Chapter Three:

"I can't believe you're here!" Jack said as he hauled himself up by the enforced rope. His head felt so free after he finally took his helmet off after recommendations from The Doctor; everyone else followed suit.

"Neither can I really," The Doctor replied, pulling himself by the borrowed rope. "I punched in a bunch of coordinates and landed here."

"So did you know that I was here?"

"Not really but I'm glad you were as otherwise they might not believe I was me."

"Glad to help out."

The Doctor was lucky his shoes were gripped as he hauled himself up the side of the mountain and noticed that they were nearing the top. "How much further?" the Time Lord asked the 'Leader' Lewis.

"How much further?" Lewis asked Chris; repeating what The Doctor had said.

"It should be-"

"On the other side of this mountain," The Doctor interrupted who was standing at the peak and looking down.

Far below, imbedded in the mountain, was outpost. It was made of a shiny metallic alloy and it glittered in the planet's setting suns. It was large with multiple sections and connective corridors that looked like massive metal slugs.

Lewis had been in training for six months for this mission and finally seeing the base was bliss. It was within his grasp and he wasn't going for settle for just grasping air. He unhooked his cable and moved it to the other side before abseiling down. The rest of the group followed and The Doctor resisted the urge to scan the area before jumping down afterwards. He could taste something in the air, either he was being overly paranoid or there was something very wrong.

The group of U.N.I.T officials gradually moved towards the base with great gusto and nothing felt sweeter than finally arriving at the large metallic doors. Lewis was one of the two members that had the access code so he walked over and entered it with great dexterity.

The doors slid open and the group poured in like a flood. The doors made a heavy clunk as they slid shut and sealed themselves. "Welcome to Outpost Alpha, this will be our home for the next four years so get comfortable."

"Four years?" The Doctor turned to Jack. "Why would you stick around in one place for four whole years?"

The group began to disperse throughout the base while the two of them stood to the side.

"The Brigadier asked me to watch over the mission," Harkness replied. "And it was well worth the money."

"When did you become interested in money?"

"Right after I became broke."

"Well at least you have a goal; particularly since you can't d-"

Jack held his finger to his lips and The Doctor stopped. "They don't know."

"Don't know what?" Lewis asked, hearing the conversation slightly.

"Nothing," Jack replied, turning around and walking off to find his quarters; he needed a rest and a shower.

Lewis turned back to The Doctor. "Anyway Doctor, we have a room if you want but since you arrived by T.A.R.D.I.S I'm sure leaving won't be a problem for you."

"Oh I'll be leaving eventually," The Doctor remarked. "You won't catch me here for four years but first I want to find more about what this big experiment is."

"What experiment?"

"The experiment!" The Doctor exclaimed. "The whole reason this base was built, you're clearly a scientist and so are the rest of them, apart from Jack of course, and it has to be big one to have a whole base built around it!"

"That's classified information Doctor."

"I have three reasons for why you should tell me about this experiment," The Doctor replied holding out three of fingers. "I can help you, my mind is unparalleled by anyone on this base. I'm also the Scientific Advisor of U.N.I.T and that gives me level access to get to this information and finally; if you don't tell me I'll find out anyway and you can't stop me."

Lewis contemplated the notion. If he had The Doctor shot he'd be court martialled but the experiment wasn't meant for outsiders who hadn't been in the original briefing. "Fine, I'll show you."

"Great!" The Doctor smiled as the scientist began to lead the way from the main area and down the corridor.

"What am I meant to do?" The Doctor asked the T.A.R.D.I.S. "This thing shouldn't exist; how can I fight a thing that shouldn't exist?"

The data made no sense. It shouldn't be there and yet it was. The Doctor was perplexed, intrigued and repulsed. The portal made no sense and had no right to be there. So he did what he did best; dived head first into danger.

He slammed down a lever and made his way to the stabilisers. He slammed down a plethora of switches and buttons before finding his way to the handbrake. He took it off and felt the T.A.R.D.I.S rumble as it began to whizz through the time vortex.

Shockwaves moved through the ship, The Doctor checked the scanner, "External photon particles? Where are they coming from?" The room shook violently again and he gripped the bottom of the console to stand up right. "They're coming from the anomaly. This is ridiculous!"

The T.A.R.D.I.S rattled again and The Doctor activated even more stabilisers to lessen the impact. The particles were pushing into the ship and battering the hull but the vessel was strong. The Doctor looked at the scanner, just below the brim of his hat, and saw that he was nearing the strange source.

The T.A.R.D.I.S jumped from the Vortex and into real space with the slam of a lever. The Time Lord moved around the console, moving the scanner screen with him, and began to trigger a few more stabilisers. He began to set the scanners back on to see more information about the space-time anomaly.

"Okay now stay in orbit old girl," The Doctor said, bringing down a lever slowly. "Good; so what is this thing? An inter-dimensional link to another place in time or space? An attempt at time travel gone wrong? A tear in the fabric of the universe? No, no, no, the data is all wrong. What is going on here?" The scanner seemed to be yielding no help, "Oh I'm too tired for this!"

The T.A.R.D.I.S console room jolted and The Doctor was knocked off his feet and onto his trench coat covered back. The ship began to spin off, the stabilisers couldn't hold against the strain, the strange portal was pulling the T.A.R.D.I.S in and by the time he got up; The Doctor was too late!