Doctor Who - Fracture

An adventure based upon the BBCtv series Doctor Who, featuring:

The 5th Doctor, Tegan and Turlough
The 11th Doctor and Clara
Romana II and K-9

Story written by Alex Pinfold
Frontispiece by Andrew Skilleter

Celebrating 50 years of adventures in space and time...

The planet Amanda slowly turned, orbiting around the star that sustained it. Grey cloud covered the surface from view, but beneath them were continents of mountains and deep oceans of water. It had taken the first colonists over seventy years, in Earth terms, to change the conditions into those suitable for human habitation - conditions similar to those on the Earth itself, achieved by adding the right chemicals and gases to the air and water. Seventy Earth years equalled eighty-five years on the planet Amanda as it orbited its star more frequently. Several large satellites orbited the planet, each with two or three hundred people aboard at any one time, and shuttles travelled back and forth to and from the surface of the planet all day. One of these satellites was a docking station for ships from other planets and systems, the occupants of which would then travel down to the planet in the small shuttles. Docking Station One was being approached by a long, sleek craft, the shape of a dart. The craft had four powerful engines at rear, but these had been turned off after retro-firing and the manoeuvring was being controlled by tiny thrusters ringed around the centre of the hull. A narrow tube extended from the station and the craft, after a final adjustment to its angle of approach, made contact with it. The station itself was shaped like a squashed cylinder, with wide diameter but short length, with around thirty docking tubes positioned around its perimeter. Attached to seven of these tubes were huge passenger liners, with light shining from hundreds of windows along each ship and multi-coloured marker lights flashing around them. The whole collection of station and ships gently rotated as though in a dance together. But out on one of the moons of Amanda, there was a small puff of dust as a shuttle lifted off from alongside a large rectangular craft with six landing legs and very few windows. It had used the moon as a shield to disguise its presence and now, with its occupants transferred to the waiting shuttle, it lifted off moments after the smaller craft and returned into deep space. Unnoticed amongst all the other activity, the shuttle approached Amanda.

*****

Deputy Grosse looked at the closed grey metal door before him, a frown of anxiety across his lined and aged face. In his many years as a representative of the Block Seven government he had faced a great many challenges, but never one as severe as to require mediation from neighbouring planet Quinxek VI. The current emergency was the dispute with Block Five, located on the opposite side of the planet and Amanda’s second largest economy and centre of power. While B7 was the centre of technology and inter-planetary commerce, B5 had the majority of the agricultural land and mineral resources. Thus it had been essential for centuries that the two Blocks lived and traded together and supported the nine other, smaller blocks. But some forty years ago, a great famine in Block Five had hit their ability to trade and had decimated their population. The government of Block Seven at the time had simply turned their back on their fellow Amandans and used their financial wealth to trade off-world instead. What followed was a lengthy war followed by a lengthier and uneasy peace that had now reached a critical situation, for another famine worse than that of forty years ago was now taking its toll upon Block Five. Demands from the B5 government had been ignored since they were backed up by threats to use the most terrible and destructive weapons that potentially threatened the populations of all the Blocks. Counter threats had only heightened the tension on the planet and so a mediator had been called for. Grosse’ face relaxed as the door opened and Ambassador Arlen entered the antechamber. He was tall and slim, and younger than Grosse expected as he appeared to be no more than forty or so Earth years, and wore a long green cape over sharp grey suit and tie in the fashion of early 21st Century Earth. Grosse walked towards him.

2

Deputy Grosse extended his hand towards Ambassador Arlen. The diplomat from Quinxek VI took it and returned Grosse’ greeting. Arlen was fair haired, obviously extremely self-confident, and looked around him with an air of great importance as though he knew just how important he personally was to people of Amanda. Taking the purple and red robes of Grosse in with a single glance, he surveyed the room that he was now standing in. Simple, with no real furnishings or adornments, it was the sort of mediocre welcome that he had expected from a race that couldn’t even achieve peace on a single planet, never mind on an inter-planetary scale. He turned back to Grosse.
“Deputy Grosse” he said, “what is the next stage of our journey? I do not wish to remain here.”
“Well Ambassador...” replied Grosse, “the timetable was for a reception here for refreshment...”
“Deputy Grosse” interrupted Arlen, “this station is vulnerable and not the place to remain in.”
“Ambassador, I’m sure that we are perfectly safe here... what I mean is that your safety...”
“My safety... Deputy Grosse is your concern yes, but also my own. And I choose not to stay.”
“I’m sorry Ambassador, a shuttle will be called as you request and we will travel down to...”
“Be called... on my request? Do you mean to say Deputy that the shuttle is not already here?”
“Well... we were not expecting... that is, our original timetable for the today didn’t include...”
“May I trust that the rest of my visit here will be more efficiently organised, Deputy Grosse?”
“We will continue to make every effort to make your visit a success, for the good of all...”
“Deputy...” cut in Arlen, “in amongst your profuse apologising and excuse making...”
“Erm... yes?” stammered Grosse, beginning to wonder just how successful this visit would be.
“Have you actually made your request for transport to take myself and my colleagues down?”
“Well... no... What I mean is, right away Ambassador Arlen” said Grosse, glad of any reason to walk away from the conversation before his own feelings about Arlen destroyed the talks on the first day.
“This is a terribly tiresome planet” said Arlen to his entourage, speaking to nobody in particular.
Just a few minutes later, and Grosse led the diplomatic party along a corridor to the shuttle bay. The doors opened and the group entered the small craft. Arlen, who had been silent for a time, spoke:
“Deputy Grosse...” he said, in an exasperated tone of voice. “Are you there Deputy Grosse?”
“Yes Ambassador Arlen” said Grosse, entering the shuttle last. “Yes, I’m here...”
“When you said that you would order one shuttle, you really meant one didn’t you?”
“Is that a problem Ambassador Arlen? There seems to be plenty of room for the whole party.”
“Yet again my safety is compromised, Deputy. The whole party is in one, simple target?”
“Ah...” said Grosse, a smile spreading across his old face. “Please, look out of the window...”
“And at what precisely, Deputy Grosse, am I supposed to be looking?” replied Arlen.
Grosse pointed through a window at eleven other shuttles that were leaving at the same time.
“Those...” he said, “may look like mere shuttles, but they are heavily armed with lasers. They make for quite an escort, don’t you agree? A target that is neither in the singular, nor is it simple...”
“Very well...” said Arlen, trying not to sound impressed, “we will continue and hope for the best.”
“Our arrival at the Block Seven capital of Horizon City will be in a couple of Amandan hours.”

The journey from Docking Station One to Horizon City was an uneventful one, and the shuttle with its escort arrived safely as planned on a large circular landing pad that was supported high above the ground on a tall spike alongside the main government building, itself a magnificent skyscraper that gleamed in the morning light with its metal and glass walls. A covered moving walkway carried the occupants of the shuttle from the landing pad and into the tower, about two thirds from the base to the top of the building. Through transparent double doors, they entered...

3

The Doctor strolled along one of the many corridors deep inside the Ship, his Type 40 TARDIS, and a gentle hum of power accompanied him. They were in flight, the Doctor and his two current travelling companions Turlough and Tegan, but at the moment it was a journey without a destination. At this moment, he was walking towards the console room and was hoping to find one or both of them so that a potential destination could be discussed and decided upon. Sadly, by discussion he probably meant an argument and potential destination was also an apt description of any plans they might make as the Ship sometimes had a mind its own. After passing several rooms along the way, finally he reached the console room. Standing idly in a corner, and staring at nothing in particular, was Turlough. He wore casual but practical clothes and shoes, demonstrating a balance between wanting to feel comfortable but also ready for anything that might happen. He and the Doctor had survived many adventures together and both knew to expect the unexpected at any time and in any place. Entering the console room, the Doctor stopped and looked at Turlough.
“Turlough, there you are...” began the Doctor, “I have been considering our next destination.”
“And what conclusions have you come to?” asked Turlough in reply, “Please not Earth again.”
“Oh... don’t you like Earth?” asked the Doctor, “You know it’s quite my favourite planet!”
“Oh no, I didn’t know that!” said Turlough sharply and sarcastically, “I would never have guessed.”
“Well, alright then!” countered the Doctor, “Where would you like to go next – any thoughts?”
“Not especially, why don’t we ask Tegan. Oh! Maybe because Earth is her favourite planet too!”
“Ask me what?” said a raised, Australian accented voice from behind them as Tegan entered. She wore a tight fitting, shiny leather mini-skirt and loose red blouse with frills around the short sleeves and collar. The top three buttons of the blouse were undone, revealing lace lingerie in a matching shade of scarlet. She held a pair of closed, medium high heeled black shoes in her left hand, her feet making no sound on the smooth console room floor. Sitting at a wicker chair and table, she slipped the shoes on and repeated her question. “Ask me about what, Turlough?” she said.
“It might interest you to know that The Doctor is considering where to go for our next destination...”
“Oh no...” said Tegan, with mock concern. She smiled at the Doctor, asking “do you have an idea?”
“Well...” he said, thoughtfully. “When you’ve travelled for as many years as I have...”
“Okay...” said Tegan, “suggest somewhere peaceful where we can have a nice holiday!”
“In that case we could visit the planet Dulkis! They believe only in peace, it’s a wonderful planet!”
“Sounds great Doctor” said Tegan enthusiastically, “have you been there many times before?”
“More to the point...” interrupted Turlough, “what happened last time you were there?”
“Well...” said the Doctor, “there was a little trouble to sort out, but nothing all that terrible...”
“When you say there was ‘a little trouble’...” asked Tegan, “did it involve saving the whole Universe with seconds to spare and nearly getting everyone killed in the process? Like normally happens?”
“There was an alien invasion by a race called the Dominators, and yes I did save the planet and the entire Dulcian race from being destroyed. They planned to detonate a nuclear bomb you see, and...”
“Yes, we get the picture...” said Tegan, “is there anywhere else that nice but without invasions?”
“We could always visit Vortis...” said the Doctor, “that is a peaceful place, nice inhabitants too...”
“When you say nice inhabitants...” said Turlough cautiously, “do you mean inhuman creatures?”
“The Menoptera are a sort of human sized insect life, and the Zarbi are like two metre tall ants...”
Tegan squealed, good naturedly. “Any other ideas? Not sure about giant ants! Where else?”
“Or we could go to New Earth and visit the Sisters of Plentitude! Nuns... but also cats...”
“Try again...” said Tegan. “Somewhere with actual people, but who aren’t fighting. Please?”
“Let’s go to Horizon City on the planet Amanda then, where it’s peaceful and we’ll be welcome!”
“Right...” said Tegan decisively, “let’s go there then! Come on Doctor, set those coordinates!”

