River Of The Universe

by Denstort

Someone is messing with a power that they shouldn't, one that could destroy everything. Can The Doctor and Martha stop, and is it just the Power they are after?

Chapter One

Time itself was never a straight line, to the Doctor it had always seemed more like a river, a river that was quiet and serene on the surface, but swirled and shifted underneath, one had to know how to swim. A voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Doctor, you'd better get in here, quick!" the voice had an air of urgency to it.

With a sigh he stepped back into the TARDIS, he was greeted by flashing lights and noisy alarms, all vying for his attention. Martha was holding her hands over her ears and gave him a what the hell look as he dashed around the console. He stopped when a set of readings flashed up on the screen, he stared at them in disbelief, could anyone be that stupid or that arrogant as to mess with such power. The readings flashed once as if to confirm what he saw, someone had been that stupid and that arrogant, no wonder the TARDIS had reacted as she had. The Doctor raced around the console and gradually silence reigned as the lights and alarms faded.

"I know, I know, it shouldn't, but it is, yes I agree, just do it." The familiar sound of an ancient engine pulsed into life.

Martha cautiously removed her hands and sighed when all she could hear was the TARDIS engine. "What happened, did something break?"

"Unfortunately it's far worse than that, it looks like someone's messing with power they know nothing about, again." The tone in the Doctor's voice was acidic.

"As in could destroy the whole universe or just a planet sort of power." Martha prompted.

The Doctor threw out his arms, " Oh far worse, we're talking time, space and all the different dimensions kind of power, and guess what, it's humans again . Did they learn nothing from the last time? Nah, they just go blundering in and try something else."

Martha sighed, there was no point arguing, she could see by his expression what kind of a mood he was in and remained silent. She had travelled with him for some time, but for all the adventure she could still not fathom the man and his changing moods.

The TARDIS appeared and tumbled for a few seconds before fading without its normal ease back into the Vortex leaving behind a small trail of energy that was leaking from within.

**************************

The TARDIS landed with a wheeze that sounded like a last gasp and actually seemed to shudder as it settled. The Doctor stepped out into a frosty night, a look of concern marring his boyish face, he patted the TARDIS gently.

"Don't worry old girl. I know it hurts, be patient," he murmured. Without waiting for Martha he strode across the field in which they had landed, sonic screwdriver held out in front of him. Martha ran after him and cannoned into him as he stopped abruptly, turned in a circle and headed in another direction, after a few paces he stopped again and switched of the screwdriver.

"This is going nowhere, the signals too weak, this must be as near as the TARDIS can get. C'mon Martha, we need to find some transport and get nearer, fancy a stroll in the fresh night air." With that he strode purposefully towards the gate and headed for the distant lights that lit the night sky.

Martha walked alongside, she had seen the look on his face when he had realised that the TARDIS was in pain, a dark, no messing look. "Why can't we use the TARDIS, it would be quicker."

"Remember that universe destroying power, it's also TARDIS destroying power, it's making her sick. I've shut down all but her basic functions so the pain shouldn't be any worse, that's why we can't use her, I need to find the source and shut it down."

As they approached the town the Doctor took another reading," That's more like it, the signal is south-west of here, where are we exactly."

"The sign back there said Lincoln, there should be a train or a bus station we can use."

"In that case, if this is Lincoln, then the signal originates somewhere on Salisbury Plain. Train or bus, train or bus," he mused for a few seconds, "Trains, I love trains. Last time I was on a train the steam did wonders for my skin."

Martha smiled "I don't think it will be a steam train, more like electric, but we won't be going anywhere without money."

The Doctor sighed, "Electric, how unromantic, you need a steam train when there's a mystery to be solved."

Martha sighed, "Doctor, I said we need to get some money, to buy tickets, I need you to do your little money trick again."

The Doctor smiled at her, a devious smile, "Martha Jones, you're leading me astray, anyone would think I made a habit if it."

**************************

Lights flashed yellow as the assistant powered down the device, the low hum that accompanied it began to fade. A group of white coated scientists were gathered around a bank of computers, all studying the readings before them.

"Amazing, that's up fifteen percent, well done everybody, one more try and we'll call it a day."

The group turned and went to sit at the various stations, the low hum began to fill the room and the yellow lights began to flash. The woman who had spoken shivered as she felt the power raise the hairs on the back of her neck. She smiled to herself, this power was incredible, a power that could be the answer to the worlds' energy problem. The light and the hum faded again and the woman in charge nodded to herself as she read the printout. She sent the others home and was about to head out of the door when the phone rang, she hesitated for a second before returning to her office and answering it.

"Professor, I've caught you just in time, how are things going with our project."

"Couldn't be better, we've increased power output by twenty percent. This energy stream is far more powerful than we thought."

"Excellent, keep up the good work, I look forward to your next report."

The woman sighed as she was cut off, it hadn't been her idea to bring this particular person on board, but as she was told they needed the money he was throwing at them. When she had asked where they had found this power source the answer was distinctly cagey. From that moment she had decided to keep her own set of notes, secretly recording and writing her opinions down. She took a small walk around the lab before turning out the lights and leaving for the night, she didn't notice the small glimmer coming from the testing chamber.

************************

As the train pulled into the station the Doctor stood up, stretched and shook Martha gently, she opened a sleepy eye. "Rise and shine sleepy head, I think this is our station," he smiled at her and held the door for her as they stepped onto the platform. The Doctor took the sonic from his pocket and held it in front of him, the reading was strong and with a quick follow me glance at Martha they left the station.

It seemed like an age before a town came into view. The sign declared it as Marlborough, Martha knew there was a decent tea shop in the centre and had to almost manhandle the Doctor into stopping for some breakfast. She frowned as the Doctor only picked at the breakfast, even drank his tea half heartedly, now she knew that there was something not right.

"Alright Doctor, time to fess up, there's something your not telling."

He tried to interrupt but she waved it way. "You're picking at your food, you've hardly touched your tea. Either you tell me or we don't move another inch."

With a resigned sigh the Doctor replied. "I'm worried about this power surge, it's not getting any weaker, in fact it's getting stronger. If this carries on even I won't be able to stop it."

"That's understandable, but it won't help matters if you're not on top form. So doctor's orders, eat your breakfast, have you tea and then we can worry about the end of all we know".

The Doctor forced a smile and pretended to attack his breakfast and realised that Martha had been right, this was the best tea shop in the county and genuinely attacked his breakfast and actually asked for another pot of their wonderful breakfast tea.

He hoped that he had hid the fact that he was starting to feel unwell and he could feel it tugging at the edges of his consciousness. He didn't know how long it would be before it would start to show physically, but he knew that it couldn't let that happen and he had to stop it before then.

He looked up as Martha came back from paying the bill and returned the smile she gave him before standing up and leaving the tearoom. A wave of nausea hit him and he swayed slightly.

"Are you all right?" Martha said as she quickly put out a hand to steady him, her face creased in concern.

"I'm fine, bit of a sugar rush, too much in my tea," he lied and mentally forced his body to ignore the sick feeling deep in the pit of his stomach. He shrugged on his coat and opened the door for Martha and they stepped outside.

Chapter Two

"Right," the Doctor spoke as they stood in the market square. "We're still a long way from the power source. We need to get a lot closer before I can pinpoint the exact location."

"Well lucky for you I asked the lady at the counter, you can catch a coach from here to Devizes and then she said we may have to walk the rest of the way. I brought a map that may help us, the coach leaves in a couple of hours".

"Brilliant, so we can do a spot of sight seeing till then, I remember when this was nothing but trees and grass. Mind you, being chased by a tribe of angry Celts wasn't my idea of tourism. I don't think they were too happy when I told them the Romans were coming."

The Doctor was happily feeding the ducks when the coach pulled up beside them; he threw the last of the bread into the water and followed Martha onto the coach. They sat at the back to avoid any unwanted attention, as they had received a few odd looks when they had passed the passengers.

The Doctor whispered," Anyone would think we were up to something."

Martha grinned at him. "If only they knew."

"They'd be calling the local loony bin to cart us way." he replied with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Oh no you don't, the last thing we need is unwanted attention."

