DOCTOR WHO – DEEP BLUE – A 50TH ANNIVERSARY STORY

Hey guys! Sorry about the lack of writing, I think you've come to suspect me as unreliable. I don't know why you put up with me but if you do I 3 you big time. I actually have a novel that I really want to get working on and so hopefully with lots of free time I'll write lots of both Doctor Who and Skins to kind of push me towards writing my book. Here is Chapter 2.


An almighty whirr resounded amongst the air vents as the grill was unbolted and placed to one side. Two Plumbers climbed over the metal-sides and into the canyons that were the air vents. They had three-fingers on each yellow hand and three-fingers on each yellow foot; the nostrils at the end of their long light brown-skinned beaks sniffed the vent they stood in.

Wynn looked down one end of the air vents and then down the other, "Well on this side I see dark grey steel walls, lit-up with blue lights and air flowing through…" He swung his head round, "And on that side I see dark grey steel walls, lit-up with blue lights and air flowing through… there's nothing in here! They get pedantic over nothing."

Creth raised an eyebrow, "What do you think we are looking for? Some giant machine? If there's widespread hallucinations amongst the passengers, most likely there's some kind of infection or pollen of some sort caught in the air vents, it's not gonna stick out like a slug-harpy is it?"

Wynn scoffed and fixed his tool band, "Well you can tell you finished your apprenticeship a year early…" His feet clanged as they scraped along the floor, echoing up to the dark ceiling that disappeared above them. "You reckon some of the so-called 'ballast' has gotten in through a tear in the ducts somehow?"

Creth stopped, "Don't start encouraging those irrational fears. The rumours among the skeptical are bad enough as it is," he snapped. "Besides… Even if it was 'theoretically' correct, how would that cause the hallucinations?"

Wynn rubbed his big three-fingered hands together, "You know, just one of those 98th sense sort of things, you know something's up, you can sense the soul crying out for help…"

"What's the soul got to do with it? It's all chemistry!"

"Theoretical chemistry…" retorted Wynn.

"Don't get cocky with me Wynn…" said Creth shaking his clasped hand, "Or I'll send your right back to designation 10!"

Wynn shook his head, "Alright, Alright! Show off! …I just think it's weird and all… One person starts talking about seeing something in the air vents and then it's everyone who hears the story then claims to have seen it, not the people who haven't heard it… but specifically the people who have, like a spread sort of infestation."

Creth rolled his eyes, "That's the way a hallucination works you Hoth-Hog! One crazy rat rounds up more crazy rats… We just need to keep an eye out for any sort of odd shimmers in the airwaves… We are plumbers after all... On-board technicians, not monster-hunters…"

Wynn nodded, "Right," but was still unsure. A Flicker of red went past in the corridor to his left.

He spun around to see it, viewing nothing but dark blue, "Did you see that?"

Creth took his eyes in the same direction, "What did you see?"

"A sort of… colourful glimmer, just in the corner of my fourth eye…" said Wynn biting his lip.

"That sounds like it, stand still!" said Creth enthusiastically unbuckling his tool band, "I'm getting out the atmospheric reader!"

Wynn scanned his eyes left and right down the corridor, but only saw the glimmer again for a split-second when he turned around to see Creth and it seemed to flow down and around him…

"There it was!" said Wynn pointing.

"What, that way?" asked Creth confused, "A completely different direction?"

Wynn watched Creth step forward with his strange little gadget, staring off into the corridor. He looked over his shoulder and saw a blur of red rushing towards him, he jumped back and gasped. Grabbing Creth's chest, his heart was racing a mile a minute.

"What are you doing?" asked Creth, puzzled by all except his machine.

"That's not…" Wynn was struggling to breath, "That's not an airwave, that was something moving…"

"Don't start getting ridiculous, there's nothing here but us." Wynn still looked down the corridor frightened, not paying attention to Creth.

"Wynn look at me!" said Creth

Wynn turned around to see a hideous deformed face with slant-eyes and a sharp tongue looking at him, "There's no beast here," he hissed.

Wynn screamed and jumped back his heart stabbing his rib cage now, thrashing around like a python trying to get out.

Creth bent down to look at him, "You've breathed in the air, you're hallucinating aren't you?"

"NO!" screamed Wynn, he looked around at the dark and dank chambers, "I saw something… something big, red… and angry, it was so angry…"

"Wynn you have nothing to fear… Do you know why?" asked Creth.

Wynn's eyes were flicking back and forth, but he shook his head.

"Because you are all alone in these air-vents… there is no one else here…" he said with a smile.

