian Military Scientific Research Centre. It was a dreary looking facility made of black bricks and looked similar to a courthouse. Inside it had wood panelled floors and a high ceiling. The reception desk was at the front, past that the room seemed to stretch on forever. It was a wide hall lined with doors on both sides.
There was a heavy security presence and these Asrians looked more terrifying than the civilians. Chris kept close to the Doctor and Jack, even Alex was a bit wary of them. However, the small bulge in his jacket pocket meant that he was successful in getting his camera past security.
Malkee talked to the receptionist and gave each of the travellers’ access passes to see the scientists. They went through the door the furthest away and walked into a lift which seemed to drop several feet below ground.
‘The Asteri Project is very top secret’ said Malkee.
When the lift stopped they walked into a room with an enormous oval shaped table with electronics on it. On each wall there was a large screen with different graphs displaying. The Asrian scientists were wearing long white coats and were either operating a different section of the oval or studying the screens.
‘Hello Malkee, who are your human friends?’ asked a scientist after he noticed them.
‘We’re just travellers that lost our way. I’m the Doctor, this is Jack and these two are Chris and Alex.’
‘How did you get past the Gate?’ The scientist looked mortified. ‘Oh, this is not good.’ He looked back at the other scientists. ‘It’s the Asteri Lock, isn’t it? That’s how you got through. Oh, this is not good. It’s ruined! All our hard work and for noth’—
‘Excuse me, but what is ruined?’ interrupted the Doctor. ‘I didn’t catch your name by the way.’
‘It’s Mathas’ replied the scientists still wincing.
‘OK Mathas, now tell me about this Asteri Lock.’ The Doctor crossed his arms and waited.
‘It protects us from any threats in the Universe. Asterion is taken one second out of sync in time so we are undetectable to the rest of the Universe. The government tells us it’s for our own protection. If aliens from other planets can somehow get past that then we have the Asteri Lock which acts as a shield, so forgive me for sounding rude but you shouldn’t even be able to land here, especially by accident.’
‘The Gate scans ships for Asrian DNA and if that fails they are not granted access. When the alarm goes off the emergency procedure turns on a very powerful anti-gravity force and shoots the spaceship in the opposite direction.’
‘Like black holes shoot particles across Space’ added in Alex. ‘That’s brilliant.’ They all turned to look at him.
‘Finally decided to join us then’ said the Doctor. He turned back to Mathas. ‘So, what you’re saying is that outsiders can’t access this planet unless they have Asrian DNA, but each one of us is clearly not an Asrian so how did we get here?’
‘There have been complications with the Lock’ replied Mathas nervously. ‘It was completely split in its northern hemisphere. I’m not sure how but I can only assume that’s how you got here.’
‘Have you told your government about this?’ Mathas bent his head down in shame. ‘OK, it’s ok. What will happen to you if they find out?’
‘That I’m not sure of but if we can’t fix the Lock soon they will eventually find out. Hopefully I’ll just lose my job.’
‘But you expect worse to happen?’ asked the Doctor and Mathas nodded. ‘Can you show me the Asteri Lock? I’d like to help fix it.’
‘Of course’ replied Mathas as he briskly walked over to one of the screens and pressed a series of keys on the oval shaped console. The screen showed green chequered lines in a spherical shape. ‘The Lock covers the whole of Asterion. The Gate’ he pointed to thick yellows wiggling lines’ is directly above.’
‘The only problem is as of yesterday it stopped looking like this.’ He flipped a switch showing another green sphere, except this had no yellow lines and crack through the whole northern part out the green lines.
The Doctor took out his glasses to take a closer look. ‘The security scanner just shutdown and I don’t like the look of that crack.’ He turned to Mathas. ‘I can now understand why you have such high-tech security – some planet out there doesn’t like you.’
‘That crack isn’t a part of the lock’ said Jack, everyone turned to look at him. ‘I’ve seen that pattern before. It’s a rift, a’—
‘Crack in the Universe’ finished the Doctor. ‘You’ve got a good eye Jack. That’s what we came through. You said it just showed up yesterday?’ He looked back at Mathas who nodded.
‘I just hope you don’t get as many Weevils as we did’ said Jack. Mathas gave him a quizzical look. ‘Big ferocious aliens that come through the rift.’ He looked at the build of the Asrie. ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.’
‘Wait, I think I saw the Rift last night’ interrupted Alex.
Jack let out a chuckle. ‘You can’t see the Rift, Alex, it’s invisible.’
‘But there was a white light in the distance that couldn’t have been the Aurora.’
‘The Aurora and the nebula made the Rift transparent’ revealed the Doctor. But why is that?’
‘When the Asteri Lock was activated it trapped in matter close to the atmosphere’ explained Mathas, ‘otherwise those solar storms could strip this planet bare.’
‘So they’re just floating around inside the shield?’ asked Alex.
The Doctor pondered on a thought for awhile but decided to forget about it and instead said. ‘So you’re vulnerable to aliens travelling through time but what about space?’
‘Asterion is still invisible to the rest of the Universe.’
‘Well, there’s one good thing’ replied the Doctor thoughtfully.
‘You said you would help us fix it?’ said Mathas hopefully.
The Doctor took a deep breath. ‘You want me to fix a security scanner that somehow disappeared and close a crack in the universe?’ He paused as Mathas lowered his ears back. ‘Yeah ok, how hard can it be?’
Chris and Alex had spent all day watching the Doctor working his way through Asrian physics and were surprised that he only needed a few minutes of revision before understanding it completely. Alex thought that maybe the Gate had been turned off by another machine but the Doctor disregarded it and told Alex he was more interested in turning it back on.
Alex made a few attempts to take photographs of the secret military research laboratory but stopped when he saw the Asrie’s twitch their ears around.
As the hours dragged on Jack suggested to the Doctor that he get some rest and try again tomorrow. The Doctor obliged after looking at the bored faces on the boys’ who also looked like they needed a good feed.
After dinner they all sat on couches inside the Astrix. They had met a few more Asrians who were talking about their days. The trip to the Asrian Military Research Centre had impressed Alex and so he was much more talkative.
‘Incredible, these Asrie are. Their knowledge of science is so much advanced than our own. I can’t wait to tell Everett or even that git Fielding’ he said energetically.
‘Was he the physicist that didn’t like you?’ asked Chris.
‘He was always criticising me. He said that I was too young and too much of a dreamer – I sure showed him right?’ He laughed with Chris then looked up at the Doctor who was giving him an intensely serious stare. ‘I swear though I’m not sure how my plane turned into a time travelling machine’ he added in quietly dropping his gaze down to his shoes.
‘The Time Lord’s were very advanced in science too, Alex. You would have liked them’ replied the Doctor.
‘I’m sure I would have.’
‘Alright you two off to bed’ said the Doctor suddenly.
‘Who died and made you our dad?’ argued Alex.
The Doctor was taken aback. ‘I liked it better when you didn’t speak.’
‘Call it time traveller jet lag’ shrugged Alex. ‘Anyway, I’m curious as how the Asrie became the Asrie.’
‘Well I can’t argue with that’ replied the Doctor, but after that go to bed, seriously now.’ Alex gave a rebellious puff of the cheeks and then slowly nodded his head in agreement.
‘I suppose I’ll start’ decided a very long haired white and silver Asrie, who closely resembled an Old English sheepdog. She was called Old Martha.
‘Many centuries ago on Earth a scientist called Art Van Stiemas Heigel’ –
‘What?’ scoffed Alex and Chris in unison.
‘We Asrie call him Dr. Hiegel for short and sometimes refer to him as The Vet’ replied Old Martha irritably then went on. ‘He wasn’t happy that the species Canis Familiaris was kept as a pet or put to work by other humans. He thought we could be much more. It was often stereotyped that we were stupid energetic loyal creatures that humans could contain by teaching us cheap tricks or thrashing us.’
‘Dr Heigel was a scientist with a great knowledge of biology and also a passion for advancing Man’s knowledge of science. But he thought Man to be too proud and so took our unwavering loyalty to be the best species to work on scientific concepts for the sake of knowledge and not power.’
‘I would question that’ interrupted the Doctor than he put his hands up. ‘Sorry, please continue.’
‘Dr Heigel created the Asrie with both canine and human DNA. I’m not really sure of the specifics of the process. He found us a planet and made it invisible to the rest of the universe so we could be protected from invasion. He taught us all about science and told us to only use it to benefit our race.’
‘Doctor, you are right though. The government has become arrogant with the Asrians advanced knowledge of science and have turned against other species of the Universe. Only the government and military can travel through space and time, while we are ordered to stay here for our own protection.’
‘It sounds like a police state!’ exclaimed Chris in disbelief.
‘If Earth could have that level of knowledge I’m sure they’d do the same’ retorted Alex.
‘It seems any highly advanced civilisation goes down this path’ replied the Doctor grimly. ‘The Time Lord’s did it, the Dalek’s – well, they were created to do it – and now the Asrians are doing it.’
‘Where did this Dr Heigel go?’ asked Alex.
‘Nobody knows; some say he went back to Earth’ replied Old Martha.
‘Great so, I’m on a planet that being run by a totalitarian government’ exclaimed Alex in a high voice. ‘If that’s the only thing to worry about then I think I’m right for bed.’ He got up, stretched and head for the stairs.
‘Wait!’ called Old Martha and Alex halted and turned around. ‘There is another threat that endangers you humans in particular.’
‘And what’s that?’ asked the Doctor cautiously.
‘The Wargs’ she replied shaking with terror. ‘They are a rebel movement that would kill a human without thinking twice.’
6. The Warg Encounter
Chris and Alex exchanged frightened glances. The Doctor looked up at them. ‘Right, you two go upstairs. I have a lot to discuss with Jack.’ He indicated the stair behind them. The boys’ were disappointed that they were being left out but slowly made their way upstairs to the bedroom.
‘Doctor, have you met the Wargs before?’ asked Jack returning to his seat.
The Doctor shook his head. ‘No, the only Asrian I’ve met is Malkee. I thought they were all caring and helpful people.’ He spoke slowly as if being let down by the Asrie race or angry at himself for believing they were all as nice as his friend.
‘Who do you think this Dr Heigel is?’ asked Jack. ‘A human’—
‘No, with that level of knowledge he would have to be a higher alien species’ he interrupted then paused for a few seconds then let out a big sigh. ‘I would even say that he could have been a Time Lord.’
‘But why would a Time Lord make the Asrie?’
‘I don’t know but maybe, like me Dr Heigel wanted to escape the Time Lord’s and pursue science without turning into…well…them.’
***
Upstairs the boys’ were in bed. They were keeping their voices low and talking about everything they heard tonight.
‘Do you think small little terriers were also turned into Asrie?’ asked Chris.
‘I dunno, could be.’
‘I miss Scampers’ said Chris sadly and reflecting on his cross-breed shaggy terrier he owned when he was a little boy. Alex had a dog at home too; a German shepherd called Asriel. He stopped short and pondered on that name. It was so close to Asrie, but no it couldn’t be. It was nothing more than a coincidence he thought.
‘What do you make of those Wargs?’ asked Chris after Alex turned his back to him hoping that his friend would get the hint that he wanted to sleep. He abruptly turned back around.
‘I don’t know. Maybe they think what they’re doing is good but they’re desperate and so are violent to achieve their ends.’
‘What makes you think that? We don’t even know what they’re like.’
‘I don’t know’ admitted Alex sincerely. ‘I just figured that they’re like all the other freedom movements out there. You know, they start off fighting for a fairer system but become worse than their oppressors.’
‘It’s too late for me to try and work out what you’re talking about’ replied Chris with a wave of his hand. Alex glared at him but it was dark and Chris had already turned onto his side to sleep. Alex rolled onto his back and shut his eyes and tried to fall to sleep, but his mind was buzzing with thoughts about the Asrie and for some strange reason he was thinking about those he left on Earth; the professors’ that would have been dumbstruck at Alex’s little stunt and his mother that he last saw two days ago – or was it more than that? Alex hit two fists to his temple to try and stop thinking. He had to try to get some sleep.
After his thoughts had passed more seem to pop up. Frustrated, Alex tried to shake these thoughts too. His brain just wanted to know more about Time Lords and the Wargs. He closed his eyes tight “stop thinking – stop thinking – stop thinking” he thought loudly in his head. He turned to look at Chris. His friend was breathing quietly and sleeping like a baby. It just made Alex angrier. He threw the cover over his head. Maybe he could suffocate the thoughts away.
A few hours later after barely an hour of sleep he woke up. He sighed and decided that he’d just lie there until he could fall asleep. It had to happen eventually. So there he lay, quiet, still and alert in the dark. Then he turned his gaze to the bedside table and the camera sitting on top of it.
He slowly and quietly swung his legs over the bed, picked up the camera and tiptoed to the window. Slowly he unlocked the window with a loud click and pushed the window out that made a loud moan. Alex kept checking if his friend was waking up but Chris didn’t stir.
There was a cool breeze now coming through the window humming in tune with the swirling of the pink and purple clouds. The strong beech trees branches outside stayed firm in the breeze and the leaves waved back and forth.
Alex smiled and looking back at his friend still sleeping quietly said. ‘This is how you take a photo of the Aurora.’
He first switched the camera the manual mode, turned it on then adjusted the settings. He was sure he needed a low ISO and slow shutter speed when it came to taking photos of weather lights shows such as lighting and Auroras.
He framed the image so that the pink swirling clouds and green lights were in the shot as well as a silhouetted tree in the distance. He pressed the shutter and pressed the button to review his photo. A wide satisfied grin spread across his face as he gazed down on it. ‘Oh, I am good’ he murmured. But there was another silhouetted object near the tree. Alex zoomed in on it. It looked like an Asrie but one that was much taller and wider. And it seemed to just be standing there waiting for someone.
