A Holiday for Jamie
Chapter 1: Just Another Day...
The Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe are standing in the console room, overcome with laughter at some joke that Jamie has just told.
"Honestly Jamie, I don't see how you can joke about my dress when you are the one hopping about in a skirt!" Zoe said with a small grin.
"I've told you time and time again, it's a kilt," Jamie retorted hotly. "every man of the
McCrimmon clan was worn a kilt, just tell her Doctor."
"I don't know about that Jamie, all I can say is that it shows off your knees marvelously," the Doctor said with a mischievous smile.
Everything was as it should be with the TARDIS crew, the group was getting along as they had for quite some time. They had just come from the Sensorite colony on Metebilus I, which was suffering from an unusual plague. The Doctor had done his thing, and found a cure using a transistor and some peanut butter, so the crew was feeling very cheerful.
"What was it you did Jamie, drop your lunch on that equipment?" Zoe asked Jamie.
"Aye, well, you kept telling me how I should've been helping the Doctor instead of eating, and I guess I just got a bit angry," Jamie said sheepishly.
The Doctor patted him on the back "Regardless, without the idea for getting the cure from the electrolysis of peanut butter came from you Jamie, and the Sensorites were quite thankful that you did."
Suddenly, the familiar sound of the TARDIS materializing could be heard.
"Oh I wonder where we are," Zoe said as the Doctor turned on the scanner.
The scanner screen revealed that the TARDIS had landed in a large plain of green grass, with rolling hills.
"Looks like Scotland to me," Jamie said with anticipation.
"It could very well be, but the question is when?" said the Doctor, "We will have to go out and look around, it has been a while since we have been somewhere that looks as peaceful as this does, wouldn't you agree Zoe?"
The Doctor and Jamie turn to see Zoe laying on the floor, suddenly unconscious.
Chapter 2: The Doctor and Jamie
"Absolutely not Doctor, I saw how excited you were to go exploring," Zoe said from a bed in the TARDIS sick bay, "I have the entire TARDIS library to read from, all I need right now is rest."
The Doctor looked at her helplessly, "We really should stay, you shouldn't be alone like this."
"Nonsense, you know as well as I that my allergy to certain hair is not threatening at all once I have taken my medication," Zoe told the Doctor," the Sensorite beards must have affected me, but I'm fine. Go exploring!"
"Come on Doctor, she'll be fine here," Jamie said, "I want to see if we really are back in Scotland.
As the pair left the room, Zoe smiled knowingly. "Those two need their alone time," she murmured to herself as she drifted off to sleep.
Outside the TARDIS, the Doctor and Jamie are taking a breath of fresh air. There are no obvious signs of animals or humans within eye shot, but a variety of plants can be seen.
As the Doctor steps close to one of the planets, he exclaims, "Well that settles it, we are on earth, this planet couldn't be from anywhere else."
"Well it seems like we are alone together for the first time in a while," Jamie said as he looked about.
Not taking the hint, The Doctor continued to study the plant. "You know, this plant reminds me of a telepathic species on Agora, it would wrap around a person's leg, and then hold them while it drained their memories. They would remember nothing that had happened to them, except maybe their childhood."
Jamie visibly shuddered. "I'd rather cut off my leg then let that happen."
The Doctor was surprised. "Really? Seems a bit rash."
"Well if I couldn't remember all of the adventures we've been on, well, it's just that I've changed. Traveling with you. And I wouldn't want to lose that. Not ever."
The Doctor seemed taken back. "I didn't realize you felt so strongly Jamie, I have loved having you as my companion all these years."
Their moment together was suddenly interrupted by a shout. "Alright, put your hands up, and stay where I can see you."
A man was to their left, pointing a gun straight at them.
Chapter 3: Home Sweet Home
"Now if you will just come a little closer," the man said menacingly. "Now hold on a moment. Jamie?! Is that really you boyo? It's been a long time hasn't it?"
"I don't believe it Doctor, its Willie Mackay!" Jamie exclaimed.
