[Author's Note: Sorry for the delay on this one. It took a while for me to find a Doctor Who villain that I wanted to use and even longer to actually get myself writing it. But I'm back to writing after this.]
Chapter 39:
The TARDIS whizzed and whirred as the trio, and the Doctor stood around the console.
"So, where to?" The Doctor asked. "Sinking of the Lusitania? How about the Moon Landing or the first Woodstock? A distant planet, or another world? There's a lot to see."
"And so little time." Michael replied. "Wherever we go, we need to make sure that we get back to our proper place in space-time before the timer times out."
"Don't worry. I can finally steer the TARDIS correctly. Took me a few centuries to get that down." The Doctor said.
"How old are you anyway?" Rebecca asked.
"Since before your sun burned hot in space and before your race was born, I have been traveling throughout time and space." The Doctor replied.
"Really?" Sam asked.
"No. Although I think I'm somewhere close to 2100, probably older." The Doctor said. "And anyway, tell me how much time does your timer have left and I'll try to arrange a trip around that."
"Well, the timer says we have about a day, plus some change." Michael said.
"Good, I can work with that." The Doctor said. "Let's go!"
The Doctor tapped some controls on the console and pulled the levers and twisted the knobs. The TARDIS began to make it's signature noise. The noise dissipated and the Doctor walked toward the door.
"The most tranquil place in the universe, The Eye of Orion!" The Doctor said.
"Tranquil, that's a word we don't hear often." Rebecca said.
"Be prepared to feel the alien sand, and hear the cries of strange birds!" The Doctor said, opening the door.
The group stepped out of the TARDIS, and onto grass. An explosion rocked the ground and they ducked for cover.
"This isn't very tranquil!" Sam shouted.
"This isn't the Eye of Orion! I set the coordinates for the Eye of Orion!" The Doctor shouted.
"Where are we, then?" Michael asked.
"Not sure." The Doctor said. "It's not Earth, but I can't place where we are."
Suddenly another explosion rocked the area and they looked towards a hill and saw what appeared to be armored tanks drive over the hill.
"Oh no. Not them again." The Doctor groaned.
"What are those things?" Sam asked.
"Daleks. It's always bloody Daleks." The Doctor sighed. "Time to see what they're up to."
The Doctor snapped his fingers and the TARDIS doors closed and locked. He led the group around the hill and reached into his pocket, pulling out a pair of binoculars. He looked through them and saw an armored fortress.
"Ah, looks like their base is over there. Just a quick trip in there, break whatever power source they're using and we can go have our real adventure." The Doctor said.
"This is a daily occurrence for you isn't it?" Michael asked.
"Pretty much." The Doctor said. "Come along!"
They walked towards the fortress and The Doctor watched the front door. Two humanoid guards were standing in front of it.
"Odd. The Daleks don't usually use humanoids unless it's important. This may be bigger than I thought." The Doctor said.
The guards turned to where the group could get a clear look and Michael, Sam and Rebecca's eyes widened. They saw ape-like creatures with angry faces. They knew immediately what they were.
"What are those?" The Doctor asked.
"Kromaggs." Michael said.
"Never heard of them. And you have?" The Doctor said.
"Yeah, they're like us. Inter-dimensional travelers. Must be setting up shop here to destroy the world." Sam said.
"Striking an alliance with the Daleks. Not smart of them. The Daleks are sneaky, conniving creatures. Double cross you first chance they get." The Doctor said.
"What are Daleks anyway?" Rebecca asked.
"Imagine an alien octopus that hates everything, encased in a metal tank with an egg whisk and plunger as it's main weapons." The Doctor replied.
"Oh, they sound so scary!" Rebecca quipped sarcastically.
"The whisks shoot lasers that kill on sight. The plunger can suck your face off." The Doctor said.
"That actually does sound scary." Rebecca said.
"They are. Now, how did your Kromaggs end up here?" The Doctor asked. "As you told me, your timer is limited to Earth, this isn't Earth."
"Their timers must be tuned differently. Plus they have ships. They might have heard about you and decided they needed reinforcements to conquer Earth." Michael said.
"Well, whatever they're planning, we need to get inside." The Doctor said.
"How? By scaling the fortress and going through the ceiling? Oh! We can bust through the front door and demand to see their leaders!" Sam shouted.
"Actually, we're going to get captured." The Doctor said.
"Captured? That's your big plan?" Rebecca asked.
"Yes it is." The Doctor said.
The group walked straight to the front of the fortress and stood in front of the guards. The Doctor stood there smiling.
"Excuse me. We'd like to be captured!" The Doctor said.
Immediately, they were seized by the guards and walked into the building. They walked up to a throne room of sorts and were tossed in. A group of Daleks and Kromaggs walked over to them.
