Billions of miles away from Earth, the Zeron spaceship hovered in the cold embrace of Pluto's orbit, a silent sentinel in the vastness of space. Externally, the ship was fairly simplistic in design. Its gleaming white cone-shaped body, adorned with two sleek engines that resembled wings, stood out starkly against the blackness and the icy dwarf planet's frozen landscape. It looked almost like the parody of a white dove, though there was nothing peaceful about it, for within its gleaming metal hull, a storm of malicious intent brewed. The alien crew were hard at work, their minds focused on one goal: the conquest of the blue marble that was Earth.
The Zerons themselves were not the most pleasant life-form to look at. Insectoid in nature, they resembled giant wingless flies, with bulbous heads and compound eyes that saw the universe in a way that was utterly bizarre to any human. Their thin hairy arms ended in sharp claws, which clicked and clacked as they worked away at their consoles, their movements quick and precise, almost mechanical in their efficiency. They communicated in a series of high-pitched buzzes and whistles, a language that was as unsettling to human ears as their appearance was to human eyes.
"Our subjugation beam has worked as predicted, Commander," reported the chief Zeron scientist, Grola, who had been monitoring the progress of the mind control ray that had been used to seize hold of all the human brains in Great Britain. "The population of the Earth sector known as 'UK' is under our control. All intelligent matter there has been neutralised."
"Very good, Grola," said Commander Issak. "But how effective is our control from this distance?"
"At present, the humanoids are left as near-mindless drones," replied Grola. "They carry out their normal basic activities on a near automatic routine, but can also respond to very simple commands from us. Our control will improve as we come within orbit of the planet. The important thing is that we have established that we can manipulate the minds of these human primitives. We shall be able to repeat the process on the rest of the globe, then convert the rest of the inhabitants into our slaves."
"Excellent!" said Issak with satisfaction. "We can overcome all resistance whilst keeping the conquered planet physically intact. The entire population will be conditioned to serve us all without question."
"Indeed," said Grola, immensely proud of his work. "The subjugation beam can be used to put each of the Earth landmasses under our control one region at a time. However, I must caution you, there is a possibility that some humans may have sheltered in deep subterranean passages, and thus escaped falling under our control."
With a complacent snort, Commander Issak waved a dismissive claw. "They should be of no concern to us. They are too few in number to pose any immediate threat. We shall deal with them once our dominance is assured. Now, let us prepare the ship for the final approach to Earth. Our conquest will be completed in short duration. Takeover of the planet is now imminent!"
But as he spoke, a sudden alarm shrilled through the ship's comms system, piercing the buzz of conversation. The room fell silent, all eyes turning to a technician, who was taking in some readings from one of the many monitor screens.
"Commander, we have a... problem," the technician reported in a high and urgent tone.
Issak's head snapped around. "What is it?"
"There seems to be some unknown entity on the target planet, Earth, scanning our ship. The signal is coming from the area we've subjugated, Commander!"
Issak's compound eyes narrowed. "Impossible! All intelligent life forms there have been put under our control!"
"I warned you that some might have escaped the subjugation beam, Commander," said Grola. "It appears we have underestimated the ingenuity of these primitive humans."
"Then they must be dealt with," growled Issak. "We shall advance our plans. Engage engines! Set course for Earth! Maximum speed! Once we're in range, we shall reactivate the subjugation beam and deal with the humans who escaped our conditioning. Then, we will turn our attention to subduing the rest of the planet's population. Meanwhile, activate jammers to stop that scanning beam!"
Back in London, Jenny's makeshift scanner beeped urgently, and she quickly checked the readings, then looked up, her eyes wide with concern. "Uh-oh. Mum, we've just lost contact with the alien ship. The Zerons must be jamming us."
"Then it's more than likely that the Zerons have realised we're onto them," said the Doctor, pursing her lips worriedly. "They could be zooming their way here as we speak."
"So what do we do now?" Nick asked, his bravado fading in the face of the terrifying realisation that he might have to confront actual alien invaders from outer space.
"Find a way to stop them, of course," said Jenny with a steely resolve that matched her mother's. "We can't just let them take over the entire planet."
"But how? We can't exactly just call up the American Air Force and tell them to shoot down a spaceship with an alien mind-control beam, can we?"
"I fear Nick has a point there," said the Doctor, as she rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "We can warn the rest of the world, but at the speed the ship could be travelling, they may be on top of us in a matter of hours, and I doubt conventional Earth defences will be much of a match for whatever weapons the Zerons may have."
"But there has to be something we can do, Mum!" exclaimed Jenny.
"Don't worry, sweetheart, I never give up that easily!" said the Doctor with a fiery determination in her voice. "First, I'll need to collect some equipment from the TARDIS."
"TARDIS?" asked Nick.
"My ship, she's parked not too far from here," the Doctor said, already heading for the elevator, her jacket billowing behind her and her long skirt swishing around her legs. "We need some gear that's a bit more advanced than what we have here."
The Doctor, Jenny, and Nick raced back down to the ground floor and sprinted to where they had left the TARDIS on the embankment. As soon as the blue Police Box came into sight, the Doctor hurried over, opened the door and led the way inside. Once inside, Nick gave a loud gasp of astonishment, which made Jenny chuckle a little
"Oh... wow!" gaped Nick, his eyes wide with amazement at the sight of the large futuristic control room inside the small wooden blue box he had just entered. When the Doctor had said she had a ship, he had assumed she was talking about a boat on the Thames, not this impossible thing that looked like something from a science fiction comic!
"Yeah, I know. It's bigger on the inside," Jenny explained with a sympathetic grin as Nick took in the scale of the TARDIS console room. "I was just as dumbstruck the first time I came onboard."
Paying no attention to Nick's state of astonishment, the Doctor dashed over to the central console, her fingers already dancing around the various instruments and levers on the panels. "Alright, I've sent a warning out to U.N.I.T.," she said after a few moments, her hands still moving rapidly over the controls. "They'll try to mobilise defences against any further alien signals as best as possible. In the meantime, we must find a way to free those already under Zeron control."
As the Doctor headed out of the console room to gather the equipment she needed from one of the store rooms, Nick was still looking around the TARDIS interior, his eyes wide with wonder.
"Does this mean you guys are from outer space, right?" he asked Jenny, his voice low and hushed, as if speaking too loudly would shatter the illusion.
"Yeah, pretty much," Jenny said, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "My mother's a Time Lady from the planet Gallifrey, and I was 'born' on a planet called Messaline."
"Gosh! So, are you like intergalactic cops or something?" Nick asked, his voice still sounding quite giddy.
"No, we're just travellers," Jenny said, chuckling. "Though we like to help out whenever there's trouble about. As it happens, Mum's got a soft spot for Earth, so that's why we're here at this time."
"Oh, I see," said Nick. "I guess that explains all the weird science stuff you did at the tower, and, well..."
"Well what?"
Nick looked a tad nervous, as though worried about causing offence without meaning to. "Well, don't take this the wrong way, but your Mom does not look that much older than you do. So either she's way older than she looks, or you're way younger than you look."
Jenny laughed. "Mate, you've no idea how right you are on both counts! As it happens, my Mum is well over 2000 years old, and I'm actually just three-and-a-half years of age. I'm practically a toddler!"
Nick's eyes boggled even more than before upon hearing this, but before he could say any more, the Doctor returned. Her arms were laden with various futuristic-looking gadgets and devices, which she quickly handed to Jenny, along with a backpack to carry them all in.
"There, this lot will help sort our problems out," said the Doctor. "I should be able to assemble a sonic disruptor device from them that will hopefully counter the signal from the Zeron ship