Disclaimer: - I don't own Doctor Who. It's my first story so please be nice.
Chapter 1 – A familiar face.
The Doctor was bursting with possible questions to ask. However his present inability to construct a coherent sentence belied that fact. As a result he just said what he'd said twice before.
"What??"
"I see that you have lost none of your eloquence Doctor," The White Guardian joked. "I have come to see a small matter."
"If you wanted to visit, all you had to do was knock."
"I felt that my entrance would lend a bit more magnitude to the situation."
"What situation?" asked the Doctor?
The Guardian looked at him with a twinkle in his eye. "There is a force that is threatening the balance of the Universe."
The Doctor's brow furrowed. "This isn't about the key to time again is it? Because…"
The White Guardian shook his head. "No Doctor, this is more problematic. I thought that you would volunteer." He knew the Doctor would when he knew the circumstances.
The Doctor was starting to get a bit frustrated. The White Guardian was being annoyingly cryptic. Truthfully, he was glad that it wasn't the key to time again. That quest felt like it had been more trouble than it was worth. A big intergalactic treasure hunt. These quests all seemed to follow the same pattern. Find a section of what you were looking for and it would point you to the next bit whilst simultaneously defending yourself against some loony trying to spoil everyone's plans. The key to Time, the Infinite. All the same.Just one big treasure hunt. "What is this about?" he asked, somewhat dreading the answer.
"Something I think that you would be interested in," the Guardian replied. "A warning!"
The Doctor was suddenly paying full attention to the White Guardian's words. If the White Guardian takes the trouble to send you a message, it was hardly going to be something trivial. As he was immersed in his thoughts, the lights in the TARDIS dimmed and a blue hologram matrix emanated around the room. Planets, suns, moons all rotating in the sanctity of one room.
"The Universe," the White Guardian explained. "It's such a beautiful place, but it's also very fragile. Over the course of time and space, the balance has been disrupted. Now, I fear it's happening again."
The hologram reconfigured itself. As it did, numerous planets in the matrix were enveloped within a golden haze.
"Are those energy spikes?" the Doctor asked?
"Temporal energy spikes," the guardian replied. "In numerous time zones and many planets, they augur terrible things to come. For example, here." He pointed at a rather large planet.
The Doctor put on his glasses and squinted at the planet.
"Cranon Prime, Morpok system, 5837," he read out.
"And here."
"Engh'gha, Niassha Devastation, 406,771."
"And here."
" Salieri's World, Magromax /ΖΨΚ4, 12,010."
"It's also worth noting how often Earth is affected. I know how fond you are of that planet. It is one of the reasons that I thought that you would accept this quest."
"What was the other reason?" the Doctor asked.
"The Black Guardian. He is furious at being thwarted by you and would revel in your defeat. He has shamed the Guardian council. He no longer represents the laws of chaos and entropy. He now only driven by rage and the desire to see you dead."
"I tend to have that effect with a lot of people," the Doctor retorted.
"I feel that you are probably the only being that can stop him. Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Will you take this quest?"
The Doctor thought about it for a minute. He could ignore it and the White Guardian could find someone else. However, he couldn't risk the damage caused by these spikes. It also was not in his nature to ignore those who needed help. On top of that, he hadn't been doing much after the confrontation with Davros. He'd do it. The Doctor nodded.
"Excellent," the White Guardian beamed. "You'll need this."
He threw a small object toward the Doctor. The Doctor caught it and examined the object. It was a silver orb divided into slivers. "A biodata module!" he thought. .
"The module is compatible with your TARDIS." The Guardian explained. "It will help you locate the energy spikes."
"Some things never change" thought the Doctor. "Ermm, you're not providing me with another companion are you?"
The Guardian chuckled. "No Doctor, I think you'll find someone to help you with this."
As the White Guardian started to fade away, the Doctor, having processed all this information decided to ask him one of the more important questions he had meant to ask sooner. "Out of interest," he asked "Where did you get that chair?"
"If you become a guardian, then you'll be entitled to one." The figure vanished, leaving his laughter echoing around the TARDIS.
The Doctor looked at the biodata molecule in his hand.
"Well, no time like the present… errr past… or is it future? Anyway, Alonsy!"
The Doctor looked at the biodata module and inserted it into a small alcove in the TARDIS central column. The little ball immediately started glowing. A small beam of blue light shot from the top, projecting an image of the large planet he had seen a few minutes ago. The hologram dissipated and was replaced by reams of data and binary code. The Doctor checked the monitor. Apparently, the TARDIS had picked up on something. Under masses of ones and zeroes, he could make out the more salient details.