Fear and excitement gripped Alex’s heart and he foolishly opened the window wide and climbed on the beech tree standing outside. The trunk curved and twisted forward as though it was beckoning Alex to use it as a step ladder. He crouched on all fours as he descended it. He hugged it with his arms and legs because it was on a ninety degree angle like a playground slippery dip. He landed on the ground on his feet. A sharp pain shot up through his body but he knew it would pass because he had jumped from many heights when he was younger.
He approached shadowy figure. ‘You’re a Warg aren’t you?’ His nervous voice quivered. The Warg snarled. ‘Look I don’t think you’re bad. The humans they probably did a lot of awful things to you because, well, their stupid and think they are better than you – but I’m not like that.’ Alex didn’t know what he was saying or why he was even standing there in a t-shirt, jeans and socks while the chilly air stung his extremities, trying to reason his way out of being this Warg’s midnight snack. The beast snarled again. Alex had always wondered what he’d do in a situation like this. Would he run or would he fight? He didn’t think any of those options were possible at the moment. He was either frozen by the cold or frozen by fear.
The Warg came out of the shadows. It towered above Alex. It was black with a matted medium coat. Its chest puffed out and around its neck was a mane of longer hairs making it look like a lion. It wore a collar with lights blinking back and forth on it which Alex found quite curious. Its eyes were coloured an unnatural yellow. At least not red, thought Alex, because that would be far too corny. He must remember that if he survives this to tell his brain to ease up on the witty comments, especially in a life or death situation like this.
The Warg lunged forward and grabbed him by the arm swiftly. Alex’s animal instincts finally caught up with him and he pulled himself free and fought back by giving the beast a sharp push with all his weight. The Warg slapped him across the face leaving deep cut. Alex fell to the ground. This was it; this was the end of him he thought. The Warg could have easily been seven feet tall and as wide as a bull, if a bull was to stand upright. It approached him with its werewolf like legs moving slowly. It had armoured plates on its legs slowing it down. Alex decided to use this to his advantage. He quickly got up and ran as fast as he could in the opposite direction and ran into even more Wargs.
He put up his hands in surrender as one of the Wargs from the group turned him around and held him with a powerful grip to hold him still.
‘What are you doing? Just kill me already!’ he screamed. At the possible prospect of having a slow and painful death he would rather have a quick and painless one. The Warg laughed a menacing laugh revealing its sharpened teeth.
‘We wish not to harm you child’ it said.
‘But I don’t understand – I’m a human! You hate me, right?’ Alex sometimes wished that he kept his logical thoughts to himself. Now was definitely one of those times.
‘It is not in our orders to.’ Alex gave a face like he finally got it. He thought that maybe they were just freedom fighters, but still, one of them had a very tight grip on him.
‘What do you want then? Tell me what you’re fighting for – maybe I can help!’ He kept on shouting out these impulsive thoughts as the Wargs around him chuckled with laughter. ‘No really, I think you’re ok, just misunderstood.’
‘No wonder he chose this cub’ exclaimed the Warg. He was holding a chunky black object shaped like a gun.
‘Who chose me?!’ yelled Alex. ‘I demand to know!’
‘Now is the time for you to be silent’ ordered the Warg in a gruff voice. He positioned the object in his hand and held it in front of Alex’s face. The gun or whatever it was released a burst of light like a camera flash, even mimicking the sound of one. Alex could see nothing but bright light and a line of rainbow colours. The next thing he heard was gunfire and heavy footsteps running away. He let out a sigh after realising the Wargs had gone. He heard the familiar voices of Malkee and Jack.
‘I survived’ he gasped and collapsed onto the cold grass.
He woke up on a couch on the ground floor of the Astrix. His vision was still a bit blurry but he could make out the long brown coat and blue suit of the Doctor, who was leaning forward and staring right at him.
‘Are you OK?’
‘Umm’ was all Alex could get out. He struggled to sit up. His shoulder was throbbing and the cut on his face was stinging, but his vision was returning to normal. ‘A bit sore’ he said.
‘A bit sore?! You’re lucky to be alive. There were six full grown Wargs out there and all you got was a cut on your face. You should think yourself lucky.’
‘Lucky – LUCKY?! They almost tore my arm off and I thought I was blind!’ He glared at the Doctor.
‘Blind? Blinded by what’
‘I don’t know’ Alex shrugged. ‘They flashed some light in my eyes.’
‘A light? Maybe some type of scanner? I don’t know. How did they even get you? They didn’t get inside.’
‘I went outside’ replied Alex quietly.
‘I never saw you go down the stairs.’
‘I climbed out the window.’
‘Out the window?!’
‘Down the beech tree.’
‘Down the beech tree?! So after you heard about the Wargs you went in search for them?’
‘No, I saw one out the window and I sort of trusted it enough to follow it.’
‘Why would you trust them? You just heard about them.’
‘I just felt it and I heard a voice.’ The Doctor raised his eyebrows.
‘What did this voice say?’
‘I heard it the night before too. It said I shouldn’t trust the Asrie, and then it told me to open the window and talk to the Warg.’
‘Oh yeah, was the Warg in the mood for a conversation?’ asked the Doctor.
‘Not really but he said that he wasn’t going to kill me and someone chose me for something. I don’t know who.’
‘OK, you just get some rest and I’m just going to have a chat with Jack.’ He backed away from Alex slowly.
When the Doctor and Jack were further enough away, which was conveniently by the bar, they decided to discuss what Alex just told them.
‘What do you make of it, Jack?’ he asked.
‘Hearing voices, not a lot of enthusiasm – maybe he’s mentally ill?’
The Doctor gave him an unconvinced stare. ‘You think he’s schizophrenic? No, many of those people have actually seen aliens. I’m surprised you’d say that Jack with all your years as a Time Agent and with Torchwood.’
‘How else could he hear voices?’
‘You would be surprised. I don’t know why the Wargs would scan his brain though. Maybe for some kind of experiment to test human subconscious, but I don’t understand – why him? He’s just a human child.’
‘According to his friend he’s a very smart human child.’
‘How would the Wargs know that? Oh wait, they said he was chosen by someone – but whom?’ He scratched his head in thought.
‘There’s still a lot we don’t know about him’ began Jack. ‘He was found in a crashed TARDIS with no memory of how he got there. His friend thinks he made that TARDIS so…’
‘It sounds like you’re onto something, Jack. Don’t stop now.’
‘Maybe he is a Time Lord that used a Chameleon Arch and forgot who he was.’
‘That’s a good theory, Jack, except that he is a child with a mother and friend and can remember some things about his life and also Time Lord’s don’t regenerate into children. It’s never happened before – well, unless they die as a child.’
‘OK so we got a sometimes dull, sometimes normal kid with a selective memory that’s really smart and had once travelled with a Time Lord or alien that abandoned him and his friend when the ship crashed. Yeah I got nothing.’ Jack put his finished glass down on the table in defeat.
7. The Deserter
Alex lifted his t-shirt over his head with great difficulty. The wound on his shoulder still stung after it had been dressed and bandaged. He looked at himself in the mirror, turned his head to the side and studied three scratches on his face, trying desperately to not touch it with his fingers.
Alex turned to face Chris who was sitting up in bed. Chris gave him a sympathetic expression before Alex climbed into his own bed and turned off the lamp beside it. He rolled onto his back and tightly shut his eyes hoping that this time he could get some sleep.
He was awoken by the Sun shining through the window. “Well, at least I got some sleep”, thought Alex. He threw off the bed covers and stretched his arms and back, but stopped after he noticed he hardly felt any pain. He thought surely the deep wound inflicted by a Warg would have taken months to deal.
Alex touched his face. The scars were still there but they no longer hurt. Weird. He got up to look in the mirror which revealed that the scratches on his face looked like a housecat gave him a slap across the face instead of the werewolf-like Warg with its sharp bear-like claws.
Chris was starting to stir. Alex stood over him. Chris gave a small leap with fright. ‘Bloody hell, Alex’ he groaned. ‘Give me some warning next time you decide to gape at me while I’m sleeping.’
‘You wish. Look, my wounds have healed really fast’ he said pointing to the scratches on his face.
‘So?’
‘So, they were really deep. The Warg could have skinned me alive. It doesn’t make sense that they healed overnight.’
‘Maybe the Asrian nurse gave you some cream that heals wounds quickly’ suggested Chris, stretching but still lying in bed.
‘I don’t remember her giving me anything’ replied Alex. He shrugged and picked up the small camera on the table and put it in his jacket pocket, like he had done for the last few days.
Chris couldn’t help laughing. ‘You almost had your arm torn off but not even that will make you stop taking snapshots.’
***
The boys’ descended the stairs to the ground floor where the Doctor and Jack were waiting for them.
‘Hope you two can walk on an empty stomach’ said the Doctor excitedly as he watched the two boys’ that were half-awake move slowly down the stairs. ‘Malkee told me about this little café and swears that they make the best sausages and eggs in the galaxy.’
‘All the galaxies?’ asked Alex in puzzlement. ‘There’s millions and billions of galaxies in the Universe, with more being born all the time. Are you saying you’ve been to them all to reach such a conclusion?’
‘Almost all of them’ replied the Doctor.
‘Don’t worry about him’ replied Chris. ‘He always says stuff like that.’
The Doctor responded with an ‘oh’ but then cautiously stared at Alex. He walked over to him and gently tilted the boy’s head to study the scars. ‘All healed up nicely, then’ he said in his usual cheery voice. ‘That’s remarkable’ he added quietly, and then quickly changed his mood altogether. ‘Right, who’s for breakfast, then?’
***
They left the Astrix and for the first time, got to take in the sights of the Asrian market place. It would have looked like any average town on Earth; a gravel road with a string of shops lined up that seemed to stretch on forever, and disappear into the distance. Around every corner were terrace houses and local businesses. But this was an alien world designed to mimic Earth, from the lush green rainforests to the seas to the more industrial areas that gave one the same experience of any small city on Earth.
Chris’ stomach grumbled. He didn’t like having to walk to his breakfast. He held onto his quivering stomach while wishing the TARDIS had wheels – little did he know that it could fly.
‘Ugh, so hungry’ groaned Chris.
‘Settle down Chris, we’re almost there’ assured the Doctor. As he spoke a pack of Wargs’ approached from the opposite side. ‘Good morning!’ the Doctor greeted them cheerfully. ‘You look tired. Didn’t you get much sleep last night?’ A Warg snarled at him revealing sharp yellow teeth. ‘And by the looks of it, not brushing very well either.’
“Let’s just tear him apart” the Warg suggested, but to Alex, it was communicating through thought.
“We haven’t got the order to yet” replied another Warg – the one that attacked him last night.
Alex wanted to see if he could communicate telepathically. “What do you want from me? Who chose me – for what – and why?” He stepped forward and glared at them.
“You’re not ready yet. You will be contacted soon” replied the Warg, giving him a deep and thoughtful stare.
The Doctor, who hadn’t heard any of these thoughts, looked from Alex to the Warg nervously. ‘Right, that’s enough!’ he ordered, pushing Alex to one side and moved closer to the Warg leader – or at least, the Warg standing closest to them.
He glared straight into the face of the Warg. ‘I’m the Doctor. Now I don’t know what you want with Alex but it ends right here, right now. I’m giving you one warning to leave this boy and everyone in Asterion alone, otherwise I will stop you.’
The Warg burst into laughter, a deep booming noise echoed as the rest of the pack joined in.
‘I’m being serious, Warg – you do not want to mess with me!’ he shouted over their laughter.
‘He was right about you and your arrogance, Doctor. But we will not attack unless ordered to’ replied the Warg leader after all the laughter had died down.
‘Who was right about me? Who is giving you orders?’ asked the Doctor impatiently, but the Wargs’ ignored him and walked away. ‘I demand you answer me!’ he called out to them but the Wargs’ headed down a side street. The Doctor attempted to follow them.
‘Wait, Doctor’ said Jack holding him back. ‘What about them?’ He turned to Alex and Chris.
‘Take them to breakfast, it’s just over there’ he instructed pointing at the cafe’s window.
‘But you can’t go after them alone’ protested Jack.
‘I don’t want the boys’ anywhere near them – especially Alex!’
‘Let me handle it’ said Jack. He walked over to Alex and Chris. ‘Go inside. Malkee and his friends should be in there. We’ll meet you back at the Astrix’ he paused then looked sternly at Alex, ‘no objections.’
‘What makes you think I’d object?’ he asked hurt. ‘I don’t want any more encounters with claws and bright lights in my face’ he said before entering the café with Chris.
‘I guess I was wrong about that kid’ remarked Jack, returning to join the Doctor.
***
The Doctor and Jack followed Warg footprints in the grass. The prints were easy to follow because of the pressure the Warg’s put on their feet when stepping on the ground left a clear print, with little evidence that grass was once there.
Eventually the suburban backdrop of houses decreased as they followed the tracks and they found themselves at the entry to an overgrown forest. They trudged through the overgrown grass, their long coats disappearing into it, and pulled away branches when it was needed to clear a path.
The forest seemed to go on forever and soon it looked the same in all directions, but they pushed on further, even after the Warg tracks disappeared. The only evidence that remained was the splintered remains of branches that they had trodden on. The overgrown grass seemed to just spring back up after the Doctor and Jack stepped onto it and left no footprints.
Eventually, the forest became less dense as they reached a clearing. The trees were more spread out here and the Sun was beating down on the mountains in the far distance. But the ground was muddy with Warg footprints, which could be seen coming from all directions, some prints overlapping others.
‘We must be in Warg territory now’ said the Doctor, keeping his voice low. Not even a minute after he said that a Warg could be seen running into the clearing.