"My goodness Jamie you're right!"
The Doctor had previously met Willie when he visited Scotland after the battle for Culloden. During those events, he managed to save Willie and a number of innocents from a horrible fate as slaves. It was also during this adventure that the Doctor first met Jamie.
Willie smiled at them. "It's been years since I last saw you two, you got me out of quite a pickle Doctor. Have you finally come back home after all this time?"
"Oh, are we near Clom?" Jamie asked eagerly.
"Do you not know where you are? Of course we are, it is about half a mile over that way." Willie said with a quizzical look.
"Well what are we waiting for then? Let's go!" And with that Jamie took off over the hill.
The Doctor smiled. "That's Jamie for you. Lets catch up with him."
After a few minutes of walking, the Doctor asked "So what are you doing here Willie, I thought you would be out sailing on some grand adventure?"
Willie's eyes seemed to be looking away into the distance, "Well I was just passing through, but then..."
The Doctor waited expectantly, but Willie did not elaborate. However, he was glad that Willie seemed to only have aged 5 years, about the same time that Jamie had been traveling with him. Trying to explain asynchronous aging always gave him a headache. "Well regardless it will be nice to see Jamie's home."
When the trio entered the village, Willie gave a great shout, "Everybody, come and see, Jamie McCrimmon is back!"
A large group of people gathered around. One of the villagers, a woman about the same age as Jamie exclaimed, "Is it really you Jamie, after all this time?"
"Alison, is that you" Jamie said incredulously.
Jamie recalled how he had spent most of his childhood with Alison. They had always been best friends, and had even dated for a time. But when the call for battle went out, Jamie left, and Alison had not seen him again, at least, not until now.
Alison looked longingly at Jamie. "It's been so long since I last saw you, I thought you had forgotten me when you went off with this Doctor fellow."
"Oh, now Alison, you're being silly. I've you since I was a wee lad, I could never forget you." Jamie said.
The Doctor cleared his throat. "Sorry to interrupt, but I do have a question. That gun you are carrying, where did you get it?"
The gun the doctor indicated was being carried by a man in the crowd.
"Oh this thing, we got it from a bandit that thought he could steal from us. We taught the bloody redcoat how we deal with the likes of him."
The Doctor did not seem very satisfied with the answer. "Would you mind if I to a look at your militia's supply building? I can be trusted, just ask Jamie or Willie here."
Alison seemed worried. "Oh can't that wait Doctor, the church service is about to start."
Jamie's face lit up. "Oh a service! Oh Doctor you'd love them, you can finally meet everyone I grew up with."
Jamie was remembering how every Sunday, the entire village would gather at the church. It was more of a social event than a religious one, and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. These events were so popular that many from nearby villages would make the journey every week just to be a part of it.
"You go and have a good time, I think I will look at the militia's supply building," the Doctor insisted.
"Oh, alright then Doctor. I'll see you later I guess."
As the group moved down the street to the church, the Doctor stared worriedly after them.
Chapter 4: The Church's New Management
As the group entered the church lobby, all conversation suddenly ended as everyone except Jamie adopted an unnatural solemn expression. They all began to file into the sanctuary without saying a word to one another.
"Hey Alison, what's going on? Why is anyone talking?" said Jamie with caution.
"SHHHHHH!" Everyone suddenly exclaimed.
Alison whispered very softly into Jamie's ear, "You can't be loud in the church, you will disturb the song."
Jamie tried to lower his voice, but every word still made everyone cringe. "Now wait just a minute what song are you talking about?
Alison hissed at him angrily, "Would you just be quiet! Wait until we are in the sanctuary, then you will understand."
Jamie followed the congregation into the sanctuary with some reluctance, and the doors swung shut behind him, as if unseen ushers were closing off the outside world.
Meanwhile, the Doctor is poking around a dark storeroom. The lighting is bad, but the doctor produces a torch from his pocket. He swings the light around to reveal a number of iron balls in a corner.
