DISCLAIMER. All Doctor Who characters belong to whomever created them. Im just borrowing them.
AUTHORS NOTE. The events of this story take place between the televised episodes Revenge of The Cybermen and Terror of The Zygons.
"Are we there yet?" the voice of Harry Sullivan asked. The Doctor looked up from the TARDIS controls. "Pardon me, Doctor." Harry said, clearing his throat. "But you did say the Brigadier was signalling you."
"I know that, Harry." The Doctor replied. "I can assure you that we are on our way back to 20th Century Earth now."
"Well that's good to hear."
"What is?" Sarah Jane Smith, the Doctor's other current companion, said as she entered the control room.
"The Doctor claims that this old police box will actually get us
back home." Harry said with relief.
"Did you doubt me, Harry?" The Doctor asked with mock innocence in his voice.
"Well..." Harry began and then trailed off, not sure of what to say.
"You can't really blame Harry." Sarah Jane said. "After all, the TARDIS does have ways of delivering us to the wrong times and places."
"I can assure both of you that this time there will be no mistakes. We are going back." The Doctor asserted. He resumed his checking of the TARDIS controls. The Doctor had recently regenerated into his fourth incarnation and, after having recovered and saving Earth from yet another menace, had taken off in the TARDIS yet again, with Sarah and Harry. After a number of adventures, the trio were being summoned back to 20th Century Earth. The Brigadier was using a special device the Doctor had left him to signal them. Obviously something had come up, back on Earth.
"Come on, Harry." Sarah said gently nudging Harry. "Why don't we go get something to eat in the kitchen."
"Right behind you, old thing." Harry replied and then winced as Sarah gave him an icy stare. "Sorry, old habits." Harry quickly amended, remembering that Sarah did not like Harry calling her "old thing". The two of the headed out of the control room.
"Now..." The Doctor began as he looked up and noticed the room was empty. Suddenly, the console began to beep. "Well now that's odd, and what's more, that shouldn't be." The Doctor muttered as he checked the controls. "Think we better go have a look."
In the TARDIS kitchen, Sarah and Harry were enjoying a meal of soup, sandwiches, and tea. "I still really don't know what to make of all this." Harry said, taking a sip of tea. "All this gallivanting about the galaxy can really put ones nerves on edge."
"You'll get used to it." Sarah replied with a smile. "I did."
"Still it does give on pause to think."
"I guess..." Sarah began and broke off. "We've landed."
"How can you tell?" Harry asked. "I can't tell if anything is different."
"I can. I guess travelling in the TARDIS for a while does get you tuned into it. We must have arrived"
"Well then I supposed we better be getting back to the control room then." Harry said. The two of them got up and made the short journey back to the console room. When they arrived, they found the Doctor using the scanner.
"Ah, I see we've arrived." Harry said and started for the door.
"Not yet." The Doctor replied as he looked up.
"What do you mean, Doctor?" Sarah asked. "We've landed on 20th Century Earth, haven't we?"
"Well we have landed on Earth." The Doctor replied. "But I'm afraid I had to make a detour."
"Why?" Harry asked as he came over to join the Doctor at the console.
"I detected some strange energy readings from a time and place where no energy should exist."
"Where?" Sarah asked.
"16th Century Earth." The Doctor replied.
"Hang on a minute here." Harry said. "Exactly where and when are we?"
"We are in the year 1589." replied the Doctor as he checked the co-ordinates. "As for our location, we are on an island along the coast of what will one day be known as North Carolina. In fact..." he paused as he double checked the information being displayed. "Well now that is very interesting. Fancy that we ended up here."
"Where is here?" Sarah asked, wishing the Doctor would just get to the point.
"Unless I am mistaken, and I seldom am." The Doctor said slowly. "We have materialized on Roanoke Island."
"Roanoke Island?" Harry asked, obviously none the wiser.
"Oh come on now, Harry!" The Doctor exclaimed. "Didn't they teach you any history in school? Roanoke Island! The Lost Colony!"
"Of course." Sarah jumped in. "I remember being taught about it in school. Roanoke Island was the site of the first English colony in North America. It vanished without a trace."
"Correct, Sarah Jane." The Doctor said as he consulted the TARDIS data banks. "Ah! Here we are. Come have a look at this." The three of them gathered around the console and looked at the information now displayed on the small screen.