The Doctor gave the person two rows in front one of his widest and brightest grins before opening the map. "Now let's see," he scanned the map "There's Devizes, if I'm right we'll find the source of the signal somewhere out on Salisbury Plain."

Martha nodded in agreement. "Assuming we do find the source, I don't think they'll let us waltz in and switch it off."

"I was coming to that, I'll just have to improvise. How far it is to Devizes, I don't know how long we have before the effects start getting noticed."

The Doctor waved at the passengers as the bus pulled away from them, they obviously thought he was some kind of madman and he had made no attempt to dissuade them from thinking that. With a grin that could have outshone the Cheshire Cat he had regaled Martha with stories of daring do and mystery.

*********************

The path they walked along was full of walkers and cyclists enjoying the pleasant winter sun, they sat down on the Doctors' long coat and spread the map out in front of them. The Doctor traced his finger along the map.

"The signal is definitely coming from near here, this path must run near it, but how near I can't tell." With that he folded the map and sprang to his feet, "C'mon, no dilly dallying, we have a universe to save."

The path soon narrowed and ended at a small country lane, the Doctor took out the screwdriver and turned a full circle, a puzzled look crossed his face.

"What's the problem?" Martha asked when she saw his puzzled expression.

"That's weird, now there seems to be two readings. Mind you the main source is getting nearer. With any luck we should soon be right on top of it."

"Not before it gets dark and I don't fancy being out here at night, I think there was a bed and breakfast sign a few miles back."

The Doctor sighed, she was right of course, he would have walked all night but he couldn't expect Martha to do the same, he nodded his agreement and they retraced their steps.

************************

The Doctor lay on the bed, his head full of explosions and implosions, of nightmarish scenes of devastation. These were things he had long since pushed into the furthest depths of his memory, now these things were going to happen again, and to a world he had promised to protect. The clock said it was only two o'clock; he couldn't in all honesty wake Martha at this time so he headed downstairs. He sat in one of the comfy chairs, his thoughts whirled around in his head, this power that had been harnessed threatened everything he held dear, whoever was tampering was either very foolish, or even more frightening actually knew what they were dealing with.

The sun awoke Martha as it peeked through the curtains, she stretched and yawned, the bed was so comfortable, she thought about lying in for a few more minutes. Then she remembered why they were here and hurried to get dressed and down to breakfast. The room was full of the other guests but she could see no sign of the Doctor. Any minute now he would burst in like a whirlwind and brighten the whole room, she was about to leave when the landlady appeared.

"Are you looking for your friend, he left about an hour ago. I asked it if I should call your room but he said not to disturb you. He said not to worry and that he would be back as soon as possible and not to follow him."

Martha sat down again, more concerned than angry, she could understand him not putting her in danger, but she couldn't understand why he hadn't confided in her.

The landlady took her order for breakfast and spoke again. "You must be working up at the research buildings near here, we've had several stay here before they get their own places."

Martha nodded, here was a golden opportunity to find out where the Doctor had gone "Is it within walking distance?"

"Goodness me no, it's over ten miles from here, your friend hitched a lift with the milkman this morning."

***********************

The professor walked towards the picnic area, her team often came here for a break if the weather was nice. The sun was pleasantly warm and the trees sheltered her from the bite in the breeze. She noticed someone sitting at one of the tables, he was probably one of the other researchers. She didn't recognise him, but that wasn't strange, everybody was working on different parts of the puzzle and knew nothing or very little about each others' research.

The Doctor followed the group back to the base and managed to slip by without showing a pass, after all no-one noticed one scientist extra in a gaggle of scientists. He casually peeled of from the main group as they entered the glass fronted building; he entered a lift and randomly chose a floor. The lift doors opened onto a long corridor, he scanned each window as he passed. They all seemed to be full of the standard research, white coated personnel scurrying about and standing over test tubes and Bunsen burners. This was going nowhere so he returned to the lift and looked at the panel, these places in his experience usually came with several underground laboratories and with any luck this base was no different. Not seeing any visible extras panel he scanned it with his sonic and grinned to himself.

"Sneaky, a panel hidden within a panel, anyone would think they had something to hide," he muttered happily to himself as he selected the last button on the panel. He whistled a happy tune as the lift began to descend.

*********************

The professor read and re-read the printout before her, none of it made any sense to her. Only yesterday there were no reports of their work having any side-effects. As she read the report again she heard the ding of the lift door opening and looked up from the paper. To her surprise it was the man from earlier, he must be the replacement she had requested.

The Doctor stepped out into a large brightly lit hangar with what looked suspiciously like a particle accelerator at one end. This must be the place he thought as he wandered across the floor. He saw a woman approaching and turned on his heel to face them.

"Good morning you must be Doctor Stephens."

"I must be" he smiled cheerily as she approached.

"Good, I'm Professor Chapman, perhaps you can get on with some work, what do you specialise in?"

"Oh. A little bit of this and a little bit of that, but I do have a fondness for particle accelerators," he gestured towards the chamber

The Professor watched him as he approached the chamber and stepped forward to stop him when he ventured too close. "I wouldn't get too close."

"Really and why is that?" he looked her straight in the eye.

She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze and swallowed before answering. "Unfortunately one of our staff, probably the one you're replacing had an accident in the chamber. Apparently he forgot to tell anyone that he was inside, it was unpleasant to say the least and telling his wife was even more unpleasant". She looked away as the picture flashed through her mind.

"It always is, isn't it," he replied after a pause, a sorrowful tone to his voice.

She looked up at that and saw in his eyes that he knew exactly what she meant, a look that seemed like they had seen too much. "Anyway, such things happen, perhaps you can pick up where his work stopped. I'll just go and get you his notes,"

The Professor came back out of the filing room to find him examining the chamber from outside, a pair of thick rimmed glasses perched on the edge of his nose. "Doctor Stephens", she called.

The Doctor wandered over, "Please just call me Doctor, everybody does," he peered at her over his glasses.

"In that case you can call me Susan, I never was into titles," she replied as she handed him a thick file. "I'm sorry, but he didn't like computers much, he preferred to write his reports by hand, paranoid I guess."

"Same here, just don't trust computers, never know what their thinking." The Doctor flicked through the pages, he would read them properly when he got back to Martha. He mentally slapped himself; he had completely forgotten about Martha, he was so caught up with the mystery. He looked at the clock on the wall and decided he could stay for a while longer.

********************

Professor Chapman was still puzzling over the printouts when the Doctor knocked on her office door and gestured to the clock on the wall.

"Professor", he began. She interrupted, "Please call me Susan." She reminded him.

"Sorry, Susan, I've just had a call from reception, apparently there's a problem at my temporary lodgings, something about a water pipe."

The Professor waved a hand without really noticing him, "Of course, just make sure you sign the absence register before you go," she returned to puzzling over the report in front of her, so she didn't notice that he still had his predecessors notes in his hand.

The Doctor sighed, if they were as advanced in their research as he thought they were then it was worse than he had imagined. He had to get back to Martha and try and formulate a new approach to the problem.

Chapter ThreeThe sound of the Doctor bursting into the room woke Martha, she was about to scald him for leaving her behind when she saw the excited glow on his face and the way he fidgeted in his chair. "Well, you look like the cat that got the cream."

The Doctor beamed at her, "That place is definitely ground zero." He held up a file that was stuffed with paper, "I think whoever wrote this must have found out what was going on and came to a nasty end. Someone doesn't want their secret out."

Martha leaned forward, "So, I take we'll be going back tonight to stop it," an excited tone to her voice.

The Doctor responded to the tone with a frown. "We, did I say that we would be going back tonight, I think it will be only me going back tonight."

Martha stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Oh no, not this time, you know we work better as a team, you may need an extra pair of eyes or hands."

The Doctor was about to protest but the look on Martha's face was the familiar stubborn and determined look that he loved. "Alright, but be careful, if someone's' killed once, then they not going to be worried about killing again."

*************************

Rain began to fall steadily as the Doctor and Martha set out towards the steep path that led to the back way into the facility. The Doctor had managed to finish reading the rest of the report and its' contents had worried him, in fact it had frightened him.

They stopped just short of the steep incline, the rain made it a difficult climb and they stopped several times to catch their breath. The Doctor pulled Martha up the last incline and stopped by the security fence. He reached a hand out and felt the current running through the wire.

