"So. What are we going to do now?" Iris asked taking a glance at Paul.
"To be honest Iris, I have absolutely no idea," Paul replied as he scratched his forehead. "I didn't really account for the fact that the entrance to the place where we're going is now blocked off."
Iris sighed softly as she turned around and sat on the edge of the well. "I wonder what on Earth has happened to my Ace?" Iris mused to herself.
"I may not be able to answer that question for you Miss Iris," a voice called in the near darkness.
Paul turned quickly on his heels and Iris got up holding a hand out in Paul's direction.
"Wait a moment," Iris told him as the person slowly walked out of the shadows.
"Governor," Iris greeted as she saw his face in the softness of the moonlight.
"I can tell you though," the Governor continued, "that if you stay here trouble will soon arrive."
"I can see this leading to trouble," Anna-Marie said as she stood nearby Powell who was at the steering wheel of Iris' TARDIS.
"Well look," Powell commented as he absent-mindedly rubbed the growing purple bruise that was on his forehead. "If you were inclined study driving it wouldn't be me doing this all the time."
"Yes I know," Anna-Marie replied. "Chances are I'd probably be better."
Powell decided to let that comment slide as he reached down just past the steering wheel to where a small silver key was positioned.
"Hmm this will be an event," Powell commented, "I've never driven one of these machines before now."
He took the key in his thumb and index finger and slowly began to turn it.
"Here look at this weird clock," Anna-Marie said as she pointed her finger at a set of dials by the steering wheel. "I wonder why it's there," she mused as she started absentmindedly changing the dates and time.
At that moment the key had turned and the engine of the TARDIS started ticking over.
"Well it sounds a little on the noisy side," Powell said, "but all in all it could be ..." he stopped talking in mid-sentence as he looked out of the window.
"It could be what?" Anna-Marie asked.
"Hmm, you may want to look outside Anna." Powell replied still looking.
Anna-Marie looked up from the control panel and slowly her mouth fell open. The interior of the warehouse seemed to be slowly fading to black and the noise of the engine was slowly and steadily being drowned out by a reverbrating mechanical sound.
"What is going on," Anna-Marie spoke in a near hushed tone.
Somewhere in the town, two of the local residents were out walking through the narrow streets of Koravox.
"I still want to know where that wind came from," one of them spoke as he kept his jacket wrapped firmly around his body.
"I don't know Nathaniel," the seond person replied, "but I have this horrible recollection I felt something like that before. I just don't remember why though."
They turned a corner and started passing the entrance to the park. As they did Nathaniel turned his head slightly and peered inside. By the shimmer of the moonlight he could make out the fallen leaves and disturbed dirt the winds had caused, then out of the corner of his eye he glimpsed what looked like the body of a person laying near a set of small trees.
"Hey Colin," Nathaniel whispered softly as he stopped walking and placed a hand on his companion's shoulder. "Look back into that park and tell me if you see anything."
Colin looked back over his shoulder and scanned the inside of the park with his eyes. "No," he said after a moment shaking his head, "I can't see, oh wait, just near them clump of trees over there. It looks like somebody."
They took a moment then started slowly walking back to the entrance of the park, all the while keeping their eyes locked on the stranger. They approached the half open gate and walked inside, making sure they took care where they walked.
The closer they got, they still noticed that the person stil hadn't moved. Nathaniel reached the side of the person and knelt down, then he slowly reached out and started gently patting his hand along the side of the body.
"What are you doing?" Colin whispered softly.
"Trying to find some sort of identification," Nathaniel replied, "try to see who this person is and where they came from."
"Hmm, I don't like this," Colin whispered to himself.
"Relax," Nathaniel spoke softly. "Hmm," he said after a moment, "I think I found this person's identification."
What happened next was reduced to a blur. The person that was laying upon the ground rolled over and locked their eyes upon Nathaniel.
Nathaniel reeled back slightly in shock. Before either Nathaniel or Colin had time to react the person on the floor had pulled out what looked like a pair of slimline jet black guns from under their jacket and pointed one at both of Colin and Nathaniel.
"Who are you?" Nathaniel uttered.