THE LOST COLONY OF ROANOKE ISLAND
The colony on Roanoke Island was established in the Earth year 1587. This was the first attempt to establish an English colony in North America. Thirty-six days after the landing, the Governor of the colony, John White, returned to England for more supplies. Circumstances, including England's war with Spain, kept him abroad for three years.
The Governor was finally able to return to Roanoke Island in 1590, but when he arrived he discovered that the colony was gone. The buildings had all been dismantled and all 120 settlers had vanished without a trace. Among the missing was Governor White's own daughter, her husband, and their infant daughter, Virginia Dare, the first English child born in the New World.
Although many theories have been advanced over the years as to what happened to the colonists. Attacks by the Spanish, attacks by Native Americans, neither was ever proven. The one clue was the word CROATOAN, which had been carved into a nearby tree. The Croatoan, which were a tribe of Native Americans living on a nearby island, were questioned later, but professed to have no knowledge of the fate of the Roanoke colonists. The fate of the colony remains a mystery.
"That a bit of a grim story." Harry said with a shudder. "What year did you say this was again?"
"1589." replied the Doctor. "Two years after the colony was founded. Governor White is due to return here next year." He operated the control to open the TARDIS doors. "Coming?" he asked.
"Well, why not." Sarah said as she began to follow him. "We might as well take a look around."
"Wait for me." Harry said as he hurried after them.
The TARDIS had materialized in a clearing, surrounded by tall trees. "Doesn't look like much has been going on here." Harry said as he looked around.
"No, it doesn't." The Doctor said as he pulled a small device out of his pocket and activated it. The device gave off a small beeping noise. "According to my detector here, that energy field I picked up on the TARDIS scanners, is still around, although it is a bit fainter. Come on, let's go." The Doctor headed off into the woods, Sarah and Harry following behind. After about half an hour, they came into another, larger clearing. This one, however, looked like it had been inhabited once. There were outlines of buildings on the ground, but no buildings. "I guess this is where the colony was located." The Doctor pointed out.
"Well it's not here now." Harry replied. "Looks like they all cleared off."
"Yes, Harry, but where did they go?" The Doctor asked. "At this point in history, there was no English presence in North America, aside from this colony."
"I once read theories that they went to live among the Indians." Sarah pointed out.
"Possible." The Doctor concluded, nodding his head. "Still there is the matter about this energy field. Something that should not exist on this planet at this time." he held of the detector and pointed it southward. "It's coming from this direction. Let's go." The three of them headed out of the clearing and down a narrow path. As he looked down at the detector, the Doctor saw that the energy reading was getting gradually stronger. "I think we may be on to something." he said to Sarah and Harry, just before he stumbled over an object hidden in some shrubs. "Well what have we here?" He bent over and picked something up.
"What on Earth is that?" Harry asked.
"I'm not sure." The Doctor said as he examined the object. "But I would say that it definitely does not belong on this planet." He was holding what appeared to be a round, crystal globe. After a few moments of examining it, the Doctor made a conclusion. "It appears to be an alien power source of some kind. Probably activated by thought waves. Let me see now." The Doctor closed his eyes, and soon the globe began to glow. Suddenly, what appeared to be a vortex of some kind, appeared on the path in front of them.
"What is it?" Sarah asked, taking a step backward.
"It's a doorway." The Doctor said as he examined the vortex. "Must lead to another world, possibly another dimension. This must be the key to open it." he said as he carefully replaced the glowing globe in the shrubs. Then he started towards the vortex.
"Hang on a minute here." Harry said as he grabbed the Doctor's arm. "Where do you think you're going?"
"Well, Harry, it's obvious the answer to our questions is through that vortex. We should at least take a look."
"Are you sure, Doctor?" Sarah asked, but she knew that once the Doctor's curiosity was aroused, there was no going back.
Yes, come on." The Doctor said and stepped into the vortex. There was a sucking sound and in a second, the Doctor was gone. Sarah and Harry looked at one another and then stepped into the vortex themselves, they too vanished, and Roanoke Island was uninhabited once again.
After what seemed like hours in a whirling vortex of colours, the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry found themselves in a strange landscape. Blue trees dotted the land as far as the eye could see, and two suns shone in the sky. "A binary star system." The Doctor said as she studied the two suns. "How interesting."
"That's an understatement if I ever heard one." Harry replied, and then noticed another crystal globe at his feet. "I say, here is another one of these things!" Harry picked the globe up and held it.
"Yes, I would suppose another one would be here." The Doctor
replied and took the globe from Harry. He closed his eyes, the globe began to glow, and the vortex closed up behind them.