Quickly the Doctor and Jack ran back into the forest and hid between two large trees, and carefully peeked out to see what the Warg was going to do next. It had stopped running but was too far away to even notice them. It looked over its shoulder nervously as if running from something or someone. When it realised it was alone it stopped to take a few deep breaths, and then with both of its massive hands it wrenched the collar around its neck off and let out an ear splitting howl.
‘It’s in pain!’ cried the Doctor, leaving his hiding spot and running over to it.
‘Doctor, it could be a trap!’ hissed Jack but he too ran towards the creature.
The Warg was now whimpering on its knees and then it collapsed onto the ground with a heavy thud, shifting uncomfortably to roll onto its side. As the Doctor approached it he noticed that it wasn’t like the massive black Warg’s he saw earlier, but it certainly was huge for an Asrie. It was tan with a black patch on its back and a black muzzle – it was Malkee’s rude friend, Aran. There was also a lot of blood gushing out of his neck.
The Doctor placed a gentle hand against its face. ‘Shh, it’s alright.’
‘The ignorant human comes to help’ it said slowly, attempting a chuckle.
‘I’m not a human’ corrected the Doctor, ‘and you’re not a Warg but you’re dressed like one.’
‘Not completely a Warg, but then, what does a 100% Warg look like?’
‘I don’t understand.’
Aran chuckled. ‘Have I finally stumped the great Doctor?’
‘Hey, do you want me to help or not?’ he said irritably.
‘Sorry Doctor, guess I was the perfect recruit for the Wargs. All Wargs were once Asries’ he revealed, ‘that have been tortured and manipulated with those – those collars.’ He flipped his large head to the direction of the broken collar.
The Doctor picked it up and turned it over in his hands. On the inside, the side that touches the neck, had wires sticking out with the ends covered in blood. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and pointed it at the collar.
‘It’s activated by wave length signals’ he said.
‘Brain waves actually’ corrected Aran, ‘mind control.’
The Doctor was astounded. ‘Are you telling me someone is controlling the Wargs through telekinetic manipulation?’
‘Yes, controlled by a human of all people’ replied Aran rolling his eyes.
‘Who’s controlling them?’
‘The one we call the Vet’ he said with contempt, and then after noticing the Doctor’s confused expression went on. ‘Yes, our great creator Dr Heigel also made the Warg’s. He controls them with hypnosis and turns them against the Asrie’s and in particular, you and your friends’ Doctor.’
‘But what does he want with me? I’ve never met him.’
‘Are you sure?’
‘Well, I can’t remember every enemy I have’ admitted the Doctor thoughtfully.
‘I don’t know very much, I just knew I had to get away. The Vet almost took my mind so I fled and removed the collar, even if it meant that I would die.’
‘Don’t be like that. We can get you some help’ the Doctor said reassuringly.
‘No, leave me be. Even if my life can be saved the Asrian government would have me locked up for wanting to join the Wargs.’
‘But how were you to know what was really going on?’
‘You’re very kind, if only my government were like you. Listen Doctor, you must protect him. One of those boys’ you’re with – the Vet knows about him and won’t let the Wargs hurt him because he plays an important part in the Vet’s plan.’
‘What is this plan – and why does he need Alex?’
Aran hesitated. ‘I’ve not got much time left. I…did…find out something…that may be of use to you’ he stammered. ‘Protect…the boy…keep…him…safe. If the Vet gets him…then both our worlds will fall.’
‘Come on, Aran, stay with me’ encouraged the Doctor. ‘Where is the Vet?’
‘I’m sorry’ said Aran uttering his last two words before going silent.
‘No don’t die, dammit!’ shouted the Doctor desperately. He heard Jack walking towards him and so got to his feet. ‘Did you hear all that?’
‘I caught parts of it’ replied Jack.
‘Right, so we got a creator who wants to destroy his people and a mysterious boy who plays a part in his plan. But what is his plan and why use Alex?’
‘Has it got anything to do with Alex hearing voices?’ suggested Jack nervously.
‘Jack, that’s brilliant!’ exclaimed the Doctor. He ran over to where he left the collar and picked it up. ‘The Wargs are controlled with this collar through what is called telekinetic manipulation. They’re controlled literally by brain waves being sent through the host’s mind – in this case the Vet’s own thoughts.’
‘And you think the same is happening to Alex? That’s kind of terrifying isn’t it?’
‘Oh, absolutely. Who knows what the boy will do next.’
They both looked at each other.
‘We better get back’ suggested Jack.
‘Yeah, I completely agree’ said the Doctor, and they ran back into the forest.
8. The Man on the Screen
Alex and Chris were sitting with Malkee and his army friends’ on the couches on the ground floor of the Astrix. Malkee had no idea that his friend Aran had breathed his last breath minutes ago.
The Asrian nurse that cleaned and bandaged Alex’s wounds was also there. She was surprised to see that the wounds were healing much sooner than usual.
‘Those wounds normally take months if not years to heal. The scars may be there for life but I don’t think the same applies to you.’
Alex leaned back against the couch while the Asrians’ were excitedly talking about what Alex could only guess as everyday Asrian things. “Great alien small talk” he thought bitterly. He made up an excuse about being tired and needed some rest, and stopped Chris from joining him by saying he needed to be alone.
Alex made his way to the stairs but stopped, looked behind him to see if anyone was looking and headed instead through a door leading him down cold concrete steps that led below ground, to where the TARDIS and Schrödinger were being held. For some reason he felt the need to go to his plane.
‘Finally, some peace and quiet’ he announced with relief, and then climbed one of the many platforms in his plane to sit behind his drum kit. He picked up his drumsticks and began to play a repetitive rhythmic beat that seemed to soothe him. He sped up the pace and could hear his own heart beating in unison. It didn’t take much for his heart to start pounding like a jack hammer, he always thought.
‘Oh, bravo!’ exclaimed a voice.
Alex stopped playing and froze. He could hear the soft patter of someone clapping. ‘Who’s there?’ he called out trying to sound threatening, and sliding off his seat went to go investigate, his heart now pounding faster and louder than ever.
‘I’m waiting, Alex’ said the voice calmly. It was coming from the hexagonal console – no wait, the computer on it – but it couldn’t be…
Alex approached it cautiously, as if it was a rabid animal ready to pounce at him. There was a man on the computer screen, dressed in a black suit with short blonde hair.
‘Who are you and what are you doing on my computer?’ asked Alex glaring at the man. He took offense that something unknown was happening to his computer he put together piece by piece. Maybe it was some new type of virus?
‘Now Alex is that anyway to talk to your father?’ the man asked with the stern look of a parent or teacher, challenging a young child at the appropriate way to address an adult.
‘My father is dead!’ spat Alex.
‘Oh, is that what they told you?’ asked the man in his calm voice.
‘No, it can’t be. You look nothing like me. The hair’ –
‘Oh alright, you’ve got me’ confessed the man playfully. ‘I’m not your father because you haven’t got one.’
‘But my mum said’ –
‘You take the word of your mother who temporary lost her memory over a strange man who infiltrated your computer?’
‘How did you know that she lost her memory?’ asked Alex confused.
‘That man she told you about, the one that helped her get her memory back – me’ he said proudly. ‘But I’m not your father, more of a creator.’
‘You created me?’ stammered Alex.
‘I wrote your whole biological code using the finer parts of mine and threw in some human ones and the result was you.’ He leant in to look at Alex closer and sniffed. ‘About an 80% success rate I’d say.’
‘Wait, did you say you’re not human?’
‘I’m a Time Lord and so are you – well, half of one at least.’
‘Like the Doctor?’
‘Yes.’
‘You know the Doctor?’
‘Who doesn’t?’
‘No, I’m a human’ said Alex flatly. ‘I don’t know who you are but I don’t buy this story one bit.’
‘Feel your hearts’ instructed the man calmly.
‘You mean heart’ corrected Alex.
‘No, you stunted half-ape I said hearts. Do it now!’ It was the first time Alex heart him raise his voice.
‘OK, fine’ replied Alex playing along. He put a hand on his chest. ‘See one heart.’
‘Move it to the left.’
Alex obeyed and his eyes widened in surprise as he felt another beat. ‘What the bloody hell is going on?’
‘It’s called a binary vascular system’ informed the man, returning to his calm tone.
‘So what you’re saying is true’ said Alex. ‘Is my mum really my mum?’
‘Yes, she is. You were still born the natural way. She has no idea what I did to you.’
‘Why did you do it to me?’ he asked glumly.
‘Cheer up, without me you wouldn’t have that exquisite brain of yours. You wouldn’t be working with physicists at only fourteen years of age.’
‘I’d be normal’ replied Alex.
‘But not as smart. Listen, I created you because I have great plans for you.’
‘I’ve been chosen’ Alex said quietly.
‘Sorry, didn’t catch that?’ said the man.
‘The Warg said I was chosen and then the next day said I would be contacted.’
‘And here I am’ replied the man cheerfully.
‘You’re Dr. Heigel, but if you created the Asrie than shouldn’t you be against the Wargs?’
Dr. Heigel chuckled. ‘My dear boy you’ve got it all wrong about the Wargs. I had to create them as freedom fighters because Asterion has lost its way. Yes, on the surface the Asrie appear to be friendly folk but in the government they are planning something terrible.’
‘I got the feeling that there wasn’t something right about them. They seem kind of totalitarian. And the first night I was here I had these voices telling me how dangerous it is that I’m here.’
‘Mmm, that was me’ admitted the man.
‘You put voices in my head?’
‘And thoughts, ideas, evens dreams – or lack thereof.’
‘You’ve been taking my memories too’ Alex added seething.
‘I did that for your own protection. As soon as the Doctor found you I had to make it hard for him to find out who you really were. You cannot trust him. He is blind to what is really going on here. He is just as stupid and trusting like the rest of the Asrie.’
‘So what’s really going on in the government?’ asked Alex.
‘They’re bored with existing outside of this Universe. Like all governments they want power and will do anything to achieve this. I created the Warg’s to stop the government straying away from the original goal of Asterion, which was to pursue science for the sake of science and not using it to abuse power.’
‘So you made the Asrie in hope that the loyalty their ancestors had would make it safe for them to learn advanced science without it corrupting them’ said Alex.
‘Very good Alex’ applauded Dr Heigel. ‘That was assumption but the human side won over and so did their greed for more power and to show the rest of the Universe just how powerful they are. The way they hope to prove this is successfully invading and conquering Earth.’
‘Why Earth? It’s a type 0 civilisation, isn’t it?’
‘Well at least your years on Earth weren’t wasted’ replied Dr. Heigel smiling before going on. ‘The Earth is well respected by other races for thwarting invasion again and again despite the fact that humans still think they’re the only intelligent life in the Universe – but believe when I tell you there is much more intelligent life out there – far more intelligent for a human to understand.’ He talked about humans like he was trying to get a bad taste out of his mouth.
‘The Doctor saved the Earth all those times, right?’ asked Alex immediately regretting asking the question when he saw Dr. Heigel’s face.
‘Yes him, UNIT, Torchwood, and an old lady with her brats’ he replied contemptuously.
‘So, can’t they stop the Asries from invading Earth?’
‘The Doctor is on their side and all those protectors of Earth are all friendly towards him. Anyway the Asries plan to invade Earth undetected under the guise of a perception filter – Time Lord technology that they stole from me.’
‘Does it make them invisible?’
‘No, it makes you see them but not be bothered by it’ explained Dr. Heigel. ‘Have you ever not noticed something that was there and had someone else point it out to you?’
‘Actually, I’m the one doing the pointing out’ replied Alex. ‘I get what you mean.’
‘Good. So you understand that even if you told the Doctor it would be very hard to prove?’
‘I understand’ said Alex but then he thought again. ‘I’m on another planet though so why should I care about saving the Earth?’
Dr. Heigel was taken aback. ‘People will die and be enslaved or worse – are you telling me you will allow that to happen?’
‘I never really liked it there to be honest’ he shrugged. ‘People treated me like dirt so they deserve what’s coming to them.’
‘Oh I see’ replied Dr. Heigel, ‘you and only you can stop an alien invasion but you refuse to because of a childish grudge.’
‘Hey, people were horrible to me and they just excluded me. They didn’t let me be myself because they didn’t like me. The only person who wasn’t that bad was Chris and he’s here on this planet with me.’
‘You really hate humans so much that you would doom them all? It’s where you grew up. It’s your home. My home was destroyed so I can never go back. My own people didn’t agree with me either, but I want them back. You have a chance to save your own people from extinction.’
‘They’re not my people. I told you there’s nothing there for me to save.’
‘Not even your mother?’
Alex’s face went from the look of surprise to shame. He forgot about the one person who raised him up, taught him and allowed him to be himself. He felt closer to her than he did his own friend. Their bond was so close it was like they had survived a war together, but had only been living together in the same house at 16 Chesterton Lane, sharing meals together or watching TV together and having discussions over cups of tea.
Alex had finally reached a decision. ‘What do you want me to do?’
‘You’ve made a wise decision’ said Dr. Heigel. ‘I’ll contact you soon about my plan of action. Just keep all this to yourself. You don’t know who you should trust.’
‘I will’ replied Alex.
‘You better get back otherwise the Doctor might send out a search party, and I must warn you, he is about to become very suspicious of you.’
Alex returned upstairs where Chris was listening intently to the Asrians’ conversation. He sat down next to him.
‘You well rested now?’ asked Chris.
‘I guess’ sighed Alex. ‘But it left me with a lot more things to think about.’
‘Being alone with your brain will do that to you’ shrugged Chris.
They heard a noise at the door followed by the sounds of quick footsteps. The Doctor and Jack ran into the room. The Doctor took a quick glance at Alex, but then addressed Malkee.
‘I’m sorry Malkee but your friend Aran has died’ he said solemnly.