"Electric, a few hundred volts I'd say, they definitely don't want anyone taking a sneaky peek." He took out the sonic and held it against the fence for a few seconds. With a sizzle as the rain fell on it the wires melted to produce a man size hole, he squeezed through and held the wire apart for Martha to pass through.

"Won't that set off the alarms?" she asked.

"If it does, the reading will say it is nothing more than some poor furry critter that had the misfortune of running into it. Anyway if we do get caught, we might get to see whoever is behind this quicker," he flashed her a dangerous grin.

********************

The Professor had decided to go home and come back in the evening, she couldn't concentrate on the problem at hand. She decide to go back and perform a test run by her, she hoped that the readings she had been giving were not repeated tonight. The professor stopped at the gate and showed the guard her pass; she hated the fact that the guards were armed and drove quickly away. She took the stairs as the lifts were shut off a night, she was about to open the door when she heard voices, one sounded vaguely familiar. Taking a deep breath she opened the door and stopped in her tracks

Martha jumped at the sound of the door, but the Doctor didn't even turn "Hello Susan didn't know this place had night shifts".

Susan was too shocked to reply at first, but she soon recovered her composure "Doctor Stephens I hope you have a good explanation for security when I call them."

As if by magic a deafening whoop filled the air. The Doctor looked up "Oops, must have missed something, we'll have unpleasant company in a minute. Professor, is there another way out of here?"

"If you think I'm helping you get way," she began indignantly

"I think you'll find it's not just me and Miss Jones that they'll be after. After all you haven't exactly screamed help," the Doctor fixed her with a steady gaze.

"They can't possibly think that I'm with you," she retorted.

Martha had listened to them and with a growing impatient she moved between them. "Look, both of you, if we don't get out of here it won't matter whose with who!" she shouted over them

The sound of boots in a hurry made up her mind for her," This way, there's a fire exit that has no camera on it, we can get out without being seen."

*************************

The sound of heavy boots echoed in the lab as a group of armed men stormed in, one man gestured for them to split and search the whole area, but the place was empty, just an open fire door that let the rain in.

**********************

Martha had managed to get some dry towels from the landlady and knocked on the bathroom door, "Professor, I'll put some towels just inside the door for you."

Martha looked up as Susan came out of the bathroom and gave her a broad smile, she could see the shell-shocked look on her face. It was the same look she had when she had seen the moon from the hospital window, the same look when she had heard the two heartbeats of a certain patient.

" I know, you feel like this can't be real, like your life has become a roller coaster, the Doctor does that, he's a bit like a roller coaster ride."

"Just a bit, I'm still not convinced that the guards were after me, after all you're the ones breaking and entering. Are you sure you're not working for someone, this Doctor seems well versed in particle acceleration."

"No, we're not, the Doctors' kind of a freelance, but there must be something about your research that's important, something about it having side effects".

Susan frowned "Wait a minute, there was report that landed on my desk just before he came into the lab. Damn, I wish I had taken it with me, it said something about side effects."

"Are we decent?" a familiar voice floated thorough the door. Second later the Doctor breezed into the room; he was still wet from being outside but didn't seem to notice. "The report is right, there are side effects. The only way to stop it was to shut it down, but I think we can safely say that's impossible now. My problem is, Professor, someone has been shadowing your work, possibly copying it. Those side effects aren't just local anymore, they're global."

"You can't be serious, sure the effects couldn't possibly be global?" she laughed nervously.

The Doctor narrowed his eyes as he looked at her, "Oh, I'm deadly serious, you don't know the half, and yes I do mean global."

"Wait a minute Doctor," Martha interrupted, "what if it's not the Professor, what if it's whoever is funding her research." She could see the cold glint in his eyes and was trying to calm the situation.

"She's right" Susan nodded "just three months ago we were on the verge of being closed down when a backer came form out of the blue"

The Doctor rubbed the back of his neck as he mulled over the information, and as quickly as his mood had darkened it lightened. "Right then, we need to get back in your lab."

"Doctor, we can't get back into that place, we'd probably be shot on sight!" Martha exclaimed.

"Lucky for you I never did trust my new employer, so I made back ups of everything. I keep them at home on my laptop."

The Doctor smiled at her "Clever girl, then we need to get to your house."

*********************

The Doctor was pouring over the copious notes, he was starting to get frustrated. He angrily slammed the lid shut and rubbed his eyes under his glasses, with a sigh he lay down on the couch, hands behind his head. A tidal wave of agony suddenly hit the Doctor, pulling and tearing at every fibre of his body. The pain was like a molten river that poured into his mind, searing and burning as it went threatening to consume him.

*******************

Martha couldn't sleep, she was glad of a bed but her mind was too alert, she heard a scratching, it must be the dog, perhaps this was his bed, and with a smile she got up and opened the door. The dog didn't run in as she had expected but dashed between the door and the stairs, it began barking when she didn't move.

Susan opened her door and stifled a yawn, the dog began running between the both of them and ran down two or three steps. The two women looked at each other and then they dashed down the stairs the dog barking excitedly. They found the living room empty, they felt the draught from the kitchen and hurried in. The back door was wide open and rain was soaking the door mat, but there was no sign of the Doctor.

***********************

At that very moment the Doctor was stumbling blindly, not knowing or caring where he was going, water was dripping from his sodden clothes, but he felt far from cold, in fact he was burning, fire running through his veins. He could feel the pull of that power, could feel it dragging him under, and knew that he had to stop himself from drowning. He staggered as another wave washed over him, crying out in a mixture of pain, frustration and fear, he fell to his knees. Frustration gave way to anger, anger at failing to control his fear and the pain, with a roar he pushed the pain and the power from his body. Exhausted he collapsed onto the muddy path and was deathly still.

Martha bit her lip; they had come to the end of the muddy road and were at the junction where it joined the main road. Susan's' dog had been running ahead of them and was now running back and forth in front of the car. "Of course, your dog, if anyone can find him, he can!" Martha almost jumped up and down herself. Before Susan could stop her she was out of the car and running towards the dog. "Good boy, you know where the Doctor is don't you?"

The dog barked and set off back down the track and disappeared into the bushes that fenced of the road from the moor. Martha was about to follow when Susan grabbed her arm.

"Martha, no don't, that place is treacherous after dark."

Martha shrugged of her hand, "The Doctors' out there somewhere I know it, if you don't want to go, fine, I'll go on my own."

"I can't let you, I can't look for both of you. It's not as if we can call the rescue services, we're wanted remember, we'll have to come back when it's light."

******************************

Darkness started to give way to light as the Doctor opened his eyes and regretted it. "Oww, that hurts!" he exclaimed.

He lay on his back for a few minutes, his whole body ached, a bone deep ache. He sat up much to the protest of his limbs and looked round in surprise. "Now, how on earth did I get here…?"

His thoughts were interrupted by the shaggy form of a large brown retriever that threatened to flatten him.

"Hello boy, come to retrieve me eh," he rubbed the dogs' ears. The dog whined and licked the Doctors' hand as if to say "let's go."

Flashes of last night were seeping back into his mind, this was not good, whoever had the second power source was now using it, and now it was not just affecting the TARDIS, it was affecting him.

The dog stood patiently a few yards away, "Come on then Charlie boy, show me the way home."

********************

Martha sat on the grass looking glumly at the scenery; she spied the figure of the professor. Her heart sank when she didn't see a familiar figure with her and the look on Susan's face confirmed what she already knew.

"No luck, I'm really sorry Martha, the only thing we can do is hope that he can make it back to the house. It'll be pointless trying to search any further, not without help."

"Help which we can't ask for," Martha sighed.

It was then that she spotted two figures approaching, probably walkers. She then noticed Susan backing away and screamed when she felt a hand clamp on her shoulder.

*************************

The Doctor stopped and tilted his head to one side, he was sure he heard a scream carried on the wind.

With sudden realisation he knew he had heard Martha scream, he took of at a sprint, every muscle protesting. He skidded to a halt and spun in circle, eyes scanning as he turned, all he saw was empty space and no Martha.

