13
TIME SHOCKThe classroom was a wreck, almost nothing remained intact from the shattered chairs, broken tables and torn books to the blackboard split right down the middle and the light fixtures, which seemed to have been melted. It was as though a bomb had gone off scorching walls, floor and ceiling yet mysteriously it had not blown out the windows. Nor had it in any way chipped the wooden skin of the blue box that stood to one side, incongruent and paradoxical amidst the normality. The box wasn't part of any classroom in fact it wasn't relevant to the society outside of it not anymore. A strange, out of place anomaly it looked like something that had been brought in as part of a history lesson or some sort of demonstration. Yet despite being ancient it had a fresh, just painted look to it.
Of its two doors only one opened at that moment and a figure slowly emerged, perhaps stumbled would be a better word for he seemed to lurch uncertainly against the door using it for support. Seemingly weak and disorientated the man ran a hand over his eyes flicking a thick brown fringe from them, as he did so the leather of his jacket gave that familiar crackling sound. He looked tired, he looked lost but above all he looked very strange despite his normal, contemporary clothing. The pale face squinted at the devastation around it in a where the hell am I now kind of way?
Holding onto the box door just a moment longer the man took an experimental step into the chaos, his scuffed shoes crunching small chunks of debris and kicking pen fragments in all directions. Mouth trying to form words he made his way over to the only desk stood on its legs, its top a crazy paving of broken timber. He touched it snatching his hand back as though burned. Then with a finger he carefully traced a wavy line of burnt timber as though it meant something to him.
His clear blue eyes took in the chairs, blackboard and walls then fixed on the windows arrested by the break in logic, what could destroy wood, metal and plastic yet leave glass unharmed? He was on his way to touch a pane of glass when he saw the leg.
Slim and bare it jutted out from under a tumble of objects. Long and shapely it couldn't belong to a child and rapidly he began clearing away the tangle of fallen rubbish to expose the owner of the leg, a young woman in a once attractive floral dress now dusty and somewhat torn. Her blond hair caked with dust and wood chips but no blood, there was a purple bruise on her left cheek but the rest of her elfin features looked fine – she'd been lucky.
Checking for a pulse and finding one the man eased the woman onto her back to check her airway, but before he could do this, the eyes fluttered open and he was shocked by how clear, luminous and intelligent they were. If she were a teacher he thought, she'd be an exceptional one. He offered a smile, "You seem to be fine."
The smile was returned but weakly then she sat up and looked around as if trying to find someone else.
"You're alone here," he told her. "Apart from me."
Not taking his word for this she made a point of scanning every part of the classroom, all the time pulling bits of woodchip from her hair and clothing.
"Have you seen them?" She asked with nervous immediacy.
"You're the only person I've seen," he said offering a hand that was ignored. The woman regained her feet independently then swayed a little requiring a helping arm.
"Who are you, one of the relief teachers?" She asked.
Clearly she didn't know all of them, probably because they were transients - people who came and went. The man smiled neither confirming nor denying this.
"The Doctor," he said as though this explained everything, in fact it explained nothing and most people challenged it. Not this time though,
"Tina," came the reply. He waited for more such as a surname or a job title but like him Tina was an advocate of brevity she gave away just enough information.
"Presumably you aren't a relief teacher," he said. "So where are your pupils?"
Moving around the room to occasionally pause and look at something Tina came to the same desk that had held his attention, and just like him she used a finger to trace the burn pattern. Watching her with deep interest, the Doctor lost his genial expression as though something wasn't quite right about the young teacher.
Lack of panic to begin with, no hysteria, no tears and no questions such as what happened? Because she knows what's happened he thought, she knows who did this; it was them whoever they were?
He said, "It looks like an explosion to begin with but there's no definable blast pattern, just a series of smaller detonations and focused pockets of extreme heat emissions. Energy weapons with localised, short-range bursts."
The woman's green eyes flicked to him with surprise, now she was off-balance and startled, impressed to he could tell. How the hell? But she didn't vocalise the look on her face.
"Very good Doctor," came the guarded response.
"I usually am in a crisis, speaking of which you've a pretty cool head yourself; given that you almost died here. They were shooting at you I take it?"
No denial was offered, which was as good as saying – yes they were and I was very lucky they didn't sift through the wreckage more thoroughly. Kicking something Tina picked it up, at first the Doctor couldn't tell what it was even when he moved over. Fused metal, something round possibly a disk although it was too badly deformed to be sure, it was dense but not steel and thick enough to have internal processors. Tina didn't explain it instead she wrapped a hanky around it.
