14.
The air was sweltering and thick beneath the heavy cover of the swamp, heated by an early morning Southern sun. But the light didn't penetrate the canopy; it simply warmed the soggy area beneath.
Amy's clothing was soon drenched by the humidity and her own sweat, clinging to her body like a sopping wet rag.
Emil continued to pole steadily through the murky water, struggling across shallow areas where the boat dragged slightly or caught against a log below the surface. Spanish moss hung down from every conceivable location, trailing across the boat. Birds called out from the distance but it seemed to Amy that they were no longer all around, but only behind. Ahead the swamp was strangely silent.
A loud plop sounded near the boat and made Amy jump. She watched the small ripples in the black surface of the water.
"Those are cottonmouths," said Emil. "They drop from the trees when we pass too close."
Amy just shivered nervously and glanced at the Doctor. He sat silently, lost in thought, but his eyes scanned the area intently, piercing the tangled vegetation.
Emil scanned the water and nodded when he saw something. "Keep an eye out for gators too."
If it weren't for their guide's bony finger pointing the way, Amy wouldn't even notice the dark shape ahead that lay close to the water. Two eyes and the tip of a snout rose above the murky surface, the rest of the alligator hidden below. The reptile kept a close eye on the boat, its eyes never blinking, its head not moving an inch.
*****************
It was another hour before Emil spoke again. "According to the map Mama showed us," he muttered, "Tommy's island should be right through here." Amy noticed the strain in Emil's normally placid voice as he continued to pole the boat. It was more difficult here as the trees were closer together.
"Then either we find him," agreed the Doctor darkly, "or he finds us."
Without warning, the boat struck something underwater, throwing them all forwards. Emil drew in a breath. "Must've hit something in the mud – loosened it up too."
About two feet to the right of the boat, the brackish water began to bubble. Amy bit her lip as a man's corpse bobbed to the surface, face down in the water.
The Doctor peered down at the corpse. The back of its head caved inwards as if crushed.
"Oh my God, did we hit him?" gasped Amy.
The Doctor nodded. "But he was already dead." He pointed to the pale, flabby skin of the corpse. "He's been in the water for some time."
"It's Pablo," whispered Emil hoarsely. "We were friends since school. I …"
Suddenly the boat rocked fiercely from side to side. Amy yelled in fear as two slimy arms erupted from the beneath the dark waters of the swamp and grabbed her hand.
15.
The Doctor jumped across the boat and tugged one arm away from Amy, but another shot from the swamp and gripped his wrist. He pulled backwards with a yell and lost his footing, crashing down into the boat which rocked precariously.
With a cry, Amy picked up a heavy torch from her rucksack and started to club the hand and arm that was tugging at her. She could hear the bones crack on the impacts and yet still the arm held her in a vice-like grip, pulling her towards the water. Amy screamed as she glimpsed pale eyes and a lolling head beneath the waters and renewed her efforts, beating the hand to a pulp.
"They're all around us!" shouted Emil as more bodies started to rise from the murky blackness. He thrust the pole through the chest of one zombie that flailed forwards. The ribs splintered and the pole went completely through the body, impaling it like a spear.
There were now half a dozen corpses around the little boat and trying to topple it into the swamp.
The Doctor sat up from the bottom of the boat. His fall had left him a little dazed, but he knew instantly what the final outcome of the struggle would be. "Jump for it!" he shouted as he got to his feet and looked around. He tore Amy away from the zombie that was trying to haul itself into the boat, lashing out with a foot. He caught the creature on the shoulder, pushing it back into the swamp with a heavy splash.
"Are you mad?" yelled Amy. "They're in the water, we won't stand a chance!"
"If we stay here we'll end up dead – or wore!" returned the Doctor, pointing to the right. "There's some dry land over that way." Without waiting for an argument, he pushed her over the side, away from the creatures.
Amy screamed as she hit the swamp but found it only came up to her waist. Taking a breath she started wading through the dark and slimy water in the direction the Doctor had pointed.
Meanwhile, Emil had thrust his pole backwards and forwards, knocking the zombies off balance before they could get a firm grip on the boat. "Go!" he shouted at the Doctor.
The Doctor nodded as he picked up Amy's rucksack and swung it around, catching another zombie on the side as it stepped onto the boat. The impact sent the creature flying off the boat and back into the swamp. Then the Doctor turned and leapt as far as he could towards Amy.
Emil didn't waste any time, struck another zombie in the chest with the pole, and jumped after the Doctor.
Amy had now reached the dry bank of land and had dragged herself onto it, her heart pounding. She glanced backwards to see the Doctor and Emil thrashing through the water towards her.
The two men reached the bank in seconds, both gasping and spluttering. The Doctor turned around to see the small boat vanish beneath the black surface of the swamp.
