14.
Amy sat back on the sofa, her damp hair forgotten as she listened to Demora's story.
"I've worked for Osato Chemicals ever since I left university. They were a good employer – one of the biggest independent companies in Tokyo - and my family were proud of me." Demora smiled, idly touching the jewelled piercing in her nose. "After a six month training period, I found myself in one of the research labs – exactly the type of thing I wanted to do with my degree. I was working with the organic chemistry, developing new biodegradable plastics and cleaner fuels that we could then sell on to the bigger firms." She took a sudden breath and looked at the Doctor. "Why am I telling you all this?" she laughed nervously.
The Doctor smiled encouragingly. "Go on Demora..."
"Mr Osato – he's the head of the company – was a good man I think. I didn't see him more than a few times after I completed my training – he actually shook my hand when I received my diploma." Her eyes were far away now, remembering better times. "Everyone said he was the ideal boss – firm, yet fair – and with a fantastic head for both industry and business."
"So what happened?" asked Amy.
"There was some kind of take-over about six months ago" sighed Demora. "There's a woman – Miss Danvier. She's American I think, or British – not Japanese anyway. Osato is still there, but I think he takes orders from her now."
"And it was this Miss Danvier that started changing things?" asked the Doctor, leaning forwards.
Demora nodded, her eyes wide with fear now. "Almost overnight. One morning I arrived and found that a dozen other graduates in my lab had been assigned other posts in the company. I was faced with a dozen strangers, led by a man called Dr Kau. He explained that the company was developing new research projects."
"This new oil?" interrupted the Doctor.
"That was the main element in some kind of research project. They wanted to distil it, break it down and change it somehow, but they were using techniques that were untried, and even some I'd never heard of at all! I didn't like it, but I couldn't face leaving..."
"So you did a bit of midnight snooping!" smiled Amy.
"I knew Danvier had increased security – but not by that much. I was lucky to get out."
The Doctor held up the vial that contained the yellow oil and regarded it gravely. "I think we had better pay a visit to Osato Chemicals..."
15.
Amy groaned. "You can never let it go can you?"
The Doctor looked at her in surprise. "Pardon me?"
"I thought we were going to see the Botanical gardens today? See a bit more of Tokyo?"
"I can't." He held up the vial again. "This is alien, Amy – something's happening here that shouldn't."
"And it's our job to stop it I suppose."
"Yes," shouted the Doctor, suddenly angry. "Yes it is, because if I don't nobody will!"
Amy looked at him as if he'd slapped her in the face, then without another word, walked out of the lounge and back to her room.
The Doctor closed his eyes and sighed as he heard the door slam. "Amy!" he cried, leaping to his feet and following her. "Amy, I'm sorry!"
"Go away!" came the yell from behind the door.
****************
The two men, dressed in the brown uniform of Osato Security, walked slowly along the gloomy tunnels that ran underneath Tokyo, their torches flashing in the darkness. They paused whilst one of them consulted a small electronic handheld map that showed the network of tunnels, his worried face bathed in the blue glow from its' tiny screen.
He flashed his torch onto a panel on the wall that read '31'. "This section hasn't been covered yet."
His partner nodded, an automatic pistol gripped in his other hand. Then he paused and wrinkled his nose. "Can you smell something?"
Suddenly, a blood-curdling shriek came from the darkness ahead.
****************
Amy sat outside the small cafe in the park and stared at her untouched cup of coffee.
She knew she was wrong, but hated to admit it – especially after the Doctor had been so apologetic. It had always been one of her faults, ever since she was little and had to get on with her older 'perfect' sister. When she was eight years old, one of her sulks had lasted over a week – or so her parents had told her. And told her, and told her...
Still, she reflected, she was partly right. This new life with the Doctor was difficult to adjust to. It was exciting, exhilarating, funny and brilliant – just like him. But it was also frightening, deadly, and so...well, continuous. The Doctor found trouble wherever he went. It was part of the deal.
Amy took a first sip of coffee and watched the busy park around her, before pulling out her mobile. She had taken Demora's number before she had left with the Doctor. It was time to get back on the horse.
No, she wouldn't change it for anything.
16.