"Doctor..." Sarah began.
"Don't worry, Sarah." The Doctor said as he replaced the globe on the ground. "It's a two way door. We can open it again when we want to get back." he paused and considered. "I think."
"Well what do we do now?" Harry asked.
"Find out all we can about this place." The Doctor replied and led his two companions through the alien landscape. After about ten minutes of walking, the three of them stopped short. Ahead of them was a clearing in the blue trees, and in that clearing was a cluster of buildings, that looked very out of place in this landscape.
"Doctor, is that what I think it is?" Harry asked.
"Yes, Harry, it looks like we have just found the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island."
In a hidden chamber, eyes that were not human studied events on a view screen. "Who are these three newcomers?" a voice asked. "I must monitor them."
Slowly, the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry made their way into the colony. "I don't understand, Doctor." Sarah said as she took in the buildings. "How did the whole colony get here, where ever here is?"
"Trans-location technology, I would think." The Doctor replied. "Sort of like the gateway we came through, only on a much larger scale. The question is why the colony was brought here."
"Looks like we may have some company." Harry said suddenly. The three of them saw that people were emerging from the buildings and approaching them.
"Well I guess there is nothing to do but be civil." The Doctor said and turned to the approaching group. "How do you do. I'm the Doctor, and these are my companions, Sarah Jane Smith and Harry Sullivan. Would you mind telling us where we are?"
"You mean you don't know?" one of the colonists asked.
"No, we don't."
"Forgive me." the colonist said. "My name is Ananias Dare." he indicated a young woman standing next to him, holding hands with a little girl. "This is my wife, Eleanor, and our daughter, Virginia."
"Governor White's daughter and granddaughter." Sarah said, under her breath.
"As for where you are." Dare continued. "This is the colony of Roanoke Island."
"Really?" The Doctor asked and indicated the blue trees and two suns in the sky. "You see nothing strange about the sun and trees?"
"No." Dare replied. "Should I?"
"No, no." The Doctor said quickly. "Never mind that. Can you show us a place where we might stay and refresh ourselves. My companions and I have come a long way."
"Of course, we have a small inn here. Follow me." Dare led them towards the inn.
"Excuse me." Eleanor Dare asked as she walked beside Sarah. "Have you heard any news of my father?"
"Your father? Governor White?" Sarah asked and quickly added. "No we haven't."
"It's been two years now since he returned to England." Eleanor said. "I'm so worried. What could have happened to him?"
"I don't know." Sarah said, unwilling to tell Eleanor that, according to history, she would never see her father again.
After having been given rooms at the inn and left alone, the Doctor and his companions compared notes. "Well this is strange." Harry said as he looked out a window and saw the colonists going about their business. "These people seem to think they are still on Earth."
"Yes." The Doctor replied. "I imagine some kind of hypnosis was used, or conditioning, or maybe a combination of both. Not enough to harm the colonists, but just to make them think that nothing is out of the ordinary."
"But why?" Sarah asked. "Why go through all this trouble to kidnap a bunch of 16th Century English colonists? It doesn't make sense."
"Maybe not to us." The Doctor said, stroking his chin. "But obviously somebody had a reason for doing this. We have to find out who and why."
"We have to do more than that." Harry added.
"What do you mean?" Sarah asked.
"I mean that we have to tell these poor people what happened." Harry said. "After that, we have to get them home."
"Get them home?" The Doctor asked.
"Back to Earth." Harry stated. "Roanoke Island."
"Sorry, Harry, we can't do that." The Doctor said sternly.
"Why not?"
"Because history records that the colonists were never seen or heard from again."
"You mean..." Harry said, trailing off when the Doctor's words sunk in.
"Yes, Harry. It's forbidden to alter the course of history. So in order to make sure everything happens the way it's suppose to, I'm afraid the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island will have to stay lost, forever."
"But." Harry blurted. "We can't just leave these poor people here. We have to find out what is going on here!"
"I know." The Doctor replied as he began to pace around the room. "We do have to find out why they are here. All I said is that we cannot return them to Earth."
"So what's our first move?" Sarah asked.
"I think we should pay a visit to our friend, Ananias Dare, and see what he knows."
The Dare house was a modest home, even for Colonial American standards, located at the edge of the colony. Ananias Dare smiled as he answered the door and saw who it was. "Ah, Doctor." Dare said as he invited his guests into the house. "You get settled into the inn?"