16.
"At least they didn't follow us," said the Doctor after a few seconds. All that was left of the boat were some bubbles on the surface of the swamp. The sudden silence was deafening.
Amy wiped her sweat-drenched face with the back of her hand. "But how are we going to get back?"
"Let's cross one bridge at a..." the Doctor began but suddenly let out a howl of pain. He rolled up his trouser leg to reveal a fat leech stuck to his calf.
Like lightning, Emil reached into his shirt pocket and produced a small lighter. He thumbed it on and quickly applied the flame to the leech on the Doctor's leg.
The Doctor screwed up his face in pain, but after only a few seconds Emil grabbed the leech and threw it back into the swamp. "You okay?" he asked.
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, thanks." He rubbed at his calf with a handkerchief, wiping the fresh blood away from where the leech had bitten into the flesh. "I wonder what it thought of Time Lord blood," he muttered, getting to his feet with a wince of pain. He saw Amy looking at him suspiciously. "Oh nothing," he sighed, "time for that later. Come on."
****************
"I still can't believe I volunteered to come with you," grumbled Amy as she picked her way carefully through the tangled vines and dense, sodden undergrowth. She looked at her watch. They had been walking for nearly half an hour.
"Stop moaning," smiled the Doctor. "You could always wait for us……"
Amy said nothing but stuck out her tongue and gave his back a venomous glare. She glanced at Emil. The tall, black man had been virtually silent since they had lost the boat. "What about you Emil? How come you're mixed up with this?"
Emil said nothing for a moment. "Mama Regina cured my Pappy of a fever years ago," he replied eventually, "back when I was nine years old. I saw the madness start to take her and I figured I owed her one. Pablo tried to help and then he got himself killed too……."
"And I'm very glad you're with us," interrupted the Doctor. "We'd never have got this far without you."
Amy shivered and looked around her. Was it her imagination, or was it getting darker? She looked at her watch again – it was only late morning.
Around them, mosquitoes began to swarm in the twilight air, amassing in black, whining clouds. Emil swatted the side of his neck, creating a small streak of blood beneath his hand.
The Doctor scanned the area ahead of them. "Look! Over there!"
The trees about twenty yards ahead parted slightly to frame a small, dilapidated stilt-house. The shack was completely dark and barely visible in the deepening twilight.
"I think we've arrived," whispered the Doctor.
17.
"'Creepy' just doesn't begin to describe it," murmured Amy. "I take it we're going in?"
"Oh yes." The Doctor's eyes gleamed with curiosity. "This is definitely where 'Tommy' lives." He ran his fingers through his hair. "But, let's not go through the front door just yet." The Doctor started to walk around the old shack, putting up his hand to indicate for Amy and Emil to stay where they were.
Emil opened his mouth to argue but Amy just shrugged, folding her arms across her chest.
The Doctor came back to them after only a minute. Amy raised her eyebrows expectantly. "There's a pretty big hole in the back wall," said the Doctor to her unspoken question, "like something crashed through it. Long time ago mind, all the vegetation has grown around it and the wood has rotted too." He broke off, his mind racing with possibilities. "I wonder…."
Amy swallowed nervously. "So which way in?"
Before the Doctor could answer, there was a sudden yell from Emil. "Doctor, Amy – get down!" The black man pushed them both to the soft, muddy ground.
The air was suddenly thick with swarms of mosquitoes that droned angrily. Acting almost as if they were a single creature, the mosquitoes flew at Emil and covered his body in a black, crawling mass of insects.
Emil screamed in agony as the mosquitoes bit into his flesh. He staggered about, clawing desperately at the vicious insects as they pierced his flesh again and again.
Amy started to get to her feet but the Doctor held her down and frantically hauled her away, crawling over the sodden earth. "No!" he yelled. "There's nothing we can do Amy!"
"But he's going to be killed!" she sobbed.
Emil's cries and his flailing arms became weaker as the deadly swarm enveloped his body, gorging itself on his blood. With a last, pitiful moan, Emil lurched across to the water's edge and then pitched head first into the murky swamp. As his body hit the water, the swarm dispersed and flew upwards into the trees and the ever-darkening sky.
The Doctor and a petrified Amy got slowly to their feet. "Of course," the Doctor whispered, "it wasn't flies - it was mosquitoes – the blood control…"
Amy was ashen and turned her face into the Doctor's chest. He hugged her tightly to him. "I know," he whispered. "I'm so sorry……" After a moment, his eyes turned from sorrow into boiling anger. "We have to finish this."
The Doctor took Amy by the hand and led her across to the front door of the ruined shack. "Stay here," he told her, "it'll be safer."
Amy shook her head. "Not a chance," she replied thickly. "I'm staying with you."