They’d never seen the Asrie get to his feet so quickly. ‘What – why — how?!’ he stammered.
‘He must have tried to join the Wargs – now don’t blame him – and he tried to get away, unfortunately not before they put a mind control collar on him, and when he ripped it off he bled to death.’
Malkee lowered his ears and wept into his large hands. Jack put a supportive arm around him and urged him to have a drink with him. The Doctor turned his attention to the boys’.
‘Alex, can I have a word with you?’ he asked in a level tone. ‘Just over here’ he nudged his head to one said. Alex got to his feet and Chris did too until the Doctor put a hand up to halt him. ‘Sorry Chris, I need to speak with him in private.’ Chris sat back down obediently and exchanged worried expressions with his friend.
The Doctor led Alex into the shared kitchen into the Astrix which was now empty. ‘How are you feeling, Alex?’ he asked standing over the boy so that Alex was pressed against a wooden cabinet.
‘Fine, I guess’ replied Alex.
‘You haven’t been hearing any voices lately? No strange impulsive ideas in your head?’
‘Isn’t the point of being impulsive to not have been thinking before’ said Alex unable to hide a cheeky grin.
‘I mean like not jumping out a window in the middle of the night and greeting a Warg at the bottom of a tree’ replied the Doctor, slowly losing his patience.
‘No, can’t say I have.’
‘Nothing strange has been happening? No one’s tried to contact you?’ asked the Doctor edging closer to him. Alex shook his head. ‘Oh, alright then’ he replied in a more friendly tone. ‘Just promise me if you do have any strange thoughts or do something you wouldn’t normally do that you tell me about it.’
Alex nodded fervently. ‘Yes, I definitely will.’
The Doctor’s serious face turned to one of concern. ‘Someone’s looking for you, Alex. They want to use you to destroy both Asterion and Earth but I can’t work out how or why.’ He looked up for a second in agitation.
“He is lying to you” said a voice in Alex’s head. “The Asries are turning him against us.”
‘Alex, Alex – do you understand?’ The Doctor looked down at him impatiently as if he had been repeating himself after not getting a reaction from Alex.
‘Huh? Yeah I understand’ said Alex finally, after the voice had stopped.
‘I also want you to promise me that you’ll not go outside unless accompanied by Jack or me. I know, this is the last thing I want to do, but we can’t risk anyone getting to you.’
‘It’s OK, I understand’ replied Alex. ‘I’m on a completely different planet so I suppose I won’t have as much freedom.’
‘Well, as long as you understand. You can go now’ said the Doctor with another nudge of his head.
***
Alex collapsed back onto the couch next to Chris. ‘So what was that all about?’ asked Chris.
‘The Doctor is putting me on a short leash’ replied Alex matter-of-factly.
‘Meaning what exactly?’
‘I can’t go outside unless chaperoned by either the Doctor or Jack.’
‘But you don’t go outside’ reminded Chris.
‘I know.’
‘So what’s changed?’
‘Absolutely nothing!’ shouted Alex gleefully. ‘It’s like when a teacher threatens to be more strict on you – it’s all just words, really, and they never actually do what they say.’
‘The question is: is the Doctor like your teacher?’ asked Chris, who already knew the answer but did not want to share this bit of information with his friend.
Alex was about to find out very soon, how true to his word the Doctor really was.
9. The Spy
Freedom extinguished, that’s what Alex called it. That’s what he called the constant shadowing of the strange man with the long brown coat and red sneakers and the vintage-looking Captain with his long blue military coat, whom hovered behind him like a pair of personal body guards.
Body guards were supposed to be a choice, for the security of one’s own safety. But Alex didn’t feel like he was in danger. He was on a mission to stop these fools from eating out of the hands like dogs from the very creatures that took that appearance.
The thing that really irritated Alex was that Chris, though four months younger than he, and not as bright, was not given the same treatment. Chris was terrified about going outside alone, but if he wasn’t he’d be free to wander the streets of Lupus Six.
The chaperoning was not just contained to the outside but went into effect as soon as Alex descended those stairs leading to the breakfast area and social area on the ground floor of the Astrix.
Alex was going mad. He couldn’t take it anymore. He was also finding it difficult to hide the voices of Dr. Heigel in his head. He was the closest thing he had to a father and told him that soon he will pay back the Doctor for what he was doing to Alex.
“Preparations are getting into order. I have an Asrie spy working on the inside that will contact you soon” said the voice in his head.
Alex was sitting at the breakfast table with his arms crossed and resting on the table, the Doctor and Jack staring at him as usual in case he started to act out of character. They actually weren’t sure what was in character for him, having met him after he was put under telekinetic manipulation.
Alex had an idea. ‘I’m feeling really unhealthy of late. Is it alright if I go for a walk?’ he asked cheerfully. ‘You can come too.’ The Doctor and Jack exchanged nervous glances.
***
Alex and Chris were briskly walking through the market place of Lupus Six with the Doctor and Jack trailing behind them as usual. ‘Must get a bit annoying having those two following you all the time’ said Chris.
‘Nah, I’m used to it’ replied Alex dishonestly. ‘If it’s not them it’ll be my teachers, that Fielding git, the Mirror newspaper…girls.’
‘Yeah, you wish!’ scoffed Chris giving his friend a playful shove.
Alex looked over his shoulder to the Doctor and Jack and frowned then turned back. He needed to work out a way to lose them without them noticing right away.
A window of opportunity had come up. Alex saw a narrow passage up ahead but he needed to divert Chris’ attention away from it.
‘So what have I been missing out on school? He asked his friend. Chris was shocked by the sudden interest in others and immediately launched into a long descriptive monologue about his school mates, teachers and complaints about the amount of homework he was getting. Alex just nodded and laughed along feigning interest and even attempted to reply with questions and comments that would make Chris talk for longer. Then as Chris was absorbed in his own memory and as the Doctor and Jack paid less attention to the boys’ who seemed preoccupied with their conversation, Alex slipped into a passageway and was out of it and running up another street before he heard the furious reaction from the Doctor.
Alex grinned with satisfaction to himself and decided to turn right up into an alley way. He felt safe and secure at the dark shadows that cast over it from the buildings that surrounded it. He kneeled next to a garbage bin to catch his breath and hide in case the Doctor and Jack decided to come this way. He felt strangely warm and safe in this most unglamorous of places. But then he heard footsteps steeping onto the tarmac and coming closer.
The footsteps made chinking sounds like Alex’s cat did on wooden floorboards when his claws were in dire need of a trim. It was an Asrie then, or a Warg.
Alex peered out from passed the dumpster. It was an Asrie. He was grey with a partly white face, like a Siberian husky. He wore a long coat with a red scarf wrapped around his neck.
Alex left his hiding spot and approached the Asrie. ‘You’re the spy, aren’t you?’ he asked cautiously.
‘Yes, I am Moulin’ replied the Asrie.
‘Is that your real name?’
‘No, it’s a codename. I don’t give my real name to fellow conspirators.’
‘Did you see’—
‘I did not see the Doctor or the Captain’ responded Moulin quickly. ‘A plan has been set for you to confront the Asrian authorities. You must sacrifice yourself to save both Asterion and Earth.’
‘What?!’ scoffed Alex incredulously. ‘There has to be another way! And how is that going to solve anything?’
‘I will record it and transmit it to Earth, so Earth may be prepared for the invasion.’
‘No, this isn’t what I signed up for’ protested Alex. ‘I have to get back home – see my mum’—
‘I’m sorry, but those are the instructions’ replied Moulin unemotionally. ‘At least you can save her from what is to come’ he added then teleported away.
Alex just stood there dumbfounded. He didn’t have long to dwell on these thoughts for very long because standing where the Asrie had vanished was the Doctor, appearing so suddenly as though he teleported himself, and he was furious.
‘Alex, you are in so much trouble right now!’ he bellowed.
‘What are you going to do – take my TV, videogames and internet from me?’ he challenged. ‘Uh no, please don’t’ he said sarcastically, biting his fingers. ‘I promise to be good. I promise to come home right after school, just let me hang out with my friends.
The Doctor gave him an unamused glare. Alex just bit his lip without removing the cheeky look from his face.
‘Look, this is serious’ said the Doctor taking a few strides to stand over the boy. ‘You might not like us having to watch over you all the time but the fate of two worlds’ are at stake here.’ He looked deep into Alex’s eyes. Alex didn’t return the stare. ‘Look at me!’ he hissed. Alex sighed and centred his eyes onto the Doctor. ‘Good, now promise me you won’t do anything childish like this again.’
Alex looked into those eyes and saw them burn with fire but at the same time be as cold as ice. Impassively he looked into them and replied, ‘I promise.’
10. The Martyr
‘Come on!” bellowed the Doctor turning around swiftly and marching down the street, with his head facing straight ahead and with a constant serious expression, describing all the rage he felt for Alex at that very moment.
Jack stayed back to walk in between the boys’ shooting them nervous glances and trying to convey in his body language that the Doctor will eventually calm down. He didn’t agree with the way he was treating Alex but he didn’t want to escalate the issue any further, so he kept his feelings to himself and instead decided to play the good cop.
Alex remained quiet as he walked and didn’t look at either of them. Had he gone too far? Well, if he hadn’t snuck off like that then the spy would have never found him and given him the information. He kind of wished that he didn’t because now he had to decide to give his life to save the Earth and he didn’t think he was ready to do that.
The Doctor was now passing the market street that lead to the Astrix, but as he turned a corner there was a crowd gathering aside obscuring the view of the marble staircase and double wooden doors that led inside.
The crowd were not the usual Asries that fill up the breakfast table in the morning and bars at night, or stopped for lazy chats in the afternoon on the couches on the ground floor. No, these Asrie looked more military looking with their long dark green coats with army insignia over dark leggings and thick boots, and carrying very large alien-looking rifles.
After they spotted the Doctor they lifted their weapons so that over a dozen of these alien looking rifles were pointing directly at him.
Automatically the Doctor and Jack lifted their hands in surrender urging the boys’ to follow suit.
‘Easy now’ soothed the Doctor eyeing the massive alien machine gun being pointed at him. ‘I’m the Doctor. Your military scientists have met with me.’
‘I know who you are and why you met with our scientists’ replied the officer in a gruff voice, ‘that’s why we have been ordered to The High Court to discuss the matter with them.’
‘The High Court – I don’t like the sound of that…’ murmured the Doctor.
‘You four will come with us!’ demanded the officer and turning on his heel he marched off leaving the Doctor and his companions to be ushered forward by constant shoves in the back from the noses of the machine guns.
‘Go easy on them – they’re just kids!’ yelled Jack.
***
They were taken to a large white building that looked like a courthouse. They didn’t get long to take in the vastness of the reception hall with its marble floors or the sharply dressed Asrian officials passing through it, as they were thrust down concrete stairs and led into a much colder and darker area. Here there was a concrete floor in between long iron bars in front of cells that seemed to stretch on forever. The atmosphere down here was completely different. It was darker, colder and the companions felt as though the happiness was being sucked right out of them.
Before they had a chance to react a rusty iron gate slammed into front of them with a screech locking them inside a dusty cell.
‘This must be the waiting area’ remarked Jack, ‘never again will I complain about the state of my doctor’s waiting room.’
‘Something isn’t right’ was all the Doctor could say.
A guard stood at the front of their cell door. He was a massive muscular Asrie wearing a black jumpsuit carrying one of those rifles.
Hastily cut slabs of rock were also placed at random in the cell. One had another slab of rock on top of it diagonally which made for an uncomfortable seat. Jack and Chris were sitting on it. Alex had hoisted himself up on a flat slab of rock opposite them, while the Doctor stood near the cell door, with the usual expression he had when he was trying to figure out a plan.
‘It just doesn’t make sense’ he muttered yet again. He kept repeating the phrase over and over again.
‘Maybe you were wrong about them’ suggested Alex in an attempt to test the Doctor.
‘What’s that supposed to mean?!’ he shouted angrily.
‘I just mean that maybe their leaders are as corrupt as any other planet’s leaders’ replied Alex.
The Doctor shook his head. ‘No, they are loyal, wise and full of humility. They don’t judge or blame or try to get even.’
‘The ones that you met before, you mean?’ challenged Alex. ‘Look not every species is going to be exactly like each other. You can’t just put them all in a group and give them a label’ –
‘I do not label other species!’ screamed the Doctor, saying each word slowly to emphasise his rage. He tried to compose himself and keep an even tone. ‘I know the Asrie people and I know that they wouldn’t act like this without some sort of outside influence.’
“See what I mean? “Asked the voice in Alex’s head, “loyal and stubborn.”
‘I guess you know best’ Alex finally admitted to the Doctor, but then paused and put his head down. ‘I just don’t know if I’ll ever get back home or if I’ll ever see my mum again’ he moaned wiping a hand in front of his downcast face.
The Doctor’s face had changed from anger to puzzlement now to regret. ‘I’m sorry Alex. I guess I should have expected as much. You humans with your emotions and the type of irrational thoughts they give you.’
Alex had to use all of his self control to not slap the Doctor for comparing him to those types of people, especially now that he knew he wasn’t even human – not completely at least. Instead he gave a quiet chuckle.
‘You’re probably right’ he said.
The Doctor came to sit down next to him and put a reassuring arm around him. ‘It’s ok to be scared Alex but never give up hope, especially in such grim circumstances. As long as you remember those people you care desperately about it’s enough to get you through the tough times, as long as you keep them in here’ he said placing a hand on Alex’s heart, and then moving it across to his left side with a look of utter bewilderment on his face.
‘Two hearts’ he whispered.
‘Doctor, what is it?’ asked Jack nervously.
‘He has two hearts’ replied the Doctor louder now so that Jack could hear. Chris scrunched his face up in confusion.