4

The doors to the Ship opened and the Doctor stepped out into a smartly furnished conference room, followed moments later by Turlough and Tegan. The room was long, with windows along one side that were covered by deep blue curtains, a deep blue carpet, chairs with deep blue seat coverings and a hollow, oval shaped table that dominated the room and around which the many chairs were arranged. The double doors were locked but, with a few moments’ attention from the Doctor, were opened easily and led out into a long corridor. Soon, they came to a crossroads where two identical and equally long corridors intersected each other. After choosing a direction almost at random, the three travellers arrived at a small reception area. Behind a small desk sat a clerk. A man aged about twenty years old and with short dark hair wore a smart suit bearing a name badge that identified him as Stephen. At first, the clerk didn’t even look up at the new arrivals. Tegan spoke first.
“Well are you going to at least ask us who we are and where we came from? Isn’t that usual?”
The clerk sat silent. “Somehow Tegan” said the Doctor, “I don’t think this man wants to talk to us”.
“And since...” began Turlough, “we don’t especially want to talk to him, let’s just carry on shall we?”
“That would be rude” counselled the Doctor, “and besides, we really need some directions...”
“Which city are we in?” asked Tegan of the unresponsive Clerk. “Are we in Horizon City?”
“Oh Tegan!” exclaimed the Doctor, “you really don’t have much faith in my piloting skills, do you?”
“Since you ask Doctor” replied Tegan, “none whatsoever. Just need to make sure where we are!”
*You are in Horizon City* came a voice from a speaker above their heads. *Do not move please*
“Well at least he said please...” said the Doctor, “that must a good sign of somewhere civilised...”
Four black uniformed men entered the reception area. One stood out from the rest as his uniform was more like a suit, adorned with three medals on the left breast pocket, unlike the uniforms of the other men which were little more than overalls. The officer advanced upon them.
“My name is Captain Jamo, of the City Guard Division. Identify yourselves immediately!”
Captain Jamo was tall, with blonde hair, his face wearing a hard expression, and a strong build that made him look very much like a man who would win most fights. In his right hand he held an ID card.
“There really is no need for your men to hold guns to us Captain” said the Doctor. “My name is the Doctor, and these are my two friends Tegan and Turlough. We’ve come here in peace and in search of somewhere to relax and spend a few days enjoying your planet. That’s the honest truth.”
“Then you have chosen a very strange place to come for peace or relaxation Doctor!”
“And why is that?” asked the Doctor. “This was a quite wonderful place last time I visited...”
“That must be a long time ago” said Jamo derisively, “you honestly... do you really not know?”
“Doctor...” said Tegan, “have you done it again, dropped us into a war or something? Honestly...”
“Captain Jamo, it really is a long time since my last visit. There was peace over the whole planet”
“It must be a long time, considering that this tension has been with us for over forty of our years!”
“My, that is a long time” agreed the Doctor, “but last time there was a man called Deputy Grosse...”
“You know the Deputy?” asked Captain Jamo. “Guess what? I don’t believe you.”
“If you could just contact him and tell him that I’m here, please... we can have all this sorted out!”
“Very well” said Jamo. He turned away and spoke discreetly into a wrist communicator.
Tegan turned to the Doctor. “Peaceful, you said. Nice place for a holiday, you said! Marvellous!”
“How could I possibly have known about this Tegan? Please, be reasonable? It was a long time ago”
“Oh yes! How long ago precisely? Because he says this war has been going on now for forty years!”
“Perhaps the coordinates were just a little out for the period we were aiming for. And remember that forty years on Amanda might be somewhat less in your terms due to a faster planetary orbit.”
“None of which” cut in Turlough “alters the fact that four men are holding guns on us, again...”
At that moment, Captain Jamo returned and said: “Deputy Grosse has agreed to see you Doctor.”
“Then at last we can get all this sorted out” said the Doctor and, walking to a chair, sat down to wait.

5

Tegan, looking up as the double doors opened and Deputy Grosse entered, asked “Is that the man?”
“No...” replied the Doctor, “I have never seen that man before in my life. We may have a problem”
Tegan groaned. Grosse addressed the Doctor: “are you the one calling yourself... the Doctor?”
“Yes I am, and I do so because that is my name... and has been for several hundred years so far...”
“Tell me Doctor...” questioned Grosse, “what year was it on Amanda when you last came here?”
“Now that is a difficult question... it’s so hard to keep track of years when you travel though them!”
“Indeed Doctor, but please try... this really is important. You see, we have to convince Captain Jamo”
“It was the year 654 of the new calendar, the local calendar that started with colonisation...”
“Then that explains why you know not of our plight, as the year on Amanda is now 702...”
“What are you talking about?” said Jamo, angrily! He was not ready to accept time travel, not here.
Grosse answered him: “the Doctor travels through time Captain Jamo, his Ship will be nearby...”
“Thank you Deputy” said the Doctor, “please, excuse my asking... why you accept this so readily.”
“Because you see, it was my grandfather that you met Doctor. Jamo, may I test the Doctor?”
“Go ahead” said Jamo, folding his arms in irritation that his prisoner was being trusted in this way.
Grosse said “Doctor, the wonderful Lady Romana made a big impression upon my grandfather. But who had you been travelling with before Romana joined you to assist in your special mission?”
“Before Romana..? I travelled with a young lady called Leela, from the tribe of the Sevateem.”
“Yes indeed Doctor! My grandfather recounted all of your adventures, but none of them have ever been recorded in our history. An imposter would not have known. Jamo, this man is to be trusted.”
“Thank you Deputy” said the Doctor and then turned to Turlough. “See, polite conversation...”
Turlough ignored the sarcasm laden comment and thrust his hands into his pockets. Tegan smiled.
“Doctor...” said Grosse, “Now we need a favour from you. The talks between Block Seven, which is here where you are now, and Block Five who threaten us... they are at a critical stage. We urgently need your wisdom and experience to help us avoid a terrible war. Will you help us, please?”
“Yes...” replied the Doctor, “of course I will – but what about Tegan and Turlough?”
“They will be accommodated in one of our very best hotels, close by to this very building.”
“Again, thank you” said the Doctor. “Tegan, Turlough... keep out of trouble, as I always do...”
Turlough sighed, shrugged, and said “what choice do we have Doctor? None, as usual...”
“Sounds great Doctor” said Tegan, with exaggerated enthusiasm to counter Turlough’s mood.

*****

The hotel was indeed very comfortable, and Turlough and Tegan had adjoining rooms of the highest quality. They had been offered a double room, but Turlough’s look of blind panic and Tegan’s cold stare had corrected the hotel clerk’s first impressions and separate rooms had been arranged. They now sat in Turlough’s room and looked out of the window, across the city. Below them was the busy centre of Horizon City, full of markets and huge department stores. The hotel clerk had supplied each of them with a map showing all the areas that a visitor would likely wish to see, with a second map showing the transport system on the reverse. But this interested only one of them...

“Come on Turlough, we wanted a holiday and we have got a holiday... just without the Doctor.”
“Oh yes, wonderful... a holiday. It’s just what we wanted; a holiday on a planet on the verge of war.”
“That might not even happen, or at least not happen for years or even centuries! Let’s go out...”
“Actually... let’s not go out. Let’s just wait here for the world to burn around us. It’s ridiculous...”
“Right” said Tegan, “you can sit around here if you want to, but I’m going to explore. Coming?”
“No” said Turlough firmly and, as if to reinforce his point, he lay on the bed and closed his eyes.
Tegan sighed. “See you later then. Try not to get too excited about being on an alien world...”
“No” said Turlough, with finality. Tegan walked across to the door and went out into the corridor.

6

The Doctor sat in his chair at the conference table and tapped his fingers upon its surface.
“Deputy Grosse?” demanded Ambassador Arlen aggressively, “where is the Block Five delegate?”
“He is finishing a... cultural tour around one of our busy commercial areas. He will arrive soon.”
“Am I the only person here who treats these talks seriously!” exclaimed Arlen furiously.
Grosse shifted in his seat, trying to restrain himself again from speaking out of turn to Arlen.
“The delegate will be here soon” said the Doctor to Arlen, “we can only have patience...”

*****

Tegan walked along the busy street, looking into the windows of passing shops as she went. There was so much variety here, and so many people pushing and shoving past each other as they fought to get where they wanted to go. It reminded Tegan of Oxford Street in London back in the late 20th Century on Earth. The thought gave Tegan mixed emotions; excitement and wonder at where she was, but also a longing for the familiar sights and sounds of home. The building along each side of the street were tall and imposing, with lots of glass all the way from the ground upwards to the roofs far above. Everywhere she looked were bright colours, advertising boards, flashing lights that shone up into the darkening evening sky. In front of her, security men dressed in the same black uniforms as Captain Jamo and his troop were clearing the centre of the road. People forced to stop their usual jostling and stand back against the shop fronts. Tegan herself stood and watched as a small group of people was escorted past. One of them seemed to be the centre of attention, with a man who was obviously a politician acting as a sort of tour guide and another three men dressed in business suits who seemed to the visitor’s own personal bodyguard. The visitor was pretending to look impressed and was stopping to point at things every few moments, with the guide looking increasingly agitated and flustered as though they were late for an appointment. Tegan could not know that the visitor, the delegate from Block Five, was the key to either war or peace for the planet Amanda. The group passed and moved further along the street in the direction of the main government building in which the Ship had landed. The crowd quickly forgot the interruption and continued as before.