The Doctor sighed and then nodded. "Alright, just be careful."
Slowly he opened the door.
18.
The shack was almost pitch dark inside and Amy rummaged around in her rucksack to find her torch. After a moment she found it and switched it on. The darkness was suddenly banished by the strong beam of light. She felt the Doctor take her hand and they moved slowly forwards.
The shack was just a single rectangular room, wider rather than long. As the Doctor flashed the torch around, Amy could see that the wooden flooring had been smashed by something that resembled a large rock. The hole in the wall that the Doctor had noticed earlier and that was now obscured by vines and creepers lay behind it.
Amy gagged at the stench of rotting flesh and put her hand over her mouth. "It reeks in here."
"The smell of death," agreed the Doctor.
Then the torch beam hit something that stood next to the rock, seemingly leaning against the back wall.
Amy gasped and squeezed the Doctor's hand as she saw the figure. It was the decaying body of a man, dressed in torn, dirty rags. His top lip had rotted away to expose a row of jagged, deep brown teeth. A snake had crawled around the dead man's neck and watched them silently, its long tongue flicking outwards.
"That could be our 'Timbalier Tommy' Amy," whispered the Doctor.
Amy felt the cold sweat trickle down her back and fought to suppress her panic. "But how can that… thing control Mama Regina, and the flies and everything?"
"I think the answer could be in there." The Doctor flashed his torch over to the boulder.
"What, that rock?"
"It's not a rock – it's a Sycorax escape module." Ignoring Amy's blank look the Doctor crept closer, keeping a careful eye on the decaying corpse next to it. "Look in here."
Amy looked at where the Doctor was playing the torch. Part of the boulder had peeled away, like a hatch or cover. She peered into the cavity and gulped. Inside was another body, but not of a man. It was a skeleton of a creature dressed in torn red robes. The head of the creature was the large, elongated skull that had appeared on Mama Regina when she had attacked them. To her surprise, the creature held something in one of its bony claws that pulsed a deep red. "Is that a….Sycorax?" she whispered.
But before the Doctor could reply, the door to the shack was smashed open.
Standing in the doorway was Emil, his face and body covered in the red welts of mosquito bites, and his eyes glowing with an eerie light.
19.
"But he's dead!" cried Amy as the corpse of their former friend staggered towards them.
"It's been animated by the Sycorax," shouted the Doctor. "Quick, we have to get the…" He reached out into the capsule but jumped back as the rotting corpse next to it lurched forwards. The decaying teeth were twisted into an evil leer. "Too late – it's done that one too!"
Amy held tightly onto the Doctor's hand as they slowly backed away. Amy glanced behind them. To her relief there were no hidden dangers, but they were being herded into a corner. "Doctor, we're trapped!"
"I know, I know," he cried. "Amy, you've got to get the blood control module."
"The what?"
"The device in the Sycroax's hand. It's what's animating them."
Without waiting for an answer, the Doctor threw himself forwards, grappling with the long-dead corpse.
Amy watched him in horror. The thing didn't just look terrifying, it was strong too and its bony fingers had clamped around the Doctor's arms, pinning them to his sides. The creature that used to be Emil advanced towards her, but then paused and also grabbed the Doctor. Slimy, wet hands reached up for his throat.
"Amy – the blood control device!" the Doctor shouted hoarsely.
But Amy was frozen with terror – her legs were rooted to the ground. "Doctor…"
"Amy please…" The Doctor's voice was cut off as Emil's dead hands began squeeze his neck.
Taking a deep breath, Amy jumped forwards and scooped up the still-pulsing globe from within the Sycorax escape module. The bony claws of the dead alien seemed to clutch at her hand, but she was too quick to be caught. "What now?" she shouted.
Using every last piece of strength left, the Doctor managed to pull one of Emil's hands from his throat. "Smash it!"
Amy lifted the crystalline globe high above her head. The energy that emanated from it seemed to grow in intensity so that it illuminated the entire filthy shack in a blood-red light.
Both Emil and the other corpse instantly released the Doctor and turned towards Amy. Rotting hands reached out to grab her
Amy threw the globe against the rocky Sycorax escape module as hard as she could. Fragments of glass splintered in all directions and the red light faded immediately leaving the shack in darkness. Emil and the other creature froze, their clawed hands still stretched towards her. Then they slowly toppled forwards to the ground. As they hit the rotten wooden floor, the corpses began to dissolve into a slimy puddle, leaving only bone until that too liquefied and dripped through the slats in the floor and into the swamp beneath.
The Doctor scrambled over and held a sobbing Amy. "It's over," he said softly. "You did it Amy Price."
20.