He dropped to his haunches, there were signs of a struggle, he recognised Martha's' boot print, they were mixed in with several man sized prints. Anger began to rise, molten in his veins. "No, no, no, no….." he muttered to himself "if they've hurt you…"

***********************

Martha tried to make herself as comfortable as possible on the floor; she had no idea how long they had been unconscious. She could hear Susan shuffling beside her, at least she wasn't alone, and they had each other for moral support.

"Martha, is that you?" a voice inquired in a whisper.

"Susan, they got you too, are you alright?"

"I think so, I feel a little woozy, it smelt like they used chloroform to drug us." Susan shuffled over and touched Martha, to reassure herself that she wasn't still drugged and hallucinating.

"Do you think they have the Doctor too?"

********************************

The Doctors' mind boiled with anger, he could understand the desire for power, every sentient creature craved power, it was only natural. However, kidnapping was a mystery to him, and adding this to the end of everything he held dear was just plain insanity.

He sighed wearily and rubbed his temple, at first the answer had seemed easy, thing always got complicated around humans.

He took the sonic screwdriver from his pocket and turned in a circle, he smiled coldly, lucky for Martha he had insisted on storing her brain patterns; he had a signal, weak but a signal.

"Think, think, need to get closer, I can't use the TARDIS…." and then he spied something in the distance; an idea slowly entered his head.

Chapter Four

The policemen sat in their patrol car, both thinking that they never got a chance of the big stuff. They never would, stuck out here looking for bird egg thieves. They jumped when someone rapped on the window, a skinny youngish man was grinning at them from the other side, the driver wound down his window.

"Can I help you sir?" he asked.

"You certainly can," he said brightly "you can arrest me if you like. Most wanted, that's me," he pointed to himself.

The driver sighed, not another nutter. "Really sir, and what might you be wanted for?"

"Oh, let's see, kidnapping, breaking and entering, infiltrating a top security lab," he started counting off on his fingers. "Go on, check you computer, skinny bloke in a striped suit, not armed but definitely dangerous."

The second officer frowned and checked the screen. "Blimey, he's right, not a nutter. He's wanted by MI5."

"Don't you move sonny Jim," the driver instructed as his partner jumped out and ran round to where the man was standing.

"Wouldn't dream of it officer, I've done wrong, I want to confess!" he grinned as the officer handcuffed him.

*********************

The two agents studied the man from behind the one way mirror. Disconcertingly he had looked straight at them and waved cheerfully, a broad grin plastered across his face.

"He doesn't look like a terrorist, more like an escaped mental patient," the younger of the two frowned.

"Looks can be deceiving, you know that. Anyway, we're under instructions to bring him back to headquarters, something about him being on the red list."

"The red list isn't that?" he trailed off.

"Yes, it is, this as you put it mental patient must be very important. Anyway let's get this over with."

The desk sergeant wasn't entirely happy about MI5 trampling over his station, confiscating any paperwork that had been generated by the arrest. He gave the two agents a sideways look as they escorted the prisoner from the station, not that he minded, he had been more trouble than he was worth, having suddenly and without warning suffered some sort of fit. He was just calling the police doctor when they had turned up and cancelled his call.

The Doctor sat quietly in the back of the car; he rubbed his wrists, thankful that they had removed his cuffs. He smiled to himself; at least this part of his plan had worked. However, matters were not made easier by the fact that he had suffered another attack. He was not sure if he could survive many more, he could feel himself starting to come apart, another attack could be final and fatal.

"So nice of you to trust me enough to leave my handcuffs off, I might decide to jump from the car."

The older of the two turned and replied "I don't think even you're reckless enough to jump out of a car doing sixty."

"So it's not true what they say about MI5 then, that you couldn't find a haystack in a barn," the Doctor teased.

"No doubt they say a lot, but we're not from MI5 but you fit the description of the mystery man. We've been looking for."

"Really, me?" the Doctor gave the agent a wide eyed innocent look, which didn't seem to fool the agent at all.

"Yes, you, now, no more questions, you'll soon have enough too answer, let's have some quiet shall we?"

********************************

The Doctor was not having a pleasant time, he had been poked and prodded and examined to within an inch of him losing his temper. He had tried to protest when they took blood samples and had been most unhappy when he was sedated. He came around to the sound of beeping, he could feel the probes wired into his temple and hearts, with a flash of temper he ripped the probes and wires away, causing alarms to beep in protest.

Second later, he found himself restrained by two burly white coated medics "I want to talk to whoever is in charge, I'm not a lab rat or a pin cushion!" he yelled, but was silenced by a large hand over his mouth.

"Enough!" a voice cut through the commotion," Take your hand from his mouth immediately. Don't even think about putting those restraints on him."

The medic responded swiftly and moved away from the Doctor to reveal several white coated figures. The one that had barked the orders seemed to be the senior member of the little group; he walked over to the Doctor and switched of the monitor before speaking.

"I do apologise, some of my staff aren't as civilised as you or me. It is the Doctor isn't it?" the man held out his hand.

The Doctor ignored the pre-offered hand, and gave him a look that would have cowed a Daleks, but didn't seem to bother the man it was directed at.

"Understandable, I would feel like that too, but we had to make sure that you were who we thought you were", the man gestured to and someone placed the Doctors' clothes in a neatly folded pile on the bed. "Please, let's not start of on the wrong foot, we'll give you some time alone and then we will talk."

The man snapped his fingers and everybody filed out, leaving a very bemused and bewildered Doctor alone.

A few minutes later he was dressed and pacing up and down the white walled room, he could still not shake the feeling that he was a lab rat in a very clean cage. It was obvious that they knew who he was, no point in denying it then. However, this didn't get him any nearer to finding Martha and putting a stop to the end of the universe. He looked up at the single camera mounted on the ceiling and allowed a half smile to play across his face. "Let's talk, shall we…?"

**************************

Susan opened her eyes slowly, the light hurt her eyes, and she was lying on what appeared to be a very comfortable bed. She slowly sat up and found herself in a very luxurious bedroom, for a second or two she was a little confused, this was a funny kind of abduction. She jumped when she heard a shuffling noise, it came from behind the only door, and cautiously she walked over to the door and turned the handle.

Both women jumped as they came face to face, and both sighed with relief when they recognised each other.

"Martha, thank god, are you alright!" Susan hugged her with relief and tried to keep the tears from her eyes.

"Same here," Martha returned the hug, she looked round Susan's' room and her own and frowned "Funny kind of kidnapping, I was expecting a nice cosy rat infested dungeon." That was the normal prison you ended up in when the Doctor was involved.

"I know, it maybe five star, but it's still a cage, just a gilded one."

"Yeah, a cage with no door or windows, I wonder if the Doctors' here too, it was probably him they were after."

" And we're here as insurance, to make sure he does whatever they want," Susan nodded, though she had no idea what they would want with him, apart from the fact that he was an alien, which in itself was enough reason to want him.

Martha was about to speak again when there was an audible click and a door appeared to the left of her. A butler stood at the doorway and cleared his throat before addressing them.

"Ladies, the master of the house requires your presence at the breakfast table, please follow me." With that he turned and walked along the landing, Martha and Susan following him warily.

******************************

The long sweeping staircase led to a large reception room, decorated in the same understated wealth as their rooms. The butler stopped in front of a set of large oak panelled doors and pushed them inwards.

"Miss Martha Jones and Professor Susan Chapman as you requested sir."

A figure stood up from the table, an imposing figure in a well cut suit "Good morning ladies, come sit and have some breakfast, I won't have it said that I am not a gracious kidnapper," he gestured to the two places that were set either side if the table.

Both Martha and Susan recognised the invitation as one not to be refused and nervously sat. The butler poured them a cup of steaming tea and placed a cooked breakfast in front of them.

The man laughed when he saw them eye it with suspicion, "Really ladies, do you think I would go to all the trouble of having you brought here if I intended to poison you. Please eat, you're no good to me as bait for your friend if you fade away from hunger."

Martha studied their captor from over the rim of her cup, just because he looked human didn't me he was. He was acting the perfect host, but she could see that his smile didn't reach his eyes; they were as cold as the ice in her orange juice.

"It's so nice to finally meet you Professor. Your reports have been most interesting."

Susan blinked in surprise "You're our mystery benefactor?"

The man nodded his head in recognition. "Yes I am, and you were worth every penny." With that he turned to Martha, "Now you Miss Jones need to tell me all about your erstwhile companion?"