010101010011Energy reading found 01011101010
0110 Location – Morpok System 01010110111001
1100 Unidentified craft orbiting Cranon Prime 10
101100000111010001 Mauve Alert 0001011010110
"Talk about being thrown in at the deep end," the Doctor thought. The Morpok system was an extremely dangerous sector of the galaxy. A deprived system of drug smuggling, gun runners and more crime syndicates then you could shake a helmic regulator at. In short, not the best place for a holiday.
"Luckily I won't actually have to land on Cranon Prime," the Doctor mumbled to himself. The readout stated that there was an unidentified craft above this particular planet. Hopefully the Axis host would be there. The Doctor activated the vortex loop on the TARDIS column and the police box shot through the time/ space continuum with the grace of a Dalek being pushed down a flight of stairs.
One hand on the vortex loop, one hand on the retro stabiliser and his right foot trying to activate the quantum transducer on the other side of the column, the Doctor quickly checked the monitor again. He was there. Hovering above the surface of Cranon Prime. The Hub of the Morpok system. Its once verdant terrain now poisoned with thick plumes of acrid smog. The once blue waters were now coloured a bile yellow. That combined with the pinpricks of light through the pollution created a disgusting image. Thousands of years of neglect can do that to a planet.
The Doctor rushed to the scanner, which was emitting a piercing shriek. The mauve alert! It had to be the craft. Quickly hacking in the mainframe, the scanner displayed the necessary information.
SS Malachite
Ident code – 681501742/B/434
Established – Gal/Year - 5837
Designation – Transport ship, B class
Destination – Aurelia, Halon cluster, Morpok system.
An image of a dilapidated transport craft appeared on the screen. Above it an even bigger craft was displayed. It looked like a giant boomerang. A black beam shot from this craft and engulfed the Malachite…
The Doctor looked at the scanner. Judging from the state of the ship, the attack had been quite recent. He further checked the data.
Mission – Classified
Status – All extraneous power sources offline. Infrastructure unstable. Disintegration imminent.
Survivors – One
"One survivor?" There wasn't any other explanation. A bio reading seemed to be emanating from this wreck.
"ALERT! BIO READINGS DECREASING!"
"Was coming from the wreck," The Doctor amended. He quickly flicked a couple of switches to get a trace on the source of the readings. He managed to locate the source in the form of
an escape pod. A tiny little pod that was heading away from the Malachite and towards that rift storm.
Rift Storm? Where the hell had that appeared from?
Slightly more bothered about where the pod was heading, the Doctor slammed his palm on the retro stabiliser, taking the TARDIS out of its orbit around Cranon Prime and towards the escape pod.
"C'mon old girl!" he coaxed. "Don't fail me now eh?"
The TARDIS shuddered and groaned, spinning towards the pod. Nearer and nearer. Unfortunately, that kind of described the trajectory of both objects towards the rift storm.
"No! No! No! No! No! No! Don't do this to me old girl" pleaded the Doctoras he followed the pod into the swirling vortex. Honestly, the rift wasn't that bad. It was trying to track something that could easily switch time streams that worried him. He was thrown out of his thoughts when a large jolt knocked him to the ground. He assumed that it was just temporal turbulence. He could worry about that later. The assumption would cost him.
--
"Deactivate cloaking device!"
Back around the carcass of the SS Malachite, The boomerang shaped ship materialised into view.
Upon the deck, several observers were at their stations, analysing the anomaly that had appeared from nowhere. To say that it was baffling was an understatement.
"Report!" The voice was no louder than a whisper, yet it somehow filled the room.
"No life forms aboard the Malachite, Commander."
"And the anomaly?"
"We saw two vessels enter it Commander. One was an escape pod but the other was an unusual craft."
"Elaborate!"
"It was a large blue box."
"…"
"Does that mean anything to you Commander?"
"A fragment of our past. Did you plant the homing device?"
"We are sure that it attached to one of the vessels Commander. It appears the blue box was following the pod. We find the box, we find the survivor."
"Excellent!" whispered the commander. "Seek, Intercept and Destroy!"
"You heard the commander!" roared the subordinate "Follow at will!"
"How is the transducer getting along."
"The ramjet transducer is almost complete. It should be ready within the hour."
The Commander retreated back to the shadows of the deck. "So it begins…" he mused. "We shall be victorious. No- one will oppose us. The Galaxy shall soon realise the true might of the Necrofears!
Please R&R.