The Empty child
The Tardis was chasing after what appeared to be a small spacecraft through the time vortex and the Doctor, Rose and Alyssa where holding onto the console for dear life as the ride was pretty bumpy.
" What's the emergency? " Rose asked.
" It's mauve" the Doctor replied.
"What's mauve?" Alyssa asked.
"The universally recognised colour for danger" the Doctor replied.
" What happened to red? " Rose asked as the Tardis almost knocked her off her feet but she managed to keep holding onto the console.
"That's just humans. By everyone else's standards, red's camp. Oh, the misunderstandings. All those red alerts, all that dancing. It's got a very basic flight computer. I've hacked in, slaved the Tardis. Where it goes, we go" the Doctor yelled as he set the coordinates on the Tardis.
"And that's safe, is it?" Alyssa asked with a confused expression on her face.
" Totally" the Doctor replied just as a loud bang came from the Tardis "Okay, reasonably. Should have said reasonably there" he looked at the screen and his eyes widened in shock "No, no, no, no! It's jumping time tracks, getting away from us."
" What exactly is this thing?" Rose asked.
"No idea" the Doctor replied.
"Then why are we chasing it?" Alyssa asked.
" It's mauve and dangerous, and about thirty seconds from the centre of London" he replied before the Tardis came to a halt.
"I think we've landed" Alyssa stated, dusting herself off as she had fallen to the floor during the landing process.
"Right, let's see where abouts we've landed" the Doctor siad, walking over to the doors and opening them "do you know how long you can knock around space without happening to bump into Earth?." The three of them stepped out of the Tardis into a dingy looking alleyway.
" Five days? Or is that just when we're out of milk?" Rose asked as the three of them began walking down the alleyway, unaware that someone or something was stood on the roofs, watching them.
"Of all the species in all the Universe and it has to come out of a cow" the Doctor stated " Must have come down somewhere quite close. Within a mile, anyway. And it can't have been more than a few weeks ago. Maybe a month."
" A month? We were right behind it" Rose pointed out with a puzzled expression on her face.
"It was jumping time tracks all over the place. We're bound to be a little bit out. Do you want to drive?" he asked.
"How much is a little? " Alyssa asked.
" A bit" the Doctor replied.
" Is that exactly a bit? " Rose asked.
"Ish" the Doctor replied as they turned a corner and continued walking further down the alleyway.
"What's the plan, then? Are you going to do a scan for alien tech or something? " Rose asked.
"Rose, it hit the middle of London with a very loud bang. I'm going to ask" he replied, taking out his physcic paper and showing it to the two girls.
"Doctor John Smith, Ministry of Asteroids" Alyssa said as she looked at it.
"It's psychic paper. It tells you" the Doctor stated.
"Whatever you want it to tell me" Rose implied.
"We remember" Alyssa added with a sigh as they arrived at a back door which had a sign reading DELIVERIES ONLY on the front.
" Sorry" the Doctor replied as he took out his sonic screwdriver and began using it on the locked door.
"Not very Spock, is it, just asking" Rose pointed out as the Doctor put his ear to the door, listening in.
"Door, music, people" he stated " What do you think? "
" I think you should do a scan for alien tech" Alyssa pointed out.
"yeah, give us some spock, for once would it kill you?" Rose asked. The Doctor managed to open the door and looked at the union Jack t-shirt that Rose was wearing.
"Are you sure about that t-shirt?" he asked her.
" Too early to say. I'm taking it out for a spin" Rose stated as the Doctor headed into the building, followed by Alyssa. Rose went to follow but heard something which sounded like a child's voice.
"Mummy? Mummy?" the voice echoed.
"Come on if you're coming" the Doctor said to Rose " It won't take a minute." The Doctor and Alyssa headed inside the building.
"It smells like cigarettes and wine in here" Alyssa pointed out, screwing her nose up "what is this place?"
"I'm not sure, but I hear music" the Doctor pointed out before he saw a waiter coming out of a room and walking into the room where the music was coming from. The Doctor and Alyssa followed him into what looked like a bar where a woman was on the stage singing in front of an audience and Alyssa was the first one to notice that the clothes they wearing seemed old fashioned compared to her hooded jacket, jeans and trainers she was wearing. After the woman had finished singing her song, the Doctor jumped up onto the stage and took the microphone.