Still standing in the center of the town, Iris, Paul and the Governor turned their head quickly as they heard two distinctive bangs echo from somewhere in the town.
"Like I said," the Governor spoke in a slightly hurried tone. "Trouble is coming, and fast."
They gave each other a quick look before they decided to put a little trust in the Governor and started after him into the darkness.
The person who was formerly laying on the ground in the park was now on their feet and had just exited the park, the gate creeking slightly back and forth.
"You don't want to know," the person replied in a male voice.
"Actually yes," Powell half yelled, "I absolutely do want to know."
"All I did was move a few of these dials," Anna-Marie replied in near protest, "how can you blame this on me."
"Oh, quite easily." Powell commented.
Without them realising they had activated the time circuits and the TARDIS was now spiralling through the corridor of time, bouncing energetically in all different directions as it did.
"Well now we're here," Anna-Marie said after a few moments, "how do we get back?"
"Just give me a moment okay," Powell answered giving a glance over the controls. "I still want to know exactly where here is."
"Urgh don't make the moment so long," Anna-Marie muttered between clenched teeth, "all this rocking and rolling is making me nauseous."
"Where exactly are we going Governor?" Iris asked as they made their way through the streets.
"We need to get off the streets," the Governor replied looking back slightly, "I take it you have not encountered the Sentinels yet."
"Who or what are these Sentinels?" Iris asked as they rounded another street.
"They take over the city so to speak at night," the Governor replied, "they keep the peace and dissuade any attempts such as vandalism or robbery."
"But they won't stop you will they," Paul commented, "you are the Governor."
"Yes," he replied, "but they'll stop you and Miss Iris however."
Malcolm stopped for a moment and looked down at his watch, the time read twenty-three oh-nine. He rolled his head to either side of his neck as he tried to stifle a yawn, despite his earlier sleep he was still a little on the tired side.
Looking straight ahead his gaze fell upon a man from the park who was standing in the middle of the street. In the near darkness he couldn't make out much detail, only that the person had a peculiar expression on his face. His mouth was slightly open and he was looking slightly towards the sky.
Being a little cautious Malcolm slowly started walking towards him, making sure to keep his gaze towards him at all times.
The other man was literally doing nothing, he just stood there not giving any indication he was going to move. He'd stopped for a reason, and it was not for the first time. His breathing was calm and he kept his gaze just above the horizion looking at the distant dark skies.
It was then, he heard it. The thing he had heard time before.
"Doctor Caws, please report to Islolation Ward Four."
"Excuse me," the voice of Malcolm softly called as he approached. "Is everything okay?"
"Did you," the man replied, "did you just hear that?"
"Hear what?" Malcolm answered looking slightly perplexed.
"Doctor Caws," the mysterious voice repeated, "Doctor Cars to Isolation Ward Four. Immediately."
"Hmm, no matter," the stranger replied after a moment's silence. He finally broke his gaze and looked downwards towards Malcolm who was standing a little way in front of him.
"Is everything okay?" Malcolm repeated his previous question.
"Hmm," the stranger answered, "yes quite. Though I quite suspect that I am not the person requiring assistance in this instance."
"What do you mean?" Malcolm asked, a little taken back by the comment.
"You look like you're chasing windmills, but it is you who seems to be going around and around, in an endless circle not finding what you desire the most."
Taking another step back, Malcolm looked directly into the eyes of the stranger. "Who are you," Malcolm asked softly, "some mind-reader or something?"
A small thin smile crossed the lips of the stranger, and half raised his right eye-brow. "Hmm a mind-reader, never considered that one. No sir, I am the 'or something' though come to think of it, I've never thought myself as one of them before either."
The stranger took one step forward and Malcolm flinched slightly as if to start to move away from him.
"Oh, there's no need for panic," the stranger said softly holding out his hands. "See, harmless." The stranger moved forward again and this time Malcolm stayed where he was. "Are you a believer in co-incidences?"
"I, err, I don't really think so," Malcolm replied.
"The definitive answer to the universal question of 'what if and maybe'. I think my friend, that you are just in the need for a little inspiration, for the point in the right direction so to speak."
"But how can that be when even I'm not entirely sure myself?" Malcolm asked raising an eye-brow.