The Doctor stood with his hands in the pockets of his long brown coat as he gazed up at the impressive Osato building, his spiky hair blowing in the breeze. He glanced at Demora who stood nervously next to him. "Far as you go, I think."
"What do you mean?" she asked - a note of annoyance in her voice. "I can show you where the labs are."
The Doctor shook his head. "Too dangerous – they'll recognise you straight away. I can find the labs on my own. Besides, I hope Amy will call soon and I need you to meet her. Can't have your mobile going off while we're in there can we?" He put his hands on her shoulders. "Stay close, but stay safe."
Demora watched him as he turned and strode through the automatic doors, exuding confidence from every pore. Then after a moment, she too turned and hurried away.
******************
Amy frowned. This was the third time she had called Demora's mobile, but it was going straight to voice-mail each time. Could something have happened already?
She drained the last of her coffee and got to her feet. She knew roughly where the Osato building was located from their encounter the previous evening. It was time to get a bus or tram back there – definitely not a subway train after last time – and find out what was happening. If the Doctor was in trouble, and Amy guessed that he most likely was, it was up to her to try and save him - just as he had risked everything for her on the 'Solar Queen'.
Amy left the park and got to the edge of the road, pausing to let the traffic ease so she could cross to the tram stop.
Suddenly a car screeched to a halt in front of her and the back door was flung open.
Amy stepped backwards automatically, but collided with somebody who grabbed at her arms.
With lightning reflexes, Amy twisted, dropped her shoulder and threw her assailant to the ground. But two more figures, both dressed in ripped denims and wearing dark hooded tops, leapt from the car and dragged her into it as she cried out.
The car door slammed shut, and the car accelerated away with a squeal of tyres.
Inside, Amy still struggled with her two attackers. "Let go of me you -" she yelled furiously. But suddenly she screamed as the hood fell back from one of them to reveal a Japanese youth – perhaps twenty years old. His mouth was open and revealed two long, pointed fangs as he lunged towards Amy's neck with a triumphant hiss.
17.
The Doctor grinned as the lift doors shut in front of him and he started to descend.
It had been simple getting past the security at the reception desk. His psychic paper was a gift when it came to that sort of thing and saved a lot of messy explanations. In fact, the Doctor wondered how he ever used to manage without it.
He inspected the control panel inside the lift and tapped a few keys. As he expected, the lower floors were security coded, but a quick burst from his sonic screwdriver soon overrode the locks. The Doctor grinned happily to himself, flipping the screwdriver in the air before stowing it back in his jacket pocket.
It was only a few moments later when, with a soft chime, the lift doors opened and the Doctor poked his head out, looking up and down the corridor. Fortunately there was nobody in sight, so he strode confidently out. "Act as if you own the place Doctor!" he smiled.
The right wall of the corridor was concrete, but the left side was half metal and half glass, revealing a series of laboratories beyond. Doors to the labs were set at regular intervals and the Doctor could see dozens of white-coated Japanese scientists busy at microscopes, centrifuges and computers.
Suddenly, a door to one of the labs hissed open and two scientists – one man, one woman – walked out. Both were Japanese and in their mid-twenties. As they caught sight of the Doctor, they both looked surprised and glanced at each other nervously.
The Doctor just grinned. "I'm looking for Miss Danvier, have you seen her?"
Just as he guessed, the mention of Danvier's name caused the two to suddenly avoid his gaze. With a small shake of their heads, they both hurried past the Doctor and up the corridor.
"Oh yes!" Clicking his tongue in satisfaction, the Doctor danced across the corridor and dodged through the door where they had emerged just before it slid shut behind him.
Amazed that his luck was still holding, the Doctor looked around the laboratory and rubbed his hands with glee. There was nobody else there - only a computer terminal, racks of chemicals, and the means to analyse them. He walked across to the racks and nodded with satisfaction as he saw vials of the same yellowish oil that he had taken from Demora.
The Doctor grinned from ear to ear with childish pleasure – it was time to get to work!
18.
All she could see was blurred images. Dark shapes moving in the shadows.
Amy shook her head in an effort to clear it and immediately wished she hadn't. The last time she had felt like this was when she had gone out on the town with Liz to try and forget about Alex – downing shots until three in the morning. Her head pounded like it was about to burst, throbbing painfully.
