Lieutenant Adventures Series 17, Chapter 10, 30 August 2023. The Ideal Candidate.
16th Lieutenant: Ah, there I was, deep in the Space-Time Vortex, my TARDIS spinning and tumbling like a leaf in a storm. The chaos outside couldn't deter me; I had my trusty hexagonal console, glowing tubes, and flashing lights. Just your typical day for a time-traveling Lieutenant.
But then, as I sat in my cozy armchair, engrossed in Wuthering Heights, a blasted alarm beeped incessantly. Annoyed at the interruption, I marked my page and begrudgingly went to investigate. Turns out, it was a navigation alarm, indicating a course correction was needed. No worries, I quickly input new coordinates and smugly returned to my armchair.
And that's when everything went haywire. The TARDIS lurched, throwing me off balance. I hit my head and blacked out. Next thing I knew, I woke up in a smoke-filled console room, my TARDIS damaged and the Cloister bell ringing ominously.
As I tried to piece together what happened, the doors swung open, and a mysterious voice called me outside. Curiosity got the better of me, so I grabbed my coat and headed out.
Stepping into a desolate landscape, I couldn't help but notice the artificial atmosphere, a recent addition for my benefit, apparently. And there, standing before me, was a hooded figure—a representative from the Celestial Intervention Agency (CIA).
Turns out, they needed my help. Someone from my future wanted to change history by killing the Doctor, specifically the Third Incarnation exiled to Earth in the 20th century. The CIA believed this act would have dire consequences for Gallifrey and the universe itself.
I was hesitant, seeing as the Time War had already taken its toll on me. But the agent argued that by saving the Doctor, I would indirectly preserve the events that led to my own creation. Self-interest, they called it.
Reluctantly, I agreed to the mission. The agent provided me with a UNIT uniform and equipment to blend in, and off I went to locate the Brancheerian assassin, a shape-shifting reptile armed with a Vortex manipulator.
During my infiltration of UNIT HQ, I encountered Captain Yates, who mistook me for a fellow soldier. I seized the opportunity to gather information and familiarize myself with the layout. Eventually, I stumbled upon the assassin's plan to poison the Doctor's tea.
Racing against time, I made my way to the lab, where the Doctor was conversing with the tea lady. I realized she was the assassin. But alas, she had already succeeded in poisoning the Doctor's tea.
Without a moment to spare, I destroyed the poisoned cup and prevented further harm. Meanwhile, the Master, disguised as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, had taken care of the assassin.
But the CIA agent, fearing the Master's interference, had knocked him out and erased his memories. It was a rather shocking turn of events, I must say. The agent then offered me a place in the agency, but I declined. I preferred my freedom.
Back in my TARDIS, I pondered the consequences of our actions. Was history intact? Only time would tell. With a sigh, I set the controls and resumed my interrupted reading. Wuthering Heights beckoned, and I was ready for some much-needed peace and quiet.
As for the Master, he woke up in his TARDIS with hazy memories, finding a file about the Human-Draconian War. It seemed to trigger a new plan in his twisted mind. Off he went, heading to Skaro to seek allies for his conquest.
Ah, the adventures of a Lieutenant in the vast expanse of time and space. Who knows what awaits me next? But for now, it's back to the captivating pages of Wuthering Heights.
10th Lieutenant: Deep in the bowels of the Space-Time Vortex, the Lieutenant's TARDIS spun and tumbled through the chaotic maelstrom of the universe. Occasional discharges of energy would spark of off the time ship or showers of exotic particles. Yet, undeterred, the ship kept ploughing onward. Inside, in an impossibly large bright control room, a Six sided control console, like a hexagonal mushroom, their surfaces covered in various levers, switches, dials juxtaposed with electronic readouts, keyboards and touch-screens. At the centre, a transparent column filled with glowing tubes rose and fell as the mighty time engines deep within the ship groaned and strained.
The owner, or at least current occupant of the TARDIS was sat in the corner of the control room, sat in a comfortable armchair and was deeply engrossed in a red, hardback book. If he were human, in appearance a man in his mid 30s to 40's with a beard and swept back hair, down to the nape of his neck. He was dressed in a dark pinstripe suit and black shoes. He was in the middle of reaching for a tea cup on a saucer next to him when he was disturbed by a sound from the console.