Wynn closed his eyes and caught his breath; he opened them and nodded at Creth's face. He locked in with the hand stretched out to him and let Creth help him to his feet. He dusted his pants off and turned around in the silver to see a huge red beast hundreds of feet tall gliding through the air vents… it rose up high and screamed at him with hideous fangs before descending…


The TARDIS shuddered from side-to-side, making wheezing and spluttering noises as the Doctor and Clara gripped the sides of the console.
"So then Doctor," winced Clara as a light sparked in front of her, "This might be a great time to explain why we are gonna get executed."

"Yes, great time to explain," said the Doctor, "If I could…"

"So basically there is no reason, they're just nasty and want to kill us?"

The Doctor nodded still gripping to the violently moving machine, "The trouble with being a time traveler is that everything is kind of all over the place and so you end up upsetting some grumpy lady with nine cats, and find yourself asking who she is when she's throwing them at you." The Doctor sprung around and flicked a lever back and forth to no avail, "Actually, I know! It's like reading book 17 in a big series and all of a sudden they are talking about what happened in book 3, which you read years back, or book 294, which hasn't even come out yet or only exists in some cross-dimensional vortex…"

Clara shook her head, "Your analogies are getting worse…"
The Doctor scoffed, "I'm sorry if my wit isn't on top form, I'm a little focused on trying to not be executed right now."

The ship finally reached a grinding halt, shuddering from one side to another. Clara lifted her head to look up at the Doctor, hugging the console with his legs. "Where are we?" She asked.

"Well presumably our hi-jackers Spacestation or spaceship… Peacemaker Four… That's what I heard." Said the Doctor staring intently up at the lights for damage.

Clara stood up and folded her arms, "Funny way to make peace… by kidnapping…"

"Violence seems to be the preferred method for peace throughout the universe, I wonder why nobody's pointed out the irony…"

Clara looked at the doors, "If they've arrested us and hijacked the TARDIS, does that mean they can get in?"

"No, of course not!" said the Doctor proudly, "These are the finest doors in the world, the assembled hordes of Genghis Khan couldn't…"

A High-pitched ringing cut the Doctor short as smoke began to pour from the doors. A Body came crashing through as a guard hunched-over walked through the doors; hardly even affected by the doors, it simply walked on in. More of these hunched over creatures walked in until about nine surrounded the Doctor and Clara with guns pointed at them.

Clara put her hands in the air before the Doctor shortly followed. "What was that about Genghis Khan?" She whispered through gritted teeth.

The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Alright, admittedly he didn't have digital shield cutters…"

One of the creatures stepped forward, removing it's helm to reveal a large beige nose with four black eyes; it stood proud and tall amongst it's comrades, "You are the Doctor, you are under arrest."
The Doctor nodded with a smile, "Yeah, I kind of noticed. Nice armour, shame about the… nose…"

The creature tightened its gaze, "Shame about the chin…"

The Doctor had a look of surprise; he flicked a look to Clara who hid her smirk before he looked back, "A sassy goanna thing… I like a sassy goanna thing... If it weren't for the gun. Well then execution time, chop chop, we haven't got all day."

"Not yet," it growled, "You will stand before Councilwoman Quy, then move to the bulk cell to be executed shortly after."
The Doctor smiled, "So we do get a trial! That's nice, I like a trial. I've got a hell of a gob, so I can do what I do best."

The creature shook it's head, "Don't be mistaken Doctor, you will stand before the Councilwoman… You will have no trial, your execution is concrete."

The Doctor pursed his lips and swung round to Clara, "Well supper with royalty isn't such a bad final moment is it?"
"If you'd follow us Doctor…" He gestured out the TARDIS doors.

The Doctor smiled and turned a knob on the TARDIS before walking down the metal path and out the door, Clara shortly followed.

They stepped out into a curved silver corridor with no square edges, it was enormously tall, as if to fit a 500 ft tall creature, the ship had to have been colossal and a glass window stood magnificently on the otherside beaming out the beauty of spiraling blue galaxies.

Clara stepped out and saw thousands of white lights shrouded in dark reds the collapsed into swirls of deeper blue and navy, until black. "That is… that's just beautiful. I mean…" she looked at the guards around her, "Considering the circumstances, execution on our heels, it probably doesn't mean all that much, but still… worth it… Don't you think Doctor?"

Clara turned her head to the Doctor who had a concentrated look upon his face as he scanned the parameters of the glass window, "That white dust in a line outside the ship… what is that?"

Clara shrugged, "Just stardust, I spose…"

The Doctor shook his head, "The stars are all distant, that dust is near, very near, it's tainted the window a bit, just in small places, it's not from any of those stars you see…"

"It is nothing…" snarled the creature, "Peace-maker IV is a big ship, it is simply the release of the ballast."

Clara nodded, "Space sewage… Well then, not the pretty stardust you would wish for, but it answers your question."

The Doctor silently up at the dust, "Oh Clara, I wish it were the ballast…"

Clara frowned, "If it's not the ballast, what is it then?"

