Chapter 9

"The Tardis, where is it? Hurry up." The Doctor ordered into the communicator.

"Doctor, just listen okay? Don't raise your voice." Harriett froze as she heard Grace's voice come out of the communicator.

Harriett snatched the device out of the Doctor's hand, immediately asking her friend if she was okay.

"Harriett, don't panic, I'm fine; but I need to speak to the Doctor." Grace said and Harriett nodded before sheepishly handing the communicator back to the Doctor, who rolled his eyes.

"Grace, is River with you?" He asked.

"Yes, why?" She answered and he sighed; Harriett knew what he was going to ask.

"Can I speak to her?" The Doctor asked and Harriett hid a smirk as she heard Grace huff, annoyed.

"No, just listen, would you?" She snapped and the Doctor raised his eyebrows, surprised.

"The Romans that you're with aren't real. They're being driven by the Nestene Consciousness and they're in a picture book in Amy's house."

"Why are you even there?" He questioned.

"It doesn't matter. The Tardis went wrong. Doctor, Grace, how is this possible?" River quickly put in.

"Something's using her memories. Amy's memories." Grace answered and the Doctor frowned.

"But how?" River asked, confused.

"You said something had been there." The Doctor said.

"Yeah. There's burn marks on the grass outside." Grace said.

"Landing patterns." River added.

"If they've been to her house, they could have used her psychic residue. Structures can hold memories, that's why houses have ghosts. They could've taken a snapshot of Amy's memories. But why?" The Doctor stressed, pacing around as Harriett watched with wide eyes, slightly confused.

"Doctor, who are those Romans?" River asked.

"Projections, or duplicates." He said nervously.

"But they were helping us. My lipstick even worked." River said, her voice puzzled.

"They might think they're real. The perfect disguise. They actually believe their own cover story, right until they're activated." The Doctor realised and Harriett's eyes widened.

"Doctor, that Centurion." River said slowly and Harriett bit her lip, as something clicked. "It's a trap. It has to be. They used Amy to construct a scenario you'd believe, to get close to you."

"Why? Who'd do that? What for? It doesn't make sense." The Doctor stressed.

The pair heard a massive 'bang' on the other side of the communicator and Harriett's eyes widened as it went silent on Grace's side.

"River? Grace?" The Doctor and Harriett asked, the brunette's heart rate beginning to rise as worry for her friends' grew.

"River, what's happening?" The Doctor asked.

"I don't know. It's the engines. Doctor, there's something wrong with the Tardis, like something else is controlling it." River stressed and the pair could hear them both moving about, trying to fix the Tardis.

"You're flying it wrong." The Doctor retorted.

"I'm flying it perfectly. You taught me." River pointed out.

"Where are you? What's the date reading?" He asked.

"It's the 26th of June, 2010." Grace answered and Harriett watched as the Doctor stiffened.

"You need to get out of there now. Any other time zone. Just go." The Doctor ordered; River grunted on the other end.

"We can't break free!" Grace shouted and Harriett could hear the panic in her best friend's voice.

"Well, then shut down the Tardis. Shut down everything!" The Doctor yelled and Harriett ran a hand through her hair nervously.

"I can't!" River screamed back. "Someone else is flying it. An external force. I've lost control."

"But how? Why?" The Doctor asked as a high pitched noise rang out, and Harriett put a hand over her ears as it resonated through her brain painfully; all the Romans around them slumped simultaneously but neither of the pair noticed.

"Listen to me, just land her anywhere. Emergency landing, now. There are cracks in time. I've seen them everywhere, and they're getting wider. The Tardis exploding is what causes them, but we can stop the cracks ever happening if you just land her."

"It's not safe." Grace said and Harriett frowned, grabbing the communicator.

"Grace Jessica Lewis, I don't care if it's not safe, whatever is going on, land her now!" She screamed, her anger overcoming her fear as the Pandorica started to open, a brilliant white light flooding out of the box.

"Well, now. Ready to come out, are we?" The Doctor asked quietly, as Harriett moved away from the box, nervously.

"Doctor?" River started. "I'm down."

"We've landed." Grace put in.

"Okay, just walk out of the doors. If there's no one inside, the Tardis engines shut down automatically. Just get out of there." The Doctor ordered, as Harriett held her breath.

"We're going." River said.

"Run!" The Doctor screamed.

"Doctor! Doctor, we can't open the doors!" Grace cried and Harriett cursed, loudly, just as the Doctor saw the Romans – Harriett looked over and gasped as she saw that their hands had dropped away to reveal guns.

"Amy!" The Doctor cried, panicked.

"Doctor, I can't open the doors! Doctor, please, I've got seconds!" River screamed and Harriett felt tears fill her eyes for her friend and River as two Romans moved forward to grab the Doctor.

"Plastic Romans. Duplicates, driven by the Nestene Consciousness, eh? Deep cover, but what for? What are you doing? What's in there, eh? What's coming out?" The Doctor asked quietly, as he was pulled away from the box. Harriett shrunk back slightly, trying to stay inconspicuous.