"Yes, we did." The Doctor replied and then asked. "Tell me, how long have you been here?"
"Here on Roanoke Island?" Dare asked. "Two years, since we arrived here with Governor White. Soon after, the governor decided that we needed more supplies and returned to England to procure them." He paused and considered. "That was two years ago. Surely he should have been back long before now. What could have happened to him?"
"Well actually..." Harry began and then stopped as he saw the Doctor shaking his head. "Actually we can't begin to guess what happened to him." he finished slowly.
"Well we were lucky a kind stranger happened upon us." Dare continued. "He supplied us with more than what we needed. We surely would have perished without him."
"A stranger?" The Doctor asked, very interested. "Who was he? Where did he come from?"
"He never said where he came from. As for his name, it was... It was..." Dare frowned. "That's strange, I can't remember. Maybe my wife can." He called for Eleanor, and when she entered the room, asked her about the stranger.
"I can't remember his name either." Eleanor said, frowning. "That's very strange, my memory is usually quite good."
"I see." said the Doctor. "When did this stranger come here?"
"About a year ago." Dare said. "I think. I have trouble remembering that too."
"Thanks for your time, Mr. Dare." The Doctor said, rising to his feet. "My friends and I have some business to attend to, but we'll be in touch." The Doctor, Sarah, and Harry made polite good byes and left.
"Strange indeed." Dare said, still thinking. Then little Virginia began to cry and he turned his attention to her needs.
Outside the Dare house, the Doctor and his companions were once again comparing notes. "How interesting." The Doctor said. "A kind stranger practically saves the colony, but no one can remember his name."
"Sounds mighty suspicious to me." Sarah pointed out.
"Yes, and we should..." Harry began and then stopped as he looked up into the alien sky. What appeared to be a hovercraft was descending towards them. The three of them watched as it landed on the front lawn of the Dare house. "Well whoever sent this is taking a chance." Harry pointed out. "What if the colonists should see it."
"I don't think they can." The Doctor replied. "I think that whomever brought them here, conditioned them not to be able to see anything out of their usual scope. What I mean is that anything that does not belong on 16th Century Earth is invisible to the colonists."
"Well why do you think that thing is here?" Sarah asked.
"I think that whomever brought the colonists here is inviting us to take a ride." The Doctor said. "Shall we?"
"Well why not." Harry said. "We've come this far. We may as well see this mystery out to the end." The three of them boarded the hovercraft and we quickly whisked away into the air.
About ten minutes later, the hovercraft landed in front of an alien structure, which was located about ten miles west of the displaced colony. "Looks like we're here." The Doctor said and led his companions off the hovercraft. Suddenly, what appeared to be a door, opened on the structure.
"You think they're inviting us in for tea?" Harry asked.
"Well why don't we go find out." The Doctor replied. The three of them slowly entered the structure and found themselves in a brightly lit corridor. "Well they sure keep this place up." The Doctor said.
"Maybe the maid has just been through." Sarah added with a smile.
"Perhaps." The Doctor said. The three of them slowly walked down the corridor, keeping their eyes peeled for anything. Soon they entered what appeared to be a laboratory of some kind. Standing at a control console was a humanoid being, who had pure silver hair and eyes. "How do you do." The Doctor said. "I'm the Doctor and this is..."
"I know who you are." the being replied. "I've been monitoring the three of you ever since you entered this world. Why are you here? What do you want?"
"I say now, that is a bit rude." Harry replied. "You haven't even told us your name yet."
"Very well, my name is Corek." the being said. "I am the last survivor of a once great race, the Hewall."
"Well now that we have that out of the way." The Doctor said. "Perhaps you can tell us why you've taken to abducting innocent colonists."
"Colonists?" Corek said, a confused look on his face. "What do you mean?"
"I mean the people you removed from the planet Earth." said the Doctor.
"You mean the exiles."
"Exiles." said Harry. "I'm afraid there has been some kind of mix up, old chap. Those people are not exiles, they're colonists."
"I don't understand." Corek said. "Those people lived far from their native land. Why would they do that voluntarily?"
"You really have no comprehension of settling new lands?" The Doctor asked.
"No, the Hewall were traditionally linked to the home planet, until the end came."
"What happened?" asked Sarah.
"A rogue comet struck our world years ago." Corek said, sadness creeping into his voice. "Most of the Hewall race perished then, radiation and disease killed the rest, until only I was left."
"I'm sorry." Sarah said, nodding her head.