The stranger carried on walking forward gliding slowly around Malcolm as he did. "Maybe, just maybe, you're not meant to know. Maybe this is something for instinct to answer for you. You instinct, held in the part of your subconscious quietly nudging you in the right direction."
As he talked the stranger softly placed his hand on Malcolm's back, pressing is palm against his spine. As he did a small green light emanated from his hand, just for an instance, and then it was gone again.
"What about down there?" the stranger asked motioning Malcolm's head to a pathway just off to his left hand side. "Have you been down that path yet?" he whispered softly into his ear.
Malcolm took a couple of seconds to think about that question. Through all the day he hadn't actually gone down that path and for some reason he didn't know why he ignored something so blatant to the naked eye.
"No," Malcolm replied, "actually I haven't been down there." Malcolm took a couple of steps forward and stopped turning back. "Thank you," Malcolm thanked the stranger before walking off into the darkness ahead of him.
"No thank you is necessary," the stranger replied to himself as he watched Malcolm walk off. "Sometimes people need a reminder of the simpler things in life. You had strayed from the path young Malcolm and so I just hmm pointed you back in the right direction."
The stranger stopped again and looked around him.
"Doctor Caws," the mysterious voice echoed around the stranger. "Doctor Caws please come to Isolation Ward Four. Immediately. Doctor Caws."
The stranger was now turning around on the spot trying to locate the source of the voice but the street around him was completely empty.
"To Isolation Ward Four."
"I wish he'd hurry up and get there," Malcolm muttered shaking his head and walking off.
"I wish we'd hurry up and get there," Anna-Marie groaned softly.
"Get where?" Powell answered a little irritated by his companion.
"Wherever we are supposed to be going," Anna-Marie. "I can't ever remember being this ill on a journey before."
"Look," Powell said, "if it was as easy as say pressing on the break peddle to make us stop I would have done it by now." As if to illustrate the point he took his foot and slowly pressed down on the brake. At that point the pitch of the engine changed noticeably and the mechanical sound for a moment sped up a little.
"Well I guess you never tried the brake before now," Anna-Marie commented.
"No," Powell admitted. "I think that this machine is slowing down. Hopefully back on land again."
The bus buffered from side to side as it impacted against the sides of the time corridor, and as Powell pressed down on the brake more the noise of the mechanical sound began to level off but at the same time get a little louder. After what seemed like forever the blackness they saw outside the window of the bus began to ever-so-slowly change. It was getting lighter and lighter and both Powell and Anna-Marie could begin to make out colours and shapes in front of them.
"Thank goodness," Anna-Marie smiled with a heavy breath, "we're coming back to where we came from."
The moments that followed, seemed to take forever as both Anna-Marie and Powell looked outside the window tentatively. With the last resounding noise of the engine, the bus finished re-materialising and they were both back on land.
A soundable breath escaped from the lips of Anna-Marie as she saw the surroundings of the warehouse from where they came from. "Thank goodness," she said with obvious relief, "back on dry land."
"Definitely," Powell agreed, "but I'm still curious as to where we were just then. I've never seen anything like that before in my life. Now, let's get this to it's destination shall we?"
Anna-Marie panicked a little and looked at Powell. "How do you know we won't end up in that 'thing' again?"
"Because," Powell replied looking back at Anna-Marie, "this time you won't be touching anything. Get ready to open the warehouse doors, I want to keep our activity to a minimum if possible."
Powell reached down and embraced the ignition key with his thumb and forefinger once again turning it to start the engine once more. The engine purred into life same as before and both Powell and Anna-Marie held their breath tentatively, crossing their fingers there wouldn't be a repeat of last time. They breathed easier when after a minute they hadn't moved from the spot. Powell reached off to his side and put the bus into gear before slowly driving off to the entrance of the warehouse, carefully dodging the packing crates as he went.
As they reached the doors that lead to the outside, Anna-Marie stepped off the bus and walked to the entrance.
"Nice how I get all the nice jobs," she grumbled to herself as she knelt down and pulled on one of the bolts. Half expecting it to be difficult to release, she was surprised to find that it gave no resistance, and so nearly tumbling backwards in the process. She smiled to herself for un-lactching the door and proceeded to pull the other bolt free, which also gave no resistance. Anna-Marie stood up and sliding back a large wooden bar positioned mid-way she grabbed hold of both doors and proceeded pull them open. The doors swung freely and they were open in no time.