"The Pandorica is ready." One of the Romans said and the Doctor paused.

"What, do you mean it's open?" He asked as Harriett moved forward, her curiosity overcoming her.

"You have been scanned, assessed, understood, Doctor." A White robot that even Harriett knew to be a Dalek moved forward; the red and Yellow beamed in behind it and the Doctor went rigid.

"Scanned? Scanned by what, a box?" The Doctor asked as Harriett moved forward to stand in front of the White Dalek.

"Harriett, what are you doing?" The Doctor asked worriedly; the brunette cocked her head to the side, studying the Dalek curiously, her hazel eyes glinting mischievously.

"EXTERMINATE!" She grinned, pointing at it and the Dalek looked at her for a second, while the Doctor just blinked.

"Harriett… Move, now." The Doctor ordered and Harriett turned back to him; but on the look of worry and slight anger on his face she pursed her lips and nodded, before hastily running off.

'Stay behind me, Harriett.' The Doctor ordered, as she stood next to him.

'Not on your life'' She assured just as stubbornly as him.

'Life's.' He corrected putting emphasis on the plural as they backed away.

"Your limits and capacities have been extrapolated." The Dalek said, choosing to ignore the girl, as Cybermen, Judoon and Sontarans appeared in the chamber; in Harriett's opinion, what were the Sontarans looked like potatoes with faces to her.

"The Pandorica is ready." One of the potato-men said and the Doctor frowned.

"Ready for what?" He asked cautiously.

"Ready for you." The White Dalek said and the Doctor struggled futilely against the Romans. They dragged him towards the big box that had opened to reveal a giant chair. Harriett frowned.

"Err, question… Why are you putting the Doctor into the big scary chair?" She asked. The Daleks turned to the brunette as did the Cybermen and she stepped back a little, creeped out by their animated stares.

"Who are you?" The White Dalek asked in its robotic voice.

"Leave her, she has nothing to do with this!" The Doctor shouted from inside the box where the clamps were coming down onto his arms, around his torso and next to his head as the Romans began to approach the girl; she scoffed.

"Oh no you don't!" Harriett snapped, striking out with a punch to the first plastic Roman; he fell backwards with a crash whilst the others kept advancing.

"Ow! Bugger! I'm never doing that again!" Harriett shouted, shaking her hand in pain. "That killed." She muttered, as two Romans grabbed her arms.

"Get off me!" Harriett yelled, trying her best to free herself as the Doctor looked at his enemies in shock.

"You lot, working together. An alliance. How is that possible?" He asked, quietly.

"The cracks in the skin of the universe." The White Dalek stated.

"All reality is threatened." One of the Sontarans added.

"All universes will be deleted." A Cyberman said, stepping forward.

"What? And you've come to me for help?" The Doctor asked and Harriett rolled her eyes from where she stood; it was clearly obvious that they weren't asking for his help.

"No. We will save the universe from you!" The Sontaran shouted and the Doctor frowned.

"From me?" He asked, eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

"All projections correlate. All evidence concurs. The Doctor will destroy the universe." The Cyberman said.

"No, no, no. You've got it wrong." The Doctor protested.

"The Pandorica was constructed to ensure the safety of the Alliance." The Cyberman continued.

"A scenario was devised from the memories of your companion." The White Dalek said, as Harriett bit her lip before kicking out at the Roman and elbowing the other one, in order to escape. She cursed quietly as she realised that her exit was cut off and she quickly snuck over to the box in the middle of the room, somehow managing to sneak in unnoticed as the Doctor continued to argue with his enemies.

"A trap the Doctor could not resist." The Sontaran added.

"The cracks in time are the work of the Doctor. It is confirmed." The Cyberman said.

"No. no, no, not me, the Tardis. And I'm not in the Tardis, am I?" The Doctor pointed out but his enemies seemed to have an answer for everything.

"Only the Doctor can pilot the Tardis."

"Please, listen to me!" The Doctor cried.

"You will be prevented." The Cyberman said and the Doctor struggled against the bonds that were holding him down.

"Total event collapse! Every sun will supernova at every moment in history. The whole universe will never have existed. Please, listen to me!" The Doctor yelled.

"Seal the Pandorica." The Cyberman said, stepping forward.

"No! Please, listen to me! The Tardis is exploding right now and I'm the only one who can stop it! Listen to me!" The Doctor roared, as Harriett gasped silently, terrified for Grace and River. The box began to close as the Doctor's yell echoed around the room as the box was plunged into total darkness.


River and Grace ran to the doors once they managed to get them open and River flung it open only to find that they were next to a cliff face, unable to get out.

"I'm sorry, my love."

"I'm sorry, girls." Grace added onto the end of her line, tears streaming down her face; they both looked back to the centre of the Tardis, as it exploded.

KaBOOM!