Martha snorted "Like hell I will!"

"Spirited, I like that, however I don't have the time for mind games, you'll provide information willingly or not, but you will provide information."

The man snapped his fingers and a burly figure entered the room. "Take Miss Jones to see our good doctor."

The man grabbed Martha none to gently, she struggled but could not break his grip and was dragged from the room followed by the protests of Susan.

"Now, professor, let us discuss how you can aid me in my own research, and you will co-operate or Miss Jones may not survive the doctors' treatment."

******************************

The Doctor was ushered into a sparsely decorated office consisting of a desk, two chairs and a filing cabinet. The same man who had stopped his treatment sat behind the desk, he looked up when they entered the room. The Doctor was unceremoniously pushed into the other chair flanked by the two burly orderlies who had tried to restrain him.

"Ah, welcome Doctor, now perhaps we can talk like civilised people," he gestured to the two medics who quietly left.

"Civilised," the Doctors' voice was like glass. "I've been more civilly treated by people who want to see me dead."

"I have already apologised for your treatment, if it were my decision you would have been treated with a lot more respect. After all, it's not very often you get to meet a living legend, Torchwoods' files are a little vague, so my superiors requested a full examination for their own records."

The Doctor frowned. "So you've nothing to do with Torchwood or U.N.I.T? Then again, I was ignorant about Torchwood."

"Yes, we are well aware of your involvement with some of our more secretive agencies. Which is one of the reasons we had you brought to us."

"Let me tell you now, I'm not a lab rat, and there isn't a place built that I can't escape from, eventually." The Doctor casually waved an arm, hoping the man picked up on the threat in his voice.

"Really Doctor, you're not a prisoner, far from it, in fact we are in need of your expertise," the man spoke through a small laugh.

The Doctor sat up straighter, his curiosity overcoming his suspicions; this was more like it, now he could turn it to his advantage. "My help, and what would be so bad as to need my help?" he leaned forward to emphasise the question.

**********************

"We've been monitoring these power fluctuations for the last three months," the man who had been his only contact placed a finger on the monitor. "But more worrying is the wild surges in the last 24 hours. However, my scientists haven't been able to pinpoint what kind of power is being used, perhaps you can tell us."

The Doctor studied the readings on the screen; with a heavy heart he recognised the wave patterns. "Do you want the technical or the simple explanation?"

The man smiled slightly and motioned to another figure. "Doctor, this is Professor Brightwell, she's our senior researcher, perhaps you can explain to her".

The Doctor returned the nod the woman had given him and launched into the explanation." Simply put, look at it like a river, a nice peaceful river. You think to yourself you could almost swim in that, but then you see the notice that warns you about undercurrents, then you think twice. So you change your mind and get a boat and you find you can use those currents to get about without much rowing because their so strong. That's fine and all but then someone puts an oar in and you find you can't control the boat, that's what this power is."

The woman frowned and then her eyes widened. "Of course, an oar changes the pattern, which changes the speed of the current."

"Clever," the Doctor half-smiled. "Now, if you know who I am, then you know what I am, my people only put an oar in when they wanted to change direction. The difference is we knew how far to put the oar in, whoever's doing this either doesn't know how far to go, or doesn't care. What they're doing is starting to cause whirlpools, in fact they're having effects now, not just globally, universal."

***********************

Martha tried to fight the drug as is coursed its way through her veins, it was no doubt some kind of truth serum, they would soon know as much about the Doctor as she did. She had taken an instant dislike to the creepy little man who had gleefully injected her; he was like something out of a cheesy Frankenstein movie. She felt herself gradually relaxing as she lost her struggle against the drug and felt herself start to speak.

The man smiled as he observed the interrogation from his office, he had been surprised when the girl had revealed that her companion was a Time Lord, he thought they were long gone. But this was a problem, Time Lords were an interfering race and this one wasn't likely to be any different. He desperately needed power; he had to have his TARDIS and the Time Lord, the purest sources of the power he wanted.

Martha moaned and put a hand to her head, she was angry not being able to stop herself from blurting out everything. Now the Doctor wouldn't have the element of surprise, they would be waiting for him. She sat up and was glad to see that creepy little troll had gone. She hoped she would get the opportunity to pay him back, in spades. Martha crept as quickly and as quietly as possible along the corridor, no one had challenged her, perhaps they thought she wasn't important enough to bother with. She smiled, big mistake she thought, she had to find a way out and try and warn the Doctor.

Martha peered cautiously through the window; she could just about see the activity inside. Her eyes widened when she saw Susan, she noticed her reaction as she was shoved by an armed guard who thought she was dragging her heels, and she could almost feel the crack of her hand against face. Reluctantly she stole away, when she found her way out of here and found the Doctor; she would make Susan her first rescue. She paused when she felt a draft on her right, she smiled to herself, there was a door, slightly ajar and daylight was just visible, there was her way out.

Sunlight assailed her eyes and she screwed them up instinctively, she could feel the warmth of the sun on her face and birdsong filled the air. Martha unscrewed her eyes; this definitely wasn't England, where the hell was she. Her heart sank, she could be thousands of miles from the Doctor, and they might never find each other. She sat on a nearby fallen tree; she was definitely somewhere tropical, but where. It looked like the jungles you saw in those black and white Tarzan movies, but she didn't think this was Africa, if anything, it looked like South America. With a resigned sigh she stood up, she could hear the sound of water in the distance, follow the water was all she could do and hope that it led to civilisation.

It seemed like hours before she reached the source of the water, it turned out to be a small waterfall, Martha couldn't see a way down as it was beginning to get dark and the sounds of creatures that might find her a tasty snack filled the air, Luck however was on her side and she spotted a small cave entrance just behind the fall, she carefully climbed the slime covered rocks and stood under the water for a few moments. The cave only went back a few feet but it was enough to give her shelter for the night, she found a spot that had the fewest rocks and slime and sat with her arms wrapped round her knees. "Doctor, if you out there, please find me first, they know you're coming", she addressed the ever darkening sky.

Chapter Five

The Doctor chewed on one arm of his glasses; with the help of some powerful boosters they had pinpointed the power source. However its' location was not so welcoming, in the middle of the Amazon. The Doctor looked up as someone cleared their throat.

"Our records show that over a thousand acres was brought privately by a company called Invo-Tech five years ago, the press release said it was to help preserve the habitat of several endangered species, but after that no-one knows what if anything goes on there. We tried a satellite sweep but it was like a blind spot, like static."

The Doctor exhaled sharply. "Looks like some-one doesn't like nosy neighbours."

"But that won't stop us, the surrounding area comes under the non-development treaty, Lucky for us there's a wildlife project funded by one of cover companies." The person gave the Doctor a knowing smile.

The Doctor returned the smile with a dazzling grin. "Which means, we can drop in and say hello. Brilliant, Martha, here I come."

*************************

The Doctor fell against the seats as he tried to reach the front of the plane, it bucked like a rodeo horse and he felt like he was riding it. The missile strike had come out of the blue, ripping a hole in the fuselage, luckily the Doctor had had a lot of experience at holding on for dear life, the other passengers had not been so fortunate, guilt burnt through him as he had not been able to stop them being sucked from the plane. Now he was trying to open the flight deck door, sonic screwdriver held against the lock which gave way with a satisfying click, but the flight deck was a mess. The Doctor grimaced, he could see the jungle approaching at speed, there was no time to find a parachute and bail out. He thought furiously and hurried to the rear of the plane and strapped himself into a seat.

"Relax," he said to himself. "If you're relaxed it doesn't hurt as much." He let out several loud breaths as the plane tipped violently down, the splintering of wood and metal assailed the Doctors' ears before darkness took him.

*********************************

The sound of birds welcoming the dawn awoke Martha, for a few seconds she imagined she was in her own bed, except her bedroom didn't have a waterfall outside and reality returned. With a yawn she winced and stretched trying to work the kinks out of her back, she quickly washed her face and set out, they had probably realised she had escaped by now, so she had to make the most of her advantage. The climb down wasn't her idea of a morning stroll but she gritted her teeth and scrambled sown the rocky slope, this wasn't the Amazon but it might lead to the river, so she followed the river bank as close as she could. She hoped that somewhere along the way she might find some kind of civilisation, and if she was extremely jammy the Doctor might just pop up like the proverbial penny, not a bad penny though. She smiled at the thought of that, but the smile froze on her face when she heard rustling behind, slowly she turned and came face to face with the painted face of man. With a small yelp she stepped back and caught her foot on a tree root landing hard on her rear.