"They were more interested in preventing me from keeping hold of this," the hanky was raised. "It's proof you see, evidence that I was right all along despite what the headmaster said."
"Is he a fool or is he helping them?" The Doctor enquired still fishing for information, still partially in the dark.
"He's dead," Tina responded without much remorse and she didn't come across as someone who wasted many tears.
"Did they kill him?"
"No Doctor, I did."
Very good at hiding his own emotions when he had to the time lord let them show this time, he let her see his shock and revulsion.
"Why?"
"Because he was trying to kill me."
"And why would he be doing that?"
In response Tina shoved the hanky into a pocket just below the belt of her dress, whatever it concealed was worth murdering for, wrecking a classroom for, the Doctor knew he had to get a closer look.
"You know I've met a lot of odd people in my time Tina, some very strange and unorthodox types but I can't remember the last time one of them totally ignored the presence of a tall blue box right in front of their noses."
Not even looking at the box in question not even seeming to care about it, Tina gave a knowing little smile.
"You're not a relief teacher at all are you?"
"No I'm not, anymore than you're a regular member of staff here wherever here is."
Waving around her the young woman gave a rather ironic smile of disdain, "This place? Welcome to Chatsworth Technology, a specialist vocational academy for bright kids."
The name didn't ring any bells and didn't strike him of being historically relevant, yet he knew it was or he wouldn't be here. The TARDIS never took him anywhere dull or mundane because his wasn't a life that touched on anything routine, he went to places where civilisations crumbled, reality warped and time itself was split asunder. He wasn't in short a man who embraced trouble, and he was right in the thick of it at that moment.
"So what brings you here Tina? Presumably you didn't just come to snuff a headmaster and steal a piece of alien technology, alien to earth that is."
And raising his right hand he revealed that he now held the hanky wrapped object, he had taken it without her feeling a thing. Peeling away the hanky he revealed the crumpled, slightly blackened disk.
Tina's shock was only matched by her anger, her pocket had been picked so expertly and so smoothly she hadn't seen any of the give away 'tells'.
When she made to snatch the disk back the Doctor turned his back on her and held the disk up to the light, a thumbnail scratching at the side of the object. Not part of a ship, not part of a computer, not a weapon; some kind of relay possibly but highly specialised.
"These conduits are interesting – artificial nerves I'd say so this must have some kind of medical application related to the processing of information." The nail stopped and erected itself, "It's an artificial heart." He said in triumph turning back to find the woman pointing something else at him, a ring on the middle finger of her right hand, a ring with a big red gem that was glowing. "Why steal an artificial heart?"
Gesturing with a free hand Tina indicated that he should give it back. Instead he tossed it, caught it with his other hand and dropped it into one of his deep jacket pockets. "Is that how you killed the headmaster, a crude carbon-argon laser? It won't work on me."
"At this range Doctor it will work on anyone."
"Ah but will it? Cruder technology than the stuff used on this room."
"And how can you possibly know that?"
Opening his left hand the Doctor revealed that he now also held her ring – expertly removed from its finger in yet another amazing display of sleight-of-hand. Tina's surprise and outrage flared only briefly before melting into a resigned smile, she seemed to have met her match in this light-fingered oddity.
Then to her further amazement he handed the ring back with the advice, "Save it until we need it." And marching to the door, which was off a hinge, he shoved the burned and twisted obstacle aside displaying a remarkable strength. There was no destruction beyond the room just darkness, an all-pervading gloom as if the whole building was in the grip of a power cut. Shadows hung like hungry phantoms everywhere and if nothing else Chatsworth Technology had not been constructed to be attractive, there was a sinister gothic feel to its black walls, vaulted ceilings and narrow stairs. The warning KEEP OUT was on every door, rather odd for a school where the aim was to get pupils into classrooms. And speaking of pupils..
"Where is everyone," asked the Doctor? "Half-term is it?"
He couldn't hear anything either not a hum or a bell, not even the groan of traffic outside. "What a dismal place more like some grim boarding school, are we out in the country?"
Pushing past him to enter the corridor Tina looked left and right, and her ring moved with her head ready for use. She looked more like a soldier than a teacher, and one that was ready for combat.
She said, "They're not here, we're lucky."
