Planet of the Dead
It was a few months after we left Donna, we were in London in tracking a tear in time and space that had appeared. We put the TARDIS on random and she landed us in London at Easter in 2009. We stopped at a sweet shop and a large hollow chocolate egg. While we were walking through the streets of London eating our egg, a Device in my uncle's jacket started to beep. He took it out. "What's that?" asked Annabelle.
"It's a Rhondium particle detector," said The Doctor, "It's picking up a very faint tear in time and space. But, it's a bit of a ways away…" Then he spotted a bus sitting at a bus stop, "Come on…" he said as he slipped the detector
We walked out over to the bus each of us using our psychic paper as a bus pass. Annabelle got her psychic paper and a sonic screwdriver for Christmas. "You're just in time." said the bus driver. He closed the door and pulled away from the curb.
I looked around and saw a young black man texting on his phone, a middle aged black couple near the back, a middle aged blonde woman and a young woman with black hair. My uncle sat down next to the black haired woman, while Annabelle and I took the seat behind them. "Hello, I'm the Doctor! Theses are my nieces from America, Teddy and Annabelle…" He offered her some of the chocolate egg, "Happy Easter! Funny thing is, We don't often do Easter. I can never find it, it's always at a different time. Although I remember the original. Between you and me, what really happened was…" Just then the Rhondium particle detector started going off again, "Oh, sorry, hold on to that for me." he said as he handed her his egg, "Actually, go on, have it, finish it. It's full of sugar and I'm determined to keep these teeth." He bared his teeth to then pulled the detector from his pocket.
"I'll take that," I said as I took the chocolate egg from the woman and slipped it into the pocket of my jacket.
"Ah!" said my uncle, "Oh, we've got excitation!" he shook the detector. "I'm picking up something very strange."
"I know the feeling." said the woman as she took a glance out the window.
I heard sirens coming from behind us. I turned and saw the lights of a police car. Just then the bus entered a tunnel. "Rhondium particles, that's what we're looking for. This thing detects them." said The Doctor, as he flicked the little dish on the detector, "The little dish should go round, that little dish there…"
"Right now, a way out would come in pretty handy. Can you detect me one of those?" said the woman. I had a feeling that the police car that was following the bus was after her.
"Lou, can you hear them?" said the black woman across the aisle from Annabelle and me
"Hear what, sweetheart?" asked Lou.
"The voices. So many voices. Calling to us. Calling so far."
"Oh, the little dish is going round!" said The Doctor. It ment that we were getting close to the tear in time and space.
"Fascinating." said the woman sitting next to The Doctor.
"And round. Whoa…" The little dished started to spin faster until it started to spark, that wasn't good thing.
"Excuse me. Do you mind?" said the blond woman.
My uncle stood up, "Sorry. That was my little dish."
"Can't you turn that thing off?" asked the black haired woman.
I looked at the woman, "What was your name?"
"Christina." she said.
"Christina, hold on tight." I said. The Doctor sat back down next to Christina, "Everyone, hold on!"
"Head down, Sweetpea," I said to Annabelle as we ducked down behind the seat. Then bus lurched and shook. The passengers screamed as they we jerked forwards.
"The voices! Oh, the voices, they're screaming!" said the black woman.
"What's going on?!" said a young male voice. There was a blindling light and windows started to break.
Then it was over. When I came up from behind the seat I was surprised to see daylight… It was nighttime when we went in the tunnel. Now, it was daylight and instead of being in a tunnel we were in the middle of a desert. I looked and saw my uncle get up off the floor and started to walked toward the front door of the bus. Annabelle and I got up out of our seats and started to follow him. He opened the door and said, "End of the line."
We stepped out of the bus and Annabelle said, "Call it a hunch, but I think we've gone a little bit further than Brixton." Christina and most of the other passengers follow us. I looked at the bus and saw the top deck of the bus was crushed and smoke was coming from it. I looked around us. From what I could see, there was miles and miles of nothing but miles and miles. The Doctor was lying on the ground, he had his glasses on, picked up a hand full of sand and let the sand sift through his fingers.
"That's impossible," said the blond woman, "There are three suns. Three of them!"
"Like when all those planets were up in the sky!" said the young black man.
"But it was Earth that moved back then, wasn't it?" said a young white man.
"Oh, man, we're on another world!"
"It's still intact, though!" said the driver as he looked over the buss, "Not as bad as it looks. The chassis's still holding together. Oh, my boss is gonna murder me!"
"Can you still drive it?" asked the blond.
"Oh, no, the wheels are stuck. Look at them, they're never gonna budge."
Christina took off her jacket and was wearing a black short-sleeve top. Then, she put on a pair of sunglasses, "Ready for every emergency."
The Doctor looked up a her and removed his glasses, he pointed his sonic screwdriver on them. He then puts them back on, now tinted, "Me too!" Then he continued to examine the sand. I just reached into the pocket of my jacket and took out a pair of sunglasses. Annabelle did the same.
"And what're your name?" asked Christina.
"Teddy," I said.
"Annabelle," said my daughter.
"I'm the Doctor," said my uncle.
"Name, not rank," said Christina.
"The Doctor."
"Surname?"
"The Doctor."
"You're called 'The Doctor'?"
"Yes, I am."
"That's not a name, that's a psychological condition."
"This sand doesn't feel right," said Annabelle, as she crouched down next to my uncle. "It's like there's a trace of something else in it…" she started to run her fingers through the sand.
The Doctor put some on the tip of his tongue to taste it, " . Blah, that's not good."
I rolled my eye as the Doctor gagged on the sand, "Well, it wouldn't be, it's sand." said Christina.
"No, it tastes like…" then he stood up, "Never mind."
"What is it, what's wrong?"
Just then the other passengers came over to us. The young black man pointed as us, "Hold on a minute, I saw you, mate! You had that thing, that machine. Did you make this happen?"
"Oh, humans on buses, always blaming me." said The Doctor.
"If you must know, we were tracking a hole in the fabric of reality," I said, "Call it a hobby of ours. But it was a tiny little hole, no danger to anyone. But all of the sudden it got big, and we drove right through it."
"But then where is it?" asked the driver, "There's nothing, there's just sand!"
I walked to behind the bus, "All right. If you want proof," I picked up a hand full of sand, "we drove through this." I threw the sand behind the bus to reveal a swirling vortex which soon disappeared.