The figure stared at her for a few seconds before speaking in decidedly university English "Are you alright, you wouldn't happen to be Martha Jones would you?"

Martha looked at the figure in disbelief, was she hearing things or did he call her by her name. For a few seconds she looked at the figure before it sank in, there was only one way he would know her name.

"You wouldn't happen to know a tall skinny bloke in a pinstripe suit would you?" she asked cautiously.

The figure smiled and she could see the amused glint in his eye, "Definitely Martha Jones, my name is Nguwe and the tall skinny bloke, that would be the Doctor."

He offered his hand to Martha and pulled her up. "Sorry if I scared you, but we've had a lot of strangers through here recently, the strangest being your friend."

"That's alright, but how did the Doctor get to you?" Martha asked as she followed Nguwe on what seemed to be an invisible path.

"Actually, we sort of found each other. We were hunting when we heard what sounded like a plane in trouble. We followed the fire trail as far as we could before it disappeared. It took us several hours to reach the crash site, by then the Doctor was out of the wreckage."

"Was he hurt?" Martha voice rose in concern.

"He was a bit out of it when we found him, so we made a make-shift stretcher, he wanted to walk but I insisted. According to the aid doctor we sent for he was very lucky, he has a few cracked ribs but it's mostly bumps and bruises. We had to almost tie him down to stop him joining our search party. Luckily you were spotted leaving the land owned by Invo-Tech last night so we knew where to look."

*****************************

The Doctor looked up as the laughter of children heralded the return of the search party, he grinned broadly as he saw a familiar figure. His ribs protested as he jumped up and hurried over and threw his arms around Martha in a relieved hug.

"Martha!" he shouted delightedly.

Martha returned the hug with equal relief; she removed herself and ran a critical gaze over the Doctor. She could see several already healing cuts and scrapes and was surprised when he didn't protest at her attention. With a satisfied smile she quickly checked his eyes for any signs of delayed shock, apart from looking slightly tired and the hint of dark circles around his eyes he seemed fine.

The Doctor pulled away when he felt she had fussed enough over him, "I see you escaped then, saves me the trouble of saving you then, however we need to talk." He gestured towards a quiet spot away from the children who were fascinated by the beading in Martha's' hair.

Martha sat in stunned silence, it wasn't fair. She refused to believe that after only just being reunited there was the possibility that he would be ripped away from her, permanently. She was angry with herself because the Doctor had said that the only way to stop his death, and there was nothing she could do to help and with her captors because they had put her friend in mortal danger.

The Doctor looked up as he heard Martha approaching; he had left her alone for a while. He knew that telling her would be difficult, but it had to be done. He could see no point in sugar coating the problem; he was never one for giving false hope, not even if the truth hurt. He had thought that now they were near the power source he could get inside and stop it for good, however, one of Nguwe hunting party had reported that there was a lot of activity in and around the Invo-Tech base, No doubt, he surmised that Martha's' escape had prompted the move and a quick scan with the sonic had confirmed what he feared, the signal was moving away and getting fainter. Nguwe had mentioned that they had another so called reserve over the border at least a hundred miles from her. He also said that it was dangerous territory in between, with fighting between rival militia groups, treacherous swamps and the ever present threat of the unknown Amazon.

Nguwe had been surprised at the reaction of this extraordinary fellow, most people would have run a mile but this one seemed to relish the thought of it. He had been to see the shaman who had said that this man was of the other realm, he had looked into his eyes and had seen an ancient spirit and that Nguwe should follow this spirit wherever it took him.

*******************************

Martha sat next to the Doctor, she could feel the heat of the fire and the sounds of the drums were infectious. The Doctor looked at here as she sat down, the firelight reflecting of his face, he smiled that smile that lit up his whole face and his eyes were like dark pools.

"Isn't this fantastic, the tribe are holding a ceremonial blessing for our little trip, after the song and food the shaman over there is going to give us the blessings of the gods."

Martha gave him a cynical stare "You don't really believe in gods do you?"

"Why not, old mojo boy over there saw straight through me. Said I had descended from the celestial plain, he's not that far off."

Martha could see the excited gleam in his eyes, and despite the unsettling news and events that had crashed into their life she could feel the excitement too. She could see the Doctor was itching to join the ceremony, but as the main reason for it Nguwe had said it was forbidden. She tried to stifle a yawn but the Doctor noticed.

"You should get some rest, the blessing only involves the men, sorry," he added when he had seen the beginning of annoyance on her face

Too tired to protest she wandered back to her lodge, she lay down and sighed, letting the constant thrumming of the drums lull her to sleep.

***************************

She was woken to the sound of the Doctor shouting for her to rise and shine, with a bleary eyed yawn she stepped outside her lodge. The camp was in full morning mode, people scurrying about, she could see a small group of men outside the tribal leaders' lodge, but couldn't see the Doctor. She wandered over and Nguwe gave her a good morning nod.

"Where's the Doctor?" she asked as she took a cup of water from a young girl. She frowned when it didn't taste of just water.

"Don't worry, it's just a little guaranja juice to give you an energy boost and the Doctor is with the Council at the moment."

The sound of conversation could be heard coming from inside the lodge and a few seconds later the Doctor and the shaman exited the lodge. The shaman whispered something in the Doctors' ear and gave him a small pouch attached to a set of beads which he placed around his neck. He gave the shaman a small bow and murmured something back, which obviously tickled the shaman as he gave a croaky guffaw, he put a hand on the Doctors' shoulder and nodded once and went back into the lodge.

He bounded down the steps and approached Martha "Are we ready then, lead the way Nguwe," and fell in behind the tribesman and alongside Martha.

She gave him a sideways glance "Doctor, do you really think it's a good idea to walk over a hundred miles with what's happening to you?"

The Doctor gave her a look reserved for people that asked pointless questions "Martha I have two choices here, do nothing because I might die and the whole of existence disappears, or do something that could possibly save the whole of existence and not worry about my dying. Personally I'd rather do the latter."

With that he walked a few steps ahead of her, a clear signal that the conversation and the subject were closed.

Nguwe had been following behind and had caught snatches of the conversation, clearly this Doctor was only here at the will of the gods as the shaman had said, perhaps his outer body was only a short lived creation so that the gods could give their aid in defeating whatever had come to threaten the human world. He shook his head, as a child the elders had filled his head with the tales of the gods sending spirits to help humans in times of need, sometimes they came in the shape of animals but most often in the shapes of unusual strangers, like the Doctor. However, once he had been sent to the church school his belief in such things had receded and by the time he had returned from his studies at university he had no belief in them at all. Suddenly this Doctor had come into the picture and he starting to doubt his logical look at the world.

The sound of the Doctors' voice made Nguwe start.

"Penny for them," he gave him a small smile.

"It's not important, we should make camp before it gets too dark, I've sent a couple of the men ahead to find a suitable site." He hesitated before speaking again "Doctor, I couldn't help but overhear some of your conversation with Miss Jones. Is it true that everything could disappear and that you could go with it?"

The Doctor frowned and sighed "I won't lie, if we can't stop whatever they're doing at that base, then yes everything could disappear and me with it."

"So the shaman was right, you have been sent by the gods to help humankind, I didn't believe it. I thought you were just another agent sent by some government to spy on Invo-Tech."

The Doctor laughed, "Well, that's the first time I've be called a helper from the gods, they're usually trying to burn me at the stake by now."

Nguwe shook his head; this man was not like anyone he had ever met. In the few hours he had known him he had turned his perception of the world upside down. The shaman had also told him that man or whatever he was would change his life and that his future was entwined with his.

****************************

The trio had walked for most of the day and the sun was now starting to dip below the trees and they set about making camp for the night. Nguwe had caught a small deer and had made a wonderfully warming stew; it was starting to drop cold as was the way in the rainy season.

