Chapter 8 - Evacuation

"You're a lunatic" the station manager said brushing The Doctor off from the ticket desk "look this station is going to fill up in twenty minutes with passengers from Dijon; I have to make sure everything runs smoothly okay"

"This place has to be evacuated!" The Doctor shouted in a panic

"I heard you the first time!" the station manager said rolling his eyes "You won't even tell me why"

"You wouldn't believe me!" The Doctor replied

"I don't believe you anyway, now go away!"

The Doctor ran away from the desk and over to Rose who was walking away from a group of the passengers.

"It's not working, Doctor" Rose said "they're all looking at me like I just escaped from an asylum"

"How are Joan and Louis doing?" The Doctor asked

"I don't think they've convinced everyone either" Rose said nodding her head

The Doctor ran over to the TARDIS, unlocked it and walked inside. Rose shrugged her shoulders and ran over to Louis and Joan.

"You have to leave this station" Louis said to a female passenger in a brown dress "I can't say why, but just trust me"

"He's right" Joan said nodding

"Nonsense, I'm waiting for my sister" the passenger said annoyed "now leave me alone before I call over the station manager" she said before walking away from them

"No luck?" Rose asked standing beside them

The Doctor suddenly ran out of the TARDIS carrying a briefcase and locked it behind him. He ran over to the ticket desk swiftly.

"What's he doing?" Joan asked

"I don't know" Rose replied confused

The Doctor slammed the case onto the ticket desk, the loud noise making the station manager jump.

"Okay, how much do you want?" The Doctor asked

"Are you being serious?" the station manager uttered

"Completely serious" The Doctor said opening the case. Inside were hundreds of neatly arranged French Franc notes "There are a million Francs in this case. Evacuate the station" The Doctor said pushing the case towards him "Don't say a word!"

"I can't, a train's about to arrive in fifteen minutes" the station manager said studying the money in front of him

"You're so blind! The train you're speaking of is going to smash into this station causing an explosion!" The Doctor yelled "take the money and evacuate the place"

The station manager's face looked a pale white as he shut the case.

"An explosion" the station manager thought over what he had just heard

He stepped out from behind the desk and walked over to the passengers, case in hand.

"Everyone!" the station manager yelled as all the people in the station turned their head towards them "No need to be alarmed. There has been a bomb threat. Please evacuate the station quietly."

There were mumbles of disagreement and shouts of "Why?" and "What's going on?" as he walked closer to the passengers.

"Please evacuate!" the station manager said "I repeat, there is no need for concern"

Slowly the passengers headed towards the exit gossiping to each other in confusion. A minute later and the station was completely empty, only Rose, Louis and Joan standing near The Doctor and the station manager.

"Where did you get all this money? Why are you giving it to me…" the station manager paused for a second tripping over his words "…just to tell people to get out of a station?"

"You have to save yourself, we'll be fine" The Doctor said ignoring his question "I'm in control now"

The station manager walked over towards the exit.

"Lock all doors!" The Doctor shouted over to him

"Do you want the key!?" the station manager yelled back

"No, we've got our own escape plan!" The Doctor yelled

He went outside and pulled the heavy metal doors shut, locking it behind him.

"How did you convince him?" Rose asked curiously

"See that case, it contained one million Francs" The Doctor replied

"What are you doing carrying around one million Francs with you?" Louis asked him with a slight smile

"I won it on a horse racing bet" The Doctor replied "Now we have to get out of here before this place turns into a fireball"

"Wait a minute Doctor" Joan stopped him "What if all the monsters don't die in the explosion?"

"I'm pretty sure they'll all be burnt" The Doctor replied "we have to get out of here; we can discuss it in the TARDIS"

"I'm not taking that chance Doctor" Joan replied "I want to make sure every last one of them is dead"

The Doctor looked at her as she began to load the revolver.

"The TARDIS has a force field I can activate" The Doctor said grudgingly "You can check the wreckage after the explosion"

The Doctor jogged towards the TARDIS, his brown pinstripe coat flailing behind him. Rose, Louis and Joan followed him.

He tinkered with a few buttons on the console. He then turned on the TARDIS monitor.

"It's on" The Doctor said with a nod

Suddenly, they could see it approaching on the monitor. A black nineteenth century train travelling at an almighty speed towards the station, wisps of smoke bursting from its chimney.

