Chapter I – Dedicated to Laseri

For the first time since your death

I see you alive in a dream

in your body's early beauty,

your hair angel yellow, your lips

set firm in the fullness of youth.


'So are we done here yet?' Jack asked the figure nearby, scanning the hieroglyphs on the wall.

'You've already asked that.' He didn't look up.

'Yeah but was a long time ago.'

'That was two minutes ago, Captain. Now kindly shut it.'

'C'mon. It's probably just some space tourist losing their camera or something.' He shifted uncomfortably from his position leaning against another wall. 'I don't know about you, Doctor, but archaeology in the middle of a desert isn't exactly my idea of time well spent.' He chuckled as something occurred to him. 'On the other hand, back at that marketplace there were some pretty charming..'

The Doctor turned to look at Jack in mock exasperation as he trailed off suggestively.

'Having a time machine isn't just about having fun. You have to realise the responsibility that comes with it. If some space tourist, as you say, has left something behind, people could get hurt.'

'But it's in a tomb! Who's gonna go finding it?'

'Grave robbers!'

'Serves them right.'

'Or archaeologists! In a few thousand years, give or take. Besides, it's kinda big for a camera.' He turned back.

'So, maybe the alien who dropped it was pretty big too. I still don't see-'

'Alright, you can go! Run off to the marketplace, and try not to repopulate too much this time.'

'Oh come on, that was a tiny remote village in Gaul! Anyway, it wasn't all the village girls. Some of them were married.'

'Didn't stop you trying. Off you go then.'

'Sure thing. Just call me when you're done okay? And don't hurry on my account.' He added smugly.

The Doctor just shook his head and sighed. Maybe he should be grateful that Jack had at least stopped trying same-sex seductions in Ancient Earth after nearly being executed in Jerusalem. Not that it would stop him once they left Earth, but he'd had to realise that there were cultures in Earth's history that were against that sort of thing.

Meanwhile, the hieroglyphs were doing nothing for him. Small temple dedicated to Nepythys – Osiris' sister. He didn't expect an alien guestbook or anything, but a reference to a hidden chamber or sacred artefact would be nice. He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and traced it over the smooth stone.

Sure enough, nothing. Just rock.

He was sure there was some secret chamber beneath the temple, but it didn't have an entrance. That meant something had been sealed in. Or teleportation. He stuck the screwdriver into a largish crack at the base of the wall. As far down as his hand could go. Blimey, for an Egyption temple this one was very run-down. Probably being in a remote village and all.

Gotcha. Teleportation device. Right beneath him. All he had to do was activate the teleport from here.

A shaft of energy enveloped him.


It was awful dark here. There was some sort of control panel next to the compartment-thing he was standing in. It was only a small room, done up like a real Egyptian tomb. But something wasn't right. Not the walls, even if they were metal. There were footprints in the thick dust covering the floor. The dust must have crept in through the cracks above him for over a century, maybe more. But it meant someone had been here not long ago. No matter, he'd bring them back for a chat. He ran his sonic device over the dim screen of the panel, and reversed the most recent outgoing teleport.
One moment she'd been walking in an underground carpark, the next she found herself in a place she'd thought she'd forgotten. The tomb that she'd thought was just a coma dream. In her sarcophagus that wasn't a sarcophagus. It was real. Someone had taken her back. Aliens. And it was still so bloody dark in here.

She had to get out.

Rose leaned back and kicked as hard as she could on the doorway. The second time, it swung open, and she landed in a heap. She rolled over on the spot and looked up, covered in dust, to see a tall man in a jacket looking at her in surprise.

'Did you just do that?' She asked, her initial panic replaced by anger as she got up and dusted herself off. 'Were you screwing with the teleport?'

'Yeah, who are y-'

'What the hell did you do that for!'

'Look, I-'

Suddenly she saw the metal-plated wall behind him buckled and collapsed inwards. He turned immediately to look. Far more sensibly, Rose snatched at his arm and pulled him out of the way, retreating closer to the stasis cell. But the space left was halved in an instant as they staggered back. The rest of the walls were leaning inwards. The room – no, the whole temple - was going to cave in at any moment.

Their argument became academic.

'In the box!' She ordered, seeing he was nearest.

Her fingers quickly touched a sequence of symbols on the interface. The Doctor understood and pressed himself flat against the back of the stasis cell. Finished, Rose joined him and was crushed against his chest, her face to the side of his, an inch away. The cell was never designed to fit two. The door managed to shut itself. Barely. There was a whirring sound, and the stasis cell was crushed under several tonnes of rock, sand, and a relatively small temple dedicated to Nepythys.


Yay! I'd love to set a record! Review review review!

(Several coffee-free hours later)

Again, I'm sorry about the rewrite, but let me put it this way - would you rather have to go through the first twelve chapters with minor changes throughout and then eventually all the rest? Or would you prefer it to have remained unfinished while I failed to sort out upcoming plot problems, lost the battle with logic, and gave up? And bearing in mind that chapter 12 was only 1/5 to 1/4 of the way through the whole plot!

Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed! I'm v glad to hear my supposed fanbase has been increased. The dedications up to chapter 12 shalt remain as they were as would otherwise be unfair.

The poem is Gwen Harwood again, but there shalt also be many others including U2 and, oddly enough, the bible. I say odd because I'm atheist and have been told I'm not allowed to read the bible cause I don't beleive in it. But I don't believe in other books I think of as fiction so wtf? (Except maybe Lord of the Rings, lol)

My favourite number today is 95. I hope this number changes in the near future with the posting of this next chapter. )