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.
The Lieutenant, sighing deeply, resenting his peace and quiet being disturbed. He carefully placed a bookmark in his book. "Wuthering Heights will have to wait it seems..." he muttered. Suddenly, he sprung to his feet, and in a few long strides was suddenly at the console and saw a red light flashing, the source of the irritating bleep. It was an alarm, he recognised, but an alarm for what? The Lieutenant pondered. It was tied into the navigation, he recalled. Probably a course correction needed.
Turning his attention to another panel, The Lieutenant began to input some new coordinates into the navigational computer. As he typed in the last line and pressed the enter key, he smiled a smug little smile and turned back to the armchair.
Suddenly the TARDIS lurched and the Lieutenant was knocked off his feet, struck his head and was knocked out.
Outside in the vortex, The Lieutenant's TARDIS was ensnared in a snaking beam
Of blue energy, like a lasso pulling runaway cattle, the TARDIS was being pulled off course. The time-ship resisted, but was overpowered. The force pulling it was much stronger. A last valiant effort, the TARDIS tried to pull away, but the beam increased its intensity. The TARDIS was dragged off course, struggling all the way, pulled out of the vortex and onto a desolate, rocky planet.
Aboard the The Lieutenant's TARDIS, the console room, the lights were dim , smoke rose from the console, the air heavy of burnt circuitry. The Cloister bell rang out. On the floor, The Lieutenant awoke into this mess, rubbing his head, leaning on one corner of the console to pull himself back up onto his feet. He quickly glanced at the console readouts, and switching off the Cloister bell. He "What do you mean, nowhere?"
The Lieutenant noted the navigation systems were off-line, and would need time to reset, auto repairs would take care of most of the damage.
Suddenly the doors opened.
"Come out, Lieutenant," came a voice.
Looking towards the door, the Lieutenant pondered for moment. Then, deciding to find some answers for his current predicament. Grabbing a coat off his coat stand near the door he strode out the door.
The Lieutenant stepped out into a rugged landscape, looking about, seeing nothing but sand and rock as far as the eye could see. Not the most pleasant place he had been but not the worst. Taking a deep breath through his nose, his Time lord senses noticed something.
"Artificial atmosphere….and quite a recent addition too," the Lieutenant said. "I assume you installed this for my benefit?"
"Of course," came a voice. "Welcome, Lieutenant."
The Lieutenant turned, to see a hooded figure wearing a long robe, and he put two and two together.
"What does an agent of Celestial Intervention Agency want with me?"
"Well deduced, Lieutenant," said the Agent. "We need your services."
"I'm not on the market, the Time war is over. I'm not surprised the Agency managed to survive though."
"I think you are under a misapprehension. I do not come from your era," said the Agent. "At least, not yet."
This confused The Lieutenant. "Please explain."
"We have an unusual situation. Someone from your era, a time travelling is attempting to change history by killing someone."
"So why not intervene? It is what your good at," the Lieutenant said. "Who is the Target?"
"The Doctor."
"Oh. Him."
"The Doctor's Third Incarnation, who is in my era, exiled to Earth in the 20th century."
"I see. I don't see why it's my problem."
"I looked into the future, I had to. There will be an incident that the Doctor will be dealing with soon, one that endangers not only the Whole of Gallifrey but potentially the whole Universe."
The Lieutenant nodded. "The Omega incident, an incursion from the Anti-matter universe. I'm familiar with the basic details. But surely if your forewarned to those events, you can inform the High council beforehand."
"The Web of time is not that flexible, indeed I will erase those events from my memory, as per Agency protocol."
"I still don't see why you need me. If you know anything about me you know my history…" The Lieutenant looked, inquisitively.
"I do, indeed," said the Agent " and yet despite your history, I come to you, you seem to be the most capable."
"Capable?"
"To carry out this mission successfully."
"I haven't said I would take the mission."
"When the fate of Gallifrey and the Universe is at threat?"
"In my time, Gallifrey is gone, so it seems a pointless effort."
"You don't mean that."
"Don't I!?" The Lieutenant spat back.
There was a moment of silence between them.
"Lieutenant, I appreciate your life has not been an easy one," replied the Agent "But this is much larger than you can imagine. The Doctor is a key player in many of the events to come."
