I own nothing, all rights and characters property of the BBC. I'm just borrowing them.
Reviews are always appreciated.
The Doctor stood at the T.A.R.D.I.S console hesitantly. He wondered what he should do next. Well, he knew what he should do next, but upon reflection he realized that there was an entire universe out there, just waiting for him. He decided that the "shoulds" could wait and the "coulds," well they were always much more fun anyway.
The Doctor having made his decision was determined to see it through. He set the coordinates at random and threw back the lever without a moment's hesitation. He was grinning like a madman as the T.A.R.D.I.S lurched about, coming to a halt quite suddenly. He stepped towards the door, his hand lingered over the handle for a second before he opened and stepped outside.
The Doctor looked around him, baffled by what he saw, or what he didn't see would be a more accurate description. It was pitch dark, not so much as a flicker of like could be seen. The Doctor thought he must have landed in a cupboard somewhere, but he felt a light breeze playing across his face. He took his sonic screwdriver from his pocket and held it out in front of him.
It emitted a loud buzzing sound and a flare of green light, not very bright, but enough for him to see general outlines. He took a look around and saw that he was in a city street. He noticed that many of the buildings were damaged and some were nothing but rubble. Before he could begin to wonder what had happened several things occurred. The Doctor heard a noise behind him, he turned quickly to see a figure and then he was unconscious.
He awoke what felt like several hours later feeling groggy. When his head stopped spinning he noticed a crack of light a few feet away from him. He figured it must be a door, but what was in the other side of the door, he shuddered to think. He didn't have long to ponder the mess he had gotten himself into, because he heard movement from the other side of the door. His hearts beat fast as the door creaked open to reveal a man. He stood before The Doctor; his mouth set in a grim line and looked upon him with eyes that held no mercy.
"Hello," said The Doctor cheerfully, trying to wave and realizing that he was tied to the chair he sat on.
The man continued to stare, finally speaking after what seemed like an eternity. "You have been deemed a threat and will be executed forthwith." He said in a rough voice.
"Right," said The Doctor uneasily. "Executed, not good. Er, did you say threat? Because I am a lot of things, good cook, terrific dancer, wine expert, although I hate the stuff, but the one thing I am most certainly not, is a threat. Believe me."
"And why should I do that? You were found in a restricted area in possession of an unidentified weapon."
"Weapon?" asked The Doctor. "Oh, you mean my screwdriver. It's not a weapon, it's completely harmless, well mostly, if you're made out of wood."
The man took a step forward, scrutinizing The Doctor. "You talk too much," he said. "We will see to that."
Just then a woman entered the room. "Is that him, Dad?" She was young, no more than twenty, with auburn hair and kind eyes.
"Jo. I am interviewing a dangerous prisoner." He said forcefully.
"Look at him," said Jo plaintively. "I mean he doesn't exactly look dangerous. He doesn't look like them, he looks like us.
"He could be their new weapon. He'll lure into a false sense of security and then attack. Well. I for one won't be taken in by it." He said.
"That thing he was carrying-"
"Screwdriver." said The Doctor helpfully.
"Right," said Jo. "They tested it, it's not a weapon. It's harmless."
"Yes," said The Doctor quickly. "I think we should all listen to her, she is clearly sensible young lady."
The man's hands plunged into his pocket and withdrew a small penknife, which he used to cut The Doctor's bonds.
"Thank you." said Jo.
"Yeah, thanks Dad." said The Doctor.
"You're lucky my daughter was here." was all he said.
"Right, well, intros, I'm The Doctor, and this is Jo." said The Doctor pointing to Jo. "And who are you? I mean I can't just go around calling you Dad, unless you want me to, and it looks like that is not what you want, okay." The Doctor shut up looking nervous.
"I'm General Hayes of the 133rd Platoon."
"Okay, good to meet you General," said The Doctor. "And good to meet you, Jo. Right, I've got a question for you, Jo. Earlier when you were talking you said that I didn't look like "them." What did you mean by that? Who are they?"
They both looked at him baffled. "You honestly don't know?" asked Jo.
"No." replied The Doctor.
"We are at war." said General Hayes forcefully.
"Ah, that would explain the state of the city. Oh yes, one more question, where am I?"
"You really are joking now." said Jo.
"Fraid not." said The Doctor. "Just landed randomly, I have absolutely no idea where I am."
