The Exiled Time Lords
Chapter Two: Terror of the Autons - PART 1
Featuring: 3rd Doctor, 3rd Fighter, the Master (Delgado) and Jo Grant
The sound of a TARDIS materializing was heard as a motor horsebox suddenly appeared in front of a circus. The manager of the circus who happened to see it appear before his eyes, walked around, examining it. A man in a black suit and gloves with a neat beard gets out, walking away. However, he was caught by the manager. "Who the heck are you?" he asked in a thick Italian accent, stopping the man in his tracks.
"I am usually referred to as the Master."
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Universally." the Time Lord replied, glaring at him.
The tiny man puffed his chest, trying to seem intimidating. "Well, I am Luigi Rossini, internationally, and conjurers I don't need. Okay?"
"Unfortunately I need you, Lew Russell."
"What did you call me?" he asked, caught by surprise from the name.
"Lew Russell. It happens to be your real name. " the Master stated.
This didn't go down well with Rossini. "Now listen, Mister. Get off my pitch while you're still safe!" he warned.
"Why, you insolent primitive. " the Master spat, having had enough of this human and his attitude.
"Oh, so you it want the hard way, do you? Right."
Rossini went to grab the Time Lord, but the Master took his wrist in a vice-like grip, forcing the tiny man to his knees. Their eyes met and the Master worked his hypnotism on the man before letting him go. He walked a few feet away before snapping his fingers as Rossini got up and followed him like a dog.
He was here to cause some chaos, first by gathering the Nestene sphere. That should shake some things up and slowly help him conquer this primitive little planet. Then he could find his wife, following her trail which led him here in the first place.
However, the Time Lord had no idea the Doctor was here as well.
The Fighter woke up with a gasp. A familiar sensation had touched her mind and she questioned it before looking around at her surroundings. She appeared to be in a medical bay of some sort from all the instruments around her.
What had happened to her? And where exactly was she? She was having a hard time recalling.
Getting up from the bed, she walked past a mirror and examined herself. Apparently she had regenerated. The bright apple red hair that went past her shoulders and her hazel eyes were a for sure sign of that - not to mention the soft face - a complete opposite of her last body. Good! It was a vast improvement...but her clothes needed to be changed. They were dirty, bloody and just not her anymore. Changing out of the clothes, the Time Lady found a plain white nurses dress and decided to put it on. Looking in the mirror, she suddenly felt a feeling spark over her. Whoa, that was new!
The Fighter decided to investigate the building, grabbing a syringe to defend herself and figure out who brought her here. Walking down a corridor, she heard someone singing to themselves. She opened the door and the man inside turned to look at her. "Fighter, you're awake now!"
"Doctor?" She questioned, finally recalling what happened. The look on her face morphed to anger as she put hands on her hips, looking like she was going to run him down. "I could come across this room and slap you so hard that you regenerate right now for what you did!"
He looked confused. "I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Stealing a TARDIS, leaving Gallifrey, and most of all, leaving me to clean up after your mess !" This new body didn't seem to have a penchant for yelling like her last body, preferring to keep her anger in check. This would take some getting used to.
The Doctor scratched the back of his head, feeling guilty. Of course she would have known that. She was the commander of the Chancellery Guard after all, helping to keep security and law on Gallifrey. If any renegade got past her, it was all on her. And what was worse was the fact one of her friends had done exactly like that. "I- I'm sorry about that-"
She sighed, knowing he really wasn't. "No you aren't, but I'll forgive you this time anyway." After all, she was trying to make a change this time with this new regeneration.
The Doctor cleared his throat, changing the subject. "Are you doing better now?"
"Yes. Thank you."
"What happened?"
She seemed to be silent for a bit before answering. "You know me Thete, always getting into fights." A smile on her face. She wasn't going to tell him the truth of what happened just yet, he didn't need to know the horrible truth.
"Do your fights usually involve getting stabbed and falling from the sky?" he asked rather snarky. The Time Lord was only concerned for her safety and wanted to make sure she didn't go stumbling herself towards whoever did this again.
She happened to change the subject, wishing to no longer talk about it. "So, where are we exactly? If you're gonna rescue a girl and take her away, at least give her a tour of the place."
"You're changing the subject on me." The Doctor sighed, seeing he wasn't going to win this one. "You're at UNIT HQ, an organization on Earth dedicated to stopping alien threats."
"What year?"
"1971."
Her eyes suddenly focused on what he was working on. "What are you doing with that dematerialisation circuit?"
The Doctor suddenly looked hesitant at answering, quite embarrassed to tell her the truth. "Uh...well-" They were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Not today, thank you." the Time Lord huffed, hoping whoever was beyond the door would leave them alone.