‘That’s impossible,’ laughed Alex trying to play sceptic, ‘I just have a really abnormally fast and loud heartbeat.’
‘No, you’re a Time Lord’ blurted out the Doctor. ‘Yes, of course – I get it now!’ yelled the Doctor suddenly being able to put all the pieces in place.
He grabbed his head in excitement and blubbered about how stupid he had been. ‘Of course, that’s why you where in the TARDIS – not because some Time Lord left you there stranded but because you are the Time Lord!’
‘But why can’t I remember it?’ asked Alex, ‘I remember things that happened before it.’
‘I would say that you made yourself human but you didn’t. You still had two hearts’ replied the Doctor now trying to come with an explanation at Alex’s lack of memory. He put his hands on his hips and released an exasperated breath.
‘Maybe you bumped your head when your TARDIS crashed and lost parts of your memory? No, that’s not it. Hang on – no. Oh, what could it be?’
‘Well, I’ve got no idea’ admitted Alex deceitfully. He knew full well that Dr. Heigel helped him make the TARDIS and had taken him to Asterion. ‘I’m sure you’ll eventually work it out. We’ve got much more important things to focus on: like working out how to escape.’
‘I guess you’re right’ replied the Doctor, ‘I’m just a bit’ he started, ‘I’m just wondering.’
Alex lifted his eyebrows at him impatiently. ‘What?’
‘Do I know you? I’ve never met a Time Lord so young but then you could have regenerated. I’m just wondering who you really are?’
‘I’m Alex’ he replied then gave the Doctor a puzzled expression, ‘regenerated?’
‘It’s what a Time Lord does to live for longer. Literally every atom is replaced in the body and you’re given a whole new body.’
‘It’s true; he had big ears when I met him’ said Jack.
‘Thanks for that, Jack. So you remember nothing about that?’
‘I’m sorry’ replied Alex.
‘Oh, never mind then’ said the Doctor sighing. ‘Right, escape plan’ he said looking around the cell. It was all made of rock. There were no ventilation shafts or any areas that gave the slightest window of opportunity to be used to escape through. In fact the only way out of the cell was through the iron barred door that was being closely guarded by an Asrie officer.
***
To the Doctor’s surprise it was Alex who came up with the first idea. ‘I wonder if these Asrie are similar to dogs’ he mused.
‘They’re evolved from dogs so yes they are’ replied the Doctor.
‘Do you think they could be as easily annoyed by high pitched sounds?’
‘Alex, what are you getting at?’ asked the Doctor but then he suddenly got it. A widened smile spread across his face as he dipped into his jacket and took out his sonic screwdriver, pressing it making it whine noisily but not with a high enough frequency.
He looked at his screwdriver disappointedly. ‘Nothing happened.’
‘Well, I was thinking of a much higher frequency’ said Alex.
‘Alex, we’re locked in an Asrian prison cell that looks like a cave. Where are we going to find a higher frequency sound?’
‘I’ve got one on my phone’ he replied.
‘Oh not that ridiculous ringtone’ groaned Chris.
‘Hold on, let him go on’ said the Doctor putting up a hand to hush Chris.
‘It’s supposed to be too high for an adult to hear.’
‘And you want me to sonic it to make the frequency even higher and more powerful?’ asked the Doctor. ‘Let’s do it then!’
Alex removed his mobile phone and slid his finger over through the many screens until he found himself in the multimedia section. Then selecting the tone he played it which was nothing more than a beep to everyone except Jack. The Doctor turned the phone over and pointed his screwdriver at the speaker making the screwdriver whine while emitting a blue light.
He pressed play releasing an even higher frequency that was now inaudible to all but two in the room; he and Alex could still hear it.
The Asrie guard at the door gave a grunt and shook his large head in irritation.
‘It’s working!’ cried the Doctor excitedly but quietly. ‘Right Jack, since you can’t hear it you’re going to be the one that plays the sound to the guard. Alex block your ears’ he instructed.
‘Why don’t you have to block your ears?’ asked Alex.
‘I’m used to high pitched noises, being that I’m usually the one making them.’
Alex handed his mobile over to Jack who gave the noise another test run. The Asrie guard kept cocking his head after hearing the sound and wincing slightly. Then Jack edged closer to the guard and selected the noise to play on a continuous loop, reaching his arm through the iron bars so that the phone was inches from the guard’s eardrum.
He pressed play.
The guard sent out a wailing howl. ‘Stop – make it stop!’ he screamed.
‘Only if you let us out!’ demanded Jack. He held the phone closer to the Asrie’s ear. ‘Doctor, I think we need more sonic over here!’ he called.
‘No, no – I’ll let you out!’ stammered the Asrie, fumbling through the large iron keys in his hands, eventually finding the right one and turning the key in the door until it clicked open.
Jack pushed on the gate with all his might as it screeched open. The Doctor and the boys’ followed behind him. Jack stopped the noise for a second so the Asrie guard could hear him.
‘Right, now listen to me. Don’t you dare follow us or I’ll surround this whole room with this noise’ he threatened raising Alex’s mobile up. Then just one last time he played the noise making the guard writhe on the ground and turning to his companion’s he bellowed, ‘RUN!’
They ran as fast as they could up the corridor. It was in the opposite direction they came but the Doctor assured them it was safer than running back into the brightly lit courthouse where they were probably more guards and not to mention judges.
The narrow corridor eventually branched out to reveal doors on the left, right and directly in front of them. The doors were made of thick steel with a wheel lock.
‘Which one do we open?!’ asked Chris yelling in desperation.
They didn’t have very long to decide because they could hear the thud of heavy boots growing louder as more and more Asrie guards came closer.
‘I’ll hold them off’ said Jack pressing play on Alex’s mobile to emit the high frequency noise. He could hear cries from the Asrian guards down the corridor.
Then the batteries died.
Jack swore loudly. ‘Jack, there’s children present’ said the Doctor sternly.
‘We’re just going to have to choose a door’ suggested Jack impatiently.
‘Right’ replied the Doctor. ‘I think left would lead us back to the courthouse so we’ll no doubt be arrested again. Now the middle and left could lead to secret exit points.’
‘Doctor, hurry up and decide – they’re getting closer!’ yelled Jack, more anxious than impatient this time.
The Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the middle door and the wheel spun automatically and pushed out to reveal it was open. The Doctor wrenched it open and yelled at Jack and the boys’ to quickly follow. When they were all through it he slammed the door shut which automatically locked.
They were now standing on a tiled platform facing a flight of stairs. Without hesitation the Doctor climbed them and the only indication he knew his companions were following was from the patter of their footsteps on the metal plated stairs. The stairs turned from left to right and offered a choice between left, right, straight ahead or down. They even offered a choice of entering through more doors when they landed onto a wider platform.
The Doctor led the way through a door on the far right side after he had unlocked it with his screwdriver. The door led to more stairs leading down to an unknown area concealed by another metallic door with a wheel lock.
‘Any sign of them yet?’ he called back to Jack.
‘Nothing yet’ replied Jack but he stopped dead when he heard a distant boom. ‘I think they just blew apart the first door we entered.’
‘Ha, stragglers!’ exclaimed the Doctor gleefully taking out his screwdriver again and opening the wheel door with it. He wrenched it open revealing a room in complete darkness.
He tapped the wall with his palm. ‘Solid rock again; we must be under the courthouse.’
There was a low growl; a first warning to tell the intruders they weren’t wanted.
‘What is it?’ asked Chris fearfully.
‘I’m not sure’ replied the Doctor quietly. He turned the nozzle on his screwdriver emitting a triangle of blue light that just made out the shape of the owner of the growl. ‘Wargs!’ he cried. ‘Get back everyone!’
The Warg growled louder now and made a sound that was a cross between a snarl and a roar. Then they heard a clank of chains and the Warg jerking back.
‘It’s chained up’ said the Doctor, both grateful and disgusted. ‘This whole room is a Warg prison.’
They could now hear it and see yellow eyes through blue light. They were dozens and dozens of Wargs’ chained up.
“Free us boy” one Warg said to Alex.
“Yes, free us. Take us back to our master!” they all chanted.
Alex gripped his head in agony. ‘Make them stop!’ he screamed.
The Doctor gave him a curious look. ‘Stop what – Alex what’s happening to you?’
‘The voices in my head – they are the voices!’ he cried.
‘Right, get him out of here!’ ordered the Doctor. Jack took Alex by the arm while Chris looked on in disbelief.
Then there came a chink sound as one by one the Wargs were released from their chains.
‘RUN!!!’ the Doctor bellowed pushing his companions out of the room and slamming the door shut behind him. He stood for a moment watching the door tremble under the pressure of the Wargs’ body weight slamming against it. Then he heard an isolated knock: one…two…three…four times. He stared at the door terrified and snapped out it when he heard a fifth knock.
‘Oh good, so my death won’t be at the hands of hundreds of ferocious Wargs’ – that’s a comforting thought’ he said.
Then the door was ripped off its hinges.
The Doctor sprinted after his companions. ‘Keep running – run for your life!’ he shouted.
The travellers ran with all their strength which was quickly running out but their fear and desperation kept them going. Alex and Chris kept running despite their feet hurting, their hearts hammering and a part of them telling them to stop and take a rest.
Then came the sounds of heavy boots clanking above their heads. The Asrian Guard were coming closer. The Doctor prised open another door and ran back upstairs but stopped to deliberate which door would lead them the furthest away from both the Asrian Guards and the Warg’s. The sounds of roaring and claws clipping the concrete floor made him decide on choosing the door on the right. The Asrie Guards were most likely to come through the left door anyway. Through this door was a small platform and more stairs. The Doctor was starting to think that these floors were all deliberately designed to look the same. He darted up the stairs and came to a skidding halt in front of the Asrian guards. He had taken his companions down the wrong path and stayed too long to investigate the Warg prison. Now they were going back to their own prison cell or worse.
Guns were pointed at his head as Jack and the boys’ entered through the door. The Doctor’s hearts dropped as he watched the surprise on his companion’s faces as they raised their hands in surrender.
‘You will be taken to the High Court now’ informed one of the guards.
***
The Doctor and his companions were led into room with a long table seating several officials looking Asrie and a high podium seating the judge. The room was wide and panelled with wooden floor boards. There was a roped off area for where the public could stand and rows of long seats at the back of the room, which were unoccupied.
It must be a courtroom thought Alex. But where was the jury and mostly importantly: the prosecutor and the defence? He managed to take a peek at the crowd of Asrie behind the rope and almost jumped back when he noticed Dr. Heigel’s spy Moulin.
Moulin was holding a square box with a hole in it. Alex knew immediately that it was a video camera. He cringed at the thought of what was supposed to happen next; what was expected of him.
Alex’s worried thoughts were hushed by the Judge’s booming voice. ‘This court will come to order’ he said.
‘No one said anything about a trial’ whispered Jack to the Doctor.
‘That’s because this is not a real trial’ replied the Doctor.
‘Doctor is true that you and your companion’s landed on Asterion the same day the Asteri Lock was sabotaged?’ asked the Judge.
‘Yes, well, you see the thing is that it’s actually just a rift in time’ –
‘Doctor, answer yes or no’ replied the Judge irritably. ‘Did you not land on Asterion the same day the Lock was sabotaged?’
‘Well, yes.’
‘Then you must be punished for it’ said the Judge.
‘No wait, listen to me – just listen to me!’ protested the Doctor raising his hands. ‘The Lock was never damaged. It’s a hole in the universe’ –
‘But we live outside the universe’ retorted the judge.
‘Yes, that may be but it doesn’t stop things from coming through the rift.’
‘What is this nonsense? There cannot be a rift if we live outside of space and time’ scoffed the judge.
‘I sabotaged the Lock!’ shouted a young crackling voice. The Doctor turned to give a concerned stare to Alex.
‘What are doing? Just leave it to me.’
Alex ignored him. ‘I sabotaged the lock with my spaceship before I landed’ he said, ‘but I did it because I know the truth.’
‘Please young cub enlighten us’ replied the Judge sarcastically.
‘I know that the Asterion government is going to invade my planet and they think they can get away with it by sneaking in and invading like cowards but I’m sorry to say that I’m here to stop you.’
‘Alex, seriously stop it now’ instructed the Doctor raising his voice a bit more.
‘What would we want with your primitive planet?’ asked the judge mockingly. ‘Even if it were true how can you a mere human child prisoner on this planet inform the Earth that they could be invaded?’
‘Primitive we may be but at least we’ve got courage to attack without hiding ourselves from the enemy!’ retorted Alex.
‘Seriously Alex, just stop talking – now!’ shouted the Doctor making no attempt to hide his anger.
‘NO!’ bellowed Alex. ‘I’m sick of listening to you! You hover over me like a vulture in case I start acting strange and you fill our heads with these notions about how good the Asrie are. But I know the truth Doctor – these cowardly mutated dogs are going to take over my planet and enslave the human race. And they think they can get away with doing it in secret but they’re wrong!’ He glared up at the Judge. ‘Do your worse to me, you mongrel.’
‘Execute that child! He has slandered our race far too much! Execute him I say!’ demanded the Judge.
The Asrie guard’s opened fire and blasted Alex with electricity in bursts of yellow and blue light.
‘Noooo!’ screamed the Doctor as Jack held onto Chris to stop him from running over to his friend.
Alex’s body fell with a thud to the wooden floor. The Doctor ran over to him and held him in his arms. ‘Alex, what was all that about?’ he asked. ‘OK never mind. Just try to regenerate.’
‘How?’ asked Alex before going silent and going limp in the Doctor’s arms.
‘No, don’t die Alex. Not now – not another one’ he cried cradling the boy, recently revealed as another surviving Time Lord, in his arms.