"And that's?" asked Christina.
"A door. A door in space."
"So what you're saying is, on the other side of that is home? We can get to London through there?" asked the driver.
"The bus came through, but we can't." said The Doctor.
The driver ignored what my uncle said, and replied, "Well, then what are we waiting for?"
"Oh, no, don't."
"I'm going home, mate!"
"I said don't!"
The second his body touched the portal, he screamed and his body burst into flames and all that remain was his skeleton. The skeleton entered the portal and returned to Earth.
"He was a skeleton, man!" said the young black man, "He was bones, just bones!"
The Doctor looked up at the buss, "It was the bus. Look at the damage, that was the bus protecting us. Great big box of metal."
"Rather like a Faraday cage?" asked Christina.
"Like in a thunderstorm, yeah?" said the young white man as he comforted the blond woman, "Safest place is inside a car, 'cos the metal conducts the lightning right through. We did it in school."
"But if we can only travel back inside the bus... A Faraday cage needs to be closed. That thing's been ripped wide open."
"The dynamics are slightly different with a wormhole," I said as I looked at the bus, "There's enough metal to make it work, I think… I hope…"
"Then we have to drive five tons of bus, which is currently buried in the sand, and we've got nothing but our bare hands. Correct?" asked Christina.
"I'd say nine and a half tons, but the point still stands, yes." said my uncle.
"Then we need to apply ourselves to the problem with discipline! Which starts with appointing a leader."
The Doctor nodded and started to speak, "Yes, at last, thank you, so…"
"Well, thank goodness you've got me!" said Christina as she cut off my uncle, "Everyone do exactly as I say! Inside the bus immediately!
"Is it safe in there?" asked the young white man.
"I don't think anything's safe any more, but if it's a choice between baking in there or roasting out here, I'd say baking is slower. Come on! All of you. Right now! And you. Teddy, Annabelle, and 'The Doctor'."
"Yes, ma'am." said the Doctor as we headed inside.
"I like her…" I said telepathically
"You would…" replied my uncle.
"Up!" said Christina, to the young black man who was sitting on the ground, "Come on!"
He got up and followed us into the bus. Once we were all inside, Christina got right to work, taking charge, setting guidelines and goals we needed to achieve. "…Point five, the crucial thing is, do not panic," said Christina, "Quite apart from anything else, the smell of sweat inside this thing is reaching atrocious levels. We don't need to add any more. Point six. Team identification. Names. I'm Christina, this man is apparently 'the Doctor'."
"Hello." he said with a smile.
"I'm Teddy," I said.
"Annabelle," said my daughter.
Christina looked at the young white man, "And you?"
"Nathan," he waved.
"I'm Barclay," said the young black man.
"Angela, Angela Whittaker." said the blond woman.
"My name's Louis," said the older black man, "everyone calls me Lou, and this is Carmen."
"Excellent," said Christina, "Memorize those names. There might be a test. Point seven, assessment and application of knowledge. Over to you, The Doctor, Teddy, Annabelle…"
"I thought you were in charge." asked my uncle.
"I am. And a good leader utilizes her strength. You lot seem to be the brainbox. So, start boxing."
"Right," said The Doctor and he sat up on the back of his seat, "So, the wormhole. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. It was just an accident.
"No, it wasn't," said Carmen, "That thing, the doorway. Someone made it. For a reason."
"How do you know?" asked Annabelle.
"She's got a gift," said Lou, "Ever since she was a little girl, she can just... tell things. We do the lottery, twice a week."
"You don't look like millionaires," said Christina.
"No, but we win ten pounds," said Lou, "Every week, twice a week, ten pounds. Don't tell me that's not a gift!"
Annabelle put a hand behind her back and held up three fingers, "Tell me, Carmen. How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three." answered Carmen. Annabelle added another finger. "Four."
"Very good!" said The Doctor, "Low level psychic ability, exacerbated by an alien sun." he sat down across from her, "What can you see, Carmen? Tell me. What's out there?"
"Something... Something is coming. Riding on the wind. And shining."
"What is it?"
"Death. Death is coming."
Angela started to cry, "We're going to die."
"I knew it, man, I said so," said Barclay.
"We can't die out here," said Nathan, "No-one's gonna find us."
"This isn't exactly helping," said Christina as the other passengers voices started to overlap.
"Shut up, we're not your soldiers," shouted Barclay.
"It's not doing any good…" said Nathan.
"You're upsetting her, be quiet." said Lou.
"Will we be bones, like the bus driver?!"
"Stop whimpering, all of you!" said Christina.
"All right now. Stop it, everyone, stop it!" shouted my uncle.
The arguing stopped and the only sound left was of Angela crying. I walked over to Angela and sat next to her and put my hand on her knee, "Angela, look at me," she looked at me through her tears and then I asked, "Angela, tell me one thing. When you got on this bus, where were you going?"
"Doesn't matter now, does it?" said Angela
"Sure it matters… Where were you going?"
"Just home."
"And what's home?"
"Me, and Mike and Suzanne, that's my daughter. She's 18."
"Suzanne," I smiled, "Good." I looked over at Barclay, "What about you?"
"Dunno," said Barclay, "Going round Tina's."
"Who's Tina? Your girlfriend?" asked my uncle.
"Not yet," said Barclay with a small smile.
"Good boy. What about you, Nathan?"
"Bit strapped for cash," said Nathan, "I lost my job last week. I was gonna stay in. Watch TV."
"Brilliant." said The Doctor.
Then, Annabelle looked at Lou and Carmen, "And you two?"
"I was going to cook," said Lou.
"It's his turn tonight. Then I clear up," said Carmen.
"What are you having?" asked Annabelle.
"Chops," said Lou, "Nice couple of chops and gravy. Nothing special."
"Oh, that's special, Lou. That is so special. Chops and gravy. Mmm! What about you, Christina?"
"I was going... so far away," said Christina.
"Far away," said The Doctor, "Chops and gravy. Watching TV. Mike and Suzanne and poor old Tina."
"Hey!" said Barclay.
"Just think of them," I said. Then, I pointed out the window, "Because that planet out there, all three suns and wormholes and alien sand, that planet is nothing. You hear me? Nothing compared to all those things waiting for you. Food and home and people. Hold on to that. Because we're gonna get there. I promise. We'll get you home."