But his wish wasn't granted as a young woman with blonde hair walked through, carrying a file of papers with her. She paused, noticing the two together and realizing how she must be interrupting on an important moment. "I, er-" she mumbled.
"I said not today, thank you!" the Doctor snapped at her.
"Doctor," the Fighter said, giving him a look. "no need to yell at the poor girl. She's only doing her job, right?" This caused her to nod, "What's your name, dear?"
Before she could answer, the Doctor fumbled with the device switching it on, causing it to fizz and make smoke in the room. "Oh, no."
They all started coughing before the blonde girl grabbed a fire extinguisher and put the smoke out. "It's all right, I've dealt with it." she declared proudly.
"Dealt with it?" the Doctor remarked, "You've ruined it!"
"But your bench was on fire?!"
The Doctor sighed, throwing the gadget down, frustrated. "Three months of delicate work and now look at it, you ham-fisted bungler. "
"But this whole place might have gone up in flames. " The poor girl looked sad, thinking she did the right thing.
Seeing the look on her face and the frustrated one upon the Doctor's, the Time Lady thought it best to intervene and stop the fire before it got worse, 'so-to-speak'. "Now, now- surely it can be an easy fix with both you and I working on it, Doctor?" She didn't understand why he was making such a big fuss over it. The codes of dematerialisation should have come natural to all Time Lords. Then again, why was he messing with it still? She never got an answer out of him.
"I- I suppose." He answered before directing his attention back to the young woman. "Look, I said I don't want any tea today, thank you."
"I wouldn't mind a cup!" the Fighter commented, raising a hand.
She laughed at the Time Lords. "I'm not the tea lady."
The Doctor looked annoyed at this point. "Then, what the blazes are you doing in here?"
"I've-"
"Don't you know this area is strictly out of bounds to everybody except the tea lady and the Brigadier's personal staff," He glanced at the Time Lady who supposed she should be leaving then as well, " - and the Fighter. She's a guest, my guest ."
The blonde looked up and smiled at him brightly. "I'm your new assistant." She declared proudly.
The Time Lord frowned. "Oh, no."
"The Brigadier sent me along to introduce myself, Doctor. Josephine Grant." She held out a hand for him to shake. The Doctor just gave her a disapproving look, causing the Fighter to take her hand and shake it.
"How do you do Miss Grant? I'm the Fighter, a childhood friend of the Doctor's." the Time Lady said with a smile.
A curious look came across Jo's face. "Pleasure to meet you. You must be the one they're talking about. The one who fell from the sky!"
"I really don't think you're suitable." The Doctor said, interrupting the conversation between the two women. He wasn't pleased with the Brigadier meddling into his business and most certainly giving him another assistant he wouldn't even choose himself.
"I'm a fully qualified agent, you know. Cryptology, safe breaking, explosives." Jo tried to reason with him, but it was to no avail.
"Fire fighting? Yes, well, I'm sorry, my dear, but what I need is a scientist."
"I took general science at A-Level."
"Yes, I'm sure you did, but, even so."
The Fighter's face perked up, asking. "Do you suppose I could get a job here as well?"
The Doctor blinked, rather surprised she asked such a thing. "You want to work here? You don't even know anything about the place and yet, you want a job here? Why not go back and travel about the universe, you're free to do so." Realizing what he said, he might have given too much away and shut his mouth. Jo looked at them, confused.
"Then why are you here?" she dared to ask, still curious to know the answer. His silence only helped her piece it all together. "Did something happen to your dematerialization circuit? Is that why you're trying to fix it?"
The Doctor looked away, silently fumbling with the circuit, not wishing to answer right now. Seeing as it was ruined now, he frowned, directing his attention back to Jo."Look, Miss Grant, I've got a great deal of work to do. You must excuse me."
"The Brigadier wanted me to show you this report." Jo placed a file on his bench, which caught the attention of both Time Lords. "Something was stolen from the Natural Space Museum. It was on loan from this HQ."
"Oh, what was?" he asked.
"A translucent polyhedron, eight and a half inches in diameter."
The Doctor grabbed the file. "Well, that's the Nestene's energy unit. It should never have left this building."
"Apparently they wanted it for a special display. The Brigadier signed the authorization." Jo told them.
The Doctor threw the file onto the bench, annoyed. "The Brigadier's an idiot! I knew I should have destroyed that thing but somehow it would have felt like murder."
"Wait, what are the Nestene doing here?" the Fighter asked, just joining the loop. She was still new to exploring the universe, only having been to Victorian London so far before- well, the incident .
"Yes," the Doctor answered, "They've been here for quite some time actually."
Jo continued on with her conversation with the Doctor. "You mean it was alive?"
