Chapter 2

"Who did this?" the Doctor asked again, "Who did this! Whoever did is going to pay. I don't know what species that city belonged too, but that's murder, mass murder. Senseless killing."

"Who would to this?" asked Theresa.

"I don't know," said Alex.

"I going to find out and they will regret doing this," the Doctor said. He was starting to calm down. After several moments of silence with tension so thick it could be cut with a knife, the Doctor broke the quiet and said, "We're being watched."

The three looked at him and Harper asked, "How do you know?"

"I know when I'm being watched," said the Doctor, "We're being watched from behind the TARDIS and right behind the tree line of that forest. Don't turn around. I'll deal with it. I'm certain it's only one thing, but it may be more."

The Doctor turned around and slowly walked back to the TARDIS. He had his head down, but glanced to his right. He saw the reflection of two eyes. He put his hand in his pocket and pressed against the TARDIS doors, outside of the creature's line of sight. He took out a ball the size of a tennis ball, but it was metal. The Doctor squeezed it and with lightening speed, he threw it into the tree line. It hit the target and a howl erupted from the foliage. The Doctor ran into the trees and pulled out a limp woman from the trees. The Doctor laid her against the TARDIS and waited for her to wake up again.

"Doctor, who is she?" asked Harper.

"I don't know, but what I do know is that she's not human."

"But she looks like it," said Theresa.

"Actually to me, she looks Time Lord," said the Doctor, "But she's not that either."

"How do you know?" asked Alex.

"Her eyes reflected light as much as a cat's eyes would. Human have no reflection. Time Lords have some reflection, but it was hardly noticeable. This woman is something else. She might not even be in her true form," the Doctor.

He took out his screwdriver and turned the dial at the center of the device. He used it on the woman, scanning her biological makeup. He opened on her eyes and shined the yellow light into it. He stopped scanning and looked at the reader on the side of the screwdriver. The Doctor's face turned grim and sighed, "Oooh. It's a good thing, a very good thing, that you snuk onboard, Theresa. If it had been one of the guys, this would be a little tricky."

"Doctor, what is she?" asked Alex.

"A siren," said the Doctor.

"What's a siren?" asked Alex.

"A siren from Greek mythology," said Harper, "I would have thought even you would have known that."

"But I don't," said Alex, "What's the big deal with the siren and guys?"

The Doctor stood up and asked, "Seriously? Sirens can make males of most species into drones to do anything they want to. Only a handful of species are immune to the Siren's Song."

"What are they?" asked Theresa.

"Mostly the races from the Dark Times, including my own people, the Time Lords. Other than that there are the Great Vampires, the Sontarans, the Rutans, the Dragocenes, the Ogrons, the Pantheon Members, the Charchoones, the Weeping Angels, the Pyroviles, and the Daleks," told the Doctor.

The siren coughed and opened her eyes. The Doctor turned around and crouched down next to her. She looked at the three females staring down at her. She looked to her left and saw the crouching Doctor. She opened started talking, but nothing came out.

The Doctor rolled his eyes and said, "Save it, Siren. That won't work on me."

She stopped and said, "It was worth a shot."

"How can she understand you and us understand her?" asked Harper.

The Doctor didn't look at Harper and said, "The translation circuit in the TARDIS. It gets in your head and lets you understand most languages."

"I thought it was all languages," said Alex.

"I used to think so too, but there are things in the universe that are beyond the knowledge of the TARDIS, but that's a lesson for another time," said the Doctor. He looked at the siren in the eyes and asked, "What happened here?"

The siren didn't answer. She didn't trust him. She knew there were little species immune to her song, but the ones that looked like the Doctor were either dead or psychopaths.

"It's okay, Siren, I'm here to find out who did this and to punish them," said the Doctor.

"Doctor, how do know her people aren't responsible?" asked Theresa.