Joining her the Doctor touched a door it was very securely locked from the inside. "This wouldn't be a prison by any chance would it?"
"Not originally no," came the cryptic response.
"This artificial heart you stole, belongs to one of the room-wrecking aliens I take it? Aliens that are still here by the way you're acting, I wonder why?"
"You ask too many questions Doctor." Reaching some stairs Tina looked up and down, before she could make a decision her companion did and headed down. Hurrying to catch up she gripped a sleeve, "Are you mad, why go down?"
Taking his arm back and fixing her with a determined stare the man from the box said, "Why should they hide upstairs, they either think you're dead or don't care and they don't even know I'm here?" He trotted to a landing, leaning on a railing and peered down into yet more gloom. "Why is it so dark here, photosensitive are they?"
"If you must know, I'm the one who's photosensitive, I sabotaged the main generator."
Looking at her with a mixture of respect and alarm he said, "No wonder they trashed a room to get at you."
The smile was one of defiant pride it said - I can do a lot more damage than that when I have to.
Jogging down to the next landing the Doctor paused once more, this time to look at the wall on his left. There was a mark there an impression and when he carefully placed his hand over it he compared the two, his hand and the hand that had made the mark, his hand was half the size of the dent.
"Interesting," moving his body he let Tina see and judged her reaction. No surprise, not a flicker of astonishment. He said,
"It's not organic, the contours are just too symmetrical and all the fingers are the same length plus I can't detect finger prints."
"Are you armed," she asked and it seemed important?
"Only with knowledge."
"You'll need more than that if we encounter them."
"Well I've got you haven't I?"
Throwing him a humourless smirk she made to continue down but his hand caught her and drew them both back. There was a shape on the next landing down, immobile and fixed but not part of the architecture. About five feet in height it was humanoid but something was wrong with the head, it was the wrong shape and unbalanced with too much mass on the right side.
Tina gestured for them to go back up but the Doctor stayed where he was, fumbling something from a pocket. Moments later a thin but strong flash of light cut through the gloom darting down to the still figure to pick out normal human hands, a blue jacket, cream shirt, a school tie, lips, a nose, an eye – just one eye mind because there was something obscuring the other a flap or visor. The visor extended up over the temple where it joined a box, this was big enough to cover the right ear and most of the hair on the right side of the head. Black and plastic looking the box seemed welded to the flesh with a small cable running down the neck and fixing to the shoulder.
A small light pulsed on the upper portion of the box dull and green and in sync with this a similar light flashed in the one normal human eye. The boy was about fifteen with thick curly brown hair and a rash of freckles across the upper cheeks, his expression was blank, utterly vacant, as devoid of emotion as a corpse. Not moving a muscle he didn't even seem to be breathing, the stillness was unearthly and chilling. To Tina's horror the Doctor crept down the stairs until he was stood right in front of the youth.
"What are you doing, he'll register your presence?"
Nodding once the Doctor adjusted his torch turning its beam from white to soft blue, the blue was panned over the skull box. "This is amazing stuff, look how sophisticated the bionic graft is. The box attaches to the temporal lobe of the brain and it's acting a bit like a modem."
Remaining where she was and keeping her ring focused on the boy Tina hissed, "As you scan him, he's scanning you."
"Maybe but with the sonic screwdriver I can limit the amount of data he transmits."
Intrigued she moved a couple of steps down, "That tool of yours?"
"Multi-functional, it also gathers data. This graft is fairly recent and there's tissue rejection, which is why he's like this – I'm picking up brain damage." Glancing around briefly the Doctor asked, "Are they all like this, the students here?"
"Most of them."
"And the teachers?"
Not replying she moved down another step her ring not wavering from its lethal aim. "You can't help him, all you can do is compromise us."
"Your compassion is overwhelming," moving around behind the boy and adjusting his device once more the Doctor found something attached to the base of the skull a small black coin. Picking at it he found it wasn't a graft like the box it was just adhered to the skin, with a bit of nagging he plucked it free.
Nothing could have prepared him for the reaction, with a scream the boy began thrashing his arms as he punched and clawed at the air. Hit by a flailing arm the Doctor was sent careering off balance and tipped down the next flight of stairs, rolling head over heels he came to rest right at the base of the stairs and lay on his back stunned.
Knocked from his hands the sonic screwdriver rolled across smooth linoleum until it reached something that stopped it, a large square foot like a boot only this boot was attached to the outer skin of the wearer and massive in size, like the hand print.