The Guards began to grow restless and their leader turned around to frown at them. The Doctor gave them a nod and began to walk alongside Clara, he spoke in a hushed voice to her, "I don't mean to frighten you, but I have the feeling that Peace-Maker IV isn't messing around when they talk of executions… I want to speak to this Grand Council Fairy or whatever she is, right now… I intend to find out every detail immediately, because I don't think we are here by accident…"


Tegan circled the cell, giving a furious glance over to the guard who seemed unphased every time she changed direction. Nyssa sat in the corner, looking around at the different inches of the cell.

"Why won't they just tell us why we are here?" asked Tegan.

"They did tell us," said Nyssa, "When they captured us, we've been arrested for harbouring evil force… or something along those lines…"

"I'm from earth! I was a flight attendant, a travel agent, a rights activist and for a short while a Chanteuse when I was younger back in Brisbane, but I am by no means an alien evil or whatever they called me! Don't they realize they've made a false accusation?" She lamented.

Nyssa shook her head, "No… It's too perfect of a scenario, to have us both here at the same time… They took you from earth…"

Tegan snorted, "I thought it was my son, Rodney, mucking about when he should be in bed; when all of a sudden this bright light was in my eyes and there was this loud yelling and here I was, abducted from earth!" she said, spluttering her hands about.

"I'm the president of Trellanine, one of the most remarkable cities of the Staar Plax. I had just finished a conference meeting in the heart of the city, they stole me in broad daylight."

Tegan chortled, "President!? That's impressive, I always knew you'd grow up to do something clever, you had all the brains… I'm 52 and I'm still not getting much done; plus, I know you're still younger, so don't rub it in; always jealous of your pretty little looks back in the day."

Nyssa smiled, "I wouldn't say that, you've raised a family; that can be someone's biggest achievement…" Nyssa stopped in her tracks and frowned, "Did you say 52?"

Tegan raised an eyebrow, "Or do rub it in, rude pants…"

Nyssa stood up, "No, but don't you see! I'm still younger, I'm 49! Thirty years ago, I was travelling in the TARDIS with you and The Doctor and thirty years ago, so were you!"

Tegan smiled, "Yes, we've aged a bit lovey, that's how time works unless you're the Doctor…"

Nyssa laughed, "Oh Tegan, you're still missing the obvious… I'm not living on earth! I'm in a completely different time zone. Where I'm from, is far in your future, there is no way we are in sync, yet somehow we've been grabbed at exactly the same points in our time stream, well… strictly speaking… exactly how far apart we were in the TARDIS…"

"So this is the Doctor's fault then?" asked Tegan frowning

"No," said Nyssa, "But someone manipulating our time lines all the way since… well, since…"

Tegan's eyes widened as it clicked, "1983! Amsterdam!"

"Of course!" exclaimed Nyssa, "The voice!"

"You heard it too?"

"Omega!" said Nyssa tapping her head.

"Omega's behind this?" asked Tegan raising an eyebrow.

Nyssa shook her head, "No… but Omega must have been the evil force we harboured, the one that we are in trouble for…"

"But we stopped him! These guards won't listen to us… we need to find the Doctor!"

A Voice came from the glass to their right, "Who are you looking for?"

There was a quick wave of electricity through the glass as a voice came from outside, "No communicating between cells."

The person on the other side quickly flicked his head to the right in a growl, "I'm a dead man anyway so what could it possibly do?"

The Guard gave him a foul look and then walked on, losing interest. The man turned back to them; he was sort of humanoid, but bald with sandpaper skin and blue facial features, with eyes like a lizard.

"My name is Brine, I'm the observer of peace…" He licked his lips, "I see this place, day in and day out, even though they don't want me to… I can tell you if I have seen who are you looking for…"

Tegan got past Brine's alien features and nodded, "Brilliant, well for starters he has stripy pants and wears sn…"

Nyssa grabbed Tegan and pulled her back before she could finish, Brine began to mutter senselessly to himself behind them. "What'd you do that for?"

"Well for starters," Nyssa calmly said, "we probably don't want to be giving the Doctor's details to strangers and put him in danger, and much more importantly… he's a Timelord… he regenerates, you saw it happen."

It all began to sink in for Tegan as she stepped back, "Do you think?"

"If it's been thirty years for us… and he really is here… imagine how long it has been for him? He could have regenerated a dozen times since we last saw him, I don't know what he looks like now, but… he won't be the young cricket player anymore…"

Tegan sighed, "So if the Doctor really is here in this weird spaceship… we'll never recognize him…"

"I wouldn't say that," said Nyssa with a smile, "I'll know…"


Oooo, getting more anxious and suspenseful. Stay tuned for Chapter 3!