Each ball is extremely smooth, polished to a shine. They are lined up very orderly along a wall and throughout the room. As the Doctor shines the light among them, they seem to watch him like hundreds of eyes keeping guard.
The Doctor moves over to a large chest, and opens it up.
A grin splits across his face. "Ah, here we are."
He holds up a rifle. It seems to have been crafted quite well, but is still quite old compared to what the Doctor is used to.
"Just as I thought," the Doctor remarked, "this is a rifle, not a musket. The rifle should still be 20 years away from Scotland."
If the Doctor was correct, then this small village was at least 20 years ahead of its time. The Doctor was also troubled by Willie's gun, which seemed even more advanced than what was present here. Things were not as they appeared.
The Doctor continued to look around, and his light fell upon a large metal door. The Doctor attempted to open it, but it would not budge.
"I have just the thing," the Doctor remarked to himself.
He pulled out a hair clip he had been keeping for Zoe, and attempted to insert it into the door's lock. While he was trying to pick the lock, the clip suddenly went flying away from the door and out of his hand. The door had repelled the clip quite strongly! Strongly disturbed, the Doctor left the building.
Back at the church, the entire congregation has sat down in a rows of pews. Things are not as Jamie remembers them, instead of a friendly, talkative atmosphere, every person is sitting silent and still.
From the front of the room, a door opens and two men carry in a cloth-covered object that appears to be shaped like a pyramid. When they set it at the altar in the front, the entire congregation bows their heads as one.
Jamie is growing more and more confused. "Now see here, what is going on? I don't remember any of this!"
The two bearers lifted the cloth from the pyramid, reveling a perfectly sculpted statue of a pyramid made from what appeared to be iron. Suddenly, a single loud tone filled to room. The tone was a pure, perfectly in tune pitch, that reverberated throughout the room. The congregation seemed to sway with the tone, despite the tone being constant.
Jamie tried to shout at Alison to snap her out of it, but he couldn't even hear himself over the noise. As the tone went on and on, Jamie felt his will begin to slip away, as all of his thoughts were replaced by the unyielding tone, just as all of the villagers had.
Chapter 5: Why Don't You Just Leave
As the Doctor sprinted from the building, he found Jamie and Alison standing outside, as if waiting for him.
"I have learned some very distressing news Jamie, we need to tread very carefully here, something is wrong," the Doctor said immediately.
"Now hold on a second Doctor, I have something to say too. Why are you always putting me down? Do you think that I can't contribute? I do just as much as you and you can't treat me like this!" Jamie shouted.
The Doctor appeared wounded. "Of course I value you Jamie, I never meant to imply that you aren't important. It's just that I have very important information that..."
"Well you can keep your information! I am staying here Doctor. Now that you have finally gotten me back home, you can just leave. You have put me through too much, and I am done. I am going to stay here with Alison, and we can live happily together.
Jamie and Alison looked at each other and then clasped hands. However, the Doctor saw their eyes, they were blank. The Doctor knew love, and this was not the look of it.
The Doctor proceeded carefully. "Are you sure Jamie? Once I leave, I can't come back."
"Aye, why don't you just leave?" Jamie turned back to Alison.
The Doctor was heartbroken. "I suppose I will go then, if that is what you want..."
Jamie didn't seem to notice. "Now that I'm back, I can forget about all of those things and focus on you."
The Doctor suddenly was filled with hope. "But Jamie, you were just saying about how you never wanted to forget our adventures."
Suddenly, Jamie's face filled with confusion. "I... I did say that... but... no. No. I love Alison. I want to stay here with my friends and the pyramid."
"A pyramid? Jamie, Scotland doesn't have pyramids. The concept isn't introduced for another 40 years. That's what I am trying to tell you, time is not right here."
As Jamie's confusion continued to increase, his face suddenly went blank. The tone from the church was playing, although it lacked the sheer volume it had when from the pyramid.
Nothing the Doctor did could shake him out of the trance. Floundering in despair, he was struck with inspiration. He yanked out his recorder, and after a few tentative toots, belted out a note which caused dissonance in the pure tone controlling.
