Earthlight

DISCLAIMER: I am not connected to Doctor Who and its characters, which belong to the BBC.

-O-

Chapter 3 – The secret of Sigma

"There's a shaft down here," Orleo said as he peered down it after they had removed the cover, "Looks like a ladder, I'll climb down and take a look."

"Be careful," Jade watched as Orleo descended into the gloom.

"Can you see anything?" the Doctor shouted down the shaft, after they had given Orleo enough time to climb down a little way.

"There's a long corridor," Orleo's voice had an echo as he shouted up, "it looks safe if you want to follow me down."

The Doctor went next, then Lothan, followed by Jade and Leanne. When everyone had reached the bottom of the shaft, they could see the long corridor that Orleo had referred to. It stretched away from them as far as the eye could see in both directions. The walls looked like they were made of metal and dim lights in the ceiling illuminated the passageway.

"Which way do we go?" Jade asked.

"That's a good question," the Doctor replied, "Let's go this way," he said, as he set of to his right.

They walked for ages, but still the passageway continued, with nothing but the metal walls either side. There were no doors or entrances of any kind. Then, after a few hundred metres, they came to an opening in the wall, which led to another vertical shaft with a ladder, descending to another level further down.

"Shall we?" the Doctor indicated that he wished to climb down the ladder.

They all made their way down again to find yet another corridor.

"I wonder how far these shafts go down," Jade said.

"Yes...and where do they lead?" the Doctor pointed his sonic screwdriver at the wall, "Hmm, I don't recognise this substance, it looks metallic, but my instrument is not detecting its composition."

"Well, I don't want to be a killjoy," Lothan said, "But we'd better turn back soon if we want to dodge the Arachnoids on our return journey."

The Doctor looked disappointed, "But, we haven't found out where this leads!"

"I know," Lothan replied, "But we don't know how far we need to go to discover anything and we need to protect ourselves. If we leave it too late, we could become fodder for the Arachnoids."

The Doctor capitulated, "Yes, old chap, you are quite right. We need to return safely. Maybe we can come back again when we've got more time to explore."

Lothan ascended the ladder in the shaft but, when he reached the top, he found his way blocked, "I can't get through, there's a seal at the top of the shaft. That wasn't there when we came down."

Lothan attempted to push the seal open, but it would not move. He climbed back down the ladder to join the others.

"Let me try with the sonic screwdriver," the Doctor said as he ascended the ladder but, a few minutes later, he came back down again. "It's no use, it is completely shut tight."

"What are we going to do, Doctor?" Jade looked worried.

"We'll have to try another shaft," the Doctor replied, "These corridors seem to have a number of shafts, we might find one that is open."

They set off along the corridor but, after a few hundred metres, they came to a dead end. They turned back and passed the sealed-off shaft again but, after walking some distance, they arrived at another dead end.

"We're trapped!" Jade's voice had a hint of panic.

"I must admit," the Doctor said, "There does not appear to be an escape route open to us. We'll just have to try to open that seal in the shaft and go back the way we came."

Before they could make another move, the seal on the end of the corridor opened, like a sliding door and a robotic creature stood looking at them, pointing a weapon in their direction. It looked humanoid and similar to a Cyberman although the Doctor had not seen such a creature before.

"Who are you?" the Doctor challenged the creature.

"I am security drone two-thousand and six," the robot spoke in a monotone voice, "You are trespassing in Verron territory. Follow me!"

The robot moved off the way it had come and, still brandishing its weapon, indicated for the party to follow. They reached a door in the side of the corridor and were ushered inside a metallic-walled room.

"Wait here," the robot said as it closed the door.

"Hold on, you can't keep us locked up in here!" the Doctor shouted, but it was too late.

"Verron territory?" Orleo remarked, "Who are the Verrons?"

"I presume they are the people that built this place," answered the Doctor.

"But, they're robots!" Jade remarked.

"Not necessarily Jade," the Doctor smiled, "Our little robotic friend is a security drone: he described himself as that. I imagine his masters are humanoid or, at least, some form of flesh and blood."