" Excuse me. Excuse me. Could I have everybody's attention just for a mo? Be very quick. Hello! Might seem like a stupid question, but has anything fallen from the sky recently? " the Doctor asked the audience. There was an awkward silence before the audience began laughing at him and Alyssa buried her face in her hands in embarrasement.
"Sorry, have I said something funny?" the Doctor asked as the Audience continued to laugh at him "It's just, there's this thing that I need to find. Would've fallen from the sky a couple of days ago." Suddenly, there was an air raid siren and the people got up from their seats and began to leave.
"Would've landed quite near here. With a very loud" the Doctor continued before he noticed a poster on the wall which read out Hitler will send no warning "bang." The Doctor sighed in embarresement and walked off the stage.
"I knew there was something different about the clothes that they were wearing" Alyssa pointed out. The two of them went back outside to discover that Rose had vanished.
"Where's Rose?" Alyssa asked, looking around.
"I don't know" the Doctor replied before he called out for the older girl but there was no answer.
"Rose, where are you?" Alyssa yelled. A cat meowed from behind them and the Doctor picked it up off a bin and started talking to it as Alyssa stroked it.
" You know, one day, just one day, maybe, I'm going to meet someone who gets the whole don't wander off thing" he pointed out.
"You already have, me" Alyssa pointed out "when have i ever wondered off during the time I've been with you?"
"Yeah, you're right" the Doctor replied before they heard a telephone ringing from behind them. They both turned around to discover that the ringing was coming from the Tardis and they both walked up to it where the Doctor opened a small latch on one of the doors, revealing a telephone that was ringing.
" How can you be ringing? What's that about, ringing? What am I supposed to do with a ringing phone?" he asked before taking out his sonic screwdriver just as they heard a voice behind them.
"Don't answer it. It's not for you." The Doctor and Alyssa turned around to see a girl who looked three or four years older than Alyssa in a dark grey coat and dirt streaked face with dark brown hair in braids.
"And how do you know that? " the Doctor asked the girl who's name was Nancy with a raised eyebrow.
"'Cos I do. And I'm telling you, don't answer it" Nancy warned him.
"Well, if you know so much, tell me this. How can it be ringing? It's not even a real phone. It's not connected, it's not " the Doctor said before he noticed that Nancy had now vanished.
"Who was that girl?" Alyssa asked.
"I have no idea" the Doctor replied before he picked up the receiver and put it to his ear "Hello? Hello? This is the Doctor speaking. How may I help you?"
" Mummy? Mummy?" a child's voice said from the other end.
"Who is this? Who's speaking?" the Doctor asked as Alyssa watched nervously as she could hear the voice from the other side of the phone.
"Are you my mummy?" the voice asked over the phone.
"Who is this?" the Doctor asked with a puzzled expression.
"Doctor?" Alyssa asked nervously "who is that?"
"Mummy?" the child's voice asked again.
" How did you ring here? This isn't a real phone. It's not wired up to anything" the Doctor replied.
"Mummy? " the voice said again before they hung up and the Doctor knocked on the door.
"Rose? Rose, are you in there? " he asked, peering in but there was no response. There was suddenly a loud noise and he grabbed Alyssa by the hand before the pair of them ran out of the alleyway and looked over a garden wall to see a man, woman and young boy going into an air raid shelter.
"Shouldn't we go to a shelter, we're in the middle of the London blitz and there's going to be bombs falling from the sky" Alyssa whispered.
"I need to find that girl from the alley, I need to know how if she knew who was speaking on the phone just now" the Doctor replied just as Nancy slowly crept into the backyard and into the house.
"What is she doing?" Alyssa whispered.
"I'm not sure, let's go and find out" the Doctor replied before heading into the back garden with Alyssa following closely behind him. The pair of them crept through the back door and towards the dining room where they saw Nancy accompanied by two young boys who the Doctor and Alyssa assumed to be evacuees.
"Shouldn't those two boys have been evacuated by now?" Alyssa whispered.
"I think so" the Doctor whispered. pretty soon, more children were arriving and sitting at the table whilst Nancy gave them the food that had been left on the table by the family in the shelter and without anybody noticing them, the Doctor and Alyssa managed to sneak past and sit at the end of the table.
" It's got to be black market. You couldn't get all this on coupons" a young boy pointed out as he looked at all the food on the table.