Suddenly, and without warning, a force picked up Tegan and thrust her into the air and forwards. A deafening blast of sound hit her, leaving a singing in her ears penetrating deep into her brain as she tumbled onto the harsh paving slabs. Her head was spinning for a moment and all she was aware of was herself, the pain in her ears, the grazes on her elbows, her lungs struggling to draw one breath after the next, choking on acrid smoke. Slowly, Tegan became aware of something more deafening than the shock blast of sound: silence. Seemingly from far away a woman, no older than Tegan was, gave a startled scream and then another and another. Two, three, four voices joined the chorus of calls for help mixed with screams of despair. Opening her eyes, Tegan looked and saw the ruins of the street not twenty metres away from where she lay on the ground. Windows were smashed, and bodies lay across the road. She was unable to tell the wounded from the dead, only a handful of the people she could see were on their feet and moving. The rest were still. Smoke was rising into the sky and two small fires burned out of control. Climbing to her feet and pulling a shoe back on that had slipped in her fall, Tegan caught sight of four men wearing combat gear running into the middle of the street and inspecting the site of the explosion. Thoughts came flooding into her mind. That would have been where the important visitor to the city and his party were standing. These men were checking, not to see if the party had survived but to make sure they were all dead. Therefore, she reasoned, they must have planted the device and waited nearby to wait for the correct moment to set it off. Moments too early or too late and the group would have escaped. The men, satisfied that there were indeed no survivors, ran towards where Tegan was now standing unsteadily. As one of them ran past her, she intentionally stumbled into him and tore off the black balaclava over his head. Their eyes made contact. The man stared at her with a look of fear, and then a blow caught the back of Tegan’s head and everything went dark.

7

The doors to the conference chamber flew open and a messenger thrust a piece of paper into the hands of Deputy Grosse, and then stood before him shaking and struggling for breath. Grosse looked around to Arlen and the Doctor, his face white as he shared the news of attack in the city. Worse, that the diplomatic representative of Block Five had been killed. He called in a senior official.
“Open a channel to the Premier of Block Five immediately!” he ordered, “with all urgency...”
“Sorry...” said the official, “all communications have been closed by Block Five...”
“But this is an emergency man...” Grosse implored, “They may start the countdown!”
“Countdown already started Sir... theirs... and ours... they called it and then switched off...”
“This is impossible...” said Grosse, slumping down into his chair. “Everything... is over...”
“How did they know...” said the Doctor, “news couldn’t travel that fast! How did they know...?”

*****

Turlough was down in the foyer of the hotel. There was panic everywhere, with people running in all directions and none. He caught sight of Captain Jamo marching through towards the outer doors.
“What’s going on?” pleaded Turlough, as keen to escape as the next man if only he knew from what.
“Block Five are launching an attack. Everyone will try to leave, few will. We have a mission to fulfil.”
“Please, let me come with you” said Turlough, following Captain Jamo across the floor.
“You are not military personnel and you have no security clearance. I’m sorry, but no.”
“You have to let me come with you, get out of this city. I can help you, believe me...”
“Very well; but you must accept that you’re under my orders. You do not disobey or leave.”
“Yes, yes, yes... whatever! Just get us out of here now, we can argue about other things later.”
“Oh no, Turlough... there will be no argument about anything later. You are now in my command.”
“Agreed, but how are we going to get in front of this lot? We don’t have any transport!”
“Yes we do; men, follow me!” said Jamo, and led his men and Turlough into the street and then into a side-door of the hotel. The long spiral staircase led down to a railway platform where a small car on rails was waiting. They all climbed into it, and the battery powered motors whined into life as the car sped into a tunnel. For what seemed like hours, but was probably only minutes, the car rattled and bounced along the uneven tracks and Turlough was convinced that at any moment it would derail and strike the walls of the tunnel. But eventually they saw daylight as the car rounded a bend. Immediately as they exited the tunnel, Jamo cursed and jammed on the brakes. The rails ahead were broken and twisted where a fall of earth had pushed them aside.

The seven men including Jamo, Turlough and five guards climbed swiftly out of the car, using their guns to cover an attack. Jamo didn’t trust Turlough, but felt that he could rely upon the stranger’s strong will to survive far enough to trust him with a gun. Unless Turlough was an agent for Block Five which Jamo seriously doubted, then he would fight alongside them if they were threatened. And Jamo knew that with a war coming, he needed every fighter he could find. They climbed a bank, and Turlough was surprised by how far they had come. The city was no more than a speck in the distance with the tallest towers only visible through strong binoculars. Jamo licked his finger and held it up into the air, nodding with satisfaction that the city was downwind of them. Turlough looked at the city and wondered where in it the Doctor and Tegan were and whether they were searching for him or had forgotten him altogether. Jamo shouted at them to retreat down the bank and shield their eyes. Turlough wondered why and looked up. From behind and to the left, five trails of condensation streaked through the sky and plunged downwards toward the city. Turlough couldn’t move, his eyes transfixed on the city the Doctor and Tegan were in. There was a blinding flash that filled the dark evening sky and turned it into a blaze of white light, accompanied by a deafening CRASH of sound like a thunder clap. As the flash faded and Turlough was able to look again, he gazed in horror at the column of white and grey smoke rising into the air and spreading out to block the stars.

PART TWO

1

Tegan slowly regained consciousness. She was lying on her back on a narrow bunk, still wearing the clothes she had put on in the Ship, and was covered by a warm blanket. Beneath her head was a soft pillow, through which she could feel faint vibrations. There was a gentle mechanical throb coming from somewhere far away, or perhaps close by but muffled by doors and narrow corridors, and the slight motion of the bunk suggested to Tegan that she was probably on a boat of some kind. The air was musty and scented with the odour of engine oil. She speculated that, considering the obviously clandestine nature of her assailants’ mission, this was most likely to be a submarine. Opening her eyes slowly, she discovered that she was not secured in any kind of cell or cage as expected, but the bunk room was filled with similar bunks arranged three high and in four rows of two. This particular bunk was against the wall of the compartment. Tegan let out a small cry as her left arm suddenly lost all sensation and went completely numb, pulled as it was above her head and slightly beneath the pillow. Unable to pull her arm towards her to move it around and massage it, Tegan awkwardly tried to turn herself onto her left side and sit up. Having achieved this, with difficulty from being quite stiff after what was apparently a long period of unconsciousness, she looked down at the left arm and hand that she could no longer feel and discovered that the reason for the uncomfortable position and her inability to move the arm around was a pair of handcuffs fastened around her wrist and the metal rungs of the bunk. With a sigh directed more at general misfortune than anything in particular, Tegan called out hopefully for someone to come to her aid. Being kept in a room used by the crew seemed to be a good sign that she wasn’t to be treated too unkindly.
“Hello!” called Tegan, “can anyone hear me? Can someone please tell me what’s going on here?”
The door opened, admitting a man in military uniform. He looked about 35 and was quite tall, with short black hair above a warm and, thought Tegan, heroic face. He motioned her to sit on the bunk, and then walked over and sat next to her. Reaching his arms around her almost in an embrace he unfastened the handcuffs and released her, only pulling away from her when given a gentle push. Returning the restraints to a pocket on his belt, he smiled and introduced himself.
“Very sorry about that...” he said, “what is your name by the way? Miss...”
“Tegan...” said Tegan, “the name’s Tegan Jovanka. Who are you, and where is this – a submarine?”
“Well worked out Miss Jovanka, it is a submarine – Q-457 actually. How did you know?”
“When you’re as well travelled as we are, you just get used to this sort of thing. And your name is?”
“So sorry, where are my manners? My name is Rokos, Major Elioss Rokos of the Block Five marines.”
“Thank you Major Rokos” said Tegan, “now that’s who and where. What about why?”
“Please Miss Jovanka, call me Elioss. Let me explain; do you remember the blast in Horizon city?”
“Yes I do... and Elioss, please call me Tegan” she replied, staring into his eyes as she rubbed her arm.
“Thank you, and... may I?” said Elioss, reaching around her again and gently rubbing the feeling back into her arms with strong but dexterous hands. Tegan felt drawn to him, possibly she thought due to the anxiety she felt over being separated from the Doctor on a planet that those living on it believed was in imminent danger of destruction. She needed someone to be close to, and Major Rokos seemed a kind and gentle military man even if his political loyalties lay on the opposite side of the fence to Deputy Grosse. She decided to commit to friendship with the Major; a friend here was of value right now, cut off as she was from the Doctor, so she leant into Elioss and slipped her right arm around his waist. He continued: “after we had checked that our mission was a success, we were to leave the scene as quickly as possible without being recognised. Recall that our faces were concealed and you had to pull off the mask of one of my men to see his face. Of course, you had then I’m afraid compromised our mission. It was essential that the attack on the Block Five representative not be linked to our own special forces. Once you had seen a member of our party and could identify him, we only had two options. Kill you, or take you with us. I opted to save your life.”

