The TARDIS landed on Ieh-mo Kei, fading into existence with the usual trumpeting.
The Doctor stepped out, followed by Martha.
"Lovely place, by anybodys standards", he said. He was dressed in shorts and a hideous hawaian shirt.
"Yeah…" said Martha, walking out behind him. She was dressed in a seventies style bikini she'd found in the TARDIS wardrobe.
Ieh-mo Kei was a beautiful place. It was like a cross between Scarborough and Miami.
"Come on then!" yelled the Doctor. "Last one to the beach is a knackered Dalek!"
They ran to the beach, the Doictor laughing his head off all the way.
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Three hours of sun, sand and surfing later, and Martha was a qualified surfer, the Doctor was a qualified 'dude', and they were both absolutely exhausted.
"Well, that was fun", said the Doctor.
"No kidding", said Martha. "Undersatement is one of your many skills, isn't it?"
"We should do this more often, you know," he said, giving no indication that he'd heard her. "I could get used to coming here."
"Me too", said Martha. "I'll just call my mum, tell her I'm OK."
He nodded, not really listening.
She took her phone out, and pressed the call button.
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The phone rang, and Francine picked it up, hoping it was who she thought it was.
"Hello?" she said, her voice faux calm.
"Hi, mum?" came the voice from the other end. "It's me, Martha."
"Martha? Where are you?"
"I'm... out. I'm just calling to say that I'm alright, and you shouldn't worry."
"Of course I worry. Your with him, I know it!"
"Mum..."
"He's dangerous, Martha!" Francine yelled. "This information comes from Harold Saxon himself, the Doctor, he's…"
In the background, Francine heard the Doctors voice, laughing and shouting something like 'surfs up dudes!'
"Sorry mum, I've got to go", said Martha. "We'll talk when I get home."
"Martha – Martha wait -!"
The line went dead.
'Oh Martha', thought Francine. 'Why don't you listen?! He's dangerous, to you AND us.'
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The Doctor splashed about in the sea, jumping, kicking diving.
"Come on in, Martha!" he yelled. "The water's fine!"
Martha laughed at him. He was totally insane, but she still loved him. Now, if only he'd notice that...
"Come on!" he yelled again.
She shook her head, and walked back up the beach, laughing even harder.
"Spoilsport!" she heard him shout.
She walked on, arriving at the refreshment stand at the rear of the beach.
"One ice cream, please", she asked.
The bloke got it, Martha paid him, and she looked over at the Doctor was.
Or rather, where the Doctor had been.
He was gone.
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He had been taken to a small dark room, tied to a chair, and now an armed man was standing over him.
The Doctor looked at the bloke with the gun, and smiled.
'Best not to irritate him', he thought. 'He might prove to be... volatile.'
"Hello, I'm the Doctor. Who are you?"
"That is need to know information, and you don't need to know", came the reply, surly and annoyed.
"You kidnap me and aim a gun in my face, and I don't need to know who you are?" asked the Doctor, incredulously, completely forgetting not to antagonise the armed bloke.
"Precisely", said the man, who aimed the gun closer to the Doctor's head to illustrate his point.
'Right', thought the Doctor. 'His logic is off, but he HAS got a gun. Best to move on.'
"So what can I do for you?" he asked.
"We need you to give us your time machine."
The Doctor laughed.
"Oh, pull the other one!"
"Don't mock us, Time Lord!" snarled the man, shoving his gun in the Doctors face.
The Doctor stopped laughing.
"Why do you need my time machine?" he asked. The words 'Time Lord' had shaken him.
"Because it is critical to the great plan", said a voice from the shadows.
In an instant, the man with the gun stepped back, bowing to the newcomer.
A tall man with silver hair, in a white robe.
"Who might you be?" asked the Doctor.
"I am the Father. We are Faction Paradox."
At that, the Doctor opened his eye's wide, looked upon the face of this 'Father', and in an instant knew what their plans were. He couldn't help but betray the slightest hint of loathing when he spoke.