"I could not live with the fact my race was dead, so I decided to re-create the Hewall race, but first I had to locate another race that was genetically compatible. I came here to this deserted planet, built this facility, and began my search. Since my home world was devastated by the comet, I decided that this world would suffice for the home of the new Hewall race."
"Your search took you to the Roanoke colonists." The Doctor concluded, nodding his head.
"Yes." Corek said. "I used my trans-location technology to open a portal to their world and lured a few of them through it. I tested them, and when I discovered that they would serve my purpose, I trans-located their whole settlement here. I then rendered them unconscious, after which I re-sequenced their DNA, so their immune systems could survive here on this world. After which I made sure they were supplied with everything they needed."
"The mysterious stranger." Sarah said slowly.
"Let me guess." The Doctor said. "You then conditioned their minds, to make them believe they were still on their own world."
"That was only a temporary measure." Corek stated. "I just wanted to give them a gradual adjustment to their new world. Of course, if what you told me is true, I have made grave mistake."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"As I said, my race had no comprehension of the concept of voluntary colonization. I thought those people were outcasts and unwanted ones."
"People that no one would miss." The Doctor said, putting the pieces together.
"Yes."
"Well why don't you just send them back to Earth?" Harry asked, before the Doctor could say anything else.
"I can't send them back." Corek said sadly. "The DNA re-sequencing I did is irreversible. Those people are now genetically linked to this world. Here they can survive, but anywhere else, including their former home world, they will die."
"You see, Harry, even if history would allow us to send the Roanoke colonists back to Earth, we can't do it. It would be signing their death warrants." The Doctor said, slowly shaking his head.
"So what can we do now?" Harry asked.
"There is only one thing we can do, Harry." The Doctor said slowly. "Tell the colonists the truth, and let them decide for themselves."
At first there was disbelief among the Roanoke colonists when the Doctor and Co. returned to the settlement, bringing Corek with them. The colonists recognized Corek as the mysterious stranger who had helped them, but they still didn't believe his explanations. But soon Corek had the solution. "This device will remove the conditioning in their minds, and allow them to see this world as it truly is." he held up a small hand held box and activated it. A bright light shone over the colonists. When it had died, they suddenly became afraid.
"Doctor, what is happening?" Ananias Dare asked. "What is this place? Where are we?"
"Well I guess this may take a while." the Doctor said. Slowly, he told the colonists everything, leaving out no details.
"This is incredible." Dare said, once the Doctor had finished. He looked at Corek and said. "I should be angry at what you did, yet I am not. Perhaps that you were only trying to save your own people had something to do with it. It is a noble cause."
"I will do anything I can to make amends." Corek said. "Perhaps someday I can find a way to reverse what I did, and send you back to your world."
"Perhaps." Dare said slowly. "But our purpose was to settle and live in a new land. It looks as if we'll be doing just that, even if it is not the land we thought it was."
"Well then, I guess that's it then." The Doctor said. "I would love to stay around and watch you build your new world, but my friends and I have a pressing appointment back on Earth." Good byes were quickly said.
"Wait." Eleanor Dare said. "Before you go, give this to my father, Governor White." she handed a note to Sarah. "This will tell him what happened to us."
"I will." Sarah said slowly, taking the note.
"Come on then, you two." The Doctor said. "Time we were heading back."
The quiet of Roanoke Island was once again shattered as the vortex re-opened and deposited the Doctor, Sarah, and Harry, back on Earth. "Now to take care of this." The Doctor said as he picked up the crystal globe and smashed it against a rock. The vortex closed up, never to open again. The three of them quietly headed back to the former site of the colony. "One more matter to attend to." The Doctor said and proceeded to a nearby tree. Quickly, he pulled out a small knife and proceeded to whittle a word on the tree. When he had finished, he stepped back and examined his work. Carved on the tree was a word. CROATOAN.
"I was wondering what you were doing there." Harry said as he examined the Doctor's work.
"I had to do it, Harry. I noticed the word wasn't there when we came here, and history does record the word was found on a tree."
"So now it's here." Sarah said slowly. "I guess I can't deliver Eleanor's note to her father."
"I'm afraid not, Sarah." The Doctor replied sadly. "According to history, Governor White never did find out what happened here. The secret of Roanoke Island is ours and ours alone. Let's go." The Doctor led them away. Soon the wheezing, groaning sound of the TARDIS fading away was heard, and then Roanoke Island was silent once more. The Doctor and his companions had concluded another adventure, and history had kept its secret.
THE END