"Okay, I will. Yeah." Amy rolled her eyes impatiently. "Yeah, sure. Bye Mum." She flipped down the top of her mobile phone and stashed it back in her denim jacket. At least now that they were back in New Orleans she could get a proper signal out. Well, at least she could now the Doctor had done something weird to her phone. Whatever he had done though, it had certainly improved it.
Amy walked back from the bar area of the restaurant, passed the small jazz quartet that were playing in the corner, until she reached their table.
The Doctor looked up from a huge pile of stripped barbeque ribs on his plate. "Everything alright?" he asked, wiping the sticky brown sauce from his mouth and chin.
Amy nodded. "Yeah fine. My mother – fuss Champion of Britain, as usual!" She took a sip of her beer.
The Doctor grinned and picked up a huge blue cocktail that was decorated with every imaginable piece of fruit. He slurped some through a straw. "That was brilliant!"
Amy noticed a brown piece of parchment that was next to the Doctor. "What's that?"
The Doctor put down his cocktail. "I found it in the shack after….after everything was over." He pushed it towards her. "Take a look."
Amy picked up the parchment and started reading. It was a scrap of diary. "Eighteen seventy eight," she breathed. "This is…" she trailed off as she read more. Then she checked the name at the bottom of the paper. "Thomas Sanchez. Oh my God, this is the diary of that thing in the shack!"
"That 'thing'," frowned the Doctor, "was a man. Thomas Sanchez – the original 'Timbalier Tommy'."
Amy put down the parchment and rubbed her forehead. She had taken off the bandage now and all that remained of her injury was a yellowish bruise. "I can't believe what's happened to us Doctor. It was all so weird. You're so weird!"
The Doctor picked up his cocktail again and grinned. "Want it to become a lot weirder?"
********************
"What's that box?" Amy pointed suspiciously to the blue box that stood innocuously on the corner of the quiet New Orleans street.
The Doctor strolled towards the TARDIS and leant casually against it. "It's my TARDIS."
Amy raised her eyebrows. "More weirdness. Okay, and what's a 'TARDIS'?"
"It stands for 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'," grinned the Doctor. "It's my time machine."
"Time machine!" Amy laughed. "Oh, come on Doctor!"
"Oh yeah. I can go anywhere in the universe me."
"You are just impossible."
The Doctor said nothing but just produced a key and opened the door, letting a golden glow escape from within. "Care to take a look?" he said innocently, turning back to her with a mischievous smile on his face.
Amy looked at him for a moment, her frown of disbelief slowly dissolving to match the Doctor's smile.
She walked towards the strange blue box.
Next Time: The Doctor takes Amy for her first trip in the TARDIS to Victorian London in 'Dark Secrets'
Nzambi – Confidential
'Nzambi' probably had the most difficult and shifting genesis of any of my 'TARDIS Adventures' so far.
As I mentioned at the end of 'Astaroth', for a long time this story was to follow 'Port of Blood' and have no companion. I had imagined a semi-regular male character being introduced here (played by Greg Grunberg from 'Heroes' actually!) who would help out the Doctor and be the 'companion of the week', but he would reappear in the final two part story of the season. I also knew I wanted voodoo and zombies and the Louisiana Bayous seemed a perfect location.
I discussed this with another writer and he assured me that this was fine. He could write this one for me.
Ah…
I eventually ended up writing it (although the title was his - Nzambi is a Cajun word for zombie) after I had finished the mid-season two part story that featured Ionay. Since Ionay had worked out as a one-off companion rather than jumping aboard the TARDIS, I decided to do a bit of shuffling the stories around. This story would now come after the Ionay episodes and have to introduce a new companion rather than the Greg Grunberg character.
Enter Amy Price.
This is an occasion where the actress very much determined the character. I had been watching an ITV piece of fluff called 'Lost in Austen', which apart from being stuffed full of Doctor Who actors (Alex Kingston, Florence Hoath, and Christina Coles amongst others), had a rather wonderful lead in the shape of Jemima Rooper. I had never seen or heard of Jemima before (looking at the various websites however, I realise she is no stranger to the medium!), but thought she was just fabulous for a modern, spiky companion who could be witty, brave, and have a good line in put-downs for the Doctor and enemies alike.
And if you want to see the photocall for the new companion, see:-
.
Once I had decided on Amy (and Jemima) as a new companion, the rest of the season started to fall into place although by happy accident, the intended locations for the stories haven't changed at all.
But back to 'Nzambi' and for a long time there was no Sycorax. There was still all the voodoo and zombies, and with swamps having large amounts of gas, for a brief while the Gelth would have made an appearance. Then there was going to be a new enemy in this one and an old enemy in the next story in the shape of a Sontaran. But when I decided that Sycorax blood control was to be behind it all, out he went too!
It's off to Victorian London next, so put on your top hat and order a hansom….