Anita made her way through the corridors of the manor, holding the tea tray carefully as she walked. The wind howled against the ornate windows as if to try to blow them in like the waves would dash against cliffs in order to crumble them – a futile effort which wasted the time of both parties involved. A slight draught left the place in a chill, and the night outside was most certainly dark and menacing. It didn't faze her, however, to feel the chill of night or to hear the howl of the wind; she wasn't an easily frightened person.
She arrived at the Professor's study. He was a fair man, but he despised any tardiness in his servants, especially when there were guests around. She pushed the door open carefully as not to spill the tea. He sat on his old and well-worn chair, while his guests sat opposite him, as she saw when she opened the door.
"The tea, sir, as you requested," she said cheerfully.
"Thank you very much, Anita," her master replied as she placed the tea tray down on the table, "now run along and get yourself something warm for supper and a nice cup of tea –there's quite a chill about."
"Thank you, Professor," she replied, taking her leave.
"So where were we?" the Professor grinned in the direction of his guests as she left, "Ah yes – you were asking me about the strange lights in the sky which have been showing up a little bit over the past few weeks, weren't you?"
"I find the whole business quite interesting," replied the man – who went only by his apparent and strange title of 'Doctor', "I just thought of coming to the right person to see about it; you're a professor of astronomy aren't you?" The professor didn't know what to make of this man, he was a scientist by title, but had odd behaviour, he was over-inquisitive, and his sense of dress and mannerisms seemed out of place somehow.
"That I am," he replied, "and what are you a doctor of, exactly?"
"Physics, mostly," the Doctor replied, running a hand through his short brown hair, "I do know a little bit about astronomy – but it's always a good idea to get a second opinion."
"I'm more interested in the case of the mysterious disappearances, meself," said his companion, a woman called Rose. If anything, the Professor found it even odder that the Doctor, such as he was, travelled around with someone who was quite clearly a cockney.
"Well I don't know anything about that," the Professor replied with a hearty chuckle, "I'm not any kind of detective or investigator, and the police haven't approached me about anything."
"I suspect they wouldn't," the Doctor replied, "you don't look like the type to kidnap or murder someone to me, and I consider myself something of an investigator at times."
"Thank you for the words of confidence, Doctor," replied the Professor with a smile, which faded somewhat as he glanced at the clock, it was encroaching on ten o'clock in the evening, "Sorry to make our conversation a short one, but the time is getting late for today. Do you have your own place to stay or would you like to stay the night in one of my spare rooms?"
"We'll be fine," Rose said as she stood up and put her jacket back on.
"Good evening, Professor," said the Doctor cheerfully, "sleep well."
"So what was the point of that, then?" Rose asked with a sigh of boredom as they walked away from the manor, "He didn't have anything useful."
"Oh, he said plenty," the Doctor replied in his typically enigmatic fashion as they walked around the corner and down the street, "we now know that he's involved somehow – he's the type of man to keep himself up until midnight – you can tell from his behaviour." He sighed, glancing down at the pavement. "Only problem is that I haven't got a clue what he's hiding."
They soon arrived at an old street corner which was lit only by a few fading gaslights. On the cobblestones there was a Police Box balanced with a slightly uneven appearance, as if it wasn't actually meant to be there.
"So what now, Doctor?"
"Well, you should get some sleep, can't solve a mystery without it," replied the Doctor with a grin. He paused then, looking up at the sky with a curious expression on his face.
"What is it?" she asked, looking up.
"More of those lights," he replied, looking quite distantly at the swirling blue-purple lights which seemed to also have splashes of greens and yellows, "this is one of the oddest occurrences I've ever seen – an aurora like this was never visible in mid-twentieth-century London."
"What do you think is causing it, Doctor?" she asked, arching her neck to get a bit of a better look at the sky.
"I don't think it's anything from Earth," the Doctor replied bluntly, "an aurora like that can be one of two things; the Northern Lights or someone accessing Time Travel in orbit..." He sighed with a weary expression on his face. "If it's the former, the climate of the solar system's gone wrong, and if it's the latter, it's most certainly linked to the strange disappearances."
"So…?"
"I think it's the time travellers. You should never believe in coincidences." he replied, "besides; this isn't Earth's magnetic pole or anywhere near it, this is London!" He fumbled around in his pocket for a few seconds, taking out a small dark grey device covered in buttons which had a blue light at the tip and then began walking back towards the manor.
"Where are you going?"
He flashed a grin. "Breaking and entering, there's got to be something in that manor. It could be anything really – but I intend to find out what."
"I'm coming with you," she told him; "someone's got to keep you out of trouble, Doctor." She smiled wryly. "Where would you be without me?"
"Insufferably bored," said the Doctor with a grin, "but my hearts would be in better shape."
"Oh just shut up!" she laughed.
He remained silent, and looked up at the moon through the odd swirling patterns of light in the sky and let out a sigh. "Though we'd best be careful – those lights might mean that something powerful is at work here; and that's dangerous."