" Ernie, how many times? We are guests in this house. We will not make comments of that kind. Washing up" Nancy told him sternly as the other children, including Alyssa laughed.
" Oh, Nancy" Ernie moaned as Nancy noticed another young boy who must have been a new comer.
" Haven't seen you at one of these before" she told the new boy.
"He told me about it" the new boy said, nodding in Ernie's direction.
" Sleeping rough?" Nancy asked and the young boy nodded before she started handing out a plate with meat on it to the children "All right, then. One slice each, and I want to see everyone chewing properly. " The Children then started passing the plate of meat slices around the table and when it reached the Doctor and Alyssa, that was when the pair of them where spotted and the children, being scared by the two newcomers who had seemingly appeared out of nowhere began to get up to leave.
" It's all right. Everybody stay where you are! " Nancy told them, not taking her eyes of the Doctor and Alyssa.
"Hi" Alyssa said shyly waving.
"Good here, innit? Who's got the salt?" the Doctor asked in a cheerful manner as the evacuees stared at him and Alyssa.
"Back in your seats" Nancy told them, still not taking her eyes of the Doctor and Alyssa " they shouldn't be here either."
"So, you lot, what's the story?" he asked the group of children around the table.
" What do you mean?" Ernie asked.
"You're homeless, right? Living rough? " the Doctor asked.
"Why do you want to know that? Are you a copper? " a another boy called Jim asked before noticing Alyssa "and what about her, what is she wearing?" Alyssa had totally forgotten that she wasn't wearing any 1940s clothing and she blushed in embarresement.
"Of course I'm not a copper. What's a copper going to do with you lot anyway? Arrest you for starving? I make it 1941. You lot shouldn't even be in London. You should have been evacuated to the country by now" the Doctor pointed out.
"I was evacuated. Sent me to a farm" another young boy named Alf pointed out.
"So why'd you come back?" the Doctor asked him.
"There was a man there" Alf replied, looking a little weary.
"Yeah, same with Ernie. Two homes ago" Jim pointed out.
" Shut up. It's better on the streets anyway. It's better food" Ernie pointed out.
" Yeah. Nancy always gets the best food for us" Jim said.
"So, that's what you do, is it, Nancy?" the Doctor asked.
"What is? " Nancy asked, still not taking her eye off the pair.
" As soon as the sirens go, you find a big fat family meal still warm on the table with everyone down in the air raid shelter and bingo! Feeding frenzy for the homeless kids of London Town. Puddings for all, as long as the bombs don't get you" the Doctor explained as Alyssa grinned away in amusement.
"Something wrong with that? " Nancy asked.
"Wrong with it? It's brilliant. I'm not sure if it's Marxism in action or a West End musical" the Doctor replied.
"Why'd you follow me? What do you want?" Nancy asked.
"I want to know how a phone that isn't a phone gets a phone call. You seem to be the one to ask" the Doctor pointed out.
" I did you a favour. I told you not to answer it, that's all I'm telling you" Nancy told him.
" Great, thanks. And I want to find a blonde in a Union Jack. I mean a specific one. I didn't just wake up this morning with a craving. Anybody seen a girl like that? " he asked as Nancy took his plate away "What have I done wrong?."
"You took two slices. No blondes, no flags. Anything else before you leave? " Nancy asked.
"Yeah, there is actually. Thanks for asking. Something I've been looking for. Would've fallen from the sky about a month ago, but not a bomb. Not the usual kind, anyway. Wouldn't have exploded. Probably would have just buried itself in the ground somewhere" the Doctor explained.
"It would have looked something like this" Alyssa pointed out, holding up a small sketch pad with a rough drawing of the craft that the Tardis had been chasing. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and everyone jumped in their seats.
" Mummy? Are you in there, mummy?" a child's voice said. The Doctor and Alyssa turned around to see a small boy in a gas mask at the window with a tiny hand pressed against it.
"Who was the last one in?" Nancy asked, her voice shaking.
" Him" Ernie said, nodding at another boy.
" No, he came round the back. Who came in the front? " Nancy asked.
" Me" Alf said.
"Did you close the door? " Nancy asked.
" Mummy? Mummy? Mummy?" the little boy called out, causing Nancy to run out into the hallway and bolt the door shut as the Doctor and Alyssa followed behind.