Suddenly, a hatch in the wall opened up and revealed several plates laden with food. It was a white substance with a fluffy consistency, similar to mashed potato.

"Well, at least we won't starve," the Doctor picked up a plate and handed it to Jade.

Jade eyed the food suspiciously, "Is it safe?" she asked.

"It's either take a chance on that, or waste away from hunger!" replied the Doctor.

Orleo took the plate and spoon that the Doctor handed him, "Well, I'll risk it! I'm famished!" So saying, he tasted a mouthful of the food, "Mmm, not bad!" he said as he took another spoonful.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Leanne asked as the Doctor handed her a plate of food.

"I imagine these Verrons will want to talk to us," the Doctor replied, "When that robot comes back to fetch us, we'll have to seize our chance!"

"But the exits were sealed, Doctor," Lothan pointed out, "Even if we could escape the robot guard, we can't get out of the corridor."

"Come now, Lothan, do you think I haven't escaped from trickier situations than this? One just needs to apply one's mind to the problem in hand."

"The problem IS...we're stuck!" Orleo had cleared his plate and was back to his sarcastic best.

"At least they're treating us OK," Lothan said, "If they wanted to harm us, why feed us?"

"A good point," the Doctor looked at Lothan, "Maybe they think that we can be of some use to them."

Jade looked pensive, "Do you think these Verrons are responsible for putting this planet between the Sun and the Earth?"

Just then, the door slid open.

"Looks as if we may be about to find out," the Doctor replied, under his breath.

The robot looked at the assembled group, "Do you have a leader amongst you?" it asked.

The Doctor stepped forward, unhindered by the others, "That would be me," he announced.

"You will come with me," the robot said.

"What about my friends?"

"They must stay here: the Verron Queen only wants to speak to the leader."

"The Verron Queen?" the Doctor queried.

"Yes, she is the supreme ruler of the Verrons," the robot answered, "follow me."

The Doctor complied with the robot's order. He was led down the long corridor to an opening in the wall. After stepping through the opening with the robot, the Doctor realised that it was an elevator. The doors closed and he was aware that they were descending quickly.

"Where are we going?" the Doctor asked.

"To the centre of the hive," the robot replied, "The Queen's chamber."

When the doors opened, the sight which greeted him took the Doctor's breath away. There was a vast chamber filled with hideous-looking creatures. They were eight-legged, like spiders, but had almost human faces, except that there were six eyes as opposed to a human's two. In the centre was a creature which was bigger than the others, with a huge body which rested on a cushioned plinth. The grotesque Queen of the species studied the Doctor with its six eyes, "So, you are the leader of the invaders, are you?"

"Not exactly, we don't really have a leader," the Doctor replied.

"You are different to the others, we scanned you all once the food was inside you: it helps us to get a really good picture of your make-up. The others appear to be from that planet called Earth, but you are from somewhere else?"

"Yes," the Doctor answered truthfully, "I'm from Gallifrey."

"Ah," the Queen cried, "A Time Lord!"

"You know of the Time Lords?"

"Yes. You are of a higher intelligence, are the Earth people your slaves?"

"NO!" the Doctor looked insulted, "We don't take people as slaves...that's barbaric."

"Oh come now," the Queen shifted her position as if she was uncomfortable, "Humans are of such a low intelligence...they are easy to rule! We soon had their planet under control by blocking the sun from their world and they didn't see it coming."

"So!" the Doctor shouted, "It WAS you that placed this planet in orbit around the sun."

"This is our ship," the Queen replied, "You've seen some of the underground corridors. We can steer this ship anywhere we like."

"But," the Doctor looked confused, "There is vegetation on the surface...and water...it looks like a planet."

"That's by design: most visitors do not discover our secret. They just think it is a planet like many others. Even those Earth people who crash-landed here didn't discover us until you came along."

"You knew they were here all this time?"

"Of course. We have scanners and sensors everywhere and nothing escapes us and, once you broke into our underground territory, it was easy to ensnare you in our web."