"Including starting the Time War, on a mission your precious CIA sent him on."
"If it hadn't been the Doctor, It would have been someone else. The Doctor was the ideal candidate. Just as you are for this mission."
"The ideal candidate?" spat the Lieutenant. "OK, that I understand, but I still don't see why I should."
"You said it yourself," the Agent replied "The Doctor's Fourth incarnation does attempt to avert the Daleks' creation. He fails, but does introduce some changes into the Daleks' timeline and as a result….The Time War, a war you were loomed to fight in. Indirectly, you're not just saving the Doctor, Gallifrey or the Universe, you're preserving the events that will lead to your own creation."
"So…basic self interest?" the Lieutenant answered. "Is that your proposal?"
"If basic altruism fails, I think the fact you will not exist should the assassin succeed, indirectly."
"Indirectly?"
"The other candidate for the Skaro mission. He would have done things differently."
"Would he have succeeded?"
"Possibly. Or he would have betrayed us."
"What makes you think I won't?"
"Firstly….its not in your nature. And Secondly, your TARDIS. The Coordinates are pre-set, any attempt to deviate from that set course would be inadvisable."
"Self-destruct?"
"It was my last resort to….appeal to you for your services."
"So even if I said no, you'd force my hand. Typical Agency."
"It was a last resort. But thankfully I did not have to use it."
"In a way, you already did.
"
"I suppose I did."
"So….tell me about this Assassin."
The TARDIS materialised almost silently in a corridor of UNIT HQ, in England, some time in the latter half of the 20th Century, taking shape of a olive drab Metal locker.
The Lieutenant stepped out, now dressed in a UNIT uniform to blend in, a khaki green Army jacket and trousers, black army boots and a beige beret with a UNIT cap badge on the front. The Lieutenant was grateful for the hat as it covered his slightly longer than Army regulation hair which would make him stick Lieutenant quickly noted that the TARDIS exterior had changed, obviously part of the CIA's interference. Either that or the Chameleon circuit, a somewhat erratic device on his ship only seemed to work whenever the TARDIS really wanted too.
As he looked around the corridor, making sure his infiltration was successful, he began to recall the details of the plan.
'The assassin is a shape-changer,' said the CIA agent. 'A Brancheerian who has managed to obtain a Vortex manipulator. We know they blame the Doctor for the devastation of their home-world by the Daleks during the Time War. This Brancheerian lost her entire family and friends , she was off-world at the time. She believes assassinating the Doctor will save her family.'
'Too many variables. It cannot work.'
'And yet… She will try. You need to find her, she will assume the form of someone and infiltrate the UNIT headquarters to get close to the Doctor.'
'How will I locate her?' asked the Lieutenant.
'You will be given a short range scanner, disguised as a wristwatch to check for biological patterns. Brancheerians are reptilian, so look out for signatures not Gallifreyan or Human,' said the CIA agent.
'Any Weapons?' asked the Lieutenant.
'A compact staser pistol,' said the CIA agent.
'Is that it?' asked the Lieutenant.
'Well you are going to a military installation, so on-site acquisition of weaponry is not unheard of. Be resourceful, try not to get detected. We have also included some data to familiarise yourself with the period, a UNIT pass, documents and uniform correct to the period.' said the agent. The agent passed the Lieutenant a small, black suitcase.
'You do not like my sense of fashion?" asked the Lieutenant, jokingly.
The Agent glowered at The Lieutenant, obviously not appreciating the joke. 'On no account are you to reveal your presence to the Doctor,' he said.
'Why not?' asked the Lieutenant.
'This particular incarnation is still exiled to Earth. So he can be temperamental and uncooperative. If we get our time coordinates right the Doctor will currently be at the UNIT HQ. Your task is find the assassin before he arrives if you can. UNIT are moving into a new location, I believe, from central London to a place called Denham. So with, the confusion of it being a moving day, crates and boxes and furniture being moved, this may assist in your infiltration,' said the agent.
Focusing on the present, the Lieutenant slowly made his way down the corridors, noticing the smell of fresh paint, suggesting recent decoration. The brick walls were coloured with white at the top half and a pale mint green on the bottom. Suddenly a voice came from behind him.
'Where do you think your going?'