A little while later, Barclay and Nathan came out of the bus holding some seat cushions. The Doctor, Annabelle, Christina and I were outside looking at the bus. I came up to them and said, "Here we go! That's my boys! We lay a flat surface between the bus and the wormhole, like duckboards, and back into it!"
"Let some air out of the tires, just a little bit," said Christina, "Spreads the weight of the bus, gives you more grip."
"Oh, that's good!" said The Doctor.
"Holidays in the Kalahari."
"Yeah, but those wheels go deep," said Barclay.
"Then start digging," said Christina.
"With what?"
"With this," Christina reached into her bag and pulled out a folding shovel.
I took it, opened it, then handed it to Barclay," What else have you got in there?" I asked.
"Try that," Christina pulled out a small axe and handed it to Nathan, "might help with the seats."
"Thanks!" said Nathan and headed back to the bus.
"I can't find the keys," said Angela from inside the bus.
"Buses don't have keys," said The Doctor as ran up to the door, "There's a master switch, one button for start, the other one for stop, yeah?"
Angela was sitting in the driver's seat, "Right. Hold on, oh, I've got it." she said, "Here we go, hold tight, ding ding!" She pressed the start button but the engine only spluttered and died.
"That doesn't sound too good," said Annabelle.
We walked back to the engine and The Doctor opened the panel to reveal the engine, "Oh! Never mind losing half the top deck, you know what's worse? Sand. Tiny little grains of sand. The engine's clogged up."
Christina walked around to wear Barclay and Nathan were working on the wheels, "Anyone know mechanics?"
"Me!" said Barclay as he stood up, "I did a two-week NVQ at the garage. Never finished it, but…"
"Off you go then," said The Doctor as try stripping the air filter, fast as you can. Back in two ticks." Then, The Doctor started toward the dunes with Annabelle and I close behind him.
"Wait a minute!" said Christina as she followed us, "You're the ones with all the answers. I'm not letting any of you out of my sight."
We were a good distance from the bus. I looked and saw Christina was carrying her backpack, "It would be easier if you left that backpack behind."
"Where I go, it goes."
"A backpack with a shove and an axe. Christina, who's going so far away, and yet scared by the sound of a siren. Who are you?"
"You can talk. Let's just say we're equal mysteries. So, tell me. If Carmen's right, if that wormhole's not an accident, then what is it? Has someone done this on purpose?"
We stopped walking, "I don't know," said The Doctor, "But every single instinct of mine is telling me to get off this planet, right now."
"And do you think we can?" asked Christina.
"I live in hope."
"That must be nice. It's Christina de Souza," she held out her hand, "To be precise, Lady Christina de Souza."
We all shook hands with Christina, "Ooh, that's handy. Cos I'm a Lord and they're Ladies." said the Doctor as he pointed to Annabelle and I.
"Seriously?" she asked, "Of where?
"It's quite a big estate." I said.
"No, but there's something more about you. That device you were carrying, and the wormhole. Like you knew…." Then Christina, looked at my uncle, "And the way you stride around this place, like…"
"Like?" he said
"Like you're not quite…"
"Anyway! Come on! Allons-y!" Then he continued walking.
"Oui, mais pas si nous allons vers un cauchemar." said Christina in French. In English she said, "Yes, but not if we go towards a nightmare."
The Doctor laughed, "Oh, we were made for each other!"
We walked a little further and stop on top of a high dune, and looked to the horizon. There were clouds of some kind in the distance.
"I Don't like the look of that." I said.
Christina shaded her eyes, "Storm clouds. Must be hundreds of miles away."
"Getting closer," said The Doctor.
"If that's a sand storm, we'll get ripped to shreds."
"It's a storm," said Annabelle, "Who says it's sand?"
Then we started to run back to the bus. When we got back to the bus, I went up to Barclay, "Barclay… We need to use your phone… Where is it?"
"On the bus…" he said.
The Doctor rushed onto the bus with the rest of us following him, "Where is it?"
"There, there on the seat." said Barclay.
The Doctor picked it up, took out his sonic screwdriver, and pointed it at the phone, "You're hardly going to get a signal, we're on another planet!" said Christina.
"Oh, just watch me," said The Doctor, "Right, now, bit of hush, thank you. Gotta remember the number, very important number."
"Hello, Pizza Geronimo?" said a man on the other end of the phone.
I shook my head, "For the 100th time… its 7-6 not 6-7..." The Doctor started to dial again. Then, I said telepathically to my daughter, "For being a 904 year old Time Lord, your uncle can be a real idiot sometimes…"
"He's your uncle too, Mom," replied Annabelle telepathically.
"Yeah… But I don't admit to it at times like this…"
"This is the Unified Intelligence Taskforce," said the voice on the other end of the phone, "Please select one of the following four options."
"Oh, I hate these things!" said my uncle.
"No, if you keep your finger pressed on zero, you get through to a real person," said Angela, "I saw it on Watchdog!"
"Thank you, Angela!" said The Doctor as he sat down and held down zero.
Jus then a women answered the phone, "UNIT helpline, which department would you like?"
"Listen, it's the Doctor and I'm with Teddy and Annabelle! It's us…" He explained what was going on and was told that a UNIT team was already on the scene. Then he asked to be transferred to the person in charge.
A few moments later w heard another voice on the phone, "Doctor. This is Captain Erisa Magambo." There was a pause. I laughed a little because there was only one reason why there was a pause right then… she saluted us, "Might I say, sir, it's an honor to speak with you three…"
"Did you just salute?" said The Doctor.
There was another pause, "No," replied Erisa.
"Don't worry," I said, "You just keep saluting me and Annabelle… That's an order… Understand…"
"Yes, Ma'am…" said Erisa. I looked at Annabelle and she smiled. She loved that UNIT saluted us more that I did… I figured it was because she was solider when she was born. As she continue to travel with us, I could see the solider in her start to go away. But, I knew it would never completely go away.
"Erisa, it's about the bus," said The Doctor, "HQ said you're at the tunnel, yeah?"
"And where are you?"
"We're on the bus. But apart from that, not a clue," the Doctor looked out of window, "except it's very pretty and pretty dangerous."
"A body came through here. Have you sustained any more fatalities?"