The Doctor lay on the makeshift bed he had made from collected fallen branches and stared into the fire, lost in thought. He sighed and wearily closed his eyes.

*************************

Martha and Nguwe were woken by a cry of agony mixed with fear. They sat blot upright and stared at each other, before staring at the space where the Doctor had been.

Martha started to speak but he put a finger to her lips to quiet her. The cry came again, but this time further way, they both turned and sprinted towards the sound.

******************

The Doctor stumbled through the trees, his blood boiling like molten lava. Another wave of pain swept through his body and he cried out in frustration. He felt himself being torn apart from deep within and his mind screamed a million warnings to his body. Blindly he stumbled on, not caring where he was heading.

********************

Nguwe ran faster than he thought he could, his speed spurred on by the shamans' words echoing in his ears. He skidded to a halt as the trees thinned out and revealed the scene before him. He hardly noticed Martha skid up beside him, his eyes were fixed ahead.

The Doctor was balanced precariously on the edge of the waterfall, the stones crumbling beneath his feet as he swayed blindly. He had his hands clamped to his ears and was muttering in a language Nguwe did not understand.

"Doctor, no!" Martha cried and rushed forward.

"Stay away!" the Doctor screamed "Too much danger, all in danger!"

He shifted closer to the edge and before Martha could reach out to grab him, the ledge gave way and he fell into the dark raging water of the rain-glutted river.

Martha screamed as the Doctor fell from sight and she would have followed him if the strong hands of Nguwe hadn't clamped around her arms.

"Let me go!" she screamed as she struggled against his grip.

"Martha, listen to me, there's nothing you can do. The river is too strong for even the best swimmer"

" No, I need to get to him, he needs me!" she sobbed, tears streaking her face. With a shudder she sagged defeated against Nguwe.

"I'm sorry Martha, even if he survived the fall he would have been swept far away. We will have to wait until the morning, the jungle is not our friend at night." Gently he guided her away from the edge and back to the camp.

****************************

The rest of the night was a miserable experience for Martha. The fire was blazing but it might as well have been made of ice, as cold as the black space in her heart. She shivered under the blanket she was wrapped in. Silently she cursed herself, why hadn't she noticed before that there had been something wrong with the Doctor. She had been so wrapped up the whole fate of the universe that she was blinded. She also cursed the Doctor for not confiding in her, not trusting her enough with whatever was wrong with him, if she saw him again she would rectify the situation.

Nguwe had searched the whole area where the Doctor had fallen, but it seemed hopeless. He felt like a great darkness had descended. He had sensed a change in the jungle around him, the creatures of the night had gone silent and the breeze had picked and static crackled in the air. He started back towards the camp when a low rumble began beneath his feet.

A scream reached his ears. Martha, he tried to run, but the ground bucked beneath him and he fell. His head hit the ground with a sickening thud and as darkness descended, as he thought he saw what looked like a helicopter flying above.

Chapter Six

He fell for what seemed like an eternity before the water hit him like cold glass. The shock of the cold drew him back from the pit he was descending into, with the last of his energy he struggled to the side of the river and clung on to a boulder that jutted out into the torrent.

Whooping in large gasps of air he hauled himself away from the river onto the bank. He lay face down, exhausted and shivering from the cold water and with great effort forced himself onto his back, his eyes widening as he saw the darkening skies.

************************

Martha struggled against her captor, she had tried to run when she had seen her assailant emerge from the trees, but had been a fraction too slow. She gasped as she was thrown into the back of the helicopter. She saw a still shape on the floor, it was Nguwe, with a shaking hand she felt the side of his neck and sighed, he was still alive. She slumped against the metal side and had the ominous feeling she was about to meet her former captor.

************************

The Doctor had scrambled to the top of the small ravine, every muscle and nerve had protested, painfully. He had wanted to go back and find his two companions but the voices in his head had persisted until he gave a resigned shrug and went where the voices told him.

The rocky terrain of the river eventually gave way to sparse bushes and a cave entrance loomed into sight.

"Wonderful, another cave, what this time, boiling mud pools," he muttered as he went further into the cave. It seemed like an age before the cave widened out and he stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh my!" he exclaimed before a wave of searing agony pushed him into darkness.

**************************

Martha had been put in a cell, albeit a luxurious cell, worry creased her forehead. She was worried about Nguwe and the Doctor and frustration was building. The sound of the door being unlocked focused her attention, and a familiar figure was pushed inside, followed by an even more familiar figure, but holding something that was deadly familiar.

Susan Chapman smiled coldly at Martha, the gun in her hand never wavering from Martha's' midriff. " We meet again Martha, at least this time I don't have to play the kidnapped scientist."

"But you were helping us!" Martha gasped.

"A ruse, we had to get you to trust me, what better way than to play the friendly ally. It was only a matter of time before we had you where we wanted you. Unfortunately your companion, the Doctor is the one we really want, you're just bait."

"What do you want with the Doctor!?"

"He has something my employer wants, if that means we have to use you to get to him then we will."

" It was a trap, all along, the power surges."

" Just a little something to grab his attention, we knew he couldn't resist. We knew his affection for this stupid little planet would lure him." Susan gestured with the gun for Martha to move away from the semi-conscious form of Nguwe.

Martha stared at Susan and realisation dawned on her." But you don't have him, do you. You don't know where he is," she smiled.

"A small delay to the inevitable, we will find him and he will co-operate if wants to ever see the both of you alive again."

***************************

The Doctor opened one eye and closed it when the light was too intense. He felt a soft breeze against his cheek and he thought he heard a soft female voice in his ear.

Time to wake up Theta, there is little time. "

The doctor eyes flew open when he heard his name, no-one should know that name, it was a name he hadn't used since the Academy.

"How do you know my name, no-one knows that?" He sat up and looked around him trying to see the owner of the voice. All he could see and sense was the glowing swirling cloud that had overcome his already weakened defences.

"Such things are not important, time is short. We have watched you Theta, your travels, your triumphs and your tragedies. You are an extraordinary creature, last of your kind, yet so willing to die for others."

The Doctor frowned and replied. "You seem to know a lot about me, how come I don't know anything about you. I don't like talking to a disembodied voice."

He winced as the cloud in front of him began to pulsate and started to coalesce in to a shape. The figure towered over the Doctor, only its top half showing above the edge of the deep hole beneath.

The Doctors eyes widened in surprise." You're an Eternal, but you left! "he stammered.

"Some volunteered to stay behind and watch this universe. We mourned when destruction came to this place. Our people saw the need and the uselessness of it all. But we digress, you must return to the outside and stop this."

" Why don't you something about it, you're all powerful!" the Doctor yelled.

"We cannot, we are bound by our rules just as your people were, we cannot interfere. But you Theta are unique, now you must see who your enemy is."

The Doctor suddenly contorted as light flooded his mind and as blackness overtook him he saw who his enemy was.

*************************

Martha was still in shock as Susan pushed her down the corridor; her trust had led her to this. She was being used as bait for the Doctor and she hated it.

"You know when the Doctor does get here, you'll be sorry, he doesn't give second chances."

Susan sniggered "Oh, don't you worry about the Doctor, wee have a nice little surprise for him. We're going to meet my employer."

The corridor ended in large set of doors, Martha started as she saw Nguwe held up by two burly something's. For all the world they looked like lizards, they were wearing uniforms and carried wicked looking weapons. The door was opened by another lizard soldier and she and Nguwe were shoved inside.

"Welcome Miss Jones," a familiar voice hissed, as she stumbled desperately trying to keep her balance and failing. "How appropiate, at least you know your place human, soon every human shall kneel before me."

Martha looked up and saw another lizard sitting on a throne set on a glass dais. It looked for all the world like a King looking down at a lowly peasant.

"We have waited patiently for your Doctor to return and now he is here. Soon he will pay for the destruction of our Lord Balor."

" He'll never let that happen!" Martha shouted defiantly.

"Oh, but he will, once he finds a distraught and helpless Professor Chapman, who has managed to escape from these terrible lizard creatures and they have you and your friend. No doubt he will come running, he always was weak when it comes to you humans."

" What are you going to do to him!?" Martha yelled.

"He will serve our Lord Balor, by becoming the conduit for the power that will once again resurrect our god". The figure gestured and a low rumble preceded the opening of large door.