2

The sound of a key turning in a lock reached Tegan’s ears, and she looked up to see the door of the bunk room open to admit Elioss. He smiled and walked across to her. “Time to see the ship” he said.
“Thank you” said Tegan, “so tell me, is this your submarine? Do you give all the orders round here?”
“No... I’m merely travelling aboard her. The Captain is in control, but I have persuaded him that you are under my care and responsibility. But that means I need your promise to be a good girl...”
“Of course... Why would I want to harm anyone here? I’m not with Block Seven, we’re visitors...”
“Yes, well... just remember, any funny business and...” he said, patting the pouch on his belt.
“If you try that you might just have a fight on your hands...” said Tegan, but good humouredly.
“Sounds like fun...” said Elioss then, as each averted their gaze and blushed, he changed the subject to the tour of the submarine: “you do realise that the tour will be very limited as there are many areas that are sensitive, to do with weaponry and communications. But the living areas you can see.”
As Elioss took a step out into the corridor, Tegan coughed and tilted her head to one side. He came back into the room and smiled back at her. “Yes Tegan? What is it? Are you not feeling recovered?”
She turned on the bunk so that she was sitting on the edge of it and looked down at her bare legs and feet gently swinging backward and forward just above the floor. Elioss followed her gaze and found he was unable to draw his own gaze away for several seconds. After momentarily closing his eyes, and with an exaggerated shake of the head followed by a deep breath, he strode over to the lockers. Producing a small key from his pocket, he opened the locker and passed Tegan her shoes.
“Sorry about that, completely forgot. Not used to caring for a lady onboard!” he said.
“That is fine Elioss...” said Tegan, refusing the apology but accepting a hand up from the bunk.
“This way...” said Elioss, leading the way out of the bunk room and into the corridor. Two seamen passed in the corridor and Tegan was surprised when they saluted her as well as Major Rokos.
“How come they saluted both of us?” enquired Tegan, “aren’t I supposed to be a prisoner here?”
“Yes and no... You are my prisoner, and I choose to treat you as a personal guest.”
“There’s nothing to fear from anyone on the ship, suddenly throwing me in the brig or something?”
“Absolutely not” said Elioss as he opened a door. “This is the galley and, as you can see, it’s large!”
“At least you’re not asking me to go in there and make myself useful, as Turlough would...”
“Indeed not. You’re worried about your friends aren’t you? We’ll give you any news as we get it...”
“Appreciate that Elioss, I really do. Yes, I’m worried about the Doctor – it seems a dangerous place.”
Elioss opened another door and, with a frown of concern, changed the subject once more: “This is the medical room. If you or anyone else gets hurt, this is the place to come. Doc, this is Tegan...”
The ship’s doctor was older than Major Rokos, perhaps in his early fifties, and wore a white coat. His grey hair and round-rimmed glasses made him look the part, thought Tegan. “Hi!” she called inside.
“Hello...” he said, “my name is Doctor Oxford. That was a city on old Earth don’t you know!”
“Yes... I know... I’ve been there, once or twice...” said Tegan, not sure of how far away Earth was.
“Been there?” exclaimed Oxford. “You have been to Earth? My dear, you must come in for chat!”
Major Rokos interrupted: “But not right now Doc, Tegan’s story is interesting I’m sure...”
“Oh yes, of course!” said Oxford, “there’s no way that I would interfere with your tour Rokos...”
“Yes Doc, I would love to come back and talk to you...” said Tegan. As she turned away from Oxford, she was sure that he winked at Elioss and made a mental note to make a few points to him later.
“So...” said Elioss, “you have been to Earth... not sure how that’s possible, considering...”
“Well, it’s a long story. It’s all to do with my friend, the Doctor, and this Ship that he has...”
“If it’s a long story...” said Elioss gently, “how about we discuss it later? When we have more time...”
“Yeah... when do you suggest? I don’t know how things work around here yet...”
“Well... how about seven, on the hour, in my cabin? Cook will bring us something nice...”
“Hey... Major Rokos are you suggesting something along the lines of candles and soft music...”
“Could be...” said Elioss, “of course, you could always spend the evening locked in the bunk room...”
“No thank you... to the bunk room, that is! Yes, I accept... see you later then! What’s through here?”

3

The doors to the conference room closed behind Grosse and Arlen, leaving the Doctor by himself for a few moments. Walking over to the window, he looked out over Horizon City and considered how it might yet be possible to aid the peoples of this world. Perhaps a peace mission to Block Five, using the Ship to travel there instantaneously, might yield the desired result in the talks. But how would he explain the speed of the diplomats’ arrival to the Block Five authorities? Thinking over these things, he became aware that he was feeling slightly nauseous and he looked up at the sky. Something was wrong with the colour; not clearly visible, but just at the edge of his perception. Suddenly, the room appeared to spin wildly and the Doctor collapsed to his hands and knees. He looked over at the Ship to crawl into it for protection, but it had disappeared! The TARDIS was gone and the Doctor blinked to clear his eyes as he looked around the room for it, but it was no longer there to be found. He was falling, falling down and down like a skydiver but soaring ever higher and higher at the same time, but all the time kneeling on the floor of the conference room. Disoriented, the Doctor collapsed onto the floor and closed his eyes. Gradually, the sensations cleared and he reopened his eyes. Unsure of what had occurred, the Doctor climbed up from the floor and walked unsteadily across to the doors.

The corridor was deserted in both directions, and the Doctor made his way slowly along it towards the small reception area where he had first encountered Captain Jamo. The clerk was not on duty, which the Doctor thought strange in the circumstances. Hearing voices approaching, he stepped out into another corridor that passed at right angles to that from which he had just exited. The figure walking towards him was familiar to him, but only from the mirror. Striding down the corridor, grey coat and long multi-coloured scarf flapping around him, was his former self in conversation with the Deputy’s grandfather. Swiftly stepping back out of sight, the Doctor snatched up a calendar from the desk and stared unbelievingly at the date. It was the year of his previous visit. Keeping out of sight of himself, the Doctor waited for Romana to reach where he was hiding behind a partially closed door.
“Romana!” called the Doctor, as quietly as possible to avoid his earlier self hearing and turning.
Romana stopped and looked at the strange blonde haired man, dressed in the style of a 20th Century cricket enthusiast. “Can I help you?” she said, tossing her own long blonde hair over her shoulder.
“Please...” said the Doctor, “it’s vitally important that I speak to you, without the Doctor knowing!”
“Very well...” replied Romana, entering the small room behind the door with an air of confidence.
“Now, you might not believe this...” began the Doctor, “but... I’m also the Doctor. Sorry...”
“But you shouldn’t be here! What trouble have you got into this time? Is K-9 with you?”
“Well... it’s very hard to explain, and no I don’t have a K-9 with me at the moment...
“Then it’s safe for him to be here; no chance of two K-9’s bumping into each other...”
“Indeed, no it should be perfectly safe. Tell me... you don’t know me, this incarnation, but...”
“Yes but I do know you Doctor, whatever body you’re wearing! Come in K-9! Is this the Doctor?”
K-9 rolled into the room and Romana closed the door behind him. He looked at the Doctor.
*This is the Doctor Master, Mistress* said K-9, apparently not confused by his new appearance.
“See, even K-9 recognises you. Now Doctor, tell me what’s happened from the beginning.”
“The trouble is that I don’t even know what happened. I was in the future, from the perspective of where we’re standing now, and after the sky seemed to change somehow... it seemed as though I was thrown backwards in time to here; that’s after the Ship disappeared too by the way...”
“And now your trouble is how to get back to your own time. We can’t really offer a lift...”
“As convenient as that would be... no; the consequences would be incalculable. But there’s another problem: the city was about to be attacked and I’m not entirely sure I want to return to the same location in space as well as time. Quite a dilemma you see?”
“Yes... I do see. K-9, do you have any suggestions? How we can get the Doctor back safely?”
“The thing is...” said the Doctor, “that depending on the weapon used safely might be a long way...”

4

*Unable to detect any kind of time field or anomaly around Doctor Master, Mistress* said K-9.
“But that’s not possible!” said Romana, “if the Doctor has travelled back in time then there must be an energy trace of some sort. Doctor, what exactly happened? What did you see?”
“Like I say, the sky seemed to change somehow... which does contradict a localised time-field.”
“Yes, it does... of course that’s always assuming that it was you that moved through time...”
“What do you mean by that Romana?” asked the Doctor, “you know, I do miss having you around”
“Why, thank you Doctor! Well, what I meant was... what if Horizon travelled back in time and it was you that stayed where you were? Is there any trace of a major time event on your sensors K-9?"
*Please wait... checking... negative, Mistress. There is no trace of a time field within my range*
“But for that to happen...” said the Doctor, “for a whole planet to time shift... must need an energy field that’s enormous, and if it’s out of K-9’s range then just what in time and space is it..?”
“If it’s affecting a planet of this size and from that distance, then it would consume this planet and everyone on it completely! And there’s no knowing when the shift will be... come on Doctor!”
“Wait... we can’t go back to your Ship... my Ship... his Ship, because of the paradox it would cause!”
“Well... what we really need to do is get you far enough away from the city so that you’re safe when the planet shifts again and returns you to your own time! What shall we do K-9?”
*To escape area of potential destruction of city requires a distance of thirty miles, Mistress*
“But how K-9? We can’t use the Ship, and we don’t want my Doctor to know about it either!”
*There is one way to solve your transport needs, Mistress* said K-9, *steal an air-car...*
“Thank you K-9” said Romana, “but where do we find an air-car? There aren’t any up here!”
*Incorrect, Mistress. There is an air-car park three storeys below this floor, with a lift to the ground*
“Clever dog, K-9...” said Romana, “Unfortunately none of us know anything about air-car security”
*This unit has all necessary data to interface with the air-car computer and give you control...*
“Good dog, K-9!” exclaimed Romana, “now where’s the lift down to that floor? Ah, there it is...”
“But there’s one other thing...” said the Doctor, “if this planet is time shifting then you and myself, my earlier self that is, are in danger and must leave. Actually, I never did know why you were in such a hurry to leave here... Now I know! But it’s important that I don’t know that I was here...”
“You can rely on me Doctor” smiled Romana as she operated the lift controls, “this way...”

*****

The air-car pulled up outside a large building, forty miles from Horizon City. The Doctor climbed out.
“Now it’s vital that you get back to the city and persuade me to leave!” said the Doctor.
“Don’t worry” replied Romana, “there’s no way that I’m staying to get caught in a time fracture!”
“What did you call it?” asked the Doctor curiously. “Why do you call it a time fracture?”
“We studied them at the Academy. Where there’s a crack in the barrier between dimensions, the energy released can draw objects into the gap and through into a pocket or parallel Universe. But a planet drawn through a crack is ravaged by time winds and all sorts of forces; you must leave...”
“But first I have to find my two friends Tegan and Turlough. I brought them here in the first place.”
“Good luck Doctor!” said Romana as she engaged the thrusters of the car. Patting K-9 with her left hand, she waved to the Doctor through the open driver’s side window with her right hand. The car accelerated into the distance, and the Doctor looked around him at the building he was standing outside. It was a museum, or at least it used to be. Now it was crumbling and deserted, and looked like it was many years since the last visitor had entered through the damaged doors. As he looked around him, the Doctor felt the same sensation as in the conference room wash over him. Was this a return to the time in which his two friends were stranded and where, hopefully, the Ship was still waiting for him to get back also?