"Yes, in a way. Yes, that container held a form of alien intelligence."
"But you've just got to be joking."
"There's precious little to joke about, Miss Grant. That thing is appallingly dangerous."
"But who would want to steal it?" The Fighter asked curiously.
The Doctor nodded. "Exactly. Who and why?"
Once Jo had left to inform the Brigadier of their conversation, the two childhood friends finally had the proper time to speak alone to each other about other matters.
"I got exiled by the Time Lords." The Doctor finally admitted.
The Fighter's eyes widened, suddenly feeling cold. "W-Why?"
"I broke the non-interference policy. Took on some human companions, went traveling around history and time, getting into all sorts of trouble, but trying to help others." He frowned, remembering what had happened once the Time Lords put him on trial. "The Time Lords forced me to regenerate and then stranded me on Earth with no way to leave."
The Time Lady felt chills go down her back, suddenly losing her cool-and-collected demeanor. A single thought raced through her mind: Would the Time Lords catch up eventually and do the same thing to her? After all, she had done a lot of questionable things recently. Surely they would...
"So, that's why you're here and messing with your dematerialization circuit." she said, earning a nod from him.
"Yes." There was a slight pause as the Doctor spoke again. "Fighter, I truly am sorry for the position I left you in on Gallifrey. I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble, I just-"
She put a hand up to stop him. "Like I said, I forgive you."
At that moment, the Brigadier came through the doors after hearing the news that their extraterrestrial guest was now awake, earning a frown from the Doctor. "Brigadier."
"I see our guest is now up and about." The man with the moustache said, holding a hand out for her to shake.
The Doctor sighed, starting the introductions. "Fighter, this is Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, better known as the Brigadier. He is in charge of UNIT as well as it's creator."
Blue eyes went wide as the Time Lady accepted the handshake. "So, you're the person to go when someone says 'Take Me to your Leader?'" She giggled when he raised an eyebrow. "After all, a man with a moustache is a man with power." She winked, causing the Doctor to sigh, wondering if she was going to be flirtatious with everyone now.
The Brigadier seemed to ignore her comment. "The Doctor tells me you're his childhood friend."
"That's correct."
"Could you tell us why you were falling from the sky?" Noticing the smile on her face fade, the Brigadier explained. "It's just for our report since we found you, basic background procedure, that's all."
"I-"
Knowing how she felt about the subject, the Doctor interrupted, talking for her. "She told me she was involved in a fight." The Brigadier could try to piece it together from there, hopefully.
"Okay." He replied, accepting it for now, looking back at her. "I'm going to need you to come with me to my office so we can put you in our databank."
The Fighter looked at the Doctor in question, an exchange happening between them. "It's okay, he didn't mean any offense in suggesting you were an unregistered alien." He narrowed his eyes at him. "The Brigadier just has this way of putting his nose where it doesn't belong at times."
The UNIT leader could tell he was hinting at the assignment of his new assistant he sprung upon him without warning. "You've been agitating for a new assistant ever since Miss Shaw went back to Cambridge." The Brigadier replied calmly.
"Liz was a highly qualified scientist. I want someone with the same qualifications, like the Fighter. Why not her instead?" the Time Lord suggested.
"I wouldn't mind having a job here with my old friend." This caused the Doctor to smile smugly, a victory that wouldn't last long. "But, you know I'm not really a scientist. I'm a soldier and much better on the battlefield. Besides, I can't take that poor girl's job just because you want me to, Doctor."
He frowned. "And why not?"
"Because he assigned her to you, not me. Which means, he did so for a reason." The Fighter pointed out.
The Brigadier looked thoughtfully to her, surprised to see her agreeing with him on the matter, before trying to reason with the Time Lord. "What you need, Doctor, as Miss Shaw herself so often remarked, is 'someone to pass you your test tubes and to tell you how brilliant you are '. Miss Grant will fulfil that function admirably."
The Time Lady began to chuckle, trying to hold it back. "Yeah, that's not me."
Seeing how she was making fun of him, the Doctor began to scowl at the both of them. "Well, what's the girl doing here anyway? UNIT's no place for trainees."
"No, I couldn't agree more, Doctor, but Miss Grant was very keen to join us and she happens to have relatives in high places. "
"So you tried to push her off onto me. Well, it won't work, Brigadier. I'll have a properly qualified assistant or none at all!"
The Brigadier finally gave in."Very well, Doctor. I'll reassign her. Fighter-," he motioned to the Time Lady watching them, "the job is yours."
She blinked. "Wait, what?"
"Good." The Doctor nodded.
"But I think you should break the news to her yourself." he said, starting to take off out the door.