"You're going to save Gallifrey. YOUR vision of Gallifrey."
"Yes, Doctor", said the Father. "Gallifrey will live again. With US at it's head."
"And that's why you need the TARDIS", continued the Doctor, horrified at the words he spoke. "Only the TARDIS can go there, of all the time machines in existence…"
"Yes, Doctor", said the Father. "So take us there."
"And if I don't?" asked the Doctor, defiantly.
"Then we kill your companion" said the Father, calmly.
The Doctor had no choice. He couldn't let Martha die. But he did have a plan.
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Martha waited at the TARDIS, silently, patiently, knowing full well that to wander off looking for him on an alien planet was silly.
When the Doctor finally returned, she ran to hug him, only for two dozen blokes in space costumes armed with laser guns to follow him in, and cover them both.
"Who are they?" asked a horrified Martha.
"Faction Paradox", came the reply from the Doctor, who was flicking switches.
"Who?" said Martha, confused.
"A major player in the war," said the Doctor. "A nasty bunch by all accounts."
"'A major player in the war'?" repeated Martha, increduosly. "All two dozen of them?"
"Do not mock us, woman", snapped the Father, angrily. "We have no qualms about killing…"
"Best do as they say, Martha", said the Doctor quietly. "I have a plan…"
He set the controls for Gallifrey. The old Gallifrey. At least, that's what the Father believed.
For a moment, he asked himself whether the Faction had the right idea… maybe he SHOULD help them bring Gallifrey back…
'A Gallifrey run by the Faction?' thought the Doctor. 'Better that they stay dead then the Faction rule them. Rassilon knows what they'd do to the Time Lords, or Time, for that matter.'
The TARDIS materialised exactly where it ought to have.
"Hold on to something, Martha", the Doctor mouthed. He flicked a small switch.
Martha nodded, and discreetly held on to the console.
The Doctor turned to the Faction.
"I never did introduce you to the gang, did I?" he said. "This is Martha, Martha, this is the Father."
"Get on with it Doctor", said the Father impatiently.
"And THIS…" said the Doctor, obliviously, "is a black hole."
He opened the TARDIS doors. A massive black hole, huge and gaping, opened up.
The members of the Faction were sucked out into the hole… or at least some of them were. The Father held on to the console, trying to aim his blaster at the Doctor, screaming blue murder…
Who pressed the close button.
All of a sudden, the black hole's pull was stopped. Martha held on to the console nonetheless, guessing the Doctors plan…
The Father let go of the console, and dropped to the floor.
The Doctor opened the doors again –
The Father was sucked out, screaming and firing his blaster wildly –
The Doctor shut the doors again.
Martha looked at the Doctor.
"That was scary", she said.
"Not nearly as scary as what would have happened if they had succeeded", replied the Doctor.
He set the controls back for Ieh-mo Kei again.
"I believe," he said, "that we have a holiday to finish."
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The TARDIS arrived, but when the duo stepped outside, it was pandemonium.
People were yelling, screaming, running, all over the place, running from the beach...
Obviously, the Doctor ran to the beach, weanting to know what was going on, Martha hot on his heels.
At the beach, they saw them.
Massive holes in existence, that were gradually increasing in size. They were the shape of parallelograms.
"What are they?" asked Martha, horror struck.
"They are the worst thing you could possibly imagine", said the Doctor grimly, watching them as they expanded.
"What?" asked Martha. "Can't be worse than Daleks, or Carrionites."
"It is, Martha", said the Doctor. "Null Time Rifts."
"What are they?" asked Martha, looking at the rifts with a mixture of fear and confusion.
"Exactly what it say's on the tin", said the Doctor.
The rifts were destroying whole cities on the horizon. When they touched people, the people would simply cease to be. As in, not even there. No remains, no bodies, nothing.
"Come on", yelled the Doctor. "Back to the TARDIS!"