"Why did you do that, he's only a little boy" Alyssa said.
"Yeah,It's never easy being the only child left out in the cold, you know" the Doctor said in agreement.
"I suppose you'd both know" Nancy told them.
"What's wrong with him, he's a child too, just like me and them lot in the dining room" Alyssa pointed out.
"It's not exactly a child" Nancy told her just as the little boy called out again and Nancy ran back into the dining room.
" Right, everybody out. Across the back garden and under the fence. Now! Go! Move!" Nancy yelled and the kids grabbed their coats and began running out of the room except for one little girl who looked no older than five years old who was still sat in her seat, frozen in fear.
"Come on, baby, we've got to go, all right? It's just like a game. Just like chasing. Take your coat, go on. Go!" Nancy urged the little girl who grabbed her coat and followed the other children out the back of the house.
"Mummy? Mummy? Please let me in, mummy. Please let me in, mummy" the little gas masked boy said, sticking his tiny hand through the letter box.
"Are you all right?" the Doctor asked.
"Please let me in" the boy said just as a vase came flying at the door and the little hand shot back out.
"You mustn't let him touch you! " Nancy warned them both.
"What do you mean, what happens if he touches us?" Alyssa asked.
"He'll make you like him" Nancy replied.
" And what's he like?" the Doctor asked.
"I've got to go" Nancy said turning to leave but the Doctor stopped her before she could leave the house.
"Nancy, what's he like?" he asked her again.
"He's empty" Nancy replied just as the telephone in the hallway began ringing " It's him. He can make phones ring. He can. Just like with that police box you saw. " The Doctor ran over the phone and picked up the receiver.
"Are you my mummy? " the little boy's voice asked from the other end of the receiver and Nancy grabbed the receiver from the Doctor, putting it back on the hook. Suddenly,the radio started playing in the dining room and the three of them ran in where they heard the boy's voice over the radio.
" Mummy? Please let me in, mummy" the voice on the radio said before a clockwork monkey started up, speaking in the little boy's voice " Mummy, mummy, mummy."
"You both stay if you want to" Nancy said before running out of the house. The Doctor and Alyssa went back into the hallway where the boy was still stood outside the door. He had his hand through the letter box again and there was a scar on the back of it.
" Mummy? Let me in please, mummy. Please let me in" the creepy little gas masked boy said.
" Your mummy isn't here" Alyssa told the boy, her voice shaking with fear.
"Are you my mummy? " the boy asked.
"No mummies here. Nobody here but us chickens. Well, this chicken" the Doctor pointed out trying to humor the situation but Alyssa was looking at the front door nervously.
" I'm scared" the boy said.
"Why are those other children frightened of you? " the Doctor asked.
"Please let me in, mummy. I'm scared of the bombs" the boy said.
"Okay. I'm opening the door now" the Doctor replied and he opened the front door to find that the little boy had now vanished.
"Where did he go?" Alyssa asked, looking around the empty streets for any signs of the gas masked boy.
"I don't know, but I need to find out a bit more about that craft" the Doctor explained as they left the house and began walking down the street "you see I reckon Nancy must know something about that craft."
"What makes you say that?" Alyssa asked.
"Didn't you see the look on face when you showed her that drawing?" the Doctor asked her before continuing "anyway, that thing that looks like a little boy is after Nancy and the other kids and I need to know why."
"You think that the craft and the little boy could be connected somehow?" Alyssa pointed out causing the Doctor to stop dead in his tracks and look at Alyssa with a big grin across his face.
"Alyssa Benson you are a genius" he beamed, picking her up and spinning her around.
"Please stop, I'm getting dizzy" Alyssa giggled.
"Oh sorry" the Doctor said, setting her back on the ground again "come on, let's go and find Nancy, see what she knows about that craft and the boy." The pair of them began walking through London searching for Nancy until they found her at a shack, hiding some of the food she had taken from the house and it didn't take her long to realize that the Doctor and Alyssa where stood in the entrance.
" How'd you follow me here?" she asked.
"I'm good at following, me. Got the nose for it" the Doctor pointed out.
"People can't usually follow me if I don't want them to" Nancy told him.
"My nose has special powers" the Doctor pointed out.
"Yeah? That's why it's" Nancy said with an amused expression whilst Alyssa giggled.