"It's a long story." said General Hayes. "C'mon, I'll tell you all about it."
"Good and we can have a nice cup of tea as well. I don't suppose you have any Jammie Dodgers, do you?" asked The Doctor, but her got no reply.
Several minutes later The Doctor sat sipping a cup of tea, looking expectantly from General Hayes to Jo.
"This planet," began General Hayes, "is called Noctura. It's called that because there's no light. The sun burned out millions of years ago. Other than that, the planet is exactly like the earth. A few years ago it was decided that something had to be done about the population on earth. It was much too high; there wasn't enough food people were dying. That's when they decided to send one third of the human race here. Not all at once of course, but over a period of two or three years."
"But, how could you live with no light?" asked The Doctor. "I mean those buildings out there couldn't have been built in the dark, could they?"
"I'm getting there." said General Hayes. "Before the humans could be sent here, they needed a way to make light. It took them a while to think of it, but they did in the end. Across this entire planet are these lamps, sort of like street lamps, but these ones are massive. Hundreds of feet tall, so tall that you can't even see the tops of them. There must be thousands of them scattered around, maybe millions. When lit they create the illusion of a sun, bright enough to light every nook and cranny of this world. If it weren't for the poles they sit on you'd forget they were even there."
"Hold on," interrupted The Doctor again, "How are you lot powering these things? They can't be solar powered and lights that size would use an impossible amount of electricity faster than you could produce."
"A rather genius invention, I must say. The poles of the lights run down into the ground, all the way to the earth's core. They harness the power of the constantly shifting molten lava. The power is converted and with a flip of a switch this planet is bathed in light. A natural and renewable resource, perfect. And it was perfect at first. People settled in well, and were getting on with their lives. After about a year is when things went wrong."
At that moment a man in a uniform approached the. He bent and whispered something in General Hayes' ear. "If you will excuse me, there is an urgent matter that I must see to. Jo can take it from here." said General Hayes, standing."
"Any chance I can get my sonic screwdriver back?" asked The Doctor hopefully.
"Not a chance." replied General Hayes promptly.
"Didn't think so." said The Doctor gloomily.
"Bye Dad." said Jo smiling, as General Hayes stalked from the room.
"Ball of fun, your Dad." said The Doctor.
"It's not easy for him, you know. He's not really been the same since Mum died."
"What happened?" asked The Doctor gently.
"I'm getting to that," said Jo. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes, the invasion. They came out of the sky, millions of them. They slaughtered thousands. It happened so fast, we didn't even see them. Everything was just chaos and fire. When the smoke cleared, we heard a voice. I'll never forget what it said 'Resist and you will perish.' That's all it said, over and over again, for hours. When it was finally quiet, when we were sure they'd gone, we came out of where we'd been hiding. The city was wreaked, not as bad as it is now, but pretty close. Of all the attacks that have happened since, none has ever been as bad as that first one. Anyway, Mum was working that day, she was a librarian. She loved books, when I was little she would read to me every before bed, she still did it, even when I got older. I would pretend I didn't like it, you know, but I loved it. I was home alone when it happened. When it was over Dad called to make sure I was alright, and told me not to leave the house under any circumstances. I couldn't stay in the house, I had to find Mum. The library wasn't too far from our house; I ran all the way there. I knew the second I saw the crowd of people. I pushed through and saw it. The building had been hit dead on, there wasn't anything left but rubble, there were no survivors."
"I'm sorry." said The Doctor sincerely.
"It's alright." said Jo. "Everybody's lost someone they love, I'm no different."
"When did all of this start?" asked The Doctor.
"It was a little over a year ago. After about four more attacks, they went for the lights. I don't know what they did, but we've been in complete darkness now for six months."
"Can't anyone fix them?" asked The Doctor.
"We've tried, believe me." said Jo. "But, whenever we use any kind light they descend, like a swarm. We have to be really careful of the light we use. We're underground right now, it's the only way we can be sure they won't see us. That's why Dad thought you were sent by them, you weren't worried about using light. It's just lucky Dad got to you before they saw."
"Right, sorry about that, didn't realize a little light could trigger an alien invasion." said The Doctor apologetically.
At that moment General Hayes appeared at the door, looking serious. "Come with me." he said to The Doctor. "I want to show you something."