Powell smiled at the ease the doors opened and watched as Anna-Marie walked back and re-entered the bus.
"So far so good," Powell commented as he looked back before putting the bus back into gear and driving out into the main streets.
Iris and Paul sat alone in what looked like quite a furbished building, for the most part it was fairly quiet and the Governor had made his excuses and left the room.
"Something seems just a little too 'off' for my liking," Paul commented after a few moments.
"What do you mean 'off' chuck?" Iris replied looking at him.
"Well," Paul replied, "first of all the inability to access the underground portion of the town earlier, and now these Sentinels. There are events going on at this moment that I was certainly not prepared for."
"Well maybe your intelligence is just wrong luv," Iris commented, "it does happen from time to time you know."
"No," Paul replied, almost insistently, "I always know what to expect when I walk into an area."
There was a couple of minutes silence as Iris took in his words. "You know, you've never explained where you get your intelligence from."
Paul tapped his fingers on a table for a few moments not wanting to give Iris a response.
After a few moments, the topic of conversation changed and both Iris and Paul had engaged in a little small talk. Not paying much attention to the outside world, they didn't see the metallic form of the Sentinel peering motionlessly from outside the building.
After a few moments, the Sentinel spoke. "Dalek scout to Renegade Leader. I have located and isolated the source of the anomalous readings."
"What is the source," the Renegade Leader's metallic voice echoed through the audio circuits of the scout Dalek.
There was a few moments silence as the scout Dalek continued to peer through the window at the two forms inside the room.
"Respond," The Renegade Leader commanded.
"Renegade Leader," the scout anwered, "the anomalous readings are being generated by a Timelord."
"How can it be? It was reported the time vehicle was operated by a mere human, how can a Timelord be here, now?"
"Renegade Leader," the scout spoke, "I have confirmed from the visual records, this person is a Timelord."
"IMPOSSIBLE!" the Renegade Leader shrieked, "All the Timelords were exterminated in the Time Wars! The Daleks leave no survivors. The Timelords have been exterminated from history."
There were a few moments silence before the Renegade Dalek spoke again.
"No matter. One solitary Timelord against a regiment of Daleks has absolutely no hope of survival. I want you to exterminate that Timelord."
"I Understand," the scout answered.
Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock, Tick, Tock ...
Time seemed to be foremost for a lot of people, a fact strangely most significant to the wondering stranger that was moving, seemingly aimlessly around the town on Koravox.
He took a deep breath and sat down on a nearby bench. Dipping his hand into one of his pockets, he shortly pulled a pack of cigarettes and a gold looking lighter out. He took a brief moment as he took a cigarette out and light one, taking a deep breath, enjoying the flavour of the smoke as it fills in his mouth he pulled the cigarette away and slowly locked his gaze onto the burning end of the slowly burning stick.
"Mr. Johnson," the now familiar body-less voice echoed from around him. "Mr. Johnson, put it down."
The stranger's stare deepened as each second passed, slowly his awareness of the quietness around him seemed to slowly slip away.
"Mr, Johnson," the voice carried on. "Mr. Johnson, I'm asking you,"
Suddenly, from nowhere a hand gently gripped the stranger's wrist. This had got his attention and looked sideways at the person who owned that hand.
"Please put it down."
The stranger turned his gaze back to where he was looking just a moment before and saw in his hand a short stumpy looking pencil. Realising what he was holding he started to take more of his surrounding in and slowly noticed he was in a small, brightly lit room with two other people. The room seemed sparse in it's furnishings, a simple looking bed and a small cabinet laid in one of the corners, but the main thing was the white walls that had every square inch of it covered in scribbled pencil marks.
He took a couple of breaths and looked back at the person standing next to him. "No time," he whispered softly, "no time."
"Doctor Caws talked to you about this before, didn't he?"
"Yes," he answered, "but I haven't finished. I'm so close to completion." He smiled almost happily and looked around the four walls. "All of their destinies are in the palm of my hands."