The boy continued to thrash wildly a snarl escaping his lips, his movement was too erratic for Tina to draw a bead even with her knees bent and ring arm supported by her other hand. Then the boy smashed his own head against the wall once, twice, three times. The plastic box grafted to him fractured oozing a strange and revolting slime, there was a flash of sparks and the youth toppled sideways onto and over the railing, his plummet into the gloom was unhindered ending with a loud thud.
Moments later Tina was on the move taking three stairs at a time until she reached the Doctor, his limbs seemed unbroken and there was no blood on or about his head. When the eyes opened they were clear, "Oops." Came the remark from the still prone form.
"I think you killed him," Tina accused.
"He almost killed me," sitting up slowly and rubbing a bruised shoulder the time lord looked around for something. "He was dying anyway with a massive cranial infection."
Not looking terribly interested Tina asked, "What did you take from the back of his neck?"
Opening his right hand to reveal the black coin the Doctor said, "Tracking device."
"Why did you remove it then?"
"To track the trackers," helping himself up the Doctor began to search for lost property, his screwdriver couldn't have rolled very far it was just that in this gloom it was almost impossible to see anything.
"I'll check the boy," Tina volunteered. As soon as she moved away the Doctor bared his left wrist, he had a chunky watch with a digital readout screen, this was touch sensitive and changed colour when he tapped it going from blue to lime green, he then lowered the watch and moved his arm in an arc. After only a few degrees the watch flashed and something began to roll back across the linoleum until it struck the toe of his left shoe, "Ah there you are."
He was bending down to pick it up when he saw the boot, but it wasn't this that alarmed him it was the massive gauntlet that came chopping down in a lethal, spine snapping blow. Throwing himself aside he crashed into Tina taking her with him and the pair of them broke into an impromptu jog.
A huge form moved in their direction, too big to be a kid or even a man. The ceiling was high but this thing's head almost touched it, a wide, oddly shaped head not deformed but definitely not natural either. The dark prevented any kind of clearer picture beyond sheer size and deadly power.
Tina twisted around to use her ring but found her arm batted down, the Doctor didn't want a shooting match because he had a dreadful feeling they'd lose. Turning a corner he pulled the girl close to him, her one heart was pounding almost as fast as his two. Their attacker had paused over the body of the boy, but there was no compassion in the look it gave the youth who was still groaning softly.
Light flared from the chest of the giant, square shaped and magnesium fierce. Soon the boy was glowing the same colour, he uttered a chilling scream of agony as he went into a death spasm with arms and legs thrashing, then he was gone, wiped from existence, dissolved by the light leaving no trace. The light sucked itself back into the square on the great chest and dimmed.
Shaking Tina let go of the Doctor's arm, "Now we're in trouble." She hissed seeing the grim set of his mouth and the hard squint to his eyes. Turning he snagged her wrist and said,
"What year is this?"
You're not serious her expression said, but he clearly was so she told him. "1990."
"No," he shook his head.
"What do you mean, no?"
"It can't be, this didn't happen in 1990."
Crazy, her eyes reflected definitely not the full Monte.
"Tina I travel in time this didn't happen in 1990, trust me. If it had then this entire timeline would have been radically altered."
The unseen giant turned in their direction as if about to follow but it didn't. Wheeling around it lumbered away interest apparently lost. Giving up? Not likely, reporting in so that others could deal with this.
"Doctor," Tina began but he was moving.
"Not now," he said heading in the opposite direction towards a set of double doors. "Show me the headmaster's office."
Running to catch up she again plucked at his sleeve, "I told you, he's dead."
"Then he'll have been replaced, and I think I know by what."
"Yeah another one of those creatures. You saw what happened to the boy."
Halting to half-turn he fixed her with a severe look of disapproval. "Isn't it about time you explained exactly who you are and what you're doing here?"
Features assuming a scornful expression, one of those why the hell should I tell you anything sneers, Tina raised her ring?
"I could ask you the same thing Doctor."
"I was brought here by my ship."
"Oh right like that makes sense."
"These aliens I've met them before, they don't belong on earth not in 1990 and neither I suspect do you."
The double door was waved at, "This way to the head's office?"
Before she could answer the double doors opened and four teenagers stood staring at them, two boys and two girls all with boxes grafted to their heads. Only these kids were not in tissue rejection mode, they looked determined and ready for anything and all of them carried guns, energy weapons that clipped to the wrist with an extended silver cylinder.