‘You are free to go now’ said the Judge.
The Doctor let go of Alex and quickly got to his feet. ‘Go – we can go? After you just assassinated a child?!’ he shouted staring at the Judge furiously.
‘He was insulting us’ replied the Judge. ‘Now Doctor, leave this courtroom. In fact, I want you and your friends’ to leave this planet as soon as you are capable to.’
The Doctor’s fiery eyes bore into the judge as he spoke. ‘Oh, don’t worry about us’ he replied seething, ‘we’ll be glad to leave.’
11. The Unified Intelligence Taskforce (UNIT)
The phone had been ringing off the hook all day in the UNIT control room. An officer wearing a green blazer bearing military coat of arms answered it and uttered a few words in reply before sighing and putting the phone under his chin, allowing the person on the other end to babble on.
‘Another video report!’ he called out, ‘Hutchington’s want to know why there was a boy being shot at by a group of alien dogs on their CCTV footage.
‘Heard the same complaint from Ainsley’s Electronics’ replied another officer, ‘apparently all their televisions on display played the video too.’
‘I’ve had to deal with at least five different internet service providers who have been inundated with calls from their customers about the video suddenly appearing on their computers or laptops. They think it’s some sort of virus’ –
‘And just take a look at that!’ gasped a young officer pointing at the large screens at the front of the room, showing the same video that the businesses had been calling up and complaining about all day.
Major Wybeck; the man still with the phone receiver under his chin stared at the screens in disbelief. ‘How did they get past our security systems?’ he asked looking from one UNIT officer to another, but they were just as bewildered about it as he was.
‘Right, I think it’s time we reported to Garrison’ he decided. The young officers shot each other nervous looks. ‘It’s alright, I’ll go. I know that you all think he is a pompous buffoon but that pompous buffoon is my oldest friend.’
***
Lieutenant-General Reginald Garrison was sitting in his office running through some notes on a current case that was on his mind.
There was a knock at the door. ‘Come in’ he said with an air of boredom. When he realised it was his old army chum Major Henry Wybeck his mood lightened. ‘Ah Henry, what can I do for you?’
‘Lieutenant Garrison, I’m not sure what you’ll make of this but UNIT has been inundated with calls from businesses about a live video feed of a boy being assassinated by what looks like alien humanoid dogs.’
Garrison chuckled. ‘Oh, what people would do for a bit of publicity’ he sighed. ‘I guess I should have expected this. The existence of aliens is hard to keep secret nowadays so a group of clever youths thought they would exploit people’s fears by creating this hoax. It’s like a War of the World’s for the 21st century.’
‘But sir the video was also broadcasted on our defence monitors.’
Now the Lieutenant was listening. He shot out of his chair quickly and paced around. ‘I’ll see those responsible hang for this. This is a childish joke gone too far!’
‘Now really, what are these film makers playing at?!’ said Garrison growing frustrated.
‘It’s not just that’ replied Stevens nervously, ‘in the video there is footage of the Doctor.’
The look of surprise flooded Garrison’s face. ‘The Doctor – are you sure it’s the Doctor?’
‘I’m positive Lieutenant’ replied Stevens, ‘although it’s a younger Doctor and by that I mean the Doctor from the past, with a different face.’
‘It must be real if he’s in it’ stated one of the officers in the control room.
‘Are you sure it’s not just some childish prank with a man dressed up as the Doctor?’ asked another.
‘Where have you been? The Doctor doesn’t look like that anymore’ snapped Lieutenant Garrison sauntering into the room, ‘the video was also broadcasted on every electronic device in the world.’
‘Maybe the film makers didn’t realise that he’s changed again’ suggested one of the officers.
‘The boy sounds like he is speaking utter nonsense too. It’s definitely staged.’
Garrison glared at the bickering officers and looked up at the screen to watch the looped video. It was up to the part where the boy in the video was revealing that the alien dogs were going to invade Earth undetected. He was laughed at and even told to keep quiet by the Doctor, and then he was shot at with electrical light. The Doctor seemed to be generally upset and the other people in the video look realistically distraught. Either this was very convincing acting or it was real, and if it was real then the boy’s message must be real too. It had to be real if the Doctor was in it. Garrison had met him over ten years ago when dealing with a Sontaran invasion, just a Major then but he never forgot the Doctor’s face and it was the same face in that video.
Garrison tried to shake the thoughts from his mind by turning his attention to a young UNIT computer expert sitting at the desk beside him. ‘Mathers, what do you make of it – is it real?’
Justin Mathers was an expert in information technology and quite coincidently, special effects in film. He considered himself a bit of a buff and had a great eye for looking for continuity errors in scenes, particularly in science fiction films.
‘Lieutenant, it all looks realistic except for one thing. See that blue light going up after the kid is shot – what’s it supposed to be?’ he asked pointing to the screen.
Lieutenant Garrison leant down closer to inspect the mysterious light. ‘Yes, that is rather curious, Mathers. Do you have any opinion on what it could be?’
‘Well, it’s not a reflection or a light coming through. It just sort of ascends into the air and disappears. I’ve never seen anything like it’ explained Mathers scratching his curly dark hair.
The Lieutenant shuddered with contempt at the young man’s habit. He felt slightly uncomfortable around the computer whiz. Mathers was the only person in the room who didn’t wear a military uniform, instead he wore a buttoned up shirt with a clumsily knotted black tie, with dress pants and sneakers, and not to forget about the unkempt mop on his head.
‘So you’re saying it could be alien? I’ll have my experts look at it’ replied Lieutenant Garrison in his pompous voice.
‘Sir, if this video is real then what the kid is saying is’ –
‘It could quite be possibly real too’ finished the Lieutenant. He felt a twinge of satisfaction at the look of amazement on the young man’s face.
***
Lieutenant Garrison and Major Wybeck entered a glass conference room to discuss matters with the more senior members of UNIT.
It was Lucy Cannon who spoke first. ‘Garrison, is the video real?’
‘Mathers has done a thorough scan of it revealing that it is’ he replied.
‘There is no doubt of the video’s authenticity after seeing the Doctor on it’ said the greying Major Plossl.
‘But it is the old Doctor so this may as well be a video that is at least ten years old’ argued Cannon.
‘Actually, it’s not and here’s the evidence’ interrupted the young Captain Stevens standing at the entrance of the room.
‘Stevens this is a private discussion’ snapped Garrison.
‘Forgive me sir but this is urgent’ said Stevens. He held up a faxed piece of paper with a photo of the young boy on the video on it.
‘The boy is Alex Campbell; the same boy that piloted a plane that vanished in front of witnesses last week.’
‘But they said that the plane travelled at such a fast speed that it looked like it disappeared’ replied Major Cannon sceptically.
‘Yes, that was the official story’ replied Lieutenant Garrison equally as sceptical, ‘but we at UNIT know that time travel is possible. Why didn’t anyone here think to question the boy?!’ he asked angrily suddenly losing his temper and slamming a fist to the table.
‘Nobody believed the boy’ replied Major Plossl, ‘the media were making him and his university professor to sound like a bunch of wishful thinking cranks. It was just some futile attempt to break light speed’
Lieutenant Garrison turned slowly to Plossl. ‘Why did no one tell me about this? Didn’t it ever occur to you that these cranks were being influenced or were actually aliens?’
Captain Stevens raised his hand to speak up. ‘Stevens, this isn’t a classroom. Just spit it out’ snapped Lieutenant Garrison.
‘Both Professor Everett and Alex have a history, sir. The professor was born in Swansea and the boy in Hammersmith.’
‘Yes, well never mind that. I would just like to be told about such things as a boy in a vanishing plane in the future. What else have you discovered from the video that our little tech may have missed out?’ He shot a reproachful stare at Mathers through the glass into the control room.
‘The room sir, it looks like any courtroom on Earth’ replied Stevens.
Lieutenant Garrison was having enough of this. He exhaled loudly and ran a hand over his perfectly groomed brown hair. ‘So it’s real – it’s not real – make up your bloody mind!’
‘There’s also a young boy called Chris Stephenson in the video, also from Hammersmith, also went missing a week ago’ informed Stevens.
‘So two boys that went missing at the same time turn up in this video’ summarised Lieutenant Garrison to himself then he came to a decision.
‘UNIT will treat this video as authentic’ he informed them, ‘I’ve heard enough about the Doctor to know how serious this is.’
‘But we could be wasting our men and our time’ argued Major Cannon. ‘I have sons and they pull these stunts all the time.’
‘Oh really, and I suppose they broadcast them to the whole world and have guest appearances by the Doctor as well?’
‘Well, no…’
‘Then don’t interrupt me again’ snapped Lieutenant Garrison before going on. ‘Right, I want UNIT to take possession of every defence satellite and I want them to scan the skies for any trace of alien activity. I want our airships to patrol the skies so that we can show these aliens that even though they are too cowardly to show themselves to us we are not’ he stopped for a moment then spoke again. ‘And also, I want you to find the Doctor. Maybe he can shed some light on what this video is actually about.’
12. Strange Signals
The Doctor lay the lifeless body of Alex down on the floor of the boy’s own TARDIS. He stood back still in hope that the life force in the TARDIS would help the boy regenerate but it was too late.
The Doctor lamented quietly. ‘Why is it that as soon as I find out about the survival of another Time Lord they are taken away from me? It’s just not fair.’
Jack gave him a reproachful stare but tried to keep his composure, but his voice was strained and raspy with emotion. ‘Just think about what Chris must be going through then. His own friend murdered in front of him and there was nothing he could do.’
They both turned towards Chris but still remained standing in the same spot in fear that they might be imposing on the boy’s privacy. Chris was leaning over Alex with one hand in his friend’s limp one, folding it to close over his own. Tears rolled down his cheeks but then he suddenly let go of Alex’s hand when he noticed something strange about his face.
‘He hasn’t got scratches on his face anymore’ he said turning around to face the Doctor and Jack.
The Doctor approached him and leant down next to Alex to inspect his face. ‘He could be regenerating’ he said slowly but quietly as if afraid of speaking his hopes too loudly that they wouldn’t come true. But after a few minutes of watching Alex spread out on the floor with no evidence of life signs returning the Doctor dropped his head and said. ‘I think his scars healed when regeneration was possible but he didn’t know enough about it for it to work. I’m so sorry Chris.’ He stood up and walked back over to Jack to give Chris more time alone with his fallen friend.
‘His camera’s missing too’ murmured Chris. ‘He would have freaked out about that. I guess he dropped it inside the Court House.’
When the Doctor returned to stand next to him Jack asked. ‘Doctor, what do we do now?’
‘We have to find a way to leave Asterion for good. I should have listened to Alex; I should have suspected that something wasn’t right with the Asrian government. I just trusted this race too much.’
‘I couldn’t blame you’ replied Jack. ‘I did too.’
‘We should return Alex’s body to his family too. I’m not leaving it here’ said the Doctor.
Behind them the man on the screen was waving his hands around madly at them and mouthing silent words. ‘Oh right, it’s on mute’ said Dr. Heigel. ‘It’s just as well they didn’t hear me.’
There was a groan coming from the floor a few metres away from him belonging to a figure surrounded by metallic poles circulating a raised platform.
Dr. Heigel looked over his shoulder impassively and then back to the screen and blurted out. ‘But you’re in there’ he said pointing to the screen. ‘If you’re in there then how can you be down there? Oh that’s right – me’ he exclaimed proudly to himself.
He turned around again as the figure slowly and shakily got to his feet. Alex held a palm to his throbbing head and looked up, taking time for his vision to become clear as he staggered forward.
He noticed the man on the desk and was captivated by the golden sphere his was playing with in his hand. Dr. Heigel gave the boy a look then looked back at the pocket watch in his hand and then returned it to the breast pocket of his jacket. He got to his feet and stepped over to Alex and waited for the boy to realise who he was.
‘Alex, finally we meet face to face’ he said smiling.
‘You’re Dr. Heigel’ said Alex upon realising the man in front of him was the same man on his computer screen.
Dr. Heigel nodded in agreement. ‘Yes I am but you can call me the Master.’
Alex made a sound like he was trying to stifle a laugh but failed. ‘You’re being serious?’
‘Yes, it’s my name’ replied the Master irritably.
‘I’m sorry’ said Alex sincerely. ‘I hope you don’t mind me asking but what exactly happened to me? How did I get here?’ he asked looking at the strange white room.
‘I thought you would never ask’ replied the Master. ‘See that circular structure over there?’ he asked Alex pointing to it, ‘that’s a teleportation gate. I transported you here in the split second before you were executed’ he explained then turned to the side to reveal the computer screen. ‘And this is your copy; the exact duplicate of you that I transported at the same time to take your place to die. It happened so fast that nobody in the courtroom noticed it – blink and you’ll miss it’ added the Master before concluding.
Alex gazed at his clone in awe. ‘How did you do it?’
‘Atom detector and flash storage gun of course or the AD-FSG as the Warg’s call it.’
Alex froze in realisation. ‘The bright light that the Warg’s flashed in my face’ he said finally able to understand now, ‘it was some sort of device that could pick up and store my atomic signature.’
‘That’s right’ replied the Master, ‘it also picked up the molecules in your clothes but not that fresh cut on your face.’ He seemed to be mentally beating himself up about it.
‘You actually saved my life’ Alex finally said.
‘Well, yeah I guess I’ – was all the Master could get out before the boy embraced him into a thankful hug. ‘Ohh’ he muttered with disgust giving the boy a few pats on the back. Pulling out of the hug and restraining the boy by placing two firm hands on his shoulders he said. ‘You can thank me later. We’ve still got a lot of business to take care of’ he said looking into the boy’s eyes. ‘Now I can’t let you go back to the Doctor or your friend; it would raise too much suspicion and the Asrie government might find out you’re still alive.’ He paused to give time for Alex to nod in agreement even if he didn’t understand.