"Well, now, wait a minute. "
The blonde woman began to come through the door, a bright smile on her face. "Hi, Doc. Fighter. I-," running into the Brigadier, she nodded, "Good morning, sir."
"Good morning, Miss Grant. "
"I've checked all incoming reports. Still nothing on the stolen meteorite."
"Thank you."
Jo looked to the Doctor. "And I've chased those electronic spares you wanted. They promised delivery tomorrow, without fail."
Despite having a smile on her face, the Fighter held a sad look in her eyes. She knew Jo would be crushed when the Doctor would reveal the news that she was out of a job, especially one she seemed to be trying her hardest at.
The Doctor mustered up the courage to tell her, "Miss Grant, I, er, I, er. Well, I don't. This is, er, a bit difficult for me to say but. Er-,"
Before he could finish, the Time Lady began to whisper in his ear. "Don't do this to her, Doctor. Just give her a chance to prove herself."
He cleared his throat, continuing. "Thank you, Jo. I can see you're going to be of great help to me."
The joyful smile returned upon the young woman's face. "Thank you, Doctor." Her attention changed to the Brigadier, handing him a paper. "Report from one our field sections, sir. Captain Yates. Some kind of sabotage at a radio telescope. Two of their scientists have disappeared."
"Let me see that." The Doctor snatched the paper from him before he had a chance to read it, the Fighter at his side. "We'd better get down there right away."
"Is it alright if I come with?" the Time Lady asked.
"I don't think-"
The Brigadier was cut off by the Doctor, "I could use her help as well. Let's stop dawdling and go!"
The Time Lady wasn't sure how to react to the canary-yellow Edwardian roadster the gang seemed to pack into. She had never ridden in a car, but this wasn't her first Earth mobile to travel in. Seeing the country sides they drove past and smelling the fresh air, she enjoyed the ride. It made her feel content, something she hadn't felt in a long time. Arriving at a place covered with huge radio telescopes, she saw them pulling up to a group of soldiers, something that intrigued her. She could start to get used to Earth.
They were greeted by a young soldier with a handsome face, which caught the Time Ladies attention right away. "The Director's expecting you, sir. "
"Is that where the sabotage took place?" the Doctor asked him, pointing to an office building.
"No, sir. It seems to have happened in the control cabin at the top of that tower. " he replied.
"Well, that's where you'll find me then." Jo tried to follow him, but he stopped her. "No, Miss Grant. You stay here with the Brigadier." He looked to the Time Lady, noticing she was eyeing the young soldier, sighing. "Fighter, with me!"
The handsome young man noticed her looking at him, an exchange passing between them before she followed after the Doctor. "Alright, coming!"
Climbing up the ladder, the Fighter spoke. "You didn't tell me there were some cute soldier boys here!"
"It wasn't really on my mind." he replied, shaking his head.
Before they are able to enter through the door, a materialisation sound was heard, causing both childhood friends to freeze in their tracks. "That can't be..." the Fighter began, feeling fear rise in her. What did the Time Lord's want with them?
"Stay behind me and keep quiet." the Doctor said.
A man in a pin-stripe suit with a bowler hat and furled umbrella appeared in mid air before them. "Oh, dear. Don't go away, Doctor. My coordinates seem to have slipped a little. Still, not bad after twenty nine thousand light years." The Time Lord glided to the gantry. "I do hope you can spare a moment or two, Doctor?"
"Sarcasm always was a weak point with you, wasn't it. May I say that I think you look quite ridiculous in those clothes. "
"I am travelling incognito." the Time Lord messenger replied.
The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why?"
"We Time Lords don't care to be conspicuous. Some of us, that is. " he replied smugly, giving a look towards the other.
"Look, if you've come down merely to be rude-"
He got to the point. "I came to warn you. An old acquaintance has arrived on this planet, and no, I'm not referring to the Fighter currently standing behind you." The Time Lady felt chills go down her back, finally coming out from hiding behind her friend, glaring at him. "Oh, there's no need for that look. We both know you aren't innocent either, consider being stranded on this Earth part of your punishment as well."
The Fighter suddenly felt something creep under her skin on the side of her shoulder, seeing the convict tattoo appear, marking her as a criminal of Gallifrey.
The Doctor narrowed his eyes at her briefly, remembering to question her about it later before directing his attention back to the Time Lord. "Stop the chit chat and tell us what you came to warn us about already."
"The Master."
The Fighter's breath hitched as The Doctor gave her a knowing look. "Apparently your husband will be joining us in our reunion."
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Have a small little teaser of what is to follow in the Terror of the Autons - PART 2. As for what happened to cause her to regenerate and who was behind it, it will be revealed eventually along with what made her be marked as a criminal as well. ;)