5

Looking up from where he knelt on the ground, the Doctor looked up at the building that used to contain the museum. With a feeling of despair he took in the gleaming white stone blocks of the wall in front of him, the polished wooden doors, the colourful posters adorning the front of the building, and the dozens of visitors walking in and out. This did not used to be a museum; this was a museum. The time shift had taken the Doctor not forward but back in time, further away from Turlough and Tegan rather than closer. But if Romana’s theory was correct, he might be distanced from the time zone that he wished to be in, but that meant that the whole planet was tumbling closer to the crack in space and time that would ultimately destroy all life on its surface. Anyone other than a Timelord would struggle to grasp the concept of travel away from and towards something simultaneously, the latter in space and the former in time. But the threat was very real and the Doctor needed a way of reaching the Ship. Deep in contemplation, he walked into the museum. Fortunately it was free.

The galleries contained artefacts belonging mostly to one explorer, from various journeys across the expanse of space and visits to many dozens of alien worlds. Glass cases towered up from the floor and reached up to a mezzanine level that contained many more exhibits in glass topped tables. The Doctor wandered idly along the aisles, examining one item after another and smiling inwardly at the many factual errors on the information cards. Having climbed a spiral staircase up to the mezzanine level, he had looked into four of the tables when something caught his attention. It was a long blue crystal, and the Doctor recognised it immediately. The information card read:

This blue crystal was discovered on Professor Wolliss’ expedition to the planet Metebelis III and was found inside the great cavern. After several months of excavation, the Professor and his team broke through into the tunnel system and found a vast cavern. Embedded into the rock walls were many of these blue crystals. This one was brought back to the collection for public display. There are many myths and legends on the planet concerning the crystals, several of them describing the domination of a human colony by a race of giant arachnids. Although no evidence to support these fables has ever been found, the people of that world sincerely believe that the stories are inspired by a real event in their history. An event that they claim involved another mythical being who was identified as a healer or Doctor who defeated the greatest arachnid of the species. Scientifically, there has been much research and speculation into the nature of the crystals as there are reports of psychic powers being granted to those who hold them. Professor Wolliss himself dismissed these reports as unlikely and unsupported by corroborated evidence. However, the science community continue to experiment with the properties of Metebelis crystals to this day.

Looking around to see whether he was observed, the Doctor moved around to the side of the table where the catch lay. Searching through his pockets, he found a metal spring and bent it into the desired shape. After a few moments, the lock securing the table lid closed made a ‘click’ sound and released. Half expecting an alarm, the Doctor was surprised when nothing happened. Slipping the blue crystal into his pocket and calmly walking back down to the foyer area, he left the museum by the main doors and crossed the street to a collection of benches arranged around the base of a large tree. For several moments he considered how best to put his plan into action and then, after looking around once more for any museum security guards, he strolled along the road in the direction of a rocky outcrop. It was advertised as a natural beauty spot and excellent vantage point for looking out across the surrounding landscape, but today the Doctor was in luck and there were no sightseers to be seen anywhere. He found a sheltered and secluded spot, away from the heat of the star that Amanda orbited around, and settled on the most comfortable rock he could find. Sitting cross legged and staring into the crystal, the Doctor concentrated his thoughts. He called to mind the events of the past day, the theory of Romana about the nature of the crisis, his current predicament and the most important piece of information of all – his present location. This done, he waited.

6

As the heat of the day grew more intense, the Doctor felt himself slowly becoming more and more tired. Finding a comfortable place in the short grass surrounding the rocky outcrop he had chosen, he lay back and looked up at the white clouds as they drifted before his gaze. Gradually, he began to feel giddy and slightly nauseous once more. Time was shifting again and he wondered briefly if the phenomena would this time return him to the correct time and place. The sensations were greater and stronger this time than before, and he desperately tried to remain conscious to witness as best he could the circumstances of what was happening to him. But he was slowly overcome and, as time washed over him, he was oblivious to the wondrous vision of centuries blazing past him in a display of light and colour. As he came around, the Doctor realised that he was gasping for breath and woke with alarm. He stared in disbelief at the sight before his eyes. Barren rocks lay beneath a red sky and rolled slowly in the wild gales that tore at the Doctor’s clothes. But the atmosphere was no longer oxygen rich but was acrid and laden with sulphur. As far as the Doctor could see was desolation and ruin. The latest time shift had taken the Doctor forwards in time, but too far. He had passed the point of Amanda’s descent through the crack in the fabric of the universe, everything on the surface destroyed and the atmosphere irreversibly damaged. By using the respiratory bypass system that was part of his Timelord anatomy, he was able to stop himself inhaling any more of the atmosphere of the planet but what he had already inhaled was burning his lungs. He needed to leave this time immediately or, even with the ability to regenerate, he would not survive. As he once more gave in to unconsciousness, there was a familiar sound from close by. Was he imagining things, the trauma of the situation causing him to hallucinate? It was the sound of the Ship materialising, of the doors opening, and the gentle swish of a protective suit as the wearer advanced toward him...

*****

The man on the floor of the Ship’s console room coughed and slowly opened his eyes. They were bloodshot and the man looked fatigued, his blonde hair tangled and dusty. He was dressed like he was going to a cricket match, ready to cheer England on to yet another Ashes triumph, and he lay on the raised section of floor that surrounded the console itself. The Doctor walked over to him.
“Good job I got my telepathic message in time” he said, straightening his red bow tie, “or else there would have been a serious paradox to sort out. A bit of a mid-life crisis, being dead and all that...”
“I’m sorry but...” objected Clara, “you are saying that the man down there... is you?”
“Yes!” replied the Doctor to Clara, “that is me, but a bit younger... quite a lot younger actually...”
“No Doctor, he doesn’t look anything like you! The face, the hair... he’s even the wrong height!”
“Well... it’s called regeneration. It’s a... thing that Timelords can do. When our bodies are damaged in such a way that we can’t carry on living as we are, all the cells of the body... well, regenerate like it says on the tin. Except that they also get sort of... muddled about a bit and come out differently. It’s a bit like human DNA that shapes what you look like but Timelord bio-data can rearrange itself so you end up with different hair and eyes and all sorts of things. Different temperament too...”
“Yes... I sort of got all that... but perhaps later you can go over some it again? Starting with the bit where you said that it’s called regeneration. After that bit it kind of lost me, sorry...”
“In simple terms... I died and became someone else but the same, who looked different and acted differently but was still the same me with all my knowledge and experience and feelings...”
“Doctor, we need to get together and sort out the boundaries of the word simple when you start talking alien – sometime soon actually. This is all still really weird and explanations that don’t need a degree in alien weirdness to understand would be pretty cool. So right now, let’s skip the how and get to the why. Like, why have we come to rescue you and why don’t you remember being rescued from when you were him?”

7

“That’s what really concerns me Clara...” said the Doctor, lifting his earlier self out of the recovery position and into a chair as he regained consciousness. “There must be some serious disturbances in time for me to even be here, but the fact that I don’t remember it... that’s the worrying part...”
“But now that it has happened, now that these disturbances have happened to him... to you, and no I still don’t understand about you being the same person but that’s for later... now that all this stuff has happened to you... him, why aren’t you starting to remember things now?”
“It must mean that time itself is still in a state of flux. The message wasn’t complete...”
The man that Clara had decided to call Cricket Doctor opened his eyes fully and stared at them.
“Welcome back!” said the Doctor, “so glad to see that I’m starting to get my colour back again...”
“Well...” said Cricket Doctor, “I wasn’t expecting to see you... I mean you... How old am I now?”
“Oh... never mind about ages, and you know that I can’t tell you anything... spoilers!!!”
“Spoilers?” exclaimed Cricket Doctor, “that’s that supposed to mean? If I can’t trust myself...”
“Yes, but that’s the whole point... I can’t trust myself!” said the Doctor. “So, what’s the story?”
“This planet is called Amanda. But it’s experiencing some very strange time disturbances, like time shifts where the planet itself seems to go backwards and forwards in time but leaves me in the same place. Romana suggested it might be the effect of the planet falling through a fracture in the fabric of the Universe itself, but so far there has been no way to test the hypothesis. Are we in flight?”
“Yes of course we’re in flight!” said the Doctor incredulously. “You don’t think I would leave the Ship on a planet that might be in serious danger of being torn apart by a time fracture! Yes, the same thought had occurred to me when I had a lot of trouble even landing on the planet to pick me up in the first place. The old girl didn’t want to know, kept materialising in orbit instead.”
“So...” said Clara, “why don’t we materialise in orbit again and just look on the scanner screen?”
“What a good idea!” said Cricket Doctor, “don’t I have a very clever companion there Doctor...?”
“Yes... we do” said the Doctor. He ran around the console and operated the controls until the Ship materialised in orbit around the planet. “Clara... would you turn on the scanner for me. Thank you”
Clara operated the scanner control. All three gasped in amazement at the sight on the screen, as the planet slowly turned around its star and descended almost imperceptibly into what looked like a rip across space. Coloured a deep shade of maroon, the awe inspiring tear stretched for billions of miles in either direction. There was no chance that the planet would escape. Indeed, the planet itself was changing every moment as they looked on in horror. The clouds appeared and disappeared so fast that it made Clara dizzy to try and focus on them. The land masses moved left and right, over and over again as of course the planet was facing a different direction relative to its own star in each of the different times that it was returning to. Forests and oceans came and went, and for a very brief moment there was a glimpse of the planet before it was visited by humans; before the machinery was moved in to make the planet more like Earth. The Doctor turned the screen off.
Clara looked at Cricket Doctor as he broke the silence. “My two companions are down there Doctor and I don’t know how to get them back. It is my own fault Doctor, but can you help me?”
“Well of course we’ll help save them, won’t we Clara?” said the Doctor. He looked across at Clara and she nodded in agreement. He continued: “Who am I travelling with at the moment?”
“Tegan and Turlough... I told them they would be safe down there, to stay in the hotel...”
Clara said “That sounds simple then! All we have to do is get back to the hotel and pick them up...”
“Not quite that simple I’m afraid...” said the Doctor, “It will be hard to hit the right time zone...”
“And there’s something else...” said Cricket Doctor, “something that I haven’t mentioned yet. When we arrived the planet was on the verge of war. There was an attack and the delegate from Block Five was assassinated. The city was about to be struck by nuclear missiles. So you see, when we do get there we only have a limited time anyway. And with the chaos, who knows where they will be?”