"But there's something I don't understand," the Doctor said, "Why go to all the bother of killing all those people on the planet Earth? What's in this for you?"

"Simple," the Queen almost seemed to be belittling the Doctor, "We need the minerals that the planet Earth can give us, so we crushed all resistance by cutting off the sun. The people are hardly going to surrender their assets willingly, are they?"

"But, how are you going to collect the minerals that you require?"

"With spaceships: manned by drones. We have been constructing ships and drones to go to Earth and we are almost ready. Our underground hanger is on alert and we will launch soon."

"And what about me and my friends?"

"You are no threat to us. You are free to go back to your friends and they are free to return to their ship. I doubt they will survive very long, especially once we've extracted all the minerals we need and move on somewhere else. Once this ship leaves the influence of the sun, they will die."

The Doctor became angry, "What about the others on the surface? The Arachnoids and any other life forms, they will die too!"

"That is incorrect," the Queen stated, "The Arachnoids, as you call them, are part of our species. They are us, but in an early stage of development. Eventually, they evolve into us. Some of them will become Queens and set up other hives. They are given protective shields over their nests when we move off."

"Why can't you protect the humans with shields?" the Doctor asked.

"They are no concern of ours," the Queen said, dismissively, "Now, return to your friends and go back to where you came from."

The Doctor rejoined Jade, Orleo, Leanne and Lothan and informed them of the outcome of his meeting with the Verron Queen.

"So," Lothan said, after digesting the information, "When the Queen decides to move this planet, or ship, or whatever, then we will die?"

"Not if I have anything to do with it," the Doctor replied, "I have a plan to put a stop to that, you won't be on the surface when that happens. Let's get back to the Tardis."

They all made their way to the surface, thankful that they had been released from captivity. Being underground, they had not realised that they had spent a night below the surface and they emerged into the early morning light.

"Well, at least the Arachnoids will be back in their nests," Lothan remarked.

"Yes," replied the Doctor, "That's one less thing to worry about."

After returning to Farrid, Atala, Shem, Betina and Karyn, the Doctor explained about his meeting with the Verron Queen and they were all amazed by his tale. He took everyone back to the Tardis, which amazed them even more!

"Now," the Doctor said as he set his controls, "Let's give our Verron friends a little surprise, shall we?"

"What are you going to do, Doctor?" Jade asked.

"I'm going to materialise in the Verron's spaceship hanger and stop the launch."

"How are you going to do that?" queried Orleo.

"They must have a huge fuel supply in that hanger," the Doctor had a glint in his eye, "It only takes someone to light a match and..."

"Boom!" Orleo spread his arms in an 'exploding' gesture.

The Doctor managed to materialise inside a corridor in the Verron's launching complex. He opened the doors of the Tardis and, with Orleo, Jade and Lothan, headed towards a fuelling point. He produced a small bottle from his coat pocket and looked for a filling cap on a tank.

"Here, this should do it," he said.

"What have you got there?" asked Jade.

"This is an atomic compound which will react with rocket fuel," explained the Doctor, "I just add this to the mixture...so," after removing the cap, he poured the contents of the bottle into the tank, "...and then, after about half an hour, the compound heats up and sets off a chain reaction in the fuel. We just need to be a long way away when that happens!"

They hurriedly made their way back to the Tardis and the Doctor dematerialised after setting the controls for Earth. Moments later, they landed near the City of the Immortals and they all stood outside in the darkness, illuminated only by the faint glow from the nearest building.

Before anyone could speak, there was a bright light in the sky and they all looked up to see a fireball erupt from Sigma. It was so powerful, it propelled the planetoid out of its orbit and the sun burst into view again.

"The explosion has acted like on rocket motor on Sigma," the Doctor explained, "It is leaving its orbit around the sun. I don't think the Verrons will be bothering the Earth for a long time, if at all." He looked at Lothan, Leanne and their friends, "With the other surviving people of Earth, you'll all be able to start over, now that the Earth has sunlight again."

Once more, the Doctor had saved the day!

THE END