Martha held her hands to ears as the roars filled the chamber. She looked up and up and what she saw terrified her.

*************************************

Martha was too terrified to scream as she stared at the monster in front of her. The creature seemed to grow and grow, the bestial roars vibrating through her. Suddenly she noticed movement on her peripheral vision, it was Nguwe, he was being dragged towards to stone pillars. He struggled but he was too weak to resist and groaned as he was chained between them.

"Good, good, make sure he does not expire before the Doctor appears, He must be persuaded to co-operate. I don't think he would like to see you or your friend sacrificed to our lord Balor. "

Martha shook her head to clear it and smiled at the lizard king." You know he'll never let that happen."

The figure laughed," Exactly Miss Jones, why do you think we planned it, we were counting on his self-sacrificing weakness. Soon our god will be reborn and he will have all the knowledge of the Time Lords and all the power of the Vortex. Your Doctor will be his slave, and the Cynrog shall take their place as true masters of all. Take her from my sight, do not allow her to escape again."

Martha took a last look at Nguwe and shuddered as she saw the beast strain against its chains. Silently she hoped that the Doctor was alive, but she didn't want him to be lured to this awful fate.

***************************

The Doctor shook his head as the images flashed through his head. "Cynrog!" he snarled as an image of Martha being dragged down a corridor flashed by. "Alright, alright I get the picture, time to do what I do best. But I think I meet need some help, you wouldn't happen to have a communication device in there somewhere."

******************************

The Doctor sauntered in his most casual manner up to the solid gates and banged until an echo resounded around the area.

An angry looking guard stepped out, weapon drawn.

The scowl turned to one of surprise when a figure in a striped suit stood grinning at him and before the guard could demand a name the figure spoke.

"Hang on, don't tell me, who the hell are you and how did you find us?" the figure's voice dripped with disrespect and leant against a tree.

The guard snarled and approached the figure and without speaking levelled the weapon at the figure and gestured for him to move

The Doctor smiled amiably and sauntered in front of the guard. Knowing that they were probably under orders not to harm him gave him a measure of confidence, albeit false confidence. He knew the Cynrog were an impatient race, and he was pretty sure that they were severely pissed with him. It had seemed a lifetime ago that he had defeated them and destroyed their plans for domination.

*************************

Susan Chapman looked up when the door opened and the Doctor was shoved in. "Oh thank god!" she cried and engulfed the Doctor in a tight hug "I thought I'd never see you again!"

The Doctor extricated himself and smoothed his clothes as best as he could. "Are you all right, is Martha here?"

Susan went to hug him again but restrained herself when he asked her about Martha. "I think so, she's in one of the other rooms along with the other one."

They've got Nguwe too." The Doctor blinked, now he had three people to rescue, and the Cynrog to deal with.

"Yes, I'm sure that's' the name I heard Martha shout. But Doctor, I don't think its good news, I overheard them saying something about sacrifice and a chamber. I'm scared Doctor, they looked like lizards, walking, talking lizards. One of them sounded like my employer."

"They're called the Cynrog and you right to be scared. They don't care who they destroy or use to further the name of the Cynrog, all in the name of the great Lord Balor, god of the Cynrog."

"You've met them before," Susan stared at him wide- eyed.

"Oh yes, I had a little skirmish with them last year in Wales, nice little fishing village, lovely scenery. The Cynrog are an arrogant lot at the best of times. I don't think they were too happy when I sent them packing, with a few bad dreams to keep them company."

Susan frowned but nodded and sat down on the bed "What do you think they want with us?"

The Doctor let out a breath "Oh, I think you three were just the bait. I'm the one they're mad with, you're insurance. here to make sure I behave myself and probably die like a good little boy."

No" Susan cried" I won't let those things hurt you, they'll have to kill me first!"

The Doctor smiled at her bravery "Not while I'm still breathing."

The grating of the door caused them to turn and three Cynrog entered the room. Two were armed with the lethal looking lasers and the third carried a set of heavy looking chains" Doctor," it hissed" It is time for you to take your place in Cynrog destiny. It is time for sacrifice...."

*****************************

The Doctor heard Martha before he saw her; she was struggling against her chains. He was surprised when she saw Susan and let a stream of expletives he had never thought she would use. He was even more surprised at the laughter that came from the gathered Cynrog. He felt a sudden jerk on his chains and the voice of Susan spoke in his ear.

"You really shouldn't be so trusting Doctor, not everyone is a victim."

The Doctors eyes widened in surprise," Don't tell me, the Cynrog have promised you a place in their glorious empire."

"Of course, in fact, they going to let me rule Earth and do as I please with it, not that you'll care, not with what going to happen to you."

The Doctor was about to reply when the sound of a fanfare filled the air and he was forced to his knees. He had already noticed Martha receiving the same treatment and his temper was rising.

**************************

The Cynrog king approached the Doctor and roughly yanked his head up. "So this is the mighty Doctor, Last of the Time Lords. Did you not think that when news reached us of your interference in our plan, that we would not try again."

" Well, I was kind of hoping you might get the message."

The slap rang around the chamber, as the king hit the Doctor across the face. "I did not give you permission to speak. But enough of this, you have a choice to make, bring them!" he ordered.

The guards dragged both the Doctor and Martha towards a wall and the screeching as it opened was deafening. Martha flinched, she knew what was behind it and the terrible choice that the Doctor was about to face.

***********************

The Doctor heard the roars before the door was completely open, his eyes focused not on the creature but on the frail figure of Nguwe chained between to pillars. Anger boiled out of him like acid.

"What have you done, if you hurt him you'll pay, I promise!" he spat.

The king laughed," Empty threats Time Lord, you can do nothing. The choice is simple, once again we have remade our Lord Balor and this time he will not only have the memories of our glorious past. He will have all the knowledge of your people and the power of the River to use as he wishes. You Doctor will be the vessel for his resurrection, and you will co-operate or your friends will become a tasty snack for our Lord."

The Doctor bowed his head in defeat and Martha saw the subtle change in his demeanour. "No Doctor don't, I not worth the sacrifice!"

The Doctor looked at Martha and smiled that smile that normally made her heart melt, but this look was full of sadness and regret.

Tears flowed down Martha's' face as he was dragged towards the pillars and Nguwe was thrown aside like discarded rubbish.

************************

The Doctor knew what was to come and he had made the choice knowing it, there was really no argument, his one life against Martha's and Nguwe's made it a simple choice.

Around him the Cynrog were a hive of activity and he could already feel the pull of the vortex on his body and he could feel something else at the back of his mind and he recoiled in horror.

************************

Martha tried to look away but stared in horrified silence, she couldn't even hold her hands to her ears as the screams of agony and fear escaped from the Doctor. When she thought he could bear no more she screamed herself as he was raised from the columns and hoisted painfully by his arms towards the monster and disappeared into the fiery pit.

Martha screamed as the Doctor disappeared into the fire and sank to her knees in desperation. She could only stare as the flames turned from red to blue and the creature began to convulse. Was it her imagination or was the creature shrinking, no it was shrinking and the flame was also shrinking.

A chant slowly rose from where the Cynrog priests were standing and a set of steps appeared at the edge of the pit.

**********************

A figure came into site and she was relieved to see it was the Doctor. She frowned; something was not right, something felt wrong.

The Doctor stopped in front of the group of Cynrog and all of them including the King bowed low.

"My lord" the King spoke.

A low growl emerged from the Doctor "You have brought me from my rest" in a voice that was a horrible parody of the Doctor's.

"It has been too long" he stretched and noticed Martha for the first time. "This is his companion, I do not want them in my presence. Remove them, they are no threat. Prepare your fleet, we begin our war! "

Martha sobbed hysterically as the Doctors gaze fell on her, his eyes were not the gentle brown she knew but like hardened obsidian.

"Yes, cry human, soon your whole world and this universe will cry and beg for mercy."

The cold laugh that rang in her ears as she was dragged away along with poor Nguwe chilled her to the bone.

Both of then were thrown out of the stronghold into the jungle like waste. Martha sprang to her feet and hammered on the door to no avail. The ground began to shake and a craft emerged from the trees and sped away. Sobbing she knew there was only one person she could turn to...

TBC in 'Prophecies'