"What?" the Doctor asked.
"Nothing" Nancy smirked whilst Alyssa continued giggling.
"What?" the doctor asked again.
" Nothing" Nancy replied "do your ears have special powers too?." Alyssa almost lost it at that point but managed to control herself.
" What are you trying to say?" the Doctor asked.
"Goodnight, Mister, goodnight Miss" Nancy said to the pair of them before she turned around to leave.
" Nancy, there's something chasing you and the other kids" the Doctor said, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn around "ooks like a boy and it isn't a boy, and it started about a month ago, right? The thing I'm looking for, the thing that fell from the sky, that's when it landed. And you know what I'm talking about, don't you? "
" There was a bomb. A bomb that wasn't a bomb. Fell the other end of Limehouse Green Station" Nancy replied.
" Take us there" the Doctor told her, his voice full of determination.
"Yeah, we want to see it so the Doctor can investigate it" Alyssa pointed out.
"There's soldiers guarding it. Barbed wire. You'll never get through" Nancy warned them both.
" Try me" the Doctor replied, his voice full of confidence.
"You sure you want to know what's going on in there? " Nancy asked.
"I really want to know" the Doctor said.
"Me too" Alyssa implied, trying to make her tone just like the Doctor's.
"Then there's someone you need to talk to first" Nancy pointed out.
"And who might that be?" the Doctor asked.
"The Doctor" Nancy replied and Alyssa noticed the shocked expression on the Doctor's face "I'll take you both to the bomb site but that's all I'm going to do for you." The Doctor and Alyssa then followed Nancy to the area where the bomb had landed. It was well guarded with a barbed wired fence and soldiers walking around the area and the Doctor was observing the area through a pair of binoculars.
" The bomb's under that tarpaulin. They put the fence up over night. See that building? The hospital" Nancy said, pointing out a Hospital that was nearby.
"What about it? " the Doctor replied, still looking through the binoculars.
"That's where the doctor is. You should talk to him" Nancy explained whilst the Doctor gave the Binoculars to Alyssa so that she could have a look.
" For now, I'm more interested in getting in there" the Doctor said, nodding at the bomb site.
"Talk to the doctor first" Nancy told him.
"Why? " the Doctor asked.
"Because then maybe you won't want to get inside" Nancy replied before she got up to leave.
"Where're you going? " the Doctor asked her as she went to leave.
" There was a lot of food in that house. I've got mouths to feed. Should be safe enough now" she replied.
" Can I ask you a question? Who did you lose? " the Doctor asked her and a Alyssa noticed the shocked expression on the older girl's face.
" What?" Nancy asked, shaking her head.
"The way you look after all those kids. It's because you lost somebody, isn't it? You're doing all this to make up for it" the Doctor implied.
" My little brother. Jamie" Nancy replied, her voice shaking a little "One night I went out looking for food. Same night that thing fell. I told him not to follow me, I told him it was dangerous, but he just. He just didn't like being on his own. "
" What happened?" the Doctor asked.
" In the middle of an air raid? What do you think happened? " Nancy snapped and it didn't take long for the Doctor and Alyssa to guess what she was implying.
"I'm sorry" Alyssa muttered.
"Amazing" the Doctor pointed out.
"What is?" a now confused Nancy asked.
"1941. Right now, not very far from here, the German war machine is rolling up the map of Europe. Country after country, falling like dominoes. Nothing can stop it. Nothing. Until one, tiny, damp little island says no. No. Not here. A mouse in front of a lion. You're amazing, the lot of you. Don't know what you do to Hitler, but you frighten the hell out of me. Off you go then do what you've got to do. Save the world" the Doctor explained. He and Alyssa then headed off in the direction towards the hospital whilst Nancy headed in the opposite direction.
"Do you reckon the little boy in the gas mask could be Nancy's brother?" Alyssa asked "maybe he like a ghost or something."
"I'm not sure but I need to get some information about that bomb and the boy" the Doctor explained "because I still believe that the both of them could be connected somehow." When they reached the Hospital, they found that the gates had been padlocked but the Doctor used his Sonic screwdriver to unlock it. Once it was open, the Doctor and Alyssa slowly crept inside the dark hospital where they noticed that all the beds in all the wards had un moving patients in them, all of them wearing gas masks.
