DOCTOR WHO: THE FAMILY

Chapter 3

KATE'S OFFICE, UNIT HQ, PRESENT DAY:

"So this latch is them, then?" Nicola asked as she made her way into Kate's office. It was pristine with a photo of her father proudly sitting on the desk. Everywhere about it felt old but new at the same time; Kate felt modern but dated in the same way, but it suited her well.
"Not necessarily," said the Doctor. "But it is our best and closest thing to a lead you could say."
"The thing is, and I don't get it," began Mick, who was leaning against the door. "Is why would whatever these things are attack an innocent family? They were hardly army people, vigilantes or thugs posing a threat, were they?"
"You saw what they tried to do to us though," said Kate as she sat down in her seat. "That was a hostile threat with an attempt possibly against our lives. UNIT are treating this as an alien threat. Whatever happened to the Hanners family is of course terrible, but we have to think on the wider scale."
"What? Do you mean more people are at risk?" Nicola then asked. The Doctor stood still but looked everyone in the eyes – it was a deep, meaningful stare that evoked a yes if stares could do so.
"This thing, these creatures, whatever they are killed a family…" said the Doctor. "Who's to say they won't kill again? We could very easily have been the next victims. There could already have been more. It's what I'm trying to stop."
"Why though?" asked Mick. "Why you?" The Doctor just looked at Mick sternly and then towards Kate's desk and the picture of the late Brigadier. He grinned slightly.
"For him," he said simply as he pointed to the picture. "He was a great friend, a great and dear friend. I'm repaying that friendship to his daughter – I have once already; remember those cubes? - I want to do it again. I want to help; I want to make him proud. Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a time machine to see to." he added as he awkwardly left the office. Mick was just silent while Nicola couldn't help but have a smile on her face. She liked the Doctor and his way of dealing with things already. Kate was smiling too and hoped her father would have been proud to hear the Doctor talk so fondly of him. Staring out of her window though, Kate couldn't help but hear that voice again – the voice she'd heard at the woods. It was much clearer this time.
"Help, help me…" it said. Kate went pale in the face. Nicola and Mick noticed immediately.
"Are you ok?" asked Nicola. "Miss Stewart?" Kate didn't respond and just continued to stare out of the window.
"Help me…"called the voice once more before suddenly Kate lurched back in her seat as to her, a figure appeared in front of her. It was the figure of a girl, a young girl. Her face was covered in cuts and grazes and her clothing was torn. Kate was frozen in shock. Nicola and Mick were getting concerned and tried to get her attention.
"Kate, Miss Stewart…" said Nicola again. "Are you ok? Is everything alright?"
"Grace…" Kate then eventually muttered. "Grace…oh dear god…"
"Grace," said Mick. "As in Grace Hanners?" Kate nodded slightly.
"I've just seen her, I've just seen Grace…"

THE TARDIS, UNIT HQ, PRESENT DAY:

Unaware of what Kate was seeing and hearing, the Doctor was just happy to be occupied with something and was utilising his new TARDIS well with location scanners trying to find a home planet behind the readings and tests trying to find out what the glimmering purple actually was. The TARDIS was humming loudly and the Doctor was humming along with it as he eagerly awaited the results. A ping from across the console then sounded as the Doctor side-stepped his way over to its proximity.
"Oh my…" he muttered. "I didn't expect that. Well done, old girl…" he added as he patted the console proudly. Getting his screwdriver to hand, he rushed outside the TARDIS. "Kate!" he called. "We've got something!"

D.A.C. REITH'S OFFICE, SCOTLAND YARD, PRESENT DAY:

"You believe them?" quizzed DAC Reith on his office phone. "You actually believe them, Nicola?"
"I'm beginning to do so, sir." she replied from inside UNIT HQ. "There's just something about the level of belief in both Miss Stewart and the Doctor for me to believe it's true."
"The Doctor?"
"He's their special man – he deals with these things a lot. He had a part in the cube problem, sir. He is obviously trusted by UNIT, so I trust him." she responded.
"What happened to 'this is my case and I'll be in charge?' where's that Nicola gone?" Reith then asked as he was concerned for Nicola. He'd seen her rise through the ranks well and in a defining case like this, he'd have thought she'd have been more in control like she normally was on a case.
"She's still here, sir…" smiled Nicola. "But in the circumstances, I hardly think being my usual self is appropriate. If I need to be me, I will sir, but not now anyway."
"Good luck then – keep me informed of progress." DAC Reith then added sternly before hanging up. Nicola just smiled to herself; she still couldn't quite believe she was on such a big case, let alone a case that had possible alien links with it. As she gathered all her thoughts though, Nicola thought she could hear a voice, a faint voice in the distance. Looking round, she could see nobody else in sight.
"Hello?" she asked. "Was someone speaking to me?"
"Help…" came the voice. Nicola moved towards the voice's direction but it grew fainter the nearer she made her way to it. She was puzzled. "Help…" came the voice again, although clearer this time. It was a male's voice, not a man, and not a child's. Nicola knew from the case that Henry Hanners was 14, and this voice fitted in with that kind of age.
"Henry?" she then asked as she looked round thinking of what Kate had seen. "Henry, are you there?"
"Help…" came the voice once again. "Help me." it added loudly. Nicola looked round once again and then in the corner of her eye, she saw a figure – it was Henry's.
"Oh my word…" she muttered. "This is not possible. Henry!" she then called as she ran towards the figure. The figure didn't move and then vanished in front of Nicola just as she was about to catch up with it. "Henry…" she said once more but his figure didn't come back this time…

KATE'S OFFICE, UNIT HQ, PRESENT DAY:

"You don't look well," said the Doctor to Kate as he entered her office with a beaming smile etched across his face.
"It's just a headache," she said dismissively. "I hear you've got something on them, whoever they are."
"If you pass me your scanner, I can show you exactly – the TARDIS has some imagery of them. I've never met them before, but she stores data from everywhere. I've got a friend with a computer in her attic that does the same." he then explained as Kate handed over her scanner. After a quick buzz from his sonic, the Doctor got Kate's scanner to display the imagery he'd got. "There you go, have a look…" he said as he handed the scanner back over. Kate looked at the image closely and all she could do was sigh. The creature was a long, black and jagged looking thing with spikes, or what looked like spikes on its exterior. It could apparently swim through the air as it had no arms or legs. It had just a big mouth and pincers. Its eyes were a dark green with raw, red scars all over its jagged body. A similar deep red and sharp tail also protuded from its body.
"This is what did it then?" she asked after a long pause. "This is what killed the Hanners family?" The Doctor took Kate's hand and nodded in agreement.
"If it didn't, it's a coincidence it was there," he said. "But these creatures, Deavoes, are predators – protective predators that can injure, maim and kill with ease. Their planet has long been gone and all they do is roam the universe in search of a home. Anything that breaks into it, intentional or not, is at their mercy. The level of injury is all dependant, but the injuries the Hanners family took tallies up with data on the Deavoes from across the stars."
"What horrid things," said Kate as she tried to stifle her emotion. She'd remembered the story from the time and it had always struck her as quite a tragedy, but working on it now was bringing it all back. "Do you think they knew that the Hanners were harmless?"
"Yes…" said the Doctor solemnly. "For them it's more of a reason to attack. Deavoes devour and kill for protection of their own, but more so for fun."
"What do we need to do then, Doctor?" Kate asked. "We've got men out there guarding that area. Are they at risk? How far and wide do these Deavoes go?"
"I don't know," the Doctor answered simply. "But we need to be back there, back at the woods."
"Why?"
"Something's going to happen tonight, I can tell…" the Doctor answered ominously as Kate looked on nervously.