"Ah, never thought I'd see you again..." one of the Kromaggs said in a deep gravelly voice.
"Tiberius!"Michael shouted. "How did you survive the destruction of your base?"
"Oh you simple minded human... I would never have been stupid enough to remain there as it fell apart." Tiberius growled.
"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.
"Well, it appears that the world we wanted to conquer had protection, and they were able to take down our manta ships immediately. So we moved onto the next world. But we found out that this universe had a protector, so we had to ally ourselves with his worst enemy." Tiberius replied.
"If you think these pepperpots are my worst enemy, then you're wrong!" The Doctor shouted. "They might've been first, but they aren't the worst!"
"So you are the mighty Doctor, then?" Tiberius asked.
"You're damn right I am! I am The Doctor, a time lord from the planet Gallifrey and the sworn protector of this universe! This universe is protected! And I want you out of it!" The Doctor replied, shouting.
"Not likely. We aim to conquer the multiverse, and we plan on taking this universe, and it's Earth." Tiberius said.
"That's it!" The Doctor shouted, lunging at Tiberius. Another Kromagg pulled him off Tiberius and dragged him back.
"Take them to the cell." Tiberius said.
"You'll never get away with this!" The Doctor shouted.
They were led to a jail cell and tossed in. The Kromaggs activated a force-field on the cell and walked out.
"So, new plan?" Michael asked.
"Nope." The Doctor said.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked. "We're in jail!"
"Yes, I see why that would be an issue. Except you see, they overlooked two things. One, I have a sonic screwdriver that can deactivate that force-field. And two, I stole the key." The Doctor smiled.
"I used that trick on Tiberius last time, you'd think he'd of learned." Michael said.
"Great!" The Doctor said. "You three stay here, I'll go save the day."
"No way, Tiberius is our responsibility. We're going too." Rebecca said.
"No. You will stay here." The Doctor glared at them.
"No, we won't." Rebecca said. "Just cause you're an immortal alien, doesn't mean we take orders from you."
"Fine, you can come with me." The Doctor sighed. "You remind me of my companion, Clara. She wouldn't have let me leave her here either."
"She's a smart girl, I take it?" Rebecca asked.
"You have no idea." The Doctor replied.
"What's the plan?" Sam asked.
"Sabotage whatever it is they're planning, basically." The Doctor replied.
"Let's get going." Michael said. "Best not to stick around at the cell you just broke out of."
The group left the jail cell and stalked down the hallway. The Doctor held his sonic screwdriver in front of him like a weapon as they turned a corner. He hopped out and outstretched his arm, and waved the screwdriver around.
"Keep moving." The Doctor whispered.
They kept walking until they reached a metal door with the Kromagg insignia etched into it.
"I got it." The Doctor said, holding his sonic screwdriver out and pressed the button. The door clicked and opened.
They walked in and The Doctor tapped a switch on the wall, turning on the lights. The group looked around the room and saw a console, similar to the one inside the TARDIS.
"Oh no." The Doctor said.
"What?" Sam asked.
"The Daleks are experimenting with time travel again. They've done it before, but I fear this may be worse." The Doctor replied.
"Why?" Rebecca asked.
"If they're working on time travel, with your Kromagg friends, then they may be pooling their assets. Meaning not only time travel, but inter-dimensional travel. And that's not good." The Doctor replied.
"The Kromaggs tried time travel before too, I told you about that before." Michael said.
"Yeah, you destroyed that base of theirs." The Doctor said. "I should've known they'd do something like this. We have to stop them."
"We agree." Michael said. "But how?"
"I have an idea." The Doctor said. "Listen up..."
Tiberius walked into the jail cell and looked around. The Doctor and Michael walked toward the door of the cell.
"Back to gloat?" The Doctor asked.
"Oh, not at all. Just checking on you, the Daleks informed me that you have a nasty habit of escaping. As do those three." Tiberius replied.
"Well not here, I mean how could I escape a locked cell?" The Doctor asked, pushing the cell door forward and back to prove that it was locked.
"It was merely a formality I'll be on my way to finish the work I have here." Tiberius said, starting with impounding that blue box of yours."
Tiberius turned on his heel and walked out of the room. The Doctor pushed the cell door again, opening it.
"How long do we have?" Sam asked.
"The next time they try to use that time machine, it'll detonate the machine and send a shockwave that'll disrupt all their technology." The Doctor replied.
"Isn't that a little harsh?" Rebecca asked.
"Not really. All I'm doing is ensuring that they will be trapped on this planet for a good enough amount of time that they'll probably destroy each other." The Doctor said.
"And if they circumvent the disruption and use a timer to try to escape?" Michael asked. "Imagine the Daleks running amok in another universe!"
