Chapter 8

I'm the Doctor

"The circle must be broken," muttered Jack. "Um, could you tell us how to get Amy back?"

"Take us to the Doctor."

"Can we look for him first?"

"The girl stays with us until the Doctor is here."

Jack looked at Tom. "Let's go find the Doctor," he said. "I think I have an idea." He pushed open the TARDIS door. Tom followed him in.

"We're coming, Amy!" called Jack. With the sound of time machine brakes, the little blue box disappeared.

It reappeared on the other side of the river. It had only been a few moments, but Jack and Tom had already come up with a plan.

Tom glanced at his watch as soon as they arrived.

"We've used up 5 minutes of our time," he said.

"Actually, we've used up negative twenty," said Jack, and then, because Tom looked confused, he added, "We were in a time machine."

Jack and Tom stepped out of the TARDIS and walked up to the guard at the clock tower.

"Excuse me," said Jack. "We need to get in." He reached deep into the pocket of his trench coat and pulled out the psychic paper. Jack handed it to the guard, who glanced at it, gave a single nod, and opened the gate to admit them.

"Keep going," said Jack. "I'll be right with you." He knelt down as though he was tying his shoe. As he did so, he deftly snatched something from the ground and pocketed it. He ran to catch Tom.

"Sonic screwdriver was lying on the ground," he said. "I think we're in the right place."

"Thank goodness," said Tom. He felt his shoulders relax. If someone- or worse, a dalek- had found it, who knew what could have happened?

The stairs wound in a tight spiral up the tower. The endless circles were dizzying and exhausting, but Jack and Tom barely noticed it. They just kept climbing, fueled by their fear, and before they knew it they were nearing the top.

"Whoa," said Tom. "What's that?" He was staring at a spot on the wall about six inches above his head. It was cross shaped and inwardly pointed.

Jack, who was several steps ahead, came back down to look.

"I don't know," he said, "but I recognize that shape. I've seen it recently." He racked his brains.

Suddenly, it hit him. "The sonic screwdriver!" he cried, fumbling slightly as he pulled it out of his pocket. He pressed the button on top and its Phillips head popped out. "Amy was right," said Jack. "We do need the sonic screwdriver." Jack put the screwdriver into the notch in the wall. It fit perfectly. "Here goes," he said, pressing the button.

The wall started to glow. Green light spread from the screwdriver until it had created a circle as large as Jack's wingspan. Then it disappeared, leaving an opening in the wall.

Tom went in first, with Jack right behind him. The room was dark, but enough light came from outside for them to see that it was large and round, with a cube-shaped cage in the middle.

"How does this room fit in the tower?" wondered Tom.

"It's bigger on the inside," said a voice from the cage.

"Doctor!" cried Jack.

"Captain," said the Doctor. "And could you please let me out?"

Jack power-walked to the cage and unlocked it with the screwdriver. The Doctor stumbled out.

"Where's Amy?" he asked Jack.

"The daleks have her. We need to get to the TARDIS so we can get her back!"

"You let the daleks take Amy?" the Doctor sounded angry.

"Doctor, we have to go get her!"

"Listen, Harkness. You-let-the-daleks-get-Amy."

Having vented his anger, the Doctor suddenly seemed to notice the third man in the room.

"It's nice to meet you. I'm the Doctor. What's your name?"

"Tom. Tom Baker. I'm also the Doctor, in this universe." When the Doctor heard this, his mouth dropped open.

"I thought you looked familiar- I looked exactly like you once. Are you human?"

"Yes. You… er, you work a little differently here."

"Right. Amy. Let's go." The Doctor grabbed the screwdriver from Jack, adjusted his bow tie, and was skipping down the stairs before you could say "Geronimo". Tom and Jack struggled to keep up with his energetic stride. Before they knew it, the Doctor had them across the street and was opening the TARDIS door. He waved them in, then leapt to the controls. With the sound of squealing extra-terrestrial brakes, the TARDIS disappeared.

"Doctor!" shouted Jack. "Here's the plan!" And he repeated to him the plan that he had come up with with Tom on the way to the tower.

"It's too dangerous," said the Doctor when he had finished. "I can't let an innocent and famous human do such a thing."

"It's our only chance. Your only chance. If the daleks get you, a whole universe could collapse."

"So?"

"Tom has a better chance than you do. And his death wouldn't cause billions of people to disappear in the blink of an eye."

"If anyone dies..."

"He won't. None of us will, Doctor."

"Are you alright with this, Tom."

"It was my idea." (At this, Jack made a face, pretending to be hurt.)

"Ok." The Doctor nodded solemnly. "Let's go whup dalek butt."

The TARDIS landed just feet from where the daleks still had Amy captive. The door opened. A curly-haired man stepped out.

"I'm the Doctor," he said. "And we made a deal."

The daleks' eyes scanned him as they searched their memories. All six found the same thing. For Tom was a parallel Doctor in his parallel world, a perfect double.

"Identity confirmed. Take the Doctor. TAKE THE DOCTOR!"