Chapter 9

The camp was completely silent. Rachel twisted in her sleeping bag, unable to sleep. It was too quiet. Creepily quiet. With a sigh, she unzipped her bag and flipped open the flap to the tent. She stepped outside and took a deep breath. 'See?' she told herself. 'Nothing to worry about.' She walked toward the small wooden bathroom a few hundred yards away. She had just made it to the woods that blocked off her view when she stopped. The leaves were rustling. 'It's just the wind.' she told herself. Then she looked at her hair. It was completely motionless.

The last thing Rachel saw was a brilliant flash of light, and then she was gone.

After they had eaten a rather unsatisfying breakfast, John and Sarah followed Martha to Unit's "parking lot". It housed about 5 cars, none of which looked very new. When they asked Martha why, she chuckled. "Helicopters work better." She said. Martha selected a car and motioned them in. They pulled out of UNIT's clearing and onto the path they had arrived on when they first came.

Almost 2 hours later, they stood in front of the police box again. The street was deserted, yellow tape stretched across most of the area. The police didn't seem to have a problem with keeping people out. Apparently, the Autons had scared everyone off for a little while. Martha dug the key out of her pocket and inserted it into the lock, then paused for a moment. She took a deep breath. "John and Sarah," she said as she opened the door. "Welcome back to the TARDIS."

John and Sarah were almost as stunned by the grandeur of the room as they were the first time they had seen it. John again felt a certain sense of...familiarity, or recognition, for the place. Once again, he walked up to the console and stared at the buttons and switches, letting his hand trail along the cold metal. Below, Martha closed the door behind her and looked around. It had changed, but she still knew it. "Hello, old girl." She whispered. A tear began to form in her eye as she thought that the TARDIS would never fly again.

She was soon proven wrong. Suddenly, the TARDIS gave a familiar jolt, sending her and Sarah to the floor. Martha couldn't move for surprise for a moment. Then she raised her head and saw the strangest sight she had ever seen. And when someone has traveled with the Doctor, that's saying something. John was at the console. But he wasn't staring anymore. He was running around and around it, flipping the switches and hitting the buttons. And he looked just like the Doctor!

"John!" She heard Sarah scream. "What are you doing?!"

"Rescuing the Doctor" He replied without stopping.

The TARDIS gave another jolt and suddenly everything became still. John stopped, broke something off the console, and came down to join Sarah and Martha. "Sorry, but we don't have time to explain anything right now. We have to go, now."

John looked up at them. Sarah was still staring at him, of course, but Martha was worse. She wasn't just staring, she was trying to see inside him again.

"How did you do that John?" She asked in an awed voice.

"Like we said, we'll explain later. Come on."

He opened the door and walked out. Martha and Sarah exchanged a look. "We?" Sarah asked. Martha just shrugged and followed John out the door.

They came out into a dark corridor. On both sides, it curved in a circle, so they could only see a few yards in each direction. John was glancing around, trying to decide which way to go.

"Where are we?" Martha asked.

"On the space center where the Doctor is held by the Master." John responded.

Sarah shook her head and began to walk slowly down to the right, trying to see further down the passage. As she did, she felt something strike her foot. She looked down and saw a small cylindrical object bouncing down the hall. She chased after it and picked it up. Now she could see a small button near the top and strange scratches all over the middle. Out of curiosity, she pressed the button. The object made a small buzzing sound and a purple light at one end lit up. Instantly, lights in the floor and ceiling turned themselves on.

"What?!" John yelped, startled.

Sarah turned around and showed Martha and John the object. "I think this did it." She said, perplexed. Martha took it from her and turned it over and over in her hands. "Its his screwdriver. He's gotten a new one since I've seen him last."

"Screwdriver?" John asked. "Yes, we recognize it. Two new ones, by the way."

"How do you recognize it? He never lets it out of his sight if he can help it. So if you've seen it then you must have seen him and you're saying the only time either of you have is when Sarah saw him in her dream."

John shook his head. "No time. But it's lucky for us he dropped it."

Martha gave him a look. "Why?" She asked. But John was already heading down the hall.

"Come on." He said.

He led them down the corridor on the right. Martha and Sarah followed, wondering what in the world was going on.

They walked for a couple minutes until they came to a dead end. A wall blocked their way. John stopped and put a hand to his head.

"It's here somewhere..."He muttered, placing a hand on the wall.

Sarah frowned. "What's here? I only see a dead end."

"Shh. Let me think..." He slid down against the wall and closed his eyes.

Sarah gave an exasperated sigh and turned to talk to Martha. She was gone.

In her place stood a large metal robot. It gleamed in the light. Sarah gave a startled scream. The robot moved forward and Sarah shrank against the wall. She seemed to be hearing someone...John?...from a long way off.

"The screwdriver, Sarah! Get the screwdriver!"

By this time the robot was within arm's length of her. It reached out it's hand and a burst of electricity appeared running along it. Sarah screamed again and darkness surrounded her.