Chapter 3: When fighting clowns, go for the juggler

Playing entry 10/?.

DOCTOR: Ready?

JACK: As we'll ever be.

DOCTOR: Leah?

LEAH: Yeah.

DOCTOR: Millennia?

MILLENNIA: Yes.

DOCTOR: Be sure. This is the last time you can say no.

Jack looked at Leah and Millennia, and all three of them simultaneously nodded. 'Doc, we're all ready.'

'Okay. Good luck, everyone. Leah, take us in.'

Leah obliged, running around the console as the Doctor, Jack, and Millennia stepped back. The TARDIS groaned a little but otherwise complied. At first, it was very calm, but it didn't take very long before the sound of the engines started to change - slowly becoming more and more high-pitched until the sound was nearly unbearable.

'Okay, Leah, leave her in free flight, and everyone hold onto something that looks sturdy! We're about to break the exoshell of the time distortion; it's going to be rough!' the Doctor ordered them in a shout.

Millennia grabbed the ridges in the console, Leah ran to grab her dad's waist, and Jack wrapped an arm around the Doctor's chest and the other around a support strut.

The sound became worse and worse as the console room began to shake and smoke started coming out of the console. Jack's ears were ringing with the screech of the engines, to the point he thought his eardrums were about to burst …

'Do … ct … or!' he cried out, his voice sounding like it was buffering. 'Ca … n't … ho … ld …'

He nearly let go of the Doctor. Thankfully the noise abruptly stopped, and the TARDIS stopped with it, sending everyone crashing to the floor as the lights went dark, the camera fell off the console chair, and they were silently drifting. Half a second later, the lights came back up to half-luminosity and Jack got up, anxious, as he spotted that everyone else was on the floor.

'Doc! Leah!' he shouted to the two gallifreyans.

'Yeah,' the Doctor muttered into the grating, sounding a bit off.

'Yeah,' Leah echoed in the same tone.

'Millennia!' Jack checked.

'Yes, I am okay!' Millennia called from across the console room as Jack saw her silhouette using the console to stand up. He looked back down at the Doctor and Leah, who were still on the floor.

'My head …' the Doctor was moaning, his eyes fused shut and his fingers deep in his hair. Alarmed, Jack pulled his hands away to check for damage but realised quickly that there was no sign of injury and that Leah was wincing badly as well. 'Geroff,' the Doctor gasped, pulling his hands back from Jack to dig his fingers in his hair again rigidly. He rolled onto his knees and then curled up with the top of his head resting against the grating - his body language clearly indicated he was in severe pain.

'Make it stop,' Leah whined, nearly in tears. Unable to help in any other way, Jack instinctively moved to hug her as Millennia went to the Doctor, resting her hands on his shoulders.

It took a good few seconds before Leah relaxed. 'Oh, that hurt so much,' she moaned.

'Headache?' Jack guessed, glancing at the Doctor still clearly afflicted.

'Yeah,' Leah replied, wiping at her eyes before clinging onto her uncle. 'Daddy,' she tried.

The TARDIS lights came back to full power, and regular engine sound resumed. Finally, the Doctor gasped a few deep breaths and pushed himself to sit on his knees, rubbing his eyes.

Millennia stayed clinging onto his shoulders, observing him. 'Okay?' she checked.

'Yeah,' he said. 'Sorry.'

'That was horrible,' Leah moaned.

'Time-related?' Jack assumed.

The Doctor nodded. 'The time split between Asunis space and the graveyard … like jumping off a cliff and landing on your head,' he explained. 'Gone now.'

With the help of Millennia, he stood upright just as the console began to beep a frenzy of alerts. Leah checked it.

'Um, that can't be right,' she murmured.

'What?' the Doctor asked.

'The Tardis says she's registering 151,678 distress calls all coming in at once.'

'Punch up a view of the exterior,' the Doctor ordered.

Leah obliged. Millennia and Jack leaned in, and all three simultaneously gasped. An expansive view of a monumental spaceship graveyard was on the monitor, filled with ships and pieces of hovering debris. It seemed to go on forever.

'Jesus Christ,' Jack breathed. 'Doc, there are thousands and thousands of ships; there's debris everywhere.'

'Play a few of the most recent distress calls. Maybe we can help,' the Doctor instructed.

'This is Captain Osaron of the SS Be'lite sending a distress call. We have entered Tuvalan space on an exploratory venture. On entry, we experienced extreme turbulence, which has destroyed three of our engines, damaged our power generators, and killed six of our crew. Our life support is functional, but we cannot get enough power to get back out again. We estimate we have six months of supplies remaining. Enclosing coordinates and crew and mission details.'

'Can we respond?' the Doctor asked.

'Trying,' Millennia said, tapping at the controls. 'No … No signal.'

'They didn't make it,' Leah realised sadly.

'Try another,' the Doctor said.

'This is a distress call from the cargo ship Selina. My name is Jadaaico. We've accidentally dropped into Tuvalan space, and we've got heavy damage. We need immediate … Wait, who opened the airlock? Ralah, why's the airlock …. Ralah? Wait … oh my God!'