PART THREE

1

Clara watched as the Doctor ran around and around the console, operating switches and buttons and levers in a mad frenzy that had the revolving disks above the console spinning ever faster and faster. The powerful engines of the Ship were humming with energy beneath them. She said:
“So what are we doing Doctor? Or is this the bit where you run around the console a lot to make us think you’re busy sorting everything out while you buy yourself time to think of something?”
“Do I do that?” asked the Doctor. “Well yes, maybe sometimes. But right now there’s a definite plan in mind... the old girl’s searching the planet for the sort of electrical activity that you would associate with a war on a large scale. Anything like that will mean lots of scanning the air, aircraft and ships on the move, rocket launches... that sort of thing. I’m looking for huge burst of activity on the surface and when we find it then I’m guessing that’s the right time zone.”
The other Doctor looked interested. “Yes, I only just used that to find the Terileptils...”
“What are Terileptils?” asked Clara, “or should I not ask?”
“Now is probably not the best time, no... But Terileptils were aliens who landed on the Earth in the seventeenth century and wanted to wipe out mankind. They failed of course, but they did start the great fire of London. And they also destroyed the sonic screwdriver. Must get a new one...”
“Already got one!” said Clara’s Doctor, “and it wasn’t the Terileptil leader that started the fire...”
“So who was it then?” asked Clara, “or is that another question to save for another day?”
“It was me” replied her Doctor. Then he pulled his sonic screwdriver from his pocket, turned to his earlier self and said: “Oh, and by the way... I already have a new sonic – an improved version!”
There was an alarm sound from above them as a klaxon started. “Is that the right zone” asked Clara.
“That looks like the one...” said her Doctor from the controls, “she’s picked up the electromagnetic pulse from a nuclear explosion... and I’m sorry Doctor, but it’s coming from Horizon City...”
“Then we must hope that Tegan and Turlough left the city before it happened” said the other Doctor
“Where are we going land” said Clara “if the place we were looking for has just been attacked?”
“Hold on...” said her Doctor as he altered some more controls, “done it! We have materialised just outside the affected area, and the Ship is now anchored in this time zone – we won’t drift away.”
“But as soon as you or I step outside” began the other Doctor, “the same thing will happen as has happened every during other time shifts. Everything will change and we’ll be cut off from the Ship!”
“Ah yes...” said the Doctor thoughtfully, then: “wait a moment... these will protect us!” as he pulled two metal bracelets with a glowing green crystal upon them from out of his pockets. He put one onto his own wrist and then passed the other to his earlier self and motioned for him to do the same. He then activated his sonic screwdriver and passed it over both of the bracelets.
“So what are these supposed to do...” asked the other Doctor, intrigued by the odd technology.
“They will conceal our Timelord nature from the elements out there, now that I have programmed them with the sonic, and that will make us just like the other people out there...”
“You mean that we will be synchronised with the time shifts?” asked the other Doctor, impressed.
“Absolutely right!” said the Doctor, “now we need to find the Ship... the other Ship...”
“Is that just a case of using the high technology scanner again?” asked Clara.
“No...” said her Doctor, “but the Ship should be able to find herself. Not much Gallifreyan tech...”
“The only problem is...” began the other Doctor, “what if she was damaged in the blast...”
“No, I don’t think she was...” said her Doctor, “there seems to be a clear signal, and some distance away from the city. Are you sure you didn’t set the Hostile Action Displacement System?”
“Well... I didn’t set it, unless Turlough did. Or maybe the Ship herself set it; she does have a strong sense of self-preservation! Are you going to land next to her? I’m worried about the proximity...”
“Should be fine...”said her Doctor, “she will let herself know who we are. Shouldn’t be a problem...”

2

The rectangular shape of the TARDIS stood in a small forest clearing. Birds, already nervous from the nearby explosion, scattered from the treetops as a mechanical roaring sound shattered the silence. Moments later, another Police Telephone Box materialised next to the first. It was visually similar but not completely identical. The door of the second Police box opened and the Doctor, the Doctor and Clara stepped out of it. Clara had changed from her red dress into more practical clothing for a warzone, with a durable green jacket and trousers and black army boots. The Doctor (or the Cricket Doctor as Clara referred to him) opened the doors of his own Ship and led the way in. Not that it was his Ship as such, as they were both his Ship – being the same Ship in the same place at the same time but twice. She marvelled at the console room with everything on a single floor without any raised sections or moving parts in the ceiling, and with light grey walls covered in glowing roundels. This was very different to the enormous multi-levelled control room that she was used to; a scene of constant activity and energy like the control deck of huge spaceship. This was more subtle, subdued even. Clara quite liked it, although she also felt this version of the Ship was very functional as well as simple in its design, as she could see no chairs or any concession to comfort at all. Now that they were inside the Ship, her Doctor was taking the lead once more...

“Right...” he said, “it’s been a while since I was here last... which way to the bedrooms?”
“Through there” said the Doctor, “what exactly are you hoping to do?”
“We need samples for analysis!” replied her Doctor, pulling out the sonic screwdriver, “this way!”
The earlier Doctor turned to Clara. “You know, part of me was hoping they might be here...”
“You mean they might have made it back to the Ship, or it might have gone after them and picked them up? They might have got out another way. I’m sure there were lots of people getting away.”
“That’s the worry though” replied the Doctor as he followed his older self out of the console room and into the plain grey corridors of the Ship, “if there was a crush, it could have been harder...”
They followed the older Doctor down the corridor, past a few open doors until they came to a closed door on their left. It opened into Tegan’s bedroom, and the Doctor began waving his sonic screw-driver around the room. His older self was perplexed, feeling that they were wasting time.
“What are you doing?” he said, “There’s nothing here, and there’s nothing to fix with the sonic!”
“Ah... but there are some new features on the latest model” said his older self, waving the device around the walls and furniture. “Right now I’m taking DNA samples and recording them...”
“It does that?” asked the earlier Doctor, stepping backward as his older self pushed past him and ran into Turlough’s room to begin repeating the procedure, the sonic screwdriver whirring and flashing.
“It does now!” replied Clara’s Doctor. “Now that we have a data record of Tegan and Turlough, the Ship can trace them and we can go after them if they’re still out there somewhere!” He rushed past the Doctor and Clara again and ran out through the console room into the forest clearing and back into his own Ship. The Doctor and Clara ran after him, the Doctor pausing only to lock the doors of his own Ship and only just making it back inside the doors of the other Ship as they closed behind him. His later self was waving the sonic screwdriver in the air above the console. Some lights on the controls flashed and the Doctor turned to the Doctor in triumph and excitement. “They’re alive!”
“Right...” said the earlier Doctor, “let’s go after them before this whole planet is destroyed. We can use both Ships! You and Clara can go in search of Turlough and I’ll go after Tegan. Where is she?”
“We can’t do that...” said the Doctor, a sad look passing over his face, “as much as it’s a good idea.”
“Why not?” said Clara, “if we divide our efforts we’ll get them in half the time – sounds good to me!”
“Because...” began her Doctor, “firstly, my console has been upgraded to search for this kind of data and it would take too long to upgrade the console in my Ship as she was outside. Secondly, my Ship as she was outside doesn’t have the necessary upgrade to anchor her in one timeline when the actual planet outside is treating time like a pack of playing cards being shuffled. Use the older Ship and you’ll just fly off and never find here again. But, another upgrade will allow my Ship to control my other Ship by remote control and... well... give her a tow. So gang... let’s go!”

3

Tegan replaced the cup upon the small round table before her and contemplated it for a moment. The hot drink was coffee. Travelling through all of time and space, Tegan had expected to see many different and amazing things, but not a cup of coffee. Elioss had enthused at length about the things they were about to grow on Amanda, considering how different the world was to Earth even after the incredible transformation process that had occurred. Coffee beans and all sorts of exotic plants from home were grown in special hothouses. This really was a beautiful place and Elioss shared her frustration that the planet should be damaged irreparably by conflict. Thinking about the attack on Horizon City brought her mind back to her own anxieties; what had actually become of the Doctor and Turlough? She got up from her seat and moved the few paces across the room to the small, square window. The view outside was limited, just a scattering of similar residential buildings. This was one such building; a thirty storey tall block filled with apartments. This particular living space was quite large, with Elioss being of a high rank. Turning back to the simple, comfortably furnished room, she returned to the table and finished the drink. She could feel herself beginning to tense all over, her mind a confused melee of anxieties and emotions. What if the Doctor, Turlough and the Ship were all gone from her life forever? What if she never got see the Earth, her home in Brisbane or her surviving family again? What if this reality that surrounded her was to be her whole life from this moment on? But at least she had certainty and security in her current surroundings. Elioss had contacted the relevant authorities upon arrival and ensured that she was placed under his personal care and responsibility. It was not as if she had been taken for any particular intelligence reason, it was only because Elioss determined that she was potentially a threat if left behind. And since then, there relationship had developed on board the submarine anyway and Tegan was sure that she now had Elioss’ confidence. A door opened and Elioss entered the room, dressed in uniform.