The sound was wrenching, and both Jamie and Alison fell to the ground with hands over their ears, as their faces contorted in pain. The Doctor held the note for a full minute without a breath, and suddenly the tone vanished, leaving just sound of the recorder.
The Doctor dropped down to Jamie. "Jamie! Jamie! Speak to me!"
"Oah, what?" Jamie blinked his eyes open.
The pair embraced, and for a time it seemed that no force in the universe would be strong enough to yank the two apart.
Chapter 6: Its Covered in Fur!
"Excuse me, but could one of you tell me what is going on?" Alison said indignantly.
The Doctor looked over at her, as if just remembering that she was there. "You two were under a mesmeric influence, but I seem to have dashed it out of you. I am quite good at that, why I remember when..."
Jamie interrupted abruptly, "Is this really the best time Doctor, isn't the town in danger?"
The Doctor's face fell. "Ah, yes. Well. I take it that all this started at the church?"
"Aye, it was all because of that pyramid thing. After that I don't remember a thing." Jamie replied.
The Doctor turn to Alison. "How about you my dear? What can you remember?"
Alison seemed confused. "I... I don't remember."
"Don't worry, some disorientation is sure to be expected after what you have been through. Now, what we need is a weakness of our enemy, any ideas?"
Jamie spoke up. "Well, in the church, everyone was all odd about loud noises, they kept fussing about every time I spoke up. Maybe something loud?"
Alison piped in, "What do we have that can do that?"
"A gun!" the Doctor exclaimed. After seeing the surprise on Jamie and Alison's faces, he elaborated, "I normally never use weapons, but we are just making noise. Quick! To the supply building!"
All the while, a pale-skinned man stood watching from the shadows.
Inside the building, Jamie has already picked up a rifle. "Now we're talking. I won't be letting any pyramid take control of me again."
The Doctor looked thoughtful. "Yes that should work."
The Doctor went over to examine the strange door he had seen earlier. Suddenly, a low, repeating sound came from the other side, like a dread-filled metronome.
"Everyone get back!" The Doctor yelled.
Suddenly, the iron balls in the room began to roll about, as if controlled by some unseen hand. The door swung open to reveal a creature within.
Alison squealed with fright. "My god, its covered with fur!"
Before them stood the frightening form a yeti.
Chapter 7: Back to the Church
Jamie shouted, "Creag an tuire!" BANG!
Jamie had tried to fire the rifle at the beast, but it lumbered over and ripped the gun from his hands.
The Doctor yelled above the cacophony, "It's no use Jamie, remember, the yeti aren't flesh and blood. They're robots!"
The Doctor and Jamie had fought yeti twice before. Once, when an army of robotic yeti tried to take over a monastery in Tibet, and another when they invaded the London Underground. On both occasions, the being responsible was the Great Intelligence, a mind parasite that corrupted the minds of others to do its bidding.
Everything was beginning to make sense to the Doctor now. He realized that iron balls were not cannonballs, but control spheres, to control an army of yeti. The original spheres were silver, not iron, so he didn't make the connection until now. But how could the Great Intelligence be here? They had destroyed it at their last encounter, and that was in the far future.
"It's no use fighting, just let it take us where it wants. We are no use dead," the Doctor cautioned.
The group was helplessly herded outside by the yeti, and forced towards the church. As they entered, every villager stood waiting.
A man stepped forward. "It is time to join the Song."
Helpless to resist, the trio was brought into the sanctuary, and forced to kneel near the front. Jamie stared fearfully at the door where he knew a pyramid would soon come out.
The door opened, but instead of a pyramid, a gaunt figure emerged. His face was as pale as the moon, and his clothes hung off of him as if he hadn't eaten in weeks.
The figure opened his mouth, and began to croak out words. "Hello Jamie, don't you have anything to say to your father?"
Chapter 8: The Voice of McCrimmon
` "I don't know what you are, but you aren't my father! Donald McCrimmon is dead and no pyramid's puppetry can change that!"