The message suddenly cut off.

'That is also no signal,' Millennia told them.

'This doesn't sound good,' Jack murmured.

'Another one,' the Doctor prompted.

'Oh god, please, anyone out there we need help!' a voice cried.

'Quick!' a second voice shouted. 'We've got to run!'

'I know, I know … We've got no idea what happened, but we're stranded here, and there's something on the ship! It's …'

'ARGGH!'

'Edo! Edo! No! No! Get away! GET AWA-'

As before, the recording abruptly stopped.

A brief silence overtook the TARDIS before Jack spoke, 'what the hell is going on here?'

The Doctor didn't have an answer, his brow furrowed as the monitor suddenly began to ring like a phone. 'That's a real-time distress call,' he said, 'answer it.'

Leah hit the button, and the monitor blinked into life to establish visual communication.

'Oh, is that … Hello, hello, can you hear me!?'

'Receiving you,' the Doctor assured the female voice he could hear.

'Oh god, you're really talking to me, you're really here! Please, please help me!'

'Relax, you'll be fine. I'm the Doctor. What's your name?'

'Sozu … it's Sozu.'

'What happened, Sozu?'

'My ship failed … I was trying to get to the Icarius Nebula … I've got no idea what happened - everything just went dark!'

'It's okay,' the Doctor told her. 'Calm down, it's probably your electrics failing. Are you hurt?'

'I think I passed out, and when I woke up, I couldn't see anything …'

'Doc,' Jack tried to interrupt.

'How's your ship? Is it stable?' the Doctor asked, ignoring him.

'My engines are gone, my navigation's gone, and I think something is trying to get in. Please help me! It's so dark!'

'Anyone with you?'

'No … I'm a delivery pilot, it's just me, please help me! I can't see, I can't …'

'Daddy,' Leah said firmly.

He finally looked up at them blindly. 'What?'

'There's no one on the monitor, Doctor,' Jack muttered.

'What's that supposed to mean?'

'The picture's not dark, and there's no one there.'

'Tardis says there's no life on the ship,' Leah added nervously.

The Doctor swallowed. 'Sozu?'

'Please help me!'

'Sozu.'

'Please help me!' she repeated in exactly the same tone of voice with the same intonation.

'Oh,' the Doctor realised.

'Please help me!'

'She's a data ghost,' he murmured.

'A what?' Millennia asked, confused.

'Please help me!'

'Echo of her consciousness inside her ship's computer. They must've been neurally linked somehow, and it waited all this time to send her distress call. She's fading now. Her last words.'

They all quietened, respectfully listening to the last moments of Sozu.

'Please help me! Please help me. Ple-help me. Plelp me. Hell me. Hell. Hell. Hell. Hell. Hell.'

'What is happening?' Millennia whispered, wide-eyed.

'She's gone. Turn it off,' the Doctor said quietly.

Millennia swallowed and did the deed. Sozu fell silent, and the Doctor looked up at them again. 'Someone scan for all lifeforms in this vicinity,' he ordered.

'Just one,' Millennia answered after the TARDIS had finished processing.

'One?' the Doctor repeated. 'Species?'

'Humanoid.'

'Anymore specific?'

'No.'

'Is there a location?'

Jack stepped in. 'You can't seriously be thinking about going to find them?'

'It could be someone in danger,' the Doctor said.

'Or it could be whatever killed all these people,' Jack pointed out.

'Just imagine being here on your own though, Uncle Jack,' Leah mused.

'Yes, they have no escape,' Millennia agreed.

Outvoted, Jack conceded.

Playing entry 11/?.

JACK: Someone left in a hurry.

DOCTOR: What can you see?

JACK: It's a mess hall. All the food's still out and rotting.

DOCTOR: Any bodies?

MILLENNIA: No bodies.

DOCTOR: Then where are they?

'Escape pods?' Jack suggested.

'They are still attached to ship,' Millennia said, tapping at an information terminal in the corner.

'Um, Daddy?' Leah's voice suddenly came over their communicators.

'Yeah?'

'I think when we landed, we made it unstable - the Tardis console says the structure's moving.'

A conveniently-timed creak from below their feet signalled that was true.

'Better be quick,' Jack said.

'Millennia, you stay here and see if you can find any more info in the terminal. Jack, take us to where the life signs are coming from,' the Doctor ordered.

Jack obeyed his command, allowing the Doctor to take his arm as he rechecked the life sign location on his manipulator linked to the TARDIS. 'This way.'

He led him out of the mess and into a corridor, guiding him through the debris on the floor. The ship was still groaning every now and then. After roughly forty metres, they came across the room from where the humanoid was registering.

Jack opened the door cautiously. It was clearly what used to be a common room, with a small bar full of broken glass in the corner, a half-burnt coffee table with broken chairs and a couple of age-eaten sofas pointing towards a large screen, which was currently stuck on white noise as the only source of light and noise in the room.

There was also a silhouette of a head and shoulders on the sofa directly in front of them, apparently staring at the screen.

Jack reaffirmed the grip on his gun, explaining what he was seeing to the Doctor as the Time Lord stepped forward.