“Please Tegan...” he said, “You need to listen to what I’m going to tell you...”
“Yes of course” she replied, “Although I’m guessing it’s to do with you going away somewhere...”
“You really are a bright girl...” said Elioss, “got it in one. Obviously I can’t tell you where though.”
“But if you’re gone... what happens to me? Can I stay here, will I be moved somewhere else?”
“Steady on there! No, you’re fine; everything is sorted out... you can stay here, no problem.”
“But won’t that make me a security threat, if you’re not here to keep an eye on me?”
“Yes it would, but that’s sorted too...” said Elioss, producing a green bracelet from a pocket.
“What is that?” asked Tegan. “Some sort of tag? Doesn’t look very much...”
“Doesn’t need to be; it’s just an electronic tag that sets off an alarm if you pass certain points.”
“And where are they? It’s not going to look good if I wander into a secure area!”
“No chance of that I’m afraid Tegan. You can’t leave this building, all the doors have sensors.”
“Not leave the building? Not at all?” asked Tegan incredulously. They had been out quite a lot.
“Not until I come back, I’m sorry. But all the facilities you need are here; call out for anything else.”
“Yeah... that’s fine. It’s better than being locked up somewhere, thank you for all you’ve done...”
“Think nothing of it...” said Elioss, “now I must leave. I’ll see you soon, when I get back.”
He embraced her, kissed her lightly on the cheek, and turned to leave. “Goodbye...” called Tegan.
Elioss waved as he left the apartment. Please, thought Tegan, please come back. She could not even contemplate losing another close friend so soon after losing the Doctor and Turlough. Returning to the window, she looked out towards the narrow road that led from the residential blocks to the submarine pens. After a few minutes, Elioss’ small red hover-car sped past and disappeared from her view. Feeling as though she must do something, for Tegan was never a woman who allowed events to overtake her, she paced the floor a few times until the lack of options available to her sank in. She could not leave the building without losing what little freedom she had, and didn’t even know if the Doctor was still out there to be found...

4

Beneath the shadow of a tall grey building, not one but two Police telephone boxes appeared in the middle of a small open area. The sound that echoed from the walls on each side was mechanical but unsynchronised, like railway locomotives roaring into opposite ends of a long tunnel before passing each other in a deafening climax of sound and then leaving that dark space in silence once more. As the sound faded gradually away, the blue lights atop each box stopped flashing. The door of one box opened and Clara stepped outside, followed by the Doctor; twice. Checking his celery before placing his hat firmly on his head, the Doctor looked at his other self quizzically as if to say “where now?”
Clara spoke first: “Doctor...” she said, making both Doctors spin around. She pointed at the earlier Doctor; or more specifically, she pointed at the stick of celery in his lapel; “Why the celery?”
“Ah...” he said, unsure of exactly how to answer the direct question; “well, you see...”
“It detects certain types of radiation” said Clara’s Doctor, interrupting himself much to the Doctor’s obvious annoyance; “Don’t need it now... the sonic screwdriver detects everything!”
“Yes, I’ve been meaning to ask you about that...” said the Doctor, the other Doctor; “when do I get a new sonic screwdriver? The leader of the Terileptils has only just destroyed mine...”
“It’s going to be a long time...” said the Doctor, taking the pen like instrument from his pocket and waving it around the square; “it took me a while to replace the sonic, don’t really know why!”
“So how are we going to find Tegan, the Doctor’s friend?” asked Clara.
“She’s this way!” exclaimed her Doctor in response to a particularly furious buzzing from the sonic.
“You can really tell where someone is... with a screwdriver?” asked the other Doctor, amazed.
“Not just any screwdriver...” replied his older self, leading the way along a narrow passageway.
The alley opened onto a wide road and they were now able to see more clearly the complex of roads and buildings they were in. It was obviously a military establishment, with security fences and guards and checkpoints scattered around them as far as they could see. The sonic screwdriver seemed to be directing them towards a compound on the opposite side of the road that stood in front of a cluster of tower blocks. “She’s in that compound...” whispered Clara’s Doctor with a frown.
“And how are we going to get into there?” asked the other Doctor, “use the screwdriver again?”
Clara thought the last comment had an edge of both sarcasm and jealousy about it.
“No...” said her Doctor, reaching in to another pocket; “this time we use the psychic paper!”
Clara and the other Doctor followed her Doctor across the road as he marched up to the guard who stood next to the gate. Now that they were closer they could read that the sign identifying the area as a detention centre. All three of them glanced at each other as if this was definite confirmation.
“We’re the team of Doctors here to inspect the detention centre” said Clara’s Doctor with authority.
“What’s that?” asked the other Doctor in a whisper, staring at the wallet in her Doctor’s hand.
“It’s the psychic paper...” whispered Clara in return. The other Doctor gave her a look of incredulity and, or so it felt to her, a hint of distain that one of his own companions was explaining something.

The sentry nodded and stepped aside, allowing them to pass and enter a small reception area. The Doctor produced the paper for a second time and asked to see the register of those in detention. A look of frustration crossed his face as he discovered that the name he sought was missing from the list. Concealing his feelings however, he returned the book and led the way into the building. They had all been given small security passes but, suspecting they contained tracking equipment and not wanting their movements followed, the Doctor waved the sonic screwdriver across them and made sure that any electronics were disabled. Room after room they searched, corridor after corridor, the sonic screwdriver always leading them further towards the rear of the building. Two doors stood at the end of a short corridor, one on each side and each slightly open. Both rooms were empty. The Doctor pulled the sonic screwdriver out of his pocket once more, bringing a deep sigh from his other self, and waved it backwards and forwards through the air. At the end of the corridor, by where they were standing, was a small window that looked out of the rear of the detention centre and towards the cluster of tower blocks they had spotted behind the security complex when first they arrived.

“I seem to have made a small mistake” said Clara’s Doctor; “she isn’t in here, she’s over there...”

5

The door to the apartment slid open, causing Tegan to spin around from the window. The cup she was holding almost slipped from her grasp when she caught sight of the party walking in through the door. The Doctor led the way into the room, followed by another man and a girl. Tegan felt there was something familiar about the man behind the Doctor, and then she realised what he was waving excitedly around the room. It was a sonic screwdriver just like the Doctor used to have. The man was standing rather awkwardly, only just inside the room, and Tegan looked to the Doctor for some sort of an explanation. How had he escaped the city? Who were these people with him? Did he know where Turlough was, or if he was also safe? The questions flooded out almost in a single breath and the Doctor held his hands up to halt her mid-sentence before beginning to explain. The man behind him was also the Doctor, an idea which Tegan could cope with after having met three other Doctors in the Death Zone on Gallifrey, and the girl with him was called Clara. The two women shook hands and embraced, Clara apologising for her Doctor’s ignoring of them all and continuing to explore the room with his sonic screwdriver. At this, the Doctor replaced the sonic in his pocket and said:
“This is a touching reunion, and I’m very glad to see you Tegan... but we need to leave; Now!”
“Yes we do...” said Tegan’s Doctor, “we need to get back to the Ship and find Turlough.”
“So you do know where he is then?” asked Tegan, “do you know that he’s safe?”
“Yes” said the new Doctor, “I can track him with the sonic screwdriver, in the same way that we found you. Your personal data print, a record of your DNA, is now stored in the sonic screwdriver’s memory and can be used to trace you and Turlough. There is a strong signal, but we must leave...”
“Are we in danger from more attacks then?” asked Tegan, “even here or where Turlough is?”
“Yes, well...” said the new Doctor, “the attacks on the ground might keep coming; this is a war zone after all. But the real danger is the planet being destroyed... any moment now actually!”
“The planet being destroyed?” asked Tegan, disbelievingly. “And did you say now? Let’s go!”
“Back to the Ship everyone...” said her Doctor, racing toward the door in a sudden burst of energy.
Tegan was halfway to the door when she stopped. “No, wait...” she said; “I must find Elioss!”
“And who...” asked the new Doctor, spinning around on his heels, “is Elioss?”

Tegan explained as briefly as she could about the attack on the diplomatic party, then waking to find herself on the submarine, being brought back to the base and put under Elioss’ protection, and then being left to look after the apartment until he returned. The matter of fact way in which she recalled the events to the others concealed the feelings that were the true reason for her concern. In the days that she had been separated from the Doctor and Turlough, not knowing if they were alive or dead, she had formed a close attachment to the one person who had shown Doctor-like qualities and been there for her to place hope in. Now it seemed that she would be torn away from him and his life without even being able to say goodbye, and that possibly he might be destroyed along with a doomed world at any moment. Clara however, picked up on the emotion in Tegan’s voice that the Doctors were oblivious to and suggested that they might find him if they headed back towards the Ship. The Doctors concurred that the only hope of saving him was to go after him, and Tegan asked if he could be tracked in the same way as Turlough. The new Doctor agreed that it was possible to do so if the sonic screwdriver could be programmed. This completed, they turned again to the door.

“Wait!” cried Tegan, “there’s something else you should know, something that I forgot about...”
“What?” demanded her own Doctor, exasperated; “There is no time. We must get back.”
“This bracelet... it sets off all the alarms in the building if I try to leave. We’ll never get away!”
“Not a problem...” said the new Doctor, waving the screwdriver through the air above her wrist.
“And that’s it?” asked Tegan; “How can your sonic screwdriver do that? You changed nothing on it!”
“New improvements” said the new Doctor; “this model is telepathic, so I can change all the settings just by thinking about them; I never go anywhere without it, always comes in useful...” And slipping it back into his pocket, the Doctor led the party out into the corridor and down to the street below.

6

“Let me take the ship!” said Turlough to Captain Jamo, “I can be more useful that way!”