"I don't agree with this, Joan" The Doctor mumbled to himself watching the approaching train carefully on the monitor "it's too dangerous"

"Doctor, I have a duty for my country" Joan said proudly but sadly "I have nothing left now that my husband is gone."

The train suddenly smashed into the station, instantly disintegrating the stone of the platform. There was a huge explosion and a fireball ripped through the station, shrapnel thrown all over the station. They waited a few minutes for the fires to die down.

Joan walked out of the TARDIS.

"Don't come back for me, Doctor." she said to him coldly

She shut the door of the TARDIS and with her revolver out, ran over to the wreckage of the train. They watched as he she stood for a few seconds beside the wreckage, gun aimed as she analysed each part of the wreckage closely. A few minutes later and she had found nothing.

"She's fine. I think we better go, our work is done here" The Doctor muttered walking over a bit to another part of the console

"You're just going to leave her?" Rose asked

"She feels she has a duty, Rose. I can't do anything to persuade her otherwise" The Doctor told her

Rose shrugged her shoulders at his comment.

"Now, we'll have to take you home, Mr. Le Prince" The Doctor said

"You know where I live?" Louis asked confused

"Well I know it's Leeds" The Doctor gave a chuckle "the TARDIS will probably know where it is"

The TARDIS materialised in the lounge of a small house in the outskirts of Leeds. The Doctor passed him over the large briefcase with the three films and the camera.

"Keep the films well hidden in your house" The Doctor said "but keep it somewhere your family knows"

"I shall, Doctor. You did all that to make sure my invention was kept safe" Louis said with a smile of victory "Thanks for everything. I shall see you later, perhaps?"

"Goodbye Louis" The Doctor said with a wave

He stepped out of the TARDIS and into his living room which was the exact same as he had left it to go on holiday. He was back to normality.

"Strange" The Doctor muttered to himself

"What?" Rose asked

"It's probably nothing." The Doctor said "But in the history book I read that he went missing."

"He went missing?" Rose repeated to herself

"Yes. According to the book the last time he was seen was on the train" The Doctor said slightly puzzled

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"There was a bomb on the train. I was first off so I luckily managed to survive. I checked the wreckage for survivors after the explosion but there were none." Joan explained carefully lying

"She's right." the station manager nodded

"Okay, if that's the case" the policeman said "why was the entire station evacuated?"

"I had heard rumours of a plot" the station manager explained "it was a precaution"

The policeman suddenly let out a chuckle.

"You're both liars, both of you" the policeman said

"What?" Joan suddenly asked panicking

"We found a survivor. He's locked up in a cell downstairs." the policeman explained to her "It took ten of us just to grab him and pin him down. Something was seriously wrong with him, if you can call him a human. There was no emotion behind the eyes, absolutely none. We've got someone coming in who thinks he knows what's wrong though. Someone from some organisation in Britain. Called Torchwood I think. I'll just be glad to get this case out of our hand. It's got too strange for my liking. Hopefully they'll cover it up, just leave it with a vague statement like they all went missing. That would do me."

"You don't believe our stories?" Joan asked

"Definitely not, you know something we don't" the policeman said "but to be frank, we don't care."

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"Do you think you've changed history?" Rose asked him curiously

"There's a chance. But that's such a vague term to use. As long as the films survive so that Thomas Edison is influenced by him. Everything should be back to what it should be." The Doctor said "Anyway we better get back to 3111 anyway. We better check everything's back to normal"

The Doctor calmly walked over to the console. Suddenly the door flew open and Louis Le Prince stumbled back into the TARDIS with the case.

"Something wrong?" The Doctor questioned him

"Doctor, after seeing so much, I can't just walk away from you like this." Louis said "You have shown me how much adventure is out there. You have shown me the impossible. You have shown me my destiny. Please let me join you."

"Well" The Doctor said scratching his chin "I'm not really supposed to take important historical figures of significance travelling with me"

"Doctor, just let him come with us" Rose tried to persuade him

"But I suppose one trip wouldn't do any harm"

Louis Le Prince suddenly let out a massive smile and ran over to hug him.

"Thank you Doctor" he said enthusiastically

"Don't get too excited, it's only one trip." The Doctor said "Just one trip"