The Lieutenant spun around and saw a tall man in a UNIT officers uniform. A hundred thoughts what do went through his head. Had his cover been blown already? As if by instinct, his hand reached into his jacket and felt the grip of the tiny staser pistol…. 'S-Sir?' stammered the Lieutenant.
'The last lorry with the crates from our old HQ has arrived. I was hoping that nobody would slack off whilst the Brigadier is away. Come on, step on it,' commanded the officer.
The Lieutenant relaxed his grip and saluted the officer relieved his cover was intact, in fact, he could use this to his advantage.
'Sorry to bother you, sir. I'm newly assigned, just arrived and I'm not quite familiar with the new HQ yet,' explained the Lieutenant.
'Ah, I understand. I'm Captain Yates. And you are…?" asked Yates.
'Private Wilkins, sir." said the Lieutenant, citing the name on his faked UNIT ID card. 'Wilkins, yes. Well we can arrange some orientation later. Just head out into the yard and help with unpacking the delivery lorry,'
Three hours later, the Lieutenant was sipping a cup of sweet army tea. Even for one in good shape, the moving of heavy crates of, equipment and furnitures had been pretty tiring. He gratefully accepted a cup of tea from the tea lady.
In his short time here, the Lieutenant had enjoyed the camaraderie he felt with the soldiers, accepting a smoke from a fellow private, who made small talk about his old regiment before transferring to UNIT. He had nodded and mentioned serving in Northern Ireland, which he had seen was a contemporary conflict according to the historic data provided in the case. The benefit of moving furniture around the building, was helping to familiarise him with the layout. The CIA had provided a diagram , but the Lieutenant noted that they were sparse on detail and not entirely accurate.
The Lieutenant had passed the Doctor's laboratory but was advised by another soldier that it was best not go in there. He had taken various scans around the area but, so far, no Brancheerian. As he took the last sip of his tea, he saw a tall man, with a moustache, wearing an officers cap. He recognised him from the briefing files in the case he was given. It was Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart.
'Excuse me, Private, can you possibly give me some assistance moving a filing cabinet in my office?' asked the Brigadier.
'Yes, sir,' said the Lieutenant, following the Brigadier back into the building and along a corridor. They stopped at a door.
'In there,' indicated the Brigadier.
The Lieutenant entered the room. It was dark but as the light was switched on, he saw no filing cabinet, in fact there was no furniture whatsoever.
The Lieutenant felt a sudden blow to his left shoulder and suddenly the room went dark. He awoke, on the floor, dazed.
'Ah, so your back with us.' said the Brigadier , standing in front of him, pointing a black stubby tubular weapon at him. Except, it was not the Brigadier. The voice was different, even though he looked just like the Brigadier.
'You know, a CIA operative like you should really have used a perception filter.' he said. With the weapon trained on The Lieutenant in his right hand, with the free left he pulled at his face, and it began to slightly come away, until it was pulled loose, revealing the swarthy, greying, goatee bearded face and hypnotic brown eyes of of the Master.
'I was able to sense you, I sensed a Gallifreyan was near it, was not but the Doctor. Now, why are you here? To prevent me from killing the Doctor no doubt,' he said.
'To prevent his death, yes,' replied the Lieutenant.
'I'm surprised the Agency would interfere in our little feud. Too bad you'll be dead and unable to complete your mission,' said the Master. He took aim at the Lieutenant.
'Wait!' exclaimed the Lieutenant. 'I am not here to stop you, there's someone else after the Doctor,' said the Lieutenant.
The Master stopped. 'Keep talking.' he said.
The Lieutenant sighed. 'I'm the Lieutenant and I am from what you would consider the future, relative to you and the Doctor. Someone from my time wants to take revenge on the Doctor and wanted to come back in time because they blame the Doctor for the destruction of their planet,' he said.
'The Doctor destroyed a planet?' asked the Master, his eyes narrowing.
'No, there was a war, a time war between us Time lords and the Daleks, one that racked up billions of casualties on countless worlds. The Doctor was a major player in the War. The assassin wants revenge. They are a Brancheerian, a shape changing reptile and they used a Vortex manipulator to come back here,' explained the Lieutenant.
'Then they are doing me a favour, I suppose,' mused the Master.
'Oh, hardly,' said the Lieutenant. 'In fact, I'd say they are stealing your thunder,' he said.