"I can tell by the way she's acting and her looks. I lost my planet and I know how that sits in a heart. Her world was attacked and she's not trusting anyone. I understand that completely." He turned his attention back to the siren and said, "If it makes you feel better, I'll tell you my species. Do you want me to do that?"

The siren looked at him and nodded.

"I'm a Time Lord from Gallifrey," said the Doctor.

She looked into his eyes and could read he was telling the truth. She threw herself on him and started crying. The Doctor held her as she cried. He told her, "It's okay. It's okay. Just tell me what happened. You're safe now."

"They came out of nowhere. Without warning, they blasted us from space and before we knew what hit us, they were on the ground killing us without and remorse or mercy. They were lumbering giants. They were as tall as this blue thing," the siren continued.

"What's your name?" asked the Doctor.

"Sireus," said the siren, "I'm named after my people's original planet, Sireus. It was destroyed in the Slaughter."

The Doctor moved Sireus and she leaned on the TARDIS again. He asked her, "What's the Slaughter?"

"You don't know?" asked Sireus.

"No, I don't," answered the Doctor, "I heard it on the transmission. It sounds like a major event."

"You must be from the Days of Life."

"The what?" asked the Doctor. His interest was exploding.

"The Days of Life were the days before the Slaughter. It was when the universe was filled with life and millions upon millions of species. It was before they came into the picture. They came and killed everything. They were indiscriminate. When the Slaughter ended, over half of life in the universe was killed. After that, holocaust after holocaust followed. Now there are less than one hundred species alive in the entire universe. Dead galaxy after dead galaxy is all you find. There was nothing that could stop them."
"Who came and did that the universe?" the Doctor asked. His stomach was in his throat and he felt like puking. The three humans didn't know how big and packed the universe was with life, so they weren't as effected, but they were unnerved.

"The name of their species is lost to time, but they are known for their ruthlessness and cruelty. No one could bargain with them. There was nothing they wanted except for you death. Nothing more and nothing less. Do you know of any species like?"

"Just one," the Doctor spat, "But it can't be them. They all died. Where did they come from?"

"Throce Threythace," said Sireus, "In the revolution 2011 CE."

The Doctor's blood ran cold. His eyes widened and he looked back at Alex, Harper and Theresa. He stood up and said, "Get in the TARDIS now. I need to talk to Sireus alone."

"But..." Alex started.

"GO!" the Doctor boomed. He pointed to the TARDIS. They all three went inside the TARDIS and when the doors shut, the Doctor looked at Sireus and asked, "Are you telling me that the Slaughter starts with Earth in the year 2011."

"Yes, why?"

"That's where we're from, and according to you that is the Doorstep to Doomsday."

"But there is a story," said Sireus, "A story every species that is alive today has. It says that there is one thing that can stop the Slaughter and prevent all of this from happening. The largest part of that legend is the statement, 'A girl at the heart of it all.'"

"A girl at the heart of it all," said the Doctor, "I'll remember that."

"You need to because part of that story has come true already," said Sireus.

"What part is that?"

"A Lord of Time will come and the rewriting would start," said Sireus.

"Rewriting of what?" asked the Doctor.

"Time," said Sireus, "I saw that necklace on the female in the middle. The key in the clock. That will be incredibly important and will be your answer to saving everything."

"What do you mean?" asked the Doctor.

"I need to talk to the females," said the siren, "One of them is going to be very important in the future."

"How do you know all this stuff?"

"I'm gifted. I can see time and all the possible outcomes of things. I can see that you met my species before. It was back on the cruise ship in the Pacific ocean. You killed Poseidon and the renegade sirens that followed him. I also see what's going to happen to that family you currently live with. Only one of them will survive the Slaughter."

"You don't know that!"

"But I do, Doctor," said Sireus.

"If you could read time, why did you not trust me?"

"I can only read time of a person if I have been with them for several minutes. It's not perfect, but it's still a gift. Now send out the females. I need to talk to them."

"About what?" asked the Doctor.

"The things to come."