The figure of Donald smiled charmingly. "Oh Jamie, Jamie, Jamie. You think this is a mere puppet? He lives. Just as all these people live. You see how they do not age or wither? If I can halt death, why can I not reverse it."
The Doctor was indignant. "Don't listen to him Jamie, nothing can reverse death. Those who claim they can are just mad. It can't be done. Why are you here? What business does the Great Intelligence have with these people."
Donald's smile flickered. "Great Intelligence? I know of nothing by that name. But you seem familiar with me and my tactics, despite my secrecy. Perhaps you have met another like me?"
The Doctor frowned. "Perhaps."
Donald stepped forward. "What does it matter anyway? You are here now, and that is what matters. Jamie, come and join your father. I am back from the grave, we can be together again. Have the relationship we never had."
Jamie face was like stone. "You are not my father. He died, and you will pay for this mockery of him. You aren't anything. I would spit on you, but you wouldn't deserve it."
"Stubborn to the end eh? Ah well. Bring in my majesty!"
The pyramid was brought in, shining in the light. It seemed far to shiny to be iron, but nothing else could share that distinctive shade.
Donald raised his hands above his head in prayer. "Now you shall join the song."
The tone began, louder more powerful than ever before. The room seemed to shake from the enormity of it.
The Doctor pulled out his recorder and tried to play dissonant, but his toots were pitiful against the might of the noise. Suddenly, a voice joined the Doctor's recorder. It was Jamie, yelling along. Alison joined him, singing with a pure voice along with them. The noise clashed against their song, and those around them seemed unsteady on their feet.
Jamie stopped for a moment to yell, "Come on, help us out!"
One by one, as the people regained control of their minds, they began to sing with the song against the noise. with every voice that was added, the noise seemed weaker and puny. Eventually, they only one not singing was Donald himself. He sunk to his knees. "No! No! Make it stop! NOOOO!"
A crack appeared in the pyramid, then another. With a final BOOM, the pyramid shattered, scattering shards across the floor. The noise and song stopped at once, and the silence was deafening. Jamie ran to the motionless body of Donald. Donald's body crumpled like paper beneath Jamie's fingers, and he began to cry.
The Doctor put an arm around Jamie's shoulder. "When death takes her toll, no man can get it back. It is the way of things. I know it hurts, but it is for the best."
The Doctor led Jamie past all of the villagers who had fallen unconscious from all of the strain upon their minds, and then outside.
Chapter 9: Home
Outside the Doctor and Jamie are catching their breath.
"Jamie?" It is Alison. She has followed them out, and stands shyly by the door.
The Doctor knew what was going on, and discretely went over to examine some bricks.
"Everything is fine now, right Jamie?"
"Aye, I think so."
"Well, I guess you can finally live at home again? Everyone would love to have you back."
"I could, I definitely could."
"You could work on the farms and live in a nice house and..." Alison blushed, "Well, I always thought we would marry you when we grew up."
Jamie's eyes were filled with sadness. "I'm sorry Alison, but I've changed. I'm not the boy I was, marching of to pipe for war. I've seen the universe, seen things you could never imagine. My place is with the Doctor, and it always will be. He and I, well, I don't know. Having seen what I've seen with him, I could never leave him."
Alison's eyes were filled with tears, but she nodded in acceptance. She went over to the Doctor.
"Will everyone be okay now?" she asked.
The Doctor reassured her. "Oh yes, they may have a bit of a headache when they wake up, but they will be fine."
Alison smiled for a moment, but it was a smile filled with sadness. She turned and went into the church.
Jamie tapped the Doctor. "Would you mind if we left now? I don't want to linger here."
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, of course."
Jamie thought for a moment. "Don't tell Zoe about any of this, I want this to stay between you and me."
"But of course Jamie," the Doctor said, "it will be our little adventure, when you visited your home on holiday."
Jamie corrected him, "The TARDIS is the only home I want to have, wherever I get to be with you."
And with that, the two set off back to the TARDIS.