No, it wasn't her head – it was her neck.
Amy took a sharp intake of breath as she suddenly remembered what had happened. She tried to touch her neck but couldn't. She blinked rapidly and looked down to see the concrete floor moving beneath her.
It was then she realised that two youths were dragging her through a dark tunnel, each gripping one of her arms.
"What are you doing?" she moaned, but the youths didn't reply. "Where are you taking me?"
She tried to struggle, but it was no use. Her muscles felt like rubber; like she had been drugged. Amy could feel a mixture of anger and panic rising up in her. "Tell me!" she shouted, struggling and twisting again.
Suddenly, a cool breeze washed over her and she knew they had entered a large chamber.
"Let her go!"
It was a man's voice – soft and silky, yet full of authority.
Almost immediately, Amy was dropped to the floor. She put her hands out to stop herself from being hurt from the short fall and took a few ragged breaths before looking up.
She was in a circular room about forty feet across with various access doors and tunnels leading off at regular intervals. The centre of the room was several feet lower than the ledge that ran around the circumference of the chamber, making it almost like an amphitheatre. Mounted in the ceiling, slowly rotating with a low hum was a huge circular fan.
Inside the chamber were about twenty of the Japanese youths that looked like the ones that had attacked the Doctor and Amy the night before, and all dressed in dark hooded tops and ripped jeans. They stood or sat on the ledge watching Amy like a hungry pack of wolves.
But standing in the centre of the chamber was a figure in a faded orange top – the hood pushed back to reveal a Western youth with short dark hair and green eyes that gleamed in the darkness.
Amy shrank back in fear with a terrified gasp as Lucius grinned, revealing his long canine teeth. He raised his arms mockingly towards her. "I am Lucius, welcome to my domain..."
19.
The Doctor frowned and blew out a breath, running his hands through his spiky hair. He sat back in the lab chair and took off his glasses. The last test had confirmed it without doubt, but it was certainly different from when he had last analysed it, although then he did have K9 to help.
He took another peek through the microscope before glancing at the row of slides he had prepared –all covered with a sample of the yellow oil. His fingers tapped impatiently on the bench before he sat back again at looked at the small computer screen next to the microscope. The molecular structure of an organic compound rotated automatically like some complex screen-saver.
The Doctor bit his lip in thought. "Definitely more complex than last time," he murmured. "What have they added? Looks like some kind of polymer chain. That triple bond," he pointed to the screen, "makes you so reactive too..."
Suddenly, the sound of a blaring klaxon exploded around the lab.
The Doctor looked up in alarm. "Whoops – time to be going Doctor!"
He jumped to his feet, flicked off the computer and pocketed the slides and samples he had collected, before dashing to the lab door. Punching the door panel, the Doctor squeezed through almost before it had time to open and scurried down the corridor.
"Why can you never find a place to hide when you need one?" he muttered irritably to himself, because he could see what was about to happen.
Scientists in all the other labs had looked up from their work and were evacuating into the corridor. He could no longer go un-noticed - being the only non Japanese and without a white lab coat. An instant later, he heard the sound of running feet from an intersection ahead of him just before two security guards appeared. Both were carrying raised automatic pistols.
The Doctor skidded to a halt. He knew his psychic paper would be of little help – increased adrenalin levels interfered with the psychic field it generated. Better to go with the old fashioned approach.
The Doctor raised his hands above his head and grinned. "Morning! Don't suppose you two know where the canteen is?"
But the guards ignored his greeting and one grabbed his hands whilst the other levelled a pistol at him.
"Hey, watch it," protested the Doctor. "I could be a canteen inspector!"
"Oh I doubt that – Doctor."
The Doctor turned at the sound of the woman's voice behind him. It was elegant Western woman with long red-brown hair and dressed in an expensive business suit. But his eyes widened as he saw Demora standing next to her - held in the tight grip of another security guard.
"You were right my dear – he was down here," Danvier purred.
20.
"You must be Miss Danvier," said the Doctor carefully. "Demora's told me all about you."
Danvier smiled coldly. "Has she? How sweet – likewise about you, Doctor."