Reception committee thought the Doctor. This is where it starts to get really dangerous.
Tina raised her ring to pre-empt events, but she found her wrist caught and pushed down. Don't resist, said the eyes of the man beside her I want this to happen let them think they've got us. Not fully understanding his rationale, the girl relaxed her arm anyway. One of the boys made an unmistakable gesture with his gun arm, giving a polite smile the time lord said. "Yes of course, after all we were trespassing."
The headmaster's office had a forbidding door coloured jet black and made of thick metal, embossed was a curious head shaped logo but the head wasn't human it had attachments running up both sides and something jutting from the crown.
"This wasn't here before," said Tina. "The old door was made of wood."
"I imagine the old head was made of something different to," said the Doctor.
One of the girls faced a sensor above the door and gently touched the box attached to her head, this began to hum softly and soon the door was humming to.
"A symphony in D-minor," muttered the Doctor.
"You're taking this very calmly," Tina told him looking tense and pale.
"The deeper the crisis the more you smile."
"Is that an old wives coping strategy, because if it is you'll find it won't work here?"
The great black door stopped humming and beneath it a gash of pale orange light appeared, the gash became an oblong then a square and finally an oval as the door rose ponderously out of the way. Four guns gave the same message and the prisoners slowly entered a world of defuse light, within which barely visible outlines floated possibly a desk, possibly a filing cabinet, winking computer screens at odd angles and a low moaning vibration.
But it was the smell that hit the Doctor hardest – metallic, plastic, sterile and somewhat bland. Never had he felt more like a naughty schoolboy, and he didn't like the way the metal door sank behind him cutting off the obvious escape route. Fiddling with her ring Tina took a sniff then went over to the filing cabinet, this bleeped when she touched it giving off a strident song. Letting go she returned to the Doctor who stood immobile, expectant.
"All of this is new as well, why the defuse light and what is that smell?"
"Evil has its own exquisite bouquet," came the grim quotation. A large shadow moved from the far end of the room, gliding towards them too smoothly to be carried on legs and sure enough when details became visible a vast, automated chair was revealed a chair not unlike some futuristic iron-lung. Encased by it, welded to it, even part of it a figure with massive silver encased arms, a square chest and an oblong head but no legs unless they were inside the chair. Tina caught her breath audibly, "Oh my God!"
"Is that the dead headmaster?"
No reply was required and the Doctor studied the more complex cybernetic attachments to the man's skull, cheeks and throat. One eye was completely artificial, a silver marble with a golden pupil. Inside the mouth normal teeth sat alongside glistening jewels and from the chest came a curious ventilated rasp. The hands were gauntlets and on the back of both were winking lights. A complicated keyboard was set into the tray sat in the man's lap, if man was the correct term. Several keys were tapped and on a small screen Tina's face appeared properly made-up with styled hair and no smudges.
"Pretty as a picture," mused the Doctor.
"It's from my CV."
"Yes my CV always flatters me to," the time lord extended a hand in greeting not expecting it to be accepted and it wasn't. "What, no file photo of me?" he asked with mild disappointment. The bizarre cybernetic hybrid before him was expressionless and more menacing for that, an unfeeling, uncaring automaton. In saving this man's life his captor's had removed one of the most vital ingredients required to be human.
"If this is 1990," said the Doctor. "Then we're both in the wrong place, you definitely shouldn't be here."
"I'm not sure he can even hear you."
"Oh he can hear me all right, and so can his masters. You can be sure they're ear wigging," raising his voice the Doctor said. "Isn't that right, you know me even if your resurrected headmaster doesn't."
Tina looked around as if expected a response but none was forthcoming, then a new face appeared on the chair screen not her or the Doctor not even human but a hideous, silver faceplate, a travesty of the real thing with slots for eyes and a mouth.
"Oh no it's them."
"Of course it is," moving closer the time lord extended his hand again this time actually touching the small screen. With his fingertips he traced the outline of the silver mask – side handles, helmet lamp, eyes, mouth, collar plate. It was similar to the model he'd encountered in 1968 London sewers, yet there were modifications to the brow, cheeks and lamp; refinements perhaps upgrades. Like him, his enemies were constantly reinventing themselves.
"Why use an intermediary," he said? "You were never this shy in the past."
But it was the headmaster who spoke in a synthesized, sibilant hiss. The amplification was harsh emphasizing vowels.