"No, and we're not going to. But we're stuck. We haven't got the TARDIS, and I need to analyze that wormhole."
"We have a scientific advisor on site, Dr Malcolm Taylor. Just the man you need, he's a genius."
"Oh, is he? We'll see about that."
"Here's The Doctor," said Erisa, as she talked to someone on her side of the phone call.
"No, I'm all right now, thanks," replied a man, "It was just a bit of a sore throat, although I've got to be honest, a cup of tea might be nice."
"It's THE Doctor."
"Do you mean... 'The Doctor' Doctor?!"
I laughed a little, and the Doctor rolled his eyes,
"I know," said Erisa, "We all want to meet him and his nieces one day, but we all know what that day will bring."
"We can hear everything you're saying," said The Doctor.
"Hello, Doctor? Oh, my goodness!" said the man who was talking to Erisa.
"Yes, I am. Hello, Malcolm!"
Malcolm chucked, "The Doctor! Cor blimey. I can't believe I'm actually speaking to you! I mean, I've read all the files!"
"Really? What was your favorite, the giant robot?" I rolled my eyes and The Doctor continued, "No, no hold on, let's sort out that wormhole. 'Scuse me." he moved to the front of the bus.
"On speakerphone, please. I don't want anyone keeping secrets," said Erisa.
The Doctor sat down in the driver's seat, "Malcolm, something's not making sense here. I've got a storm and a wormhole, and I can't help thinking there's a connection. I need a complete full-range analysis of that wormhole, the whole thing."
"I've probably got the wrong idea, but I've wired up an integrator," said Malcome, "I thought it could measure the energy signature."
"No, that'll never work. Just listen to me."
"It's quite extraordinary, though! I'm measuring an oscillation of 15 Malcolms per second."
"Fifteen what?"
"Fifteen Malcolms. It's my own little term. A wavelength parcel of ten kilohertz operating in four dimensions equals one Malcolm."
"You named a unit of measurement after yourself?"
"It didn't do Mr. Watt any harm. Furthermore, 100 Malcolms equals a Bernard."
"And who's that, your dad?"
"Don't be ridiculous, that's Quatermass."
"Right. Fine. But before I die of old age, which in my case would be quite an achievement, so congratulations on that, is there anyone else I can talk to?"
"No, no, no, no, but listen! I set the scanner to register what it can't detect and inverted the image."
"You did what?"
"Is that wrong?"
"No, Malcolm, that's brilliant! So you can actually measure the wormhole. OK, I admit, that is genius!"
"The Doctor called me a genius."
"I know, I heard," said Erisa.
"Now, run a capacity scan. I need a full report. Call me back when you've done it. And Malcolm? You're my new best friend."
"And you're mine too, sir."
Then, The Doctor ended the call, "Barclay, I'm holding on to this." he walked out the door, with Christina, Annabelle and I right behind him.
"Then you'd better bring it back!" said Barclay.
We walked back out into the desert and back to the same hill when we saw the storm
The Doctor took the phone out, "Send this back to Earth, see if Malcolm can analyse the storm."
"There's something in those clouds, something shining. Look…" said Christina.
"Like metal…" I said as the Doctor started taking pictures.
"Why would there be metal in a storm?" asked Christina, then I heard a kind of chirping noise. "Did you hear something?" she asked.
"Hold on. Busy," said my uncle.
"There was a noise, like a sort of… Doctor…"
I looked toward Christina and saw a humanoid shape with an insect head, watching us from a due a short distance away. It approached ua, with a weapon in hand, and spoke with clicks and chirps. Annabelle then started to reply to the creature in it's language and it stopped, "I said 'wait'…"
"You speak the language?" asked Christina.
"We speak every language," she said.
Then, The Doctor started talking to the creature, "That's begging for mercy."
Then the creature motions with its gun, "That means 'move.'" said Christina.
"Ooh! You're learning."
Then the creature started to march us off with us in front of it, "These fly things, they must be responsible. They brought us here." said Christina.
Soon we were in front of
"I don't think so," I said as we came up to a crashed spaceship, "Look at the ship, it's a wreck. They crashed, just like us."
The creature took us inside, "Ugh! But this place is freezing!" said Christina.
"The hull's made of Photafine steel," said The Doctor, "Turns cold when it's hot. Boiling desert outside, freezing ship inside. Since I met you, Christina, we've been through all the extremes!"
"That's how I like things. Extreme." said Christina with a smirk.
"Oh, this is beautiful!" said the Doctor as he took in his surroundings, "Intact, it must have been magnificent. A proper streamlined deep-spacer!"
"I'll remember that as I'm being slowly tortured. At least I'm bleeding on the floor of a really well-designed spaceship!"
Then, a second creature joins us and pushed a button on his suit, turing a purpal light on. I smiled as I recognized the device, "That's a telepathic translator, he's wearing," I said, "Now they can understand us."
One of the creatures clicked, "Still sounds like gibberish to me." said Christina.
"Yeah," I said, "It's so they can understand us. It doesn't work the other way around.
The creatures started to click so we designated Annabelle to be translator, " 'You will suffer for your crimes.'" she said, "'You have committed an act of violence against the Tritovore race. You came here in the 200 to destroy us.'"
"Sorry, what's the 200?" asked The Doctor.
"It's the bus" said Christina, "Number 200, they mean the bus."
"Oh!" said The Doctor, "No, look, I think you're making the same mistake Christina did. I'm the Doctor, by the way, this is my niece Teddy and her daughter Annabelle…"
"Daughter?" asked Christina, "Aren't you two the same age?"
"I moisturize…" I said with a smile.
"And, this is Christina," continued The Doctor, "the Honorable Lady Christina, at least I hope she's honorable! But we got pulled through that wormhole. The 200 doesn't look like that normally. It's broken, just the same as you."
The Tritovores talked to each other then they lowered their guns, "What are they doing?" asked Christina.
"They believe me," said The Doctor.
"What, as simple as that?"
"I've got a very honest face."
"And the translator says he's telling the truth," I said.
"Plus, the face." said The Doctor, "Right! So, first things first, there's a very strange storm heading our way, can you send out a probe?" He made his way to a control panel, followed by the Tritovore with the translator who speaks to him, "Ah, they've lost power. Hmm, the crash knocked the mainline crystallography out of synch. But if I can jiggle it back…" He kicked the panel and the power came back on, "I thank you!" the Tritovore chattered , "Yes, I am! Frequently. Okey-doke, let's launch that probe."