‘Do you want to get off this cursed rock?’ he asked, pausing again to allow Alex to nod in agreement. He nodded fervently with desperation in his eyes. ‘Alright, we will leave but first I think we should give the Doctor a final farewell. It’s only polite.’
***
Malkee had been apologising over and over again to the Doctor and telling him that he had no idea that they had been arrested or what happened to Alex.
‘I don’t know what’s gotten into the High Court or the military’ Malkee said. ‘It’s like some dark force is working in the background.’ He paused before adding. ‘I also think I have worked out a way to help you leave this planet.’
The last line piqued the Doctor’s interest. ‘I’m listening’ he said giving him his full attention.
‘There are some Asrian scientists working on fixing the problem’ informed Malkee.
‘Why?’
‘You’re not the only ones who can’t leave’ replied Malkee. ‘We have to patrol the skies because the Lock is damaged but our ships can’t leave the planet.’
‘I think I’m going to have to pay those scientists a visit’ said the Doctor, suddenly feeling a rush of excitement from anticipation and as he grabbed his brown coat and pulled it on quickly he exclaimed. ‘Lead the way, Malkee!’
***
The Science Laboratory was in a dome shaped building sitting on top of a hill. Inside was steel room with electronic monitoring equipment against the wall. In the middle of the room were rows of Asrie scientists in white lab coats each standing behind a desk and looking at smaller monitoring screens in front of them. To the right of them stretching from the ground to the high ceiling was a huge bronze telescope.
‘Wow!’ exclaimed Chris, ‘you could probably see the whole universe with that thing.’
‘Yes and no’ replied the scientist behind it and seeing Chris’ excitement drop he went on. ‘Normally we could see everything, even far out into the other universes but the images that we see through the telescope do not match up with the coordinates.’
‘Do you mind if I take a look at it?’ asked the Doctor politely.
‘And who are you?’ asked the scientist sternly.
‘I’m the Doctor – yes, the Doctor of Astronomy from the planet of Astropolis’ he replied holding up a blank sheet of paper.
The scientist looked at the paper. ‘Yes, I see. I’m sorry I had to ask but we’ve had to be on guard ever since our protection was taken away.’
‘Ah yes, we’ll get to that’ replied the Doctor thoughtfully, ‘but I’ll just take a look at that telescope shall I?’ The scientist nodded in agreement.
‘What did you say you name was?’ asked the Doctor.
‘Professor Farris’ replied the scientist.
‘Right Farris, what model have we got here; reflector or refractor?’ asked the Doctor looking through the telescope’s eyepiece.
‘A refractor’ Farris answered, ‘It is a Romana 3.0 10×4.’ The Doctor looked up from the eyepiece slowly. ‘It’s a Timescope’ he whispered.
‘If either one of you going to tell me what a Timescope is?’ said Chris curtly.
‘It’s a telescope that can see through space and time; straight through the time vortex into other dimensions.’
‘Why of course’ replied Farris, ‘it is our back up if the Lock were ever to be faulty, like it is now.’
‘But you said this is faulty as well’ replied Chris.
‘Indeed it is’ replied Farris sadly, ‘that’s why we are working against the clock to fix it.’
‘Where did you get a Timescope from?’ asked the Doctor; it seemed it had been all he was thinking about at that moment.
‘From the Time Lord’s of course’ replied Farris.
‘Why? We asked for their help and they were willing as long as we didn’t use it against them.’
The Doctor went quiet and serious. ‘What is it?’ Chris asked.
Jack who had been quiet all this time came to his aide. ‘Just let me handle it’ he said motioning the boy to move aside. Chris obliged and walked a few paces back.
Jack looked seriously at the Doctor. ‘What does it mean?’
‘It means Jack that these Asrie don’t stand a chance’ he concluded fearfully.
‘But they’re all gone. Doctor, the Time Lord’s are all dead – except for you and’—
‘Alex – he was their weapon.’
‘Their weapon for what?’ asked Jack nervously.
‘The destruction of Asterion’ replied the Doctor.
Jack looked confused. ‘How is that even possible? You said that Time Lord’s didn’t interfere in the affairs of other species.’
‘Long ago they masqueraded as heroes to other races only to bring their destruction, especially if they felt these races had knowledge equal to or greater than the Time Lord’s. It happened on Minyos ; greeted as god’s they gave the Minyans new technology that eventually destroyed them.’
‘You mean the Asteri Lock and the Timescope?’
‘Powerful Gallifreyan technology that has failed to protect the planet and grounded all forms of time travel – yeah, I should say so’ replied the Doctor thoughtfully.
‘But the Asrie are peaceful’ argued Jack. ‘Their army is small and they’ve never been invaded or invaded another planet.’
‘Which made this all too easy’ the Doctor sighed.
‘We’ve got to do something’ stated Jack anxiously. ‘We can’t just give up.’ The Doctor just stood there still and staring.
‘What if the Earth actually saw what happened? What if they go to war with Asterion?’
‘They probably did and will’ agreed the Doctor.
‘Just try to fix it’ said Jack.
‘Right’ replied the Doctor; he walked back over to Professor Farris. ‘Sorry about that. I was just having a little business meeting’ he said feigning a positive attitude. He looked through the Timescope again, then took out his screwdriver and pointed it at it.
‘Oh yes, coordinates don’t match up. I’m going to have to take this apart – do you mind?’
‘Go right ahead’ answered Farris.
The Doctor got to work, slowly taking the Timescope apart piece by piece. ‘Ohh, make sure nobody touches that light’ he said pointing into the Timescope.’
‘Any reason why?’ asked Farris.
‘No big deal, really, except you’ll no longer exist’ the Doctor replied matter-of-factly.
Chris was busying himself by looking around the other areas of the laboratory. He looked straight across the room where there was to be what looked like an observatory screen similar to what NASA use. The screen split into five or six sections each showing different graphs. Chris was impressed although he had no idea what it meant.
The scientists at the screen looked busy so Chris thought he’d leave them be. Instead he approached a scientist at a small cubicle looking at his own smaller screen.
‘Hi, I’m Chris’ he said cheerfully.
‘Sorry I can’t stop for a chat now – I’m very busy’ grunted the Asrie scientist.
‘OK, sorry but my friend the Doctor is trying to fix some equipment so perhaps you’ll not be as busy soon.’ The Asrie made a sound similar to ‘hmm.’
‘Did I mention I’m a human?’ asked Chris smiling. The Asrie looked up.
‘Indeed you are’ it replied. ‘That’s why it is of the upmost importance I fix this – oh why am I telling you?’
‘You mean the Asteri Lock? Yeah I know all about that’ replied Chris. ‘See, not such a dumb human, am I?’
‘It’s supposed to keep you out’ replied the Asrie scathingly.
‘Yeah…sorry about that’ said Chris awkwardly. ‘But thing is we can’t leave either. I’m not much of a scientist but with the Lock damaged should that happen?’
‘No’ replied the Asrie flatly, ‘something else is keeping you in and’—he stopped and looked down at his screen, ‘I think I just found it.’
‘I’ll go get the Doctor’ replied Chris quickly. He ran back over to The Doctor, who was still studying pieces of the Timescope.
‘There’s nothing wrong with it’ the Doctor exclaimed. ‘I should put it back together then, if I remember how.’
‘Doctor!’ yelled Chris excitedly and out of breath. The Doctor stood up and turned to face the excited boy.
‘What is it Chris?’
‘I think they found out what’s keeping us from leaving’ he panted.
The Doctor marched over to the other side of the room where the scientist was. ‘Hey –Doctor – Astronomy’ he said quickly flipping up his psychic paper again. When he saw that the Asrie scientists didn’t object to him being there he asked. ‘So what have we got here?’
‘We’re detecting some irregularities in the Wave-o-metre’ replied one scientist. ‘You see that red glow there?’
‘It looks like a hurricane’ replied the Doctor putting on his glasses, ‘but it’s not moving – just staying still. Hang on, that’s some sort of shield.’
‘Shield – what do you mean by that?’ asked the scientist in puzzlement.
The Doctor put his hands on his hips and shook his head. ‘I don’t really know – Graviton shield maybe. Can you find out where it’s coming from?’
‘Certainly’ replied the scientist, who started to tap away at the keys of the Wave-o-metre and pulled a T-shaped lever up slowly. ‘That just increases the signal so we can pinpoint the location although now the screen has gone a bit fuzzy.’
‘Should upgrade it to Sonic’ recommended the Doctor. ‘Oh, what do I have here?’ he asked in mock-surprise holding up his screwdriver. He pointed it at the screen and the image became clearer.
On the screen numbers started to show up, both horizontally and vertically. The Asrie scientist pressed a switch that zoomed in to show geographical features.
‘The signal is coming from the Asyria Valley – strange’ said the scientist.
‘Why’s that strange?’ asked the Doctor cautiously.
‘There must be another observatory there but it’s the worst possible spot to put it. It’s too overgrown with vegetation for one’ informed the Scientist.
‘We’ve got to get over there’ replied the Doctor. He called Jack and Chris over to him and told them about additional signal that was worrying the scientists.
13. The Time Vortex Opens
The Doctor and his companions, together with five Asrie scientists took an all terrain vehicle to the site of the signal. A few armoured vehicles were also dispatched there.
They arrived near what looked like a rainforest. It didn’t look like it belonged in the Valley. It gave off the same impression like when you can tell a photo was obviously cut and pasted in photoshop, though edited down to last detail so it didn’t show any remaining evidence of the photo it once belonged too.
There was something different about the trees in this rainforest though – the leaves were all erect; pointing out at angles. The Doctor pointed his screwdriver at one of them and looked at the data.
‘Strange’ he thought, ‘these trees are emitting are vast amount of energy. It almost looks like they’re absorbing it too.’
‘Is that a good thing or bad thing?’ asked Jack.
‘It’s a weird thing’ replied the Doctor.
‘That word coming from you does not sound good’ remarked Jack.
The Doctor pressed his palm to one tree. ‘They’re warm’ he said pausing before adding as he knocked, ‘and hollow. They’re black bodies’ he said finally. ‘These trees are absorbing radiation and emitting it – but from where and why?’ he thought furrowing his brow. ‘Ah, got it! The trees are absorbing electromagnetic radiation from the Asteri Lock. They must have absorbed so much they split it open and what they’re emitting is now acting as a shield to trap all the quantum particles into a giant clump. Or if you believe in String Theory it’s like a ball of yarn all tangled up. Either way, it’s making time travel impossible.’ As he said this the trees turned slight shade of red. ‘Ooh, that’s powerful radiation.’
‘Is it safe?’ asked Chris nervously.
‘I don’t know yet – hope so’ the Doctor replied with a wry smile.
***
‘Oh very good Doctor’ spoke the Master, ‘but you’re forgetting about a very vital clue.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Alex beside him.
‘Try and work it out for yourself boy’ replied the Master coldly.
‘Oh um, is the electromagnetism very powerful?’ he asked awkwardly.
‘Yes.’
‘So it’s grounding all the Spacecraft too.’
‘Very good’ applauded the Master.
‘But it can’t be as powerful as an MRI machine’ retorted Alex.
‘Well if it was that would give too much away’ replied the Master, and then got up out of his seat and looked at Alex.
‘They’ll be here soon so one last test’ he said determinedly. ‘Put your hand on the table’ he instructed calmly.
‘What for?’ asked Alex stubbornly.
‘Don’t ask – just do’ instructed the Master, when Alex stayed still he repeated himself, ‘PUT YOUR HAND ON THE TABLE!’ Alex quickly placed his hand palm facing down on the metallic table. It was cold.
The Master took out a screwdriver, similar to the Doctor’s but more bulky and metallic. It wasn’t sonic though but laser. He pressed it and it made a chink sound like a sword being unsheathed and then he held his finger over a button, making the screwdriver make a high whine and emit a solid line of yellow energy. Keeping the beam on the Master slowly dragged it along the table towards Alex’s hand. He lowered his voice into a more business-like tone. ‘Do you, Alex, solemnly agree to follow my instruction no matter the consequences?’ The laser was moving along the table, a line of white hot heat trailing behind it. Alex nodded feverishly.
‘Sorry can’t hear you’ the Master said. The white hot heat turned red.
‘Yes!’ yelled Alex nervously.
‘You will not question me – you will not hesitate – you will do what I say when I say!’ demanded the Master. The laser beam was inches from Alex’s hand, changing to a tinge of blue.
‘I will’ said Alex.
‘Good’ replied the Master cheerfully, turning off the laser.
Alex removed his hand then looked at it. There were two burn marks on his fingers.
***
Back in the Black Body rainforest the companions were trudging through the vegetation, trying to move as quickly as possible. They finally entered a clearing and found what they were looking for.
A large black tower rose up from the ground like an evil sorcerer’s castle. It even had turrets between each section and a flat stone roof, but no keep; instead it had dozens and dozens of floors stretching up to at least 60 feet in length.
‘That must be the command centre’ informed the Doctor.
The entry was blocked by figures surrounding the tower, wearing black jumpsuits and carrying large assault rifles; the Asrie Guard.
An officer who looked like a Captain/Lieutenant/ Major approached him. ‘Doctor, what are you doing here?’ he demanded.
‘Sorry, what was your name again?’ he asked him.
‘I’m Herron, Major of the 6th to 10th Lupus Battalion’ –
‘Yeah, yeah yeah – great to meet you’ hurried the Doctor. ‘Well Major, I’m doing what your Judge commanded me to do – look for a way off this planet’ he replied irritably. ‘And the only way is to find out what unknown signals are being transmitted from that tower up there.’
‘That tower?’ he scoffed pointing at it, ‘is nothing more than a University.’