"Why have you returned to earth Doctor?"
"I'm not sure," came the honest reply. A finger wagged at Tina telling her to move around the back of the chair and look for something, cautiously she did so seeing four vast cables entering the chair in a diamond formation. Above them and near the headrest was a tiny box with a digital readout it bore the words temperature, oxygen, magnetism and direct current and beside each where readings.
Having no other tool except her ring she began to adjusting this until it glowed and then she applied it to the box fascia, the Doctor was keeping this thing talking to distract it so she might as well take advantage of being ignored.
"We have made significant advances," the headmaster was saying. "In augmentation and redevelopment."
The Doctor's expression answered for him, disgust mixed with fascination. But he didn't interrupt as the hybrid continued,
"We can now engineer the destiny of this first generation of cybernetic humans to suit our needs, not so much an invasion as an adjustment."
"It's very clever I must admit," the Doctor kept his tone neutral. "But this didn't happen in 1990, it can't. You'll create a trauma in the fabric of linear time, a shockwave that will have devastating consequences not just for this planet but every other planet to."
Unimpressed by this argument the thing in the chair said, "Here we are perfecting our upgrades and additions, the new digital human drones will not require full conversion as we expected and so the process is faster, cleaner."
"Oh yes I can see that, catch them young as the Jesuits used to say. The rewiring of the cerebral cortex is a masterstroke, but I can still see a few wrinkles here and there, you haven't totally overcome tissue rejection."
"A matter of time," came the chilling response. "And a more subjects for surgery."
Tina applied her ring to the box alternating between various frequencies, it would take her a little time but she'd soon find the real one and deactivate this chair bound mutant.
"Is that why Tina and myself haven't been killed," queried the Doctor? "Are we to be modified?"
"She is, you Doctor will serve a far more useful purpose."
"You'll never get into it you know, the TARDIS is impenetrable."
"Not for you," said the creature.
"Oh I'm just going to unlock it and throw open the doors am I?"
"In a way you are because…."
A loud crackle was followed by a billow of smoke, and the cybernetic arms began to thrash about wildly. The head jerked from side to side and the one human eye bulged with agony. From the throat came a series of stuttered shrieks and cries not unlike a rap record gone wrong and the bizarre mutant convulsed forwards.
"Out of the way Tina," the Doctor was backing off himself because any moment now this thing was going to blow.
"How do we get out of here?"
Good question and highly relevant as the door they'd entered through began to rise revealing boots, silver legs, silver hands, huge square chest units, raised collars, slots, handles…
The Doctor backed away from the three towering, unfeeling figures knowing they brought retribution, pain and death as their kind always did wherever he'd met them.
Two were all silver from tip to toe, but the one in the middle had a black coloured head with fluted side handles and a more complex lamp.
Fire jumped from the chair, blinding white sparks and a lot more smoke the smoke was their only hope. As the giants entered, the Doctor found Tina, grabbed her arm and pulled her aside. There had to be another way out of here, just had to be. He couldn't see much and could barely breathe due to smoke so he stopped breathing and it helped. As she coughed and gagged he half-carried her to the left side of the room.
Wall just wall and more wall a terminal, a column and then – what was that, an outline, a recess. "Give me your ring."
Eyes streaming and throat raw Tina was unable to comply so he had to ease it off himself and apply it to the edge of the outline.
"Which setting is best? Oh never mind I'll try them all."
Suddenly she was gone, wrenched back at speed and held by the arm her feet dangling in the air. A gigantic and monstrous silver puppet held her and she was helpless in its grip, a thing of hydraulics that didn't know the meaning of weariness or pain.
Just one cyber man, so where were the other two? Not waiting or caring the Doctor raised the ring and fired into the chest unit, it flashed green and liquid gobs splattered onto the floor. Released Tina fell with a cry into the time traveller's arms while her attacker staggered back, damaged but not finished not anywhere close to it.
They backed up to the door and the door yielded, it shifted sideways just a bit. Curling his fingers around the edge of it the time lord pushed with all his strength and he had a lot of this, shoving Tina through the gap first he twisted to go through himself.
A vast gauntlet snagged the collar of his coat and a black mask loomed down at him, no escape Doctor not from us not this time.
The cyber leader tugged and drew his victim back into the room, there was no resisting because the Doctor was too weak from lack of air, he could do nothing as he was yanked back to face the wrath of his enemy.
End of Part One