The Battle of Time

'The planet Starlight; where the night sky glitters with thousands of glinting stars, like elegant diamonds in a heavily jewelled necklace…'

Sure, it sounded like a nice place all right. What they'd failed to mention on the brochure was it's terrible goddess! Anyway, here's the story of Planet Starlight…

The Planet Starlight, 24th of Andromeda, 2255

Wolves howled to the light of the full moon, filling the air with more eeriness and macabre feelings that would scare even fully-grown men. Jacquelyn, John, Dad and I trod carefully, pausing every now and then to listen to sounds we weren't used to.

"Faites- confiancevous pour nous enterer dans ce désordre!" I hissed angrily at Dad, the TARDIS translating everything I said into French for Jacquelyn. "Où sommes-nous ?"

"Mmm…je n'ai pas un indice. Ah bon..." Dad muttered to himself.

"Puits qui est simplement grand. Que se produit si nous obtenons attraqués par un certains monstre/étranger et vous n'avez acune idée comment la défaire?" John asked in a low voice.

"Avez-vous jamais eu la raison de douter de moi avant? L'attente...ne répondent pas à cela. Reposez-vous juste fortement et soutenez avec moi,"

"You can talk Eenglish. I can understand it enough to speak it, you know!" Jacquelyn sighed impatiently.

"Oh…'kay then. Well, we need to make our way to the church on that hill-" Dad said quietly, trying to point at a large hill in the distance (which made me confused, because there was a small hill in front of it- and no church was on it!).

"Big hill or small hill?"

"Big hill. With the big cathedral on top of it. We-ell, I think we'd better get going, if we're gonna reach there by midnight. Oh, and watch out for unusual creatures- or in our case- unfilled graves,"

"Charming, just charming,"

"Oi, that's my saying John!"

"Whatever. Does it really matter?"

"Yes!"

"You two still here? Allons y! Come on, vite, vite!"

The clouds moved ever more swiftly across the sky's black canvas, hiding the silvery glow of the moon and making the already dark graveyard almost pitch-black and impossible to find your way without pushing others over.

"Time to get out the torch, I think," Dad muttered, pulling a torch out of his jacket and flicking it on. A scream sounded in the distance, and he sped in front, his brown coat's tails flapping in the sudden chilling breeze. He scrambled up the hill with little effort and didn't stop once for us. Some father he was!

"Slow down! We all can't run as fast as the wind like you do!" I shouted ahead of me in his direction.

"You're not even trying! Come on, slowcoach!" he yelled back, still looking ahead. Getting tired of him making a fool of me, I hurried forward, now determined not to be the idiot.

"Atta girl, Hayley!" he chuckled as I managed to catch up with him.

"Now you can stop mocking me!" I hissed playfully.

"Me? Mocking you? No, surely not…"

"Oh ha ha,"

"Now you've realised that life can be funny, let's get moving, shall we?"

We reached the cathedral in less than an hour, but it took John and Jacquelyn a while to amble up the larger hill of the two.

"Come on! I could've grown a beard by now…speaking of which, I haven't, have I?" Dad asked, mockingly worried, hand automatically reaching for his chin.

"Nah. You're still clean-shaven," John panted, standing next to him.

"Always good to know, just in case…"

"Shall we go in?" I enquired, forcing the heavy cathedral door open. Suddenly a bolt of pain shot through my brain, as if someone was trying to push me into telepathic meltdown.

"D-Dad? T-There's s-someone w-w-watching us. My t-telepathist w-waves are g-going hay-haywire. It r-r-really h-hurts…" I sobbed in agony as Dad put a caring arm around my shoulders.

"I feel it too, but not as strongly. No clue as to what it is, though- hang on…human, mixed with a bit of-waaaiiiit-"

Dad licked the tip of his index finger and stuck it out in front of him, as if he was testing which way the wind was blowing. After a few seconds, he pulled it back and licked it again, making sounds of displeasure.

"Ugh…Crikey O'Reilly, blimey and everything else. Gosh, that's- well, that's just disgusting!" he spluttered, spitting the taste out of his mouth.

"What? What is it?" John asked, dodging out of way of Dad's flying saliva.

"Slitheen blood particles…now how did they get there, I wonder?"

He stood there for some time pacing up and down, thinking of an idea. Then he clicked his fingers in delight that he'd found an answer.

"Looks like humans have travelled here, Slitheen have followed from their home planet Raxacoricofallapatorious and were murdered by the humans. Then the humans tried to clam this planet as their own, but didn't succeed because it's home to some other race which we seem to be getting the telepathic signals from…hmm, must be a very advanced life source most definitely native to this planet…but what though? Let's think…not Flisk, nor Gappa, or Time Lord, they all come from other planets…"

"Is it those…um, dead things chasing those humans which look quite angry- the culprits?"

"They aren't dead…they're very much alive, but you're right about them being natives. But as to what they are, I haven't got a clue…aaaand I think we'd better move out of the way, 'coz I don't really fancy being trampled on by a bunch of stampeding humans. Inside, and quickly!"

The humans sprinted into the open doorway, clearly hurrying to get away from the creatures chasing after them.

"Hayley, come on! Get in!" John hissed.

"I'm gonna see if I can bargain with 'em. Get inside, and if I'm in trouble I'll shout!" I snapped back, retrieving my famous makeshift sonic screwdriver from my pocket, turning it to setting four-hundred and twenty-seven, which could set off a deafening sonic sound wave and put them off.

"At least let Dad with you! You're not staying out alone!"

"Fine!"

Dad stood beside me, sonic already poised and in position. I saw the door slam behind us, and with a sigh, I turned to face the race that could scare humans.

"I'm so gonna die!"

"Hayley, talk that way and you'll soon be grounded!"

"'Kay then, but you're doing the talking,"

"Sure, fine, whatever,"

Dad stepped forward, standing as straight, tall and mighty as he could. His boyish grin had disappeared and a deep frown replaced it as he twiddled his sonic around in his fingers. The battle of the leaders had begun.