The Doctor's expression hardened. "Drop the act Danvier – I know what you are."
"Really?" Danvier took a step towards the Doctor and gazed into his eyes. "Yes... yes, perhaps you do."
"Then you need to know that I'll stop you."
Danvier laughed. "I don't think so." She grabbed Demora's chin and her long, polished nails began to dig painfully into the flesh until she cried out in pain. "This one thought the same – I thought she had been taken care of, but it seems she has the lives of a cat."
"Who doesn't?" shrugged the Doctor with a wry smile. "More, in fact..."
"No Doctor," spat Danvier, "you only live twice!"
Before anyone could act, Danvier suddenly snatched a gun from the security guard next to her, and with her free hand, threw Demora to the ground.
"No!" shouted the Doctor, struggling against the guards that held him.
But Danvier ignored him, pointed the gun at the prone figure of Demora, and pulled the trigger.
*********************
In the underground chamber, the youths howled in laughter at Lucius and his theatrical Eastern European accent. He just grinned even more, and took a languid bow. "Come on – what else are you supposed to say when this kinda' thing happens?"
Still crouched on the floor where she had been dropped, Amy shrank back in fear as Lucius turned to face her again. "So you're the stranger's friend." It was a statement, not a question. "The man that smelled so ...different." Lucius took a step towards her and inhaled deeply. "You too... not as strongly, but still there..." His eyes gleamed as he bent towards down towards her
"Oh my God," Amy whispered. Her throat was dry with fear and her heart hammered in her chest. "You're...vampires!"
But Lucius laughed and shook his head as he stood back up. "Vampires? Oh no, we're not a myth. We're quite real!"
He started to laugh again, and as he did so he began to change. The man that was Lucius melted away to be replaced by a spindly bat-like alien with orange skin and an ugly long snout that as filled with sharp, pointed teeth. The creature puffed out its chest and spread its huge hooked wings.
"We are Krillitanes!"
Amy screamed as all around her, the youths did the same – morphing into alien creatures before her eyes.
The air sang with their terrifying screech.
Next Time: The Doctor must rescue Amy and stop the Krillitanes from turning Tokyo into a 'Breeding Ground'.
City of Twilight – Confidential
This is a very interesting Confidential to write as the story was almost never written!
When it came time to write it, I had just had a break of a few weeks from writing and I just couldn't get my heart back into it. Not so much writer's block - as I knew roughly the kind of story I wanted – but more a writer's apathy! I had to turn to two friends to get me back into it again (a big thanks to Nathan and James), and wrote the prologue almost kicking and screaming.
But it did the trick. The prologue read well and I was hooked on writing again.
This story is a real example of how I would write for the New Series against the style of the Classic series. I knew from the start that I wanted modern day Tokyo and the Krillitanes to give an 'urban vampire' tale.
So what would have been different?
It's all about pace.
In my view, a single 45 minute episode now contains about the same material as three 25 minute episodes from the seventies or early to mid eighties. More if you turn to a sixties slow-burner, where a new episode has the same plot as a 4 part story! Here, I'm writing what would essentially be the first three episodes of say a six part Pertwee or Baker.
The pace of the New Series is frenetic. The number of characters that get any real screen time has been drastically reduced as there simply isn't enough time to do them justice. Look at any single episode and its' amazing (and testament to the skill of the guest actors and directors) that we get such memorable characters as Madame de Pompadour, Jabe, Sally Sparrow or Jenny.
In the two part stories of course, you do have more time, but my instinct is to always drive the pace up to echo the show on TV. In 'City of Twilight' I had great fun for the first half of the story by introducing all my characters and moving them around on the 'chessboard' to set up the second half and the next episode.
The Classic series would have set the story in London of course, and Teru Osato would have naturally been Burt Kwouk! Sister Danvier would also probably been Pamela Salem.
But in the New Series, the sky's the limit, so I went for George Takei as Osato (a bit Heroes I know but I couldn't resist, and can anyone spot the Bond link?), 'Battlestar Galactica's Mary McDonnell as Sister Danvier, and BBC's Merlin himself Colin Morgan, as Lucius.
So everything's set up for the Season 2 finale of TARDIS Adventures in 'Breeding Ground'!