"Well, the good thing is that the Daleks wouldn't be able to enter the portal. It's not very stable and the Dalek casing probably wouldn't survive the trip." The Doctor said. "The Kromaggs, well they're out there anyway, so that's not something we can fix through this one group."
"So, we should probably get out of here, right?" Sam asked.
"Definitely, but he said he was impounding the TARDIS, so we can wait for it to come to us." The Doctor said.
A Dalek rolled into the jail cell and turned to the group.
"Time Lord! Give us the key to your TARDIS!" the Dalek shouted.
"Fat chance." The Doctor said.
"Comply or face death." The Dalek said.
"Come on, I've faced the Daleks Rassilon knows how many times and you still think you can beat me? Who wins every time? I do!" The Doctor said.
"Give the key or face death by extermination!" The Dalek said.
"Fine, but I get to put the key in the lock. I mean, you don't have hands and I don't want to know where those Kromagg's hands have been." The Doctor said. "To tell you the truth, I don't trust them, they might double cross you."
"Place the key in the lock, or be ex-ter-min-ated." the Dalek said as The Doctor stepped out of the cell.
"Stay here." The Doctor said to the trio.
The Doctor walked out of the jail cell and into the main room, where the TARDIS was sitting.
"Why didn't you take the key?" Tiberius asked.
"He will place the key in the lock." the Dalek said.
"Just do it." Tiberius said.
"Gladly." The Doctor said, putting the key in the lock and turning it. The TARDIS began to emit it's usual wheezing sound.
"Liar! You tricked us!" Tiberius shouted as he pointed a gun at The Doctor.
"I did not. You tripped the HADS by having your guards so close. The TARDIS is a living machine, the Daleks know that, it sensed danger and left. So we're all stranded now." The Doctor said.
"You will pay for causing us to lose your box." Tiberius growled.
"It wasn't my fault! The TARDIS did it all on it's own!" The Doctor shouted.
Meanwhile, the trio sat in the cell as they listened near the door. Suddenly the TARDIS appeared around them.
"Wha?" Sam asked. "How did we get here?"
"The TARDIS must have materialized around us. Pretty neat." Michael replied. "Where's the Doctor?"
The Doctor stood arguing with Tiberius. The guards stood at attention, waiting to strike the Doctor down if he tried something.
"Listen! The TARDIS stranded me! I'm as stuck here as you are! You think I'd strand myself?" The Doctor asked.
"Bring it back!" Tiberius shouted.
"I can't! What do you think I can just wave my arms and it'll appear in front of you?" The Doctor shouted.
As he shouted the TARDIS' signature noise began to emanate from nowhere and the box began to appear around the Doctor. He grinned at Tiberius as the TARDIS landed. The Doctor looked around and saw his console room, running to the main console.
"Doctor! What happened?" Michael asked.
"The old girl's still got perfect timing." The Doctor replied. "Let's get out of here!"
Meanwhile, Tiberius started banging on the TARDIS. The guards aimed their guns at it.
"DOC-TOR! EXIT THE TIME CAPSULE AT ONCE!" the Daleks shouted.
The TARDIS began to dematerialize and Tiberius turned to the Daleks.
"This is all your fault!" Tiberius shouted.
"STAND BACK OR BE EXTERMINATED!" the Dalek shouted. "ACTIVATE THE TIME AND SPACE TRANSFERENCE MACHINE!"
"ACTIVATING!" another Dalek shouted.
Suddenly the base began to shake and the shockwave blew through the base, as it crumbled around Tiberius.
The Doctor smiled as the TARDIS landed back in San Francisco, exactly where they had left from albeit a day and a half after it had left. The trio walked out as the Doctor stood in the doorframe.
"What do the TARDIS' telepathic circuits say?" Rebecca asked.
"They found the coordinates." The Doctor said handing the timer to her. "They're programmed to be the next destination, I hope that's okay."
"Yeah..." Rebecca said. "That's fine."
"We found your home universe! This is great!" Michael shouted. "Thanks, Doctor!"
"Don't mention it." The Doctor said. "Anyway, you should be off, as I should as well. Busy universe and all."
"Of course, thanks for all the help, Doctor." Sam said.
"Good luck." The Doctor said as the door to the TARDIS closed and the TARDIS dematerialized.
"Well, time to finally get you home, Rebecca." Michael said.
"I guess." Rebecca sighed.
"What's wrong?" Michael asked.
"It's been so long, I don't know if I want to go back." Rebecca replied.
"Once you get there I'm sure you'll be excited." Sam said.
"Let's go!" Michael said as he pointed the timer at the wall and activated it.
The portal opened and the trio stood in front of it. Rebecca hesitantly moved closer to it.
"Ladies first?" Sam asked.
"Yeah." Rebecca replied, hopping into the portal, followed by Sam and Michael.
To Be Continued...