"You'll find them everywhere. In every bed, in every ward. Hundreds of them" a voice said behind them and the pair of them turned around to see an old grumpy looking man walking in with a walking stick.
"Yes, we saw. Why are they still wearing gas masks? " the Doctor asked.
"They're not. Who are you?" the grumpy man asked.
" I'm, er. Are you the doctor? " he asked the old man.
"Doctor Constantine. And you two are?" he asked, gesturing to him and Alyssa who was stood in the middle of the room, looking at all the gas masked people in the beds, un moving.
"Nancy sent us" the Doctor replied.
" Nancy? That means you must have been asking about the bomb" Constantine asked the pair of them as Alyssa shyly made her way towards the Doctor and stood next to him.
"Yes" the Doctor replied.
"What do you know about it? " Constantine asked.
"Nothing. Why I was asking. What do you know?" the Doctor asked.
"Only what it's done" Constantine replied.
"So all these people, they got caught up in the blast when the bomb exploded?" Alyssa asked, taking another look at the people in the beds.
" None of them were" Constantine replied with a chuckle before coughing and unable to stand, he sat down on a chair in the middle of the room.
"You're very sick" the Doctor pointed out.
"Dying, I should think. I just haven't been able to find the time. Are you a doctor?" Constantine asked the Doctor.
" I have my moments" the Doctor replied with a grin.
" Have you examined any of them yet?" Constantine asked.
"No" the Doctor replied.
" Don't touch the flesh" Constantine warned the pair of them.
"Which one?" Alyssa asked.
"Any one" Constantine said as the Doctor examined one of the patients with his sonic screwdriver "Conclusions?."
" Massive head trauma, mostly to the left side. Partial collapse of the chest cavity, mostly to the right. There's some scarring on the back of the hand and the gas mask seems to be fused to the flesh, but I can't see any burns" the Doctor explained.
" Examine another one" Constantine told him and the Doctor examined some more patients and was shocked by what he had found.
"This isn't possible" he pointed out " They've all got the same injuries."
"Yes" Constantine pointed out.
" Exactly the same" the Doctor pointed out " Identical, all of them, right down to the scar on the back of the hand." Both the Doctor and Alyssa where unaware that Constantine also had the exact same scar on the back of his hand.
"How did this happen? How did it start?" Alyssa asked.
"When that bomb dropped, there was just one victim" Constantine replied.
"Dead?" the Doctor asked.
" At first. His injuries were truly dreadful. By the following morning, every doctor and nurse who had treated him, who had touched him, had those exact same injuries. By the morning after that, every patient in the same ward, the exact same injuries. Within a week, the entire hospital. Physical injuries as plague. Can you explain that? What would you say was the cause of death? " Constantine explained.
"The head trauma" the Doctor pointed out.
"No" Constantine replied.
"Asphyxiation" the Doctor said.
"No" Constantine replied again.
" The collapse of the chest cavity" the Doctor said and Constantine still came up with the same reply.
"So what was the cause of death?" Alyssa asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
" There wasn't one. They're not dead" Constantine replied before banging his stick against the floor, causing the patients to sit up in their beds and this caused Alyssa to squeal in fright "It's all right. They're harmless. They just sort of sit there. No heartbeat, no life signs of any kind. They just don't die."
" And they've just been left here? Nobody's doing anything? " the Doctor asked as the patients lied back down and Alyssa watched them nervously.
" I try and make them comfortable. What else is there?" Constantine asked.
"Just you? You're the only one here?" the Doctor asked.
"Before this war began, I was a father and a grandfather. Now I am neither. But I'm still a doctor" Constantine pointed out.
"Yeah. I know the feeling" the Doctor replied solemnly.
" I suspect the plan is to blow up the hospital and blame it on a German bomb" Constantine pointed out.
" Probably too late" the Doctor pointed out.
"No. There are isolated cases. Isolated cases breaking out all over London" Constantine said before he started choking and the Doctor moved towards him but Constantine held his hand out "Stay back, stay back. Listen to me. Top floor. Room eight oh two. That's where they took the first victim, the one from the crash site. And you must find Nancy again. "
"Nancy?" Alyssa asked, raising her eyebrows.