Soon the probe was return information and we looked at the picture that was was being sent back from the probe as a hologram projection.
"The Scorpion Nebula," I said, "We're on the other side of the universe." I looked at Christina, "Just what you wanted, so far away." I looked back at the projection, "The planet of San Helios."
"And that's us? We're on another world," said Christina.
"We have been for quite a while," said The Doctor.
"I know, but seeing it like that…"
"It's good, isn't it?" I asked.
"Wonderful."
I smiled. It had been awhile since Donna left and it had been awhile since we found anyone that would make a good companion. The Tritovores started to tell their story. Annabelle translated for Christina, "The Tritovores were going to trade with San Helios. Population of one hundred billion. Plenty of waste matter for them to absorb."
"By waste matter, you mean?" asked Christina knowingly.
"They feed off what others leave behind. From their... behind, if you know what I mean. It's perfectly natural. They are flies after all…"
"Charming. Just remind me never to kiss them."
The projection chaged to show a thriving city with trees and green parks, "San Helios City." said The Doctor.
"That's amazing. But you've seen this sort of thing before, haven't you?" asked Christina.
"Thousands of times."
"That Lord and Ladyship of yours... The Lord and Ladies of where, exactly?
"Of Time. We come from a race of people called Time Lords.
"You're aliens?"
"Yeah. But you don't have to kiss me either."
"You look human."
"You look Time Lord," I said, with a smirk.
"So if that's San Helios, all we need to do is find that city," said Christina, "They can help us!"
"I don't think it's that simple," I said, as the projection changed to the desert, "We're in the city right now."
"But it's sand! That first image, the temples and things, what's that, then? Ancient history?"
One of the Tritovores chirruped, "The image was taken last year." said Annabelle.
"It became a desert in one year?" asked Christina.
The Doctor bent over, "I said there was something in the sand." He picked up some sand that was on the floor and it fell through his fingers, "The city, the oceans, the mountains, the wildlife and 100 billion people, turned to sand. All those voices in Carmen's head. She's hearing them die."
"But I've got sand in my hair. That's dead people! Oh, that's disgusting! Oh!"
"Something destroyed the whole of San Helois." said The Doctor ignoring her comment.
"Yes, but in my hair!"
Just then the phone rings and The Doctor answered it and it on speaker, "Malcolm! Tell me the bad news!"
"Oh, you are clever!" said Malcolm, "It is bad news! It's the wormhole, Doctor, it's getting bigger! We've gone way past 100 Bernards, I haven't invented a name for that."
"How can it get bigger by itself?"
"Well, that's why I'm phoning! You'll work it out, if I know you, sir."
"Doctor," said Erisa, "we estimate the circumference of your invisible wormhole is now four miles, heading upwards. I've grounded all flights above London. We can't risk anyone else falling through."
"Good work, both of you," said The Doctor.
"But I have to know. Does that wormhole constitute a danger to this planet?"
Just then the phone beeped my uncle looked at the phone, "Oh, sorry, call waiting, gotta go." He switched the call, "Yep?"
It was Nathan you could hear Angela crying in the background, "Doctor, it's Nathan. We got those duckboard things down, but…"
"It's my fault." said Angela.
"No, it's not, don't say that."
"Why, what's happened?" asked my uncle
"We kept on turning the engine, but... We're out of petrol. Used it all up. Even if we can get those wheels out...This bus is never going to move. You promised you'd get us home. Doctor? Are you still there?" He slowly lowered the phone and ended the call just as a beeping came from one of the monitors and the Tritovores chirruped excitedly.
"It's the probe. It's reached the storm," said The Doctor.
We looked at the monitor and saw a mass of creatures that looked like flying manta rays, "It's not a storm."
"It's a swarm. Millions of them," said Christina.
"Billions," I said as one of the creatures flew straight at the probe, and ate the probe.
"Ah! We've lost the probe," said The Doctor, "I think it got eaten. Everything on this planet gets eaten."
"How far away is that swarm?" asked Christina.
"A Hundred miles," said Annabelle, "But at that speed, it'll be here in twenty minutes." The Tritovore chirruped, "No, they're not just coming for us," said my daughter, "They want the wormhole."
"They're heading for Earth!" said Christina.
"Show the analysis," said The Doctor, One of the Tritovores pulled up a 3D image of the creatures, "Incredible! They swarm out of a wormhole, strip the planet bare, then move on to the next world, start the life cycle all over again."
"So, they make the wormholes?"
"They must do."
"But how? They don't exactly look like technicians. And if the wormhole belongs to them, why are they 100 miles away?"
"Because they need to be? No. That's bonkers. Hang on! Yes! Oh! Do you see? Billions of them, flying in formation, all around the planet, round and round and round, faster and faster and faster, till they generate a rupture in space! The speed of them, and the numbers, and the size, all of that rips the wormhole into existence!"
"And the wormhole's getting bigger?"
"Because they're getting closer…" I said.
"But how do they get through?" asked Christina, "Cos that wormhole's a killer, we've seen it!"
"See the exo-skeleton?" asked Annabelle.
"Metal."
"They've got bones of metal. They eat metal, and extrude it into the exo-skeleton;"
" So their velocity makes the wormhole, then their body makes it safe! Perfect design!" said The Doctor with a big smile.
"Those things are going to turn the entire Earth into a desert. So why exactly are you smiling?" asked Christina.
"Worse it gets, the more I love it!"
"Me too." I rolled my eyes at the two of them. Then, Christina continued, "The thing is, Doctor, you're missing the obvious. We came here through the wormhole, yes? But our Tritovore friends didn't. They came here to trade with San Helios. Therefore, the question is, why did they crash?"
"Ah, good question!" said The Doctor, "What a team! Like she said, why did you crash?" One of the Tritovores lead us to another room where there was a large open hole in the floor." Oh, yes. Gravity Well, look. Goes all the way down to the engine. So what happened?" asked My uncle.
The Tritovore chirruped and Annabelle translated, "He says the drive system stalled ten miles up and they fell out of the sky. But what caused that?"
The Tritovore shrugs, and Christina shrugged, "Which means, 'no idea'."