The Master frowned. 'Care to explain that comment?' he asked.
'Part of the legend of the Doctor and the Master is your ongoing feud, across time and space, over multiple incarnations. If the Brancheerian, a nobody, kills the Doctor, he steals that glory from you. The Doctor deserves to die at the hands of his arch-enemy, not some amateur, a nobody, an interloper from the future,' said the Lieutenant.
The Master mused. No doubt about it, the Lieutenant had a good point.
'So, what do you suggest?' asked the Master.
,Simply," said the Lieutenant, 'help me stop the assassin.'
The Lieutenant and the Master, now once again disguised as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart, came down the corridor.
The Lieutenant was doing sensor sweeps.
'Anything?' whispered the Master.
'Not yet,' said the Lieutenant.
'We need to remain close to the Doctor, and he's invariably in the lab or garage, either working on that old crock of a TARDIS or that ridiculous car of his. It pays to know your enemy,' said the Master.
'So where is the Doctor?' asked the Lieutenant.
'I would say the Lab,' said the Master.
'Lets head over there,' said the Lieutenant.
They made their way down the white-green corridors. The Lieutenant checked his scanner.
'i have a reading!' exclaimed the Lieutenant.
'I hope we aren't too late,' said the Master.
The doors to the lab opened and out came the tea lady.
The Master and the Lieutenant looked confused for a second, then again at the scanner.
'It's her!' exclaimed the Lieutenant. 'YOU….WAIT!' he bellowed at the tea lady.
The tea lady, now revealed as the Brancheerian assassin, ran.
The Lieutenant aimed his staser, and struck the alien on the shoulder, causing her to fall down onto the newly laid linoleum floor. They ran up to her, as she began to morph back to her natural form.
'Is she still alive?' asked the Master.
'Stunned,' said the Lieutenant.
'You didn't have the guts to finish her,' said the Master.
'I need information,' said the Lieutenant, shaking the Brancheerian awake. 'Talk!' he yelled at her.
The reptile hissed, laughing. 'You're too late. It's done. The Doctor is dead!' she exclaimed.
'How did you do it?' asked the Master.
'It will be slow and agonizing, let him suffer like my family,' said the assassin.
'The Doctor didn't kill your family,' said the Lieutenant.
'But he could have stopped the Daleks before the were created, before they left Skaro. He was too weak willed. My family paid for his cowardice,' said the assassin.
'The Doctor? He tried to destroy the Daleks at the time of their origin?' asked the Master.
'It's complicated,' replied The Lieutenant, searching the Brancheerian, finding no weapons, but finding a small metal flask. Opening the lid, he saw traces of a clear liquid. Some kind of neuro toxin.
'It's in his tea!' exclaimed The Lieutenant. 'Watch her!' he yelled to the Master as he ran towards the lab. Running through the doors, the Lieutenant saw on a lab workbench, a freshly poured cup of tea in a intricately decorated tea cup and saucer. Deciding pouring the liquid down the sink was not enough, just in-case traces remained on the cup, he threw the cup and saucer both into the sink, where they shattered.
'Jehospephat! who's there?' came a voice from the police box in the corner. A tall figure dressed in a velvet smoking jacket, frilled shirt and grey- white hair with an old, young face came out the box, but saw nobody, just the tell tale sign of the door closing slowly.
The Lieutenant returned down the corridor, where he left the Master and was horrified to see him stand over the shrunken corpse of the Brancheerian, looking like a tiny lizard.
'You killed her?' panted the Lieutenant.
'Surely you didn't expect to have taken her alive, did you? That's the Doctors style of woolly thinking,' said the Master.
'I wanted to avoid it if possible,' said the Lieutenant.
'She would have just tried again. This is the only peace she will ever know,' said the Master. 'I got all I could out of her. Sounds very interesting this Time War,' he said.
'Interesting? It was a living hell, on a daily basis,' said the Lieutenant.
'It's obvious one such as myself could find great opportunities for power, never mind mine and the Doctors petty feud,' said the Master.
The Lieutenant was afraid of this. Too much foreknowledge. 'You can't get involved, not yet,' said the Lieutenant.
'And how can you stop me?' asked the Master raising his weapon.
The Lieutenant closed his eyes. It's finally over, he thought.