"It was her brother. She knows more than she's saying. She won't tell me, but she might" Constantine said before he began to stammer "M-mummy, Are you my mummy? ". The Doctor and Alyssa then watched in horror as Constantine's face began transforming into a gas mask, just like the creepy little boy and the patients in the bed.
"He's turning into one of them" Alyssa pointed out.
"yes I can see that" the Doctor replied before they heard two voices coming from the corridor and pretty soon, Rose entered the room, accompanied by a handsome looking man in a long coat and Alyssa recognized him as Captain Jack harkness.
"Rose" the little girl yelled in excitement, running over to the older girl and flinging her arms round her.
"It's good to see you too Ali" Rose chuckled as Jack introduced himself.
"Good evening. Hope we're not interrupting. Jack Harkness. I've been hearing all about you on the way over" he said in his American accent.
" He knows. I had to tell him about us being Time Agents" rose explained to the bemused looking Doctor.
"And it's a real pleasure to meet you, Mister Spock" Jack said, shaking the Doctor's hand before turning his attention to Alyssa " and you must be Alyssa, pleasure to meet you little lady."
"Thank you very much Mr. Harkness" Alyssa said as the pair of them exchanged handshakes.
"Oh call me Jack or captain Jack" Jack replied ruffling her hair before walking further into the ward.
"Mister Spock? " the Doctor asked, looking at Rose with an annoyed look.
" What was I supposed to say? You don't have a name. Don't you ever get tired of Doctor? Doctor who?" Rose asked.
"Nine centuries in, I'm coping. Where have you been? We're in the middle of a London Blitz. It's not a good time for a stroll" the Doctor pointed out.
"Who's strolling? I went by barrage balloon. Only way to see an air raid" Rose pointed out "anyway, what's a Chula war ship?"
"Chula?" the Doctor asked before they heard jack from the other end of the room as he examined one of the patients.
"This just isn't possible. How did this happen? " he asked himself.
"What kind of Chula ship landed here?" the Doctor asked as he and the girls came walking over.
"What?" Jack asked.
"He said it was a warship. He stole it, parked it somewhere out there, somewhere a bomb's going to fall on it unless we make him an offer" Rose pointed out.
"What kind of warship? " the Doctor asked.
"Does it matter? It's got nothing to do with this" Jack pointed out.
"This started at the bomb site. It's got everything to do with it. What kind of warship?" the Doctor demanded.
"An ambulance! Look" jack replied, getting out his wrist device and showing them a holographic image of the craft that they had been chasing after in the Tardis "that's what you chased through the Time Vortex. It's space junk. I wanted to kid you it was valuable. It's empty. I made sure of it. Nothing but a shell. I threw it at you. Saw your time travel vehicle, love the retro look, by the way, nice panels. Threw you the bait."
"Bait?" Rose asked.
" I wanted to sell it to you and then destroy it before you found out it was junk" Jack explained.
"You said it was a war ship" Rose pointed out.
"They have ambulances in wars. It was a con. I was conning you. That's what I am, I'm a con man. I thought you were Time Agents. You're not, are you" Jack said.
" Just a couple more freelancers" Rose pointed out.
"Oh. Should have known. The way you guys are blending in with the local colour. I mean, Flag Girl was bad enough, but U-Boat Captain?" the Doctor gave him an annoyed look but Jack continued on "Anyway, whatever's happening here has got nothing to do with that ship."
"What is happening here, Doctor? " Rose asked.
"Human DNA is being rewritten by an idiot" the Doctor explained.
"What do you mean? " Rose asked.
" I don't know. Some kind of virus converting human beings into these things. But why? What's the point?" the Doctor asked as he paced around the room when suddenly the patients suddenly sat up in their beds.
" Mummy" the patients said as they all got up and started walking towards the four unaffected people in the room.
"Don't let them touch you" the Doctor advised.
"What happens if they touch us? " Rose asked.
"You're looking at it" Alyssa replied, her voice shaking as the patients began to close in on the four of them.
"Help me, mummy" they all said at the same time in creepy child like voices.
"Go away" Alyssa yelled, throwing a pillow at them but that didn't work as the gas masked patients were still advancing towards them and pretty soon they were backed up against the wall.
"Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy. Mummy" the patients all chanted as they slowly made their way towards the four.
"We're done for" Alyssa squealed as she squeezed her eyes shut and clung onto the Doctor's arm.
To be Continued...