"Wait a minute," said Annabelle, as she looked down the shaft, "That's a crystal nucleus down there, right?" The Tritovore answers and she said, "It looks like it survived the crash. If the crystal's intact…"
"Oh, yes, that's better than diesel!" exclaimed my uncle. I smiled as any other proud parent would at their child's wonderfully brilliant idea…
"What, you can use the crystal to move the bus?" asked Christina.
"I think so. The spaceship's a write-off, but the 200's small enough."
"How does a Crystal drive a bus?"
"In a super-clever outer-spacey way, just trust me!"
I brought up a feed on a monitor, "There's the crystal! It's fallen to the bottom of the well. Have you got access shafts?" I asked the Tritovore. It answered and I said, "All frozen? Maybe we can open them…"
"Internal comms., put that on," said my uncle as he gave Christina a Bluetooth-like device. "Teddy, Annabelle with me." He said as he ran for the door. He looked at Christina and said, "You stay here, keep an eye on the shaft. Tell me if anything happens." Then, the three of us ran back to the control room
We ran to a bank of control panels, "If we can use the sunlight to start the automatic maintenance. Christina?" I asked as I pulled out some cables, "If you see a panel opening in that shaft, let us know."
"Nothing yet." said Christina.
"Anything now?" asked The Doctor as he connected the cables.
"'Fraid not."
Annabelle flipped some switches, "Any sign of movement?" she asked.
"Nope." said Christina.
I twisted a knob, "How's that?" I asked.
"Nothing."
The Doctor pull a lever, "Any result?"
"Not a dickie bird," said Christina, "So let me get this right. You need that crystal? Then consider it done."
"Why, what d'you mean?" asked The Doctor, "Christina?" Then, us three Time Lords looked at each other and realized what Christina was talking about, "Christina!"
We ran back into the well room and saw Christina had set up a winch and she was standing on the edge of the gravity well, "The aristocracy survives for a reason. We're ready for anything." she then did a swan dive into the gravity well.
"No!" shouted The Doctor as we ran to edge of the gravity well. Annabelle and I watched as Christina fell through the well with her arms outstretched while The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to stop the pully on the wench. "That's better" he said
:I decide when I stop, thank you," said Christina.
"You're about to hit the security grid. Look!" I said.
"Excellent. So what do I do?"
"Try the big red button," said my uncle.
"Well done!" said Christina.
"Now come back up! I can do that."
"Oh, don't you wish?"
"Slowly!" said my uncle as he rationalized that she was a lot closer to what we needed then we were.
"Yes, sir," she said as she continued down.
"Quite the mystery, aren't you?" said my uncle, "Lady Christina de Souza. Carrying a winch in her bag."
"No stranger than you, spaceman."
I smiled at that, The Doctor smiled as well, "I had this friend, once. She called me spaceman." he said.
"And was she right? Do you zoom about the place in a rocket?"
"Well, a little blue box. It travels in more than space. It can journey through time, Christina. " We sat down on the edge of the gravity well, "Oh, the places we've been. World War One, the creation of the universe, the end of the universe, the war between China and Japan." I looked down at her bag and saw a yellow glint. I opened it and saw a lovely golden chalice, I took it out, showed it to my uncle and he said, "And the Court of King Athelstan, in 924 AD. But I don't remember you being there. So what are you doing with this?"
"Excuse me. A gentleman never goes through a lady's possessions," said Christina.
The Tritovore chirruped, "It's the Cup of Athelstan," explained Annabelle to the Tritovore, "It was given to the first King of Britain, as a coronation gift from Hywel, King of the Welsh. But it's been held in the International Gallery for 200 years."
"Which makes you, Lady Christina, a thief," said my uncle.
"I like to think I liberated it," she said.
"Don't tell me you need the money," I said.
"Daddy lost everything. Invested his fortune in the Icelandic banks."
"No, no, no, if you're short of cash, you rob a bank," said my uncle, "Stealing this, that's a lifestyle."
"I take it you disapprove?" asked Christina.
"Absolutely. Except, that little blue box. I stole it. From my own people."
"Good boy. You were right. We're quite a team."
Just then there was a loud screeching from the lower levels of the ship, "What the blazes was that?" asked Christina.
"We never did find out why the ship crashed," I said, "Christina, I think you should come back up."
"Too late. I can see it." she said.
"Careful. Slowly." said The Doctor.
I looked at the Tritovore, "Have you got an open-vent system?" It answered and I said, "I thought so."
"What does that mean?" asked Christina.
"It's like when birds fly into the engines of an aircraft," answered Annabelle.
Christina reached the bottom and said, "One of the creatures."
"Got trapped in the vents," said The Doctor, "Caused the crash. Christina, get out." he stood up.
"It's not moving, I think it's injured."
"No, it's dormant, because it's so cold down there," I said, "But your body heat is raising the temperature."
"I tend to have that effect. Almost there."
"Not just the crystal. We need the whole bed, the plate thing."
"I've got it!"
The Doctor took out his screwdriver and started the winch back up, "Come on, come on!" Annabelle and I watched down the well as Christina started back up with the creature behind her. "Come on, come on, come on, come on! It's gonna eat its way up!" said my uncle.
Christina hit the red button on her way up turning on the field. The creature flew into it and shrieked
"Oh, she's good!" said The Doctor.
Christina arrived at the top of the well and The Doctor swung her hover to the side taking the crystal and its couplings from her. "That's it, that's it. I've got you, I've got you!"
The Tritovore took the crystal and chirruped at my uncle, "Isn't she just?" said The Doctor.
The Doctor was holding the crystal as we ran back into the control room, "Commander! Mission complete! Now we've got to get back to the 200, all of us." he said. The commander chattered and my uncle replied, "Oh, don't be so daft! A captain can leave his ship if there's a bus standing by."
Then there was a rumbling, "What the hell was that?" asked Christina, "Is this place safe? It's the creature. It's not dead."
"Maybe you didn't hit just one of them," I said, "If you hit a swarm…"
"Do you mean if there's more on board?"
"This ship's built inside a metal sleeve," said Annabelle, "They can move through the infrastructure all around us."
We could hear the creature thump against the wall of the ship, "And they wake up hungry," said The Doctor, "Commander, you've got to come with us, right now!"
"You can come back to Earth, we'll find you a home!" said Christina.