'Hello?' the Doctor tried. 'Are you okay?'

The figure didn't move.

'Don't be scared. Whatever happened, it's over. We can help.'

Still no response.

'I'm the Doctor, and this is Jack. What's your name?' the Doctor tried again.

Nothing. The Doctor took another step, but suddenly the silhouette of the person's head began to alter slightly, indicating they were moving. Jack reached into the Doctor's pocket to extract his torch, flipping it on and pointing it at the silhouette.

He watched, confused, as he saw the head of the person twisting, the face coming to meet them without a single turn of the shoulders like something out of The Exorcist. He froze, a mixture of fear and intrigue, as the face finally passed into the light, and he realised …

It had the face of an incredibly demented-looking clown.

'Doc, we need to go …!' Jack hissed, panicking, attempting to pull him back out to the corridor.

'What's happening?' the Doctor asked, staying deliberately rooted to the spot.

'Just move!'

'Time Lord!?' a high-pitched, shaky, creepy voice suddenly said from parched, dry, cracked lips. Then, a smile emerged, exposing a mouth full of huge pointed teeth. 'Lovely, lovely Time Lord ... all nom nom. Qe-ei'oh'ai-heeshi-gea …'

'What!?' the Doctor gasped.

Suddenly it moved, jumping over the sofa directly for him.

Jack leapt forward, ploughing the Doctor into the ground while shooting directly at the clown creature. It shrieked and stumbled, but Jack didn't even dare look back as he hauled the Doctor to his feet and dragged him out of the door, slamming it shut behind them. Without hesitation, Jack grabbed the blind Doctor, threw him over his shoulder and followed the corridor back to the mess, screaming at Millennia to run.

Together they fled back to the TARDIS. With every step, he could hear something behind him in pursuit, thundering footsteps which seemed to be drawing closer and closer …

He wasn't sure if he was imagining it, but he absolutely swore he could hear the sound of maniacal laughter as they finally got through the TARDIS doors, and Millennia slammed them closed behind them.

He lowered the Doctor to the floor, panting. 'What the hell was that!?'

'What did it look like?' the Doctor asked quickly.

'A clown … it was a clown …'

'What?'

'I swear, Doctor, it was a clown. A real, freaky-looking clown …'

'Clown?' Leah asked nervously, her eyes widening.

'And it was like it couldn't see me, it was staring at you … God Doc, it wanted to eat you.'

Before the Doctor could answer, there were suddenly three very loud and very precise knocks on the doors, hard enough to shake them in the frame on every hit.

'Leah, check the defences,' the Doctor ordered, standing up. 'Nobody opens that door!'

'What is it!?' Jack cried.

'Ai-eon'nyoi ce'doka, Timegri?' the high-pitched, crazy voice came through the wood, every single word spoken in precise, well-defined syllables.

'It's speaking gallifreyan!' Leah realised.

'Leah, get us out of here,' the Doctor ordered. He was terrified, Jack realised as Leah ran back to the console to commence flight.

'Ooooh, Time Lord smell so sweet … so … tasty … so … succulent. '

There was the sound of scratching down the TARDIS door.

'Leah, now!' the Doctor yelled.

'Run, Time Lord. Bersri'wi-har, wi- har alyk … qe-ei'eril'eon-n, and this one will devour you …'

It began to laugh as the lock started to jiggle ...

Finally, Leah flipped the handbrake, and the TARDIS launched into the quickest flight in her history. The maniacal laughter faded, and eventually they all sagged in relief.

'Doc, what was that?' Jack asked as Leah ran to her dad, hugging his middle.

'It was a Ravenous … a Ravenous is basically … the natural predator of a Time Lord. It eats temporal energy.'

'Wait … Time Lords have a natural predator?'

'Oh, like you're top of the food chain,' the Doctor replied sarcastically.

'Is it what killed everyone?' Leah asked, her voice a little weak as she gazed up at him.

'Probably,' the Doctor replied, scratching his head.

'Maybe not real. Maybe we in an unreality pocket,' Millennia suggested.

'There are no unreality pockets here,' Leah muttered, still clinging onto her dad.

'We don't know that for sure,' Jack said.

'Look, it's real,' the Doctor began, looking blindly around at them all. 'But so what? It can't actually chase us. Just forget it.'

'But it said it'd find you, Daddy.'

'With what? It's living in a broken ship in a graveyard in unstable space, and it's not like there's an Uber it can call,' the Doctor pointed out. 'Everyone. Relax.'

Jack, Leah, and Millennia all shared a nervous look.

'I heard that,' the Doctor said sternly. 'Honestly, it's okay. We need to keep going.'

A/N: Translation

Qe-ei'oh'ai-heeshi-gea - This one wants a little nibble
Ai-eon'nyoi ce'doka, Timegri? - Won't you open the door, Time Lord?
Run, Time Lord. Bersri'wi-har, wi-har alyk … qe-ei'eril'eon-n, and this one will devour you … - Run, Time Lord. Run very far, very far away … this one will win/find you, and this one will devour you.