‘What? You mean to tell me that some Professor or students are conducting experiments and transmitting unknown signals that may be grounding all space-time travel on this planet and you don’t think that’s a bit suspicious?’
‘Not at all’ replied the Major. ‘All experiments must be approved by the House of Pedigree.’
‘Pedigree?’
‘That’s out Parliament’ replied Malkee.
‘Oh, like a House of Commons? Or Lords?’ said the Doctor.
‘That’s Earth government’ informed Malkee to the confused Major.
The Doctor turned back to the Major. ‘Obviously one experiment was not approved or was with little thought because something is going on up there.’ Then he stopped and took in all of the Asrie Guard. ‘What are you doing outside this University anyway?’
‘We’ve been tipped off that the Wargs are hiding in here after you released them.’
‘I didn’t release them. They almost killed me and my friends. But it turns out they’re nothing compared to the High Court.’
‘Yes, I’m deeply sorry about that mistake’ replied the Major unemotionally.
‘Mistake? MISTAKE?! Your men killed an innocent child!’ he shouted.
‘I didn’t approve the order, Doctor. The High Court has power over me to order such a thing. Now, if you don’t mind I think the Guard should go in first – just to check if the coast is clear’ he recommended, quickly changing the subject to get this mission over and done with.
‘Be my guest’ replied the Doctor, still feeling bitter about the fate of Alex.
The Asrie Guard split into groups; some going behind the building, others to the side and some remaining at the front. One Asrie private dragged his claw down the steel door – it opened.
They hurried inside, pointing their weapons here and there, with the Doctor and his companions following behind them. The room they entered was empty. It looked like it once was a waiting room, with a desk for a secretary, with a row of chairs opposite it. There was a machine that looked similar to a fax machine with a piece of paper sticking out of it. The Doctor picked up the paper and read it.
‘What does it say?’ asked Jack.
‘The Doctor is expecting you’ he read out loud, ‘door 3.10 at 9:00am.’ He looked up puzzled.
‘Looks like we missed our appointment’ replied Jack. The Doctor looked up at him and then sprinted for the stairs.
‘What are you doing?’ called the Major.
‘I think I know what room we’re looking for’ he called back. The commander motioned for the guard to follow.
Jack was panting to keep up with the Doctor. ‘Do you think someone is giving you clues?’ he asked between breaths.
‘It seems mad, doesn’t it? But who else would get a message saying the doctor is expecting you but me?’ he thought aloud while hurrying up the stairs.
They reached the third floor. It was an ordinary looking corridor. ‘Right, we’re looking for room 3.10’ instructed the Doctor. They marched down the corridor following the numbers on the door.
‘I’ve got 3.07!’ called Jack. The Doctor looked at the door near him.
‘3.08!’ he called back.
‘3.09!’
‘Ah, here it is!’ called the Doctor.
‘Let us through first!’ instructed the Major. He broke through the wooden door.
The Doctor turned the knob on the broken door. ‘It was already open’ he said.
They looked into the room. It was empty apart from high tables surrounding strange machine that looked like a huge gyroscope.
‘It’s a laboratory’ remarked the Doctor.
‘What’s that sphere in the middle?’ asked Jack.
‘No idea’ he replied.
The Doctor looked around puzzled, and then he saw it; a blackboard in the front of the room. ‘There’s an equation on this board’ he said pointing at it. He took out his glasses and put them on.
‘What is it?’ asked Jack.
‘Looks like one of Alex’s doodlings’ comment Chris.
‘These sphere’s – they’re planets – almost identical’ deduced the Doctor pointing at the drawings on the board. ‘These look like communication waves and this code here – The Asteri Equation’—
‘So this proves that whoever is in this room damaged the Lock’ interrupted the Major.
‘I told you the Lock wasn’t damaged – it’s a hole in the fabric of space-time!’ bellowed the Doctor, ‘you assassinated an innocent child for no reason!’
‘There can’t be a hole in space-time because we are existing outside of it’ retorted the officer.
There’s more to the equation’ said the Doctor, ignoring the Major and turning back around to study the board but was interrupted by Jack.
‘Doctor, we have company’ he said.
The Doctor turned around in time to see a Warg pointing a large black double headed rifle at them. He saw more and more Wargs’ enter the room, who pointed their guns at the Asrie guard.
The Doctor raised his hands. ‘The Wargs did this – why?’
‘We were just following orders’ replied the Warg leader.
‘Tell me who your leader is!’ demanded the Doctor.
‘Enough of this’ interrupted the Major. ‘Attack them!’
The Asrie guard fired electric beams and the Wargs’ returned fire. The Doctor and his companions ducked. The dead were falling around all around them.
‘Doctor, we should retreat!’ yelled Jack over the noise, but as they were about to a small figure entered the room.
‘Alex, you’re alive!’ exclaimed the Doctor in both joy and confusion. Alex took out a large alien handgun; an EC Blaster, and shot an Asrie officer dead.
‘Whoa! Ok, now easy, easy’ soothed the Doctor. ‘They made a mistake. Just put the gun down and we’ll get you out of here.’
‘Sorry, I can’t let you do that’ replied Alex in a flat voice. He raised the gun at the Doctor.
‘No!’ shouted Jack running at him. Alex fired and Jack fell to the ground. He turned back to the Doctor, slowly raising the gun.
‘OK, settle down, son’ spoke a familiar voice. ‘You don’t have to shoot him. Sorry about that Doctor, he goes a bit overboard when he uses a gun – you know, kids.’
‘Master’ seethed the Doctor. ‘I should have known you had something to do with this. Let me guess – Art Van Steimas Heigal?’
‘The Master lives again’ he revealed. ‘I admit not one of my best anagrams.’
‘What did you mean by son?’ asked the Doctor.
‘Oh and herein lies the genius of my plans’ replied the Master. ‘Think of Alex more as an invention. He is as alive as any human – or Time Lord’ he added in chuckling. ‘You see I knew that you and that companion of yours, Martha Jones, who I can see you traded in for that blonde haired little brat’ he said gesturing at Chris. ‘What’s the matter, Doctor – another one realised you weren’t worth the trouble?’—
‘At least my companions don’t always end up shooting me!’ spat the Doctor.
‘Except for my little friend here’ replied the Master, messing up Alex’s hair with one hand. Alex didn’t show the slightest reaction and stared blankly at the wall.
‘Anyway, I knew that you and your companions were planning to stop me so I decided to do some medical research. It was easy to access a genome clinic being the Prime Minister and all. I mapped my entire genome. But that wasn’t enough. I had to put a bit of human DNA in there to keep you of the scent. I added in dark hair to make it just that much harder to find him, and I made him clueless at communication skills so no one could really suspect him. Then I chose a poor woman that couldn’t give birth at random at an IVF clinic, swapped the genes and whala – my son’ the Master concluded gesturing towards Alex.
The Doctor turned to Alex and couldn’t hide the fury in his voice. ‘How long have you known for?’
‘Oh, only three days’ replied the Master. ‘Before that he was as clueless as you.’
‘What was all that invading Earth stuff about?’
‘Just think of it as a precursor to war’ replied the Master. ‘A young human boy slaughtered by aliens. The boy warns of an invasion. The boy dies, which is broadcasted all over Earth and you can guess what comes next, Doctor.’
‘War’ he concluded angrily.
‘Exactly; two planets at war’ replied the Master.
‘Ah, but we’re thirty-four thousand light years away from Earth’ he interjected proudly at his cleverness, ‘the signal wouldn’t reach Earth in time.’
‘It would if I used a timescope.’
‘But then timescope’s coordinates didn’t match up. I saw from one of the timescope’s in an observatory here in Asterion.’
‘I planted that’ informed the Master, ‘and I can guarantee you that my one works.’
‘Alright then, tell me why sometimes Alex in normal and other times not’ demanded the Doctor.
‘That was me again’ replied the Master. He touched the side of his head, ‘Psychic connection. It makes it very easy to control him, from his actions right down to his own thoughts.’
‘Oh, I know all about telekinetic manipulation’ replied the Doctor angrily, but what I don’t understand is why?’
‘Why?’ repeated the Master, unable to understand the question.
‘Why bring us all to Asterion?’
‘I needed you to meet Alex, somehow. I knew that you would not leave him stranded. You had to be the hero again. So I used a Space-Time manipulator to pull you onto this planet. The thing is I used a lot of energy to get all three of you over here at the same time that I ripped a hole in the Universe.’ He made a gestured with his hand to mouth, silently mouthing the word ‘oops’.
‘Alright but there’s still just one thing I’m not getting here. Where did you get this planet from? Did you use a Magnetron or something?’
‘No’ answered the Master slowly as though the words contained six o’s. ‘I didn’t do anything to this planet – well, apart from the Asteri lock and the terraformation of its environment.’
‘Come on Master, everyone knows that there’s no planets in this galaxy.’
‘Actually there is’ corrected the Master. ‘Asterion was never a star as the primitive Astronomer’s would have you know it. Asterion has always been a planet, just a very hot inhabitable planet before I changed its atmosphere.’
The Doctor made a disbelieving noise. ‘So you made a planet habitable for your evolved race just so you could trap me and Alex and Jack onto it so he could trick Earth into going to war with Asterion – why would you go to so much effort?’
Well, why not?’
‘Bringing Alex and me over here I can understand – but why Jack?’
‘Comic relief, really’ shrugged the Master. ‘To see how many times he could die – oh and here he comes!’ he announced excitedly.
Jack let out a gasp of breath and got to his feet. ‘Master – but how – Alex!?’ he exclaimed confused. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Oh Jack, you missed my whole explanation – you ruin everything!’ pouted the Master.
‘OK, fine’ he said then he spoke hurriedly without taking a breath; ‘I mixed my biological data with human DNA, thus creating Alex then I modified a Space-Time manipulator so I could specifically drag you to this planet, where you’d meet Alex. I then damaged the Asteri Lock with black body radiation which also acted as a time lock and created a right big hole in the Universe. The good thing was the locals blamed you for the sabotage. Then I convinced Alex to die for his planet so the Earth would declare war on Asterion’ he concluded, pretending to be out of breath.
‘Now is there anyone else that has decided to come back to life that missed that?’ he asked sarcastically. ‘Good. Now Doctor if you don’t mind the boy and I have got a plane to catch – tata’ farewelled the Master. He turned to leave but then turned back to the Doctor once more.
‘While I’m away could you feed my dogs? They’re very hungry’ he said gesturing at the Wargs’. ‘Come on Alex’ he instructed.
The Doctor put out his hand, ‘Alex, don’t trust him!’ Alex turned and stood still for a moment.
‘Alex, I said come – unless you want me to leave without you?’ demanded the Master. Alex quickly obeyed, then took one last look at his old friends’ and hurried out of them room.
The Doctor went to chase him but the Wargs’ stepped in front of the doors.
‘How can you trust the Master?’ he asked them.
‘He is our master’ replied a Warg, ‘he will help us defeat the humans.’
‘Why are you so against humans?’
‘The Master has told us about their evil’ it replied.
‘He hypnotised you?’
‘No, he made us strong. He made us see what the humans really are.’
‘Yeah, he hypnotised you’ repeated the Doctor.
The Asrian Guard’s seemed to come back to their senses and upon realising the Wargs’ were still in the room they opened fire with electric energy from all directions.
The Asrie Major yelled at the Doctor and his companions. ‘Run now!’
‘Allow me’ said Jack, motioning for them all the follow behind him. He took another hit but managed to get them all out through the door, and then he collapsed down the stairs.
The Doctor helped him up, put an arm around him and helped him down the stairs. A few minutes later Jack gasped for air again.
‘Glad to have you back Jack’ welcomed the Doctor. ‘We really need to find the Master.’
The Master and Alex were in a narrow room with a large machine. ‘Shutting down the black bodies’ he said in a commanding voice, ‘and launching destructive interference waves.’ He paused to turn to Alex and said. ‘I really should give that a better name. And finally the destruction of the Asteri Lock’ he announced firing on a machine with his laser screwdriver, which blew up. ‘There, that should make things more interesting.’
They headed out of the room and not far from them was the Doctor. ‘Got to go, Doctor’ he said, ‘sorry, it’s a guest list only invitation I’m afraid.’ He headed off in the opposite direction, closely followed by Alex.
They headed up a flight of stairs leading to the very top of the building. Standing there was the Schrödinger; Alex’s TARDIS disguised as a plane. They entered inside it.
The Master clapped his hands together as he approached the console. ‘Aren’t you beautiful’ he said to it, ‘so much better that that icky green and yellow coral layout.’
The Doctor, Jack and Chris made it to the top of the building. They recognised the TARDIS. The Doctor tried to open the door with his screwdriver but the door didn’t budge. Chris started banging against the door and both he and the Doctor were yelling for Alex to get out of there.
‘Sounds like you’ve got fans’ commented the Master. Alex stood up slowly looking at the monitor screen. The Master enthusiastically pulled a lever down to de-materialise the TARDIS into the Time Vortex.
Chris held his hand up to the empty space that it had occupied seconds ago. ‘He’s gone.’
‘Don’t you worry Chris, I’m going to get him back’ reassured the Doctor.
‘What do you think the Master has got planned?’ asked Jack nervously. ‘Do you really think he is capable of starting a war between Asterion and Earth?’
‘I don’t know Jack but you’ve seen what he is capable of.’
Jack nodded in agreement then looked down hopelessly at his Time Vortex manipulator and continued to stare at it, stunned by what he saw. ‘Doctor, it’s working again’ he revealed showing the Doctor the now active Time Vortex manipulator.
The Doctor leant down to inspect the device then looked up with both hope and fear in his eyes. ‘Everyone back to the TARDIS – QUICKLY!’
To be continued in Book2 : The Invasion of Earth