"And that's the word of a lady! Come on!"
The Tritovores began to move forward, when the ship shook and one of the Tritovores ran back. He started fiddling with the controls when one of the creatures broke through the ceiling. Christina screamed as the creature turned and drug off the first Tritovore. The second stepped forward and aimed it's gun at the creature. "No, don't!" I shouted. But it was no use, the creature attacked the second Tritovore.
"There's nothing we can do. Run!" said The Doctor as we ran out of the room.
We ran through the desert as fast as we could. I was carrying the crystal and the clamp and Christina was carrying her backpack. Then the cell phone rang, The Doctor answered it, "Not now, Malcolm!" then he hung up.
When we reached the bus, Nathan and Barclay were waiting at the door, "At last! Where've you been?!" asked Nathan.
"Get inside, get them sitting down," said The Doctor to Nathan and Barclay. Then, he looked at me, "Now then, let's have a look." I handed him the clamps and crystal.
"So what does that crystal do?" asked Christina.
He pulled the crystal out of the clamps and threw it over his shoulder "Oh, nothing, don't need the crystal."
"I risked my life for that!"
"No no, you risked your life for these." He unhooked one of the clamps, "The clamps!" He handed one to me and one to Annabelle and we each attached a clamp to a rear wheel. The Doctor put a clamp on each one of the front tire.
"But what are the clamps for?" asked Christina, "Do they turn the wheels?"
We ran inside the bus and The Doctor jumped in the driver's seat and started to put the base of the clamp, "Something like that. I just need to fix this. Have you got a hammer in that bag?"
"Funnily enough," said Christina as she pulled a hammer from her bag.
"Phone, phone…" he handed her the phone, "Press redial."
Christina pressed redial on the phone while The Doctor hooked up the plate to the steering wheel, "Malcolm, it's me!"
"I'm ready!" said Malcolm.
"Ready for what?"
"I don't know! You tell me!"
"I'll try to get back. There might be something following us. You need to find a way to close the wormhole."
"Would that be a compressed burst of feedback on a counter-oscillation, perchance?"
"Oh, Malcolm! You're brilliant!"
"Coming from you, sir, that means the world."
"Doctor, what sort of something?" asked Erisa, "That wormhole is now measuring ten miles and growing, I need to know the exact nature of the threat."
"Sorry, gotta go." he nods to Christina who ended the call.
The Doctor continue to work on the steering wheel when it sparked, "Ah, it's not compatible! Bus, spaceship, spaceship, bus. I need to weld the two systems together."
"And how do you do that?"
I spoke up, "We need something non-corrosive, something malleable, something ductile, something…" I looked at Christina, "Gold."
"Oh, no you don't." she replied
"Christina, what is it worth now?" asked The Doctor.
"Hey, hey, use this!" said Barclay as he came forward and offered his watch.
I rolled my eyes, "I said gold."
"It is gold."
"They saw you coming a mile away… Christina!"
Barclay headed back to his seat. Christina looked at her bag, then back at the others. She took the cup out hand handed it to the Doctor, "It's over 1,000 years old. Worth £18 million. Promise me you'll be careful."
He gently took the cum and said, "I promise," He turned the cup upside down and started to hit it with the hammer.
"I hate you," she said.
The Doctor ignored her and looked over his shoulder at the others, "This is your driver speaking! Hold on tight!"
Annabelle and I sat down in the seat closest to the front.
"What for? What's he doing?" asked Barclay.
I smiled, "You'll see… Just do as he says…"
In a hushed tone, Christina asked my uncle, "What are you doing?"
"Come on, that's it... You can do it, you beauty! One last trip!" said The Doctor as he tried to coax the engine back to life. The engine roared to life and the bus started to rattle.
It rose from the sand and I smiled as I heard the others speak, "Ah, you are so kidding me!" said Barclay, as he looked out the window.
"We're flying! It's flying!" said Nathan.
"He's flying the bus!" said Lou.
ANGELA:
"It's a miracle!" said Angela.
"Anti-gravity clamps," said The Doctor, "Didn't I say? Round we go." The Doctor turned the bus around so we could drive head first into the worm hole.
The DOCTOR turns the bus around so they are facing away from the oncoming swarm and aimed at the wormhole.
"Doctor! They're coming!" said Carmen. I turned around and saw the swarm getting closer.
"Do you think this thing will survive the journey back?" asked Christina to my uncle.
"Only one way to find out!" said my uncle, "Next stop…"
"Planet Earth!"
Annabelle and I ducked down, not knowing what was going to happen next. We heard the other passengers yell, then there as a flash of light. Annabelle and I looked up and we saw it was dark again and below us was London.
"It's London!" said Barclay
"We're back home!" said Angela
"He did it! He did it!" said Nathan.
The Doctor picked up the phone and called Malcolm, "Malcolm! Close that wormhole!" he said.
"Yes, sir! My pleasure, sir!" said Malcolm, then he hung up. (goes to his computer)
"He's hung up on me!" said The Doctor. A few moments later he called again, "Malcolm?"
"Not now, I'm busy."
"He's hung up again!" The Doctor dialed again, "Malcolm! Listen to me!"
"It's not working!"
"I need that signal. We've got billions of those things about to fly through!"
"Well, what do I do?"
"Loop it back through the integrator, and keep the signal ramping up."
"But by how much?"
"500 Bernards! Do it now!"
A moment later, Malcolm came back on the Phone, "Yes!" and the wormhole closed with a twitch. But, three of the creatures were able to make it through before the wormhole closed. UNIT shot down two of them but one of them started heading for us
"Doctor, it's coming for us!" called Nathan.
"Oh, no, you don't," said The Doctor as turned the bus hard and slammed it with the back of the bus. The creacture fell to he ground and UNIT took care of it.
"Did I say I hated you?" asked Christina, "I was lying." she grabbed The Doctor by the lapels of his jacket and planted a big kiss on his lips the others on the bus cheered and clapped.
The Doctor looked stunned, "Do not stand forward of this point. Ladies and gentlemen, you have reached your final destination. Welcome home, the mighty 200." The Doctor rang the bell and brought the 200 down for a perfect landing. Once it was down safely all the other passengers and the UNIT solders outside applauded. The Doctor opened the bus door with his sonic screwdriver and we all gathered up our belongings and put our jackets on.