They stood in the shadow of a large craft that sat at a forty-five degree angle on a launching pad. It was a pale shade of green, rounded but in the shape of an arrow with small wings for guidance at the outer edges of the body toward the rear. Five powerful rocket engines were installed in the back of the ship, but it still needed a rocket powered launch trolley to take off from the ground. The only windows were at the nose, for the control deck. There were seven ships, all identical and placed on identical launchers that faced in the same direction, and each of them could carry over two hundred passengers along with the crew of three. Turlough had been inside one and found it cramped but comfortable. Jamo and his team had travelled for three days before meeting up with another unit and arriving at this military base. An evacuation was underway to remove as many important people from the military and scientific communities as possible, along with their families and few privileged locals who were able to get their names on the list. There were not enough pilots at the base to fly all seven ships, after many of them had taken off in military planes on retaliation missions and not yet returned, so Turlough had put himself forward as a volunteer. His military status and training, or lack of it, was the issue that was not only keeping him off the crew of Shuttle Nine Alpha but was also potentially going to leave him stranded on the war torn planet. With the Doctor probably dead and the Ship possibly destroyed, the evacuation missions looked like the best means of escape. But being neither military personnel nor a citizen of the planet Amanda, his chances of leaving either as a crew member or a passenger were looking slim. Nevertheless, he persisted in his efforts:

“Listen Jamo, there’s a lot that I know about space travel that can be useful up there. I’m actually a very experienced pilot. Does it really matter which planet you come from when everyone here is in danger and you need to get as many people away as possible? Let me help you...”
“Listen Turlough, it’s not my decision anyway... but you don’t even have security clearance!”
“Then get me security clearance, please...” implored Turlough. Looking around anxiously, he could see the preparations at an advanced stage with crews getting ‘suited up’ and arriving at the ships in small buses. Hundreds of people stood outside the fence, waiting to get into the base and escape.
“You just want to save yourself” said Jamo, “why should I help you get away from here; why?”
“Because if I’m up there, then I’m not down here talking to you and you don’t have to see me again”
“That sounds like your most persuasive argument yet” said Jamo, “let me ask the commander...”

*****

An hour later, with Turlough strapped into the co-pilot’s seat, the final countdown for Shuttle Nine Alpha began. Captain Jamo looked on from a safe distance near the control tower. A regular bleep was coming from the loud speaker system, counting the seconds to launch. The rocket engines on the Shuttle glowed yellow, the engines on the launch trolley blazed with hot gases, and the whole assembly began slowly to move. All ten rockets suddenly erupted into a blinding, deafening mass of explosive energy and the ship accelerated upwards along the track. At the end of the track, the ship and the trolley separated with the trolley tumbling over and over until it smashed onto the ground. The ship wallowed slightly, the ascent flattening out for a brief moment, before thundering away into the distance and a rendezvous in orbit around the planet with Docking Station One. The many passengers would be transferred to one of the space cruise liners and taken away to safety. Then the shuttles would return to the surface, although Jamo expected Shuttle Nine Alpha to return without a full complement of crew. As the sound of the shuttle faded into the distance and his hearing began to return to normal, Jamo felt sure he heard another distant roaring sound. Turning, he found two rectangular blue boxes standing in front of him. The door of one box opened and out stepped the Doctor, beaming a broad smile as he recognised the Captain.
“Ah... Captain Jamo” said the Doctor, “I’m looking for Turlough... have you seen him?”
Jamo looked at the Doctor apologetically, then turned and pointed to the receding smoke trail...

7

Clara and Tegan watched as the two Doctors walked back into the console room. Tegan asked:
“So where is he then? Where’s Turlough, and what’s going on out there; all that noise?”
It was Clara’s Doctor, the older of the two, which answered: “That noise Tegan, is the sound of a rocket ship launching into orbit around this planet. A rocket ship... piloted by Turlough...”
“Piloting a ship?” asked Tegan, “into space? What for? Why not just wait here for us to get him?”
“Well...” her own Doctor interceded, “he didn’t exactly know we were coming did he? And, knowing Turlough and his dedication to self-preservation, I would say it was a good way off this planet...”
Clara enquired “but how are we going to get him back? Can we not just land in the ship he’s on?”
“No Clara” replied her own Doctor, “trying to land on a moving object... not a good idea. Leaving the people on the ship, heading straight for another ship also with a lot of people on, is also not a good idea. But waiting so long to re-materialise while the planet is about to be destroyed; bad idea again!”
Tegan suggested hopefully “we could go to this other place and wait for him there?”
Clara agreed. The Doctor, her Doctor, began to operate the controls of the Ship. The sound of energy powering the Ship to a new destination could be heard, and felt through the floor of the room, as they departed the launch site and Captain Jamo. Only moments later, the Ship landed once more and they went outside. The walls of Docking Station One were plain and grey, with passages leading away in all directions from the meeting of tunnels in which they found themselves. The two TARDIS capsules had again materialised side by side. They looked around themselves, unsure which of the corridors they should explore first as each looked the same as the one next to it.
“Which way Doctor?” asked Tegan, “They all look equally uninviting! Where will the ship dock?”
“To answer those in reverse order...” responded the older Doctor, “the ship should be arriving at any moment, as I managed to set the course to include a short time jump... which was very tricky...”
As the Doctor was about to suggest a direction however, a voice came from close by. “What are you doing here?” asked a uniformed man, “are you from the planet surface? Are you registered?”
The older Doctor flicked open the psychic paper and the man stared at it for a moment. Satisfied, he was about to leave the party and go about his business when the younger Doctor stopped him.
“Which docking tube will the next shuttle arrive at; Shuttle Nine Alpha from the surface?”
“Port Seventeen” the man said and, with a nod of his head, he walked away from them.
“Port Seventeen...” pondered the older Doctor, “this way... that was a very good idea of mine; to ask for directions! Come on, the ship should be nearly here and we don’t have any time to waste!”
They ran along the featureless grey corridor that led to Port Seventeen and arrived there just as the ship was unloading its passengers. Last out of the tube were the crew, and last amongst them was Turlough. As soon as he entered the small reception area, Tegan ran across to him and tugged at his sleeve. “We have to leave now!” she said to her momentarily startled fellow time traveller.
“Tegan!” he exclaimed, “and Doctor; I thought you had both been destroyed in the attack!”
“Not a bit of it...” said the Doctor, his and Tegan’s Doctor; “But this really is no time for explanations or swapping stories. We must get back to the Ship right away... both of them... come on!”
The party, now five strong, ran back through the same corridor until they reached the TARDISes.
“Wait” shouted Clara, “what happens now? We have Tegan and Turlough, now this planet’s about to blow up and we need to get out of here! Do we still need to remote control the other TARDIS?”
“Yes Clara...” said the younger Doctor, “you’re right... we can take it from alone here! Thank you Doctor, I really don’t know where we would have been without me, and goodbye Clara... for now.”
“But Doctor!” cried Tegan, “what about Elioss? You promised to go back for him! You have his data recording in the other TARDIS and you said that only that TARDIS can find him...”
“Well, yes...” said her Doctor, thoughtfully. “Doctor, would you tow us to where we can find Elioss by using the tracking equipment in the upgraded Ship, then let us go? That should work shouldn’t it?”
“Yes it should!” said his older self, “everyone on board, it’s time to get out of here...”

8

Clara looked on as the flicked the sonic screwdriver this way and that over the console as the Ship dematerialised. He was tracking the location of the man that had saved Tegan from the inferno of the attack on Horizon City, and the controls had now been programmed to follow the unique DNA of Major Elioss Rokos. The floor shook beneath Clara’s shoes, like an earthquake. Which was of course impossible as the Ship was in flight. She said as much to the Doctor, who replied and said:
“That wasn’t an Earthquake Clara, or even an Amanda-quake... that was a space-quake!”
“What did you say? Did you just say it was a space-quake? How can you have a space-quake?”
“Well... the fabric of space and time that the Ship flies through is becoming very unstable...”
As the Doctor said this, the console room lurched violently and felt to Clara as though it had tipped over onto its side. Which of course was also completely impossible, wasn’t it? “Doctor...” she cried, hanging on desperately to the hand rail nearby and trying to prevent herself falling over it. Looking toward the Doctor, she could see that he was running around and around the console, flicking the myriad of switches and pulling the various levers that covered its surface. Lights in every different colour flashed wildly as the Ship swung and tossed this way and that. Clara lost her grasp of the rail and was hurled down a flight of steps, tumbling heavily at the bottom. Her dazed vision caught sight of the Ship’s monitor screen and she called to the Doctor, drawing his attention to it...
“It’s no good!” he shouted, staring at the vast red and blue chasm that seemed to be rushing toward them. The stars were disappearing from view as the nearby star, all of its planets and both TARDISes hurtled into the depths of the spectacular phenomenon before them. “...must break the link” the Doctor said, almost to himself and reaching for a copper coloured leaver. As he pulled the control, the Ship seemed to break free and accelerate faster and faster away from the red and blue streak of light across the expanse of space. Gradually, the Ship settled down and the Doctor and Clara stood by the console to look for any sign of the other TARDIS following them away from danger.
“You know that I had to do it...” said the Doctor, “and memories are starting to form in my mind of these events as I experienced them before. Not very good memories I’m afraid, Clara...”
“But how come you couldn’t remember them already, if they have already happened to you?”
“Because they hadn’t actually happened until they... happened... it’s very difficult to explain. Time is in a constant state of change, things can happen and then new things happen... then what happened before happens slightly differently. But time always... usually, finds the right path again...”
“And I suppose that all makes sense to you? Hope so, because it certainly doesn’t to me...”
“Well... not to me either actually. But that’s the thing about time... I don’t think it’s supposed to...”

*****

The central column rose and fell rhythmically, glowing a bright red as the energy powering the Ship struggled to break free from the pull of the vividly coloured chasm that loomed large on the monitor screen. The Doctor pulled his hat from his head and threw it at the top of a nearby hat-stand, and missed. He stood at one side of the console and tapped instructions into a small keyboard.
“Doctor...” pleaded Turlough, “Get us out of here fast; the planet’s falling through and us with it!”
“Yes Turlough...” said the Doctor, attempting to sound calm, “that is what I’m trying to do...”
Tegan said “why not just do what you normally do when the TARDIS isn’t working properly?”
The Doctor looked at her blankly for a moment then, as he comprehended, formed his right hand into a fist and thumped the console as hard as he could. The note of the engines changed and the Ship began to pull away from Amanda. The three travellers watched in horror as the star and all the planets orbiting around it plunged down through the crack in the fabric of space, the planets glowing orange as their atmospheric gases burned away for just a brief moment before being extinguished by the new environment of the pocket universe. Turlough breathed a sigh of relief as the sight grew more and more distant, but the Doctor’s attention was drawn to Tegan. All hope of rescuing anyone from the planet now gone forever and her lost love now but a memory, she collapsed to her knees with tears slowly forming in her eyes and trickling down her cheeks. “Please” she said, “no more...”

THE END