A shot rang out. A body slumped to the floor.
The Lieutenant opened his eyes, surprised to find himself still alive, still standing.
The Master laid on the floor, breathing but knocked out.
The Lieutenant looked around and saw the CIA agent standing with a small staser pistol. He then adjusted the setting, aimed at the small Brancheerian corpse and it vaporised after a blast from the compact pistol. 'I think we can call this mission accomplished. Well done!' exclaimed the agent.
"You?!" exclaimed the Lieutenant. 'I thought you couldn't interfere,' he said.
"My report will read you stunned the Master. Officially. Besides I need to take him back to Gallifrey to remove his memories of this event. He has too much knowledge of the future, as do I,' said the agent.
'What will happen?' asked the Lieutenant.
'He'll wake up in his TARDIS, with no memory of the event,' said the agent.
'None?' asked the Lieutenant.
'Well, no memory erasure device is 100 per cent perfect and the mind is a funny thing. To him it may be like a fading dream,' said the agent.
'What about me?' asked the Lieutenant.
'You? You're free to go, you have mine and the Agency's gratitude. Maybe you should consider joining, you're a very effective and resourceful agent, with the right training,' said the agent.
'No, thanks,' said the Lieutenant. 'This was a special circumstance,' he said.
'Most missions are in some way,' said the agent.
'Are the restrictions on my TARDIS removed?' asked the Lieutenant.
'Of course,' said the agent.
'Then I am leaving, see ya,' said the Lieutenant. He walked away, heading back to the corridor containing his TARDIS.
'Consider my proposal, Lieutenant. You have potential,' said the agent but all he got was silent and the closing of a door was his answer.
The Lieutenant passed by the Doctor's lab and saw him talking to the tea lady who he managed to overhear. '..I'm so embarrassed Doctor…imagine fainting on the job…I woke up in the cleaners cupboard of all places...' At least the assassin hadn't claimed any innocent civilian lives as well as failing to kill her target. All of history was more or less intact, as far as he could tell. He approached the TARDIS, still in its locker disguise, opened the door and took off.
As he stared at the time rotor, the Lieutenant wondered what repercussions would come about, if any. He then set the controls, went back to his armchair and resumed reading Wuthering Heights.
The Master awoke in his TARDIS, also on a chair, finding himself surrounded by folders from his filing cabinet. Had he been asleep? He could have sworn he was….where had he been? Somewhere…..Somewhere familiar…it involved the Doctor but…he recalled pieces of a conversation he had had with…who? Something about a war….the Future…. and some kind of lizards. He couldn't make head nor tales of it till he saw a file on his lap and the wheels began to turn in his head. It was an account of The Human-Draconian War, in the 26th century. As he recalled, even though peace had been achieved, a lot of bad blood still remained between both parties. Perhaps….Perhaps if both parties could be motivated to go back to war? It would leave both planets vulnerable to conquest. If he could get some kind of support, some powerful ally. And the ideal allies that came to the Masters mind were who had tried before to take over earth and had been overthrown by the Doctor in his first incarnation…
The Master mused, perhaps it was time to leave the Doctor for a while and go back to seeking conquest and power. As he mused over his new plan he set the TARDIS console coordinates for the planet Skaro, and hoped he could be very, very persuasive to its residents.
NEXT TIME
So, welcome back to the TARDIS, the current TARDIS. Having spent centuries exploring time and space, the Lieutenant's knowledge and experiences have culminated in a groundbreaking contribution to the field. Upon her arrival, the Lieutenant is filled with anticipation and nerves as she navigates the grand corridors of the Academy. And so, the Lieutenant continued to unravel the mysteries of Regeneration, leaving an indelible mark on the annals of Gallifreyan history and inspiring generations of Time Lords and Time Ladies to explore the boundless realms of transformation that lay before them.
The Lieutenant
Liam Hickey
Damon Chance
The Doctor
Jon Pertwee
The Master
Roger Delgado
The assassin
Tilda Swinton
The agent
Benedict Wong.
Mike Yates
Richard Franklin
The Brigadier
Nicholas Courtney
The tea lady
Imelda Staunton
Director
Darwin Meads
Writer
Damon Chance
Producers
Liam Hickey
Darwin Meads
Editor
Liam Hickey
M/S 2023