A UNIT soldier walked up to the bus and said as the others were getting off, "Welcome back. If you could step away from the bus to be safe. As fast as you can. It's standard procedure. We need to screen you, and then you'll all be taken to debriefing."
The Doctor, Annabelle, Christina and I all got off the bus last. Us three Time Lords showed the soldier our psychic papers, "The three of us don't count," said The Doctor, as we walked past him.
"No, but Doctor…" said Christina, as she tried follow us.
But the soldier stopped her, "With me, ma'am."
The Doctor was starting to walk toward the woman that he assumed must be Erisa, when a short man in a lab coat and glasses ran up to us. "Doctor!"
"You must be Malcolm!" said my uncle.
Malcolm grabbed him and gave him a big hug "Oh! Oh, I love you." He ended the hug, "I love you, I love you."
"I think he loves you…" I said with a smirk.
Erisa walked over to us and said, "To your station, Doctor Taylor."
"Yes, ma'am," said Malcolm. Then, headed back to the lab but turned and points at my uncle, "I love you!" The Doctor pointed back with a smiled and Malcolm continued to his lab.
"Doctor, Teddy, Annabelle," said Erisa, then she saluted us. The Doctor cringed. I rolled my eyes at him and Annabelle saluted back, "I salute you, whether you like it or not. Now, I take it we're safe from those things?"
Annabelle shook her head "They'll start again and generate a new doorway. It's not their fault, it's their natural life cycle."
"But we'll see if we can nudge the wormholes on to uninhabited planets." said The Doctor.
"But, Closer to home, Captain, those two guys," I looked over at Barclay and Nathan, "Are very good in a crisis. Nathan needs a job and Barclay's good with engines. You could do a lot worse. Privates Nathan and Barclay, UNIT's finest."
"I'll see what I can do," said Erisa, "And I've got something for you."
She pointed and we saw something covered by a tarp. The tarp dropped and under it was the TARDIS. We all smiled and started to walk over to her. The Doctor laughed and said "Better than a bus, any day! Hello!"
"Found in the gardens of Buckingham Palace."
"Oh, she doesn't mind," I said.
"Now, I've got three dead alien stingrays to clear up," said Erisa, "I don't suppose any you fancy helping with the paperwork?"
"Not a chance!" said The Doctor.
"Till we meet again." said Erisa.
"I hope so," I said. We all shook hand with Erisa and she left.
Just then Christina ran over to us, "Little blue box! Just like you said! Right then, off we go! Come on, Doctor, show me the stars!"
"No." he said.
"What?"
"I said no."
"But I saved your lives. And you saved mine."
"So?" I said
"We're surrounded by police," said Christina, "I'll go to prison."
"Yeah."
"But you were right, it's not about the money. I only steal things for the adventure, and today, with you…" She looked at The Doctor, "I want more days like this. I want every day to be like this. We're made for each other, you said so yourself. The perfect team. Why not?"
"People have traveled with us and we've lost them. Lost them all. Never again."
I knew The Doctor didn't mean that… He loved traveling with humans. He was still upset with having to lose Rose for a second time. Christina seemingly falling in love with The Doctor. He wasn't ready to have a companion like that again. He wanted another companion like Donna… just a friend. I knew that in the future we'd have a new companion join us.
Just then a detective walked up to us with a couple of uniformed police officers, "Lady Christina de Souza! Oh, I have waited a long time to say this. I am arresting you on suspicion of theft." one of the officers handcuffed Christina, behind he back, "You do not have to say anything, etcetera, etcetera. Dennison, take her away."
The three of us jus stood there as Christina was lad away. Just then Carmen and Lou came over to us, "Doctor? You take care, now." she said.
We all smiled and The Doctor said, "You too! Chops and gravy, lovely!"
"Mmm…" I said, "That sounds good, I might have to make that for dinner tonight…"
"No, but you be careful," said Carmen as she looked right at my uncle, "Because your song is ending, sir."
"All of our smiles disappeared, "What do you mean?" he asked.
"It is returning. It is returning through the dark. And then, Doctor... Oh, but then... He will knock four times."
Then, Carmen and Lou walked away. Us three Time Lords looked at each other. This was the second time that The Doctor and I heard about my uncle's 'song' ending and frankly it had us all a bit worried. We then turned back to where Christina was being lead to a police car. My uncle went to take his sonic out… I stopped him, "No… Let Annabelle do it…"
Annabelle smiled, "Really?" I nodded. Then, she took her sonic screwdriver out of her jacket and pointed it at Christina's handcuffs and they unlocked. She looked back at us and smiled. We smiled back as she was placed in the back seat. Once the door was closed she scooted over to the other side, opened the door, and ran to the bus.
The two police officers started to chase after her,"No!" shouted the detective, " Stop that woman! Stop that woman! Stop her! Don't just stand there, stop her!" Once she got on the bus, Christina closed the door, just before he could grab her. The detective started to pound on the door, "Open the door! I'll add resisting arrest!"
"I'd step back, if I were you." said The Doctor, as we walked up to the bus.
"I'm charging you lot, too!" he said, "Aiding and abetting!"
"Yes," I said, "We'll just step inside that police box and arrest ourselves." I smiled and we head back to the TARDIS.
"Out, now!" shouted the detective. But, Christina just waved and started up the bus. The detective stood there helplessly as it lifted off the ground. "No! Come back!"
The rest of the passengers laughed and cheered as Christina made her escape. We reached the door of the TARDIS as Christina stopped bus. She opened the door and looked down at us as we looked up at her, "We could've been so good together." said Christina.
"Christina. We were." said The Doctor. We all smiled. Then, Christina closed the door and flew off into the sky. Then, we slipped into the TARDIS.
A/N: This chapter is dedicated to the beautifully talented LizzieXX. For those of you who are readers of hers, and if your not you should be, you know that she's in the hospital right now dealing with some heath problems. Hopefully, everything will turn out OK, she will be out soon, and back to writing. Her Doctor Who stories inspired me to start writing this story. Get Well Soon, Lizzie!
I'm not sure what I want to do with the next chapter… I don't really like The Waters of Mars so I might summarize it like I did with Human Nature and The Family of Blood or maybe I'll skip it… I don't know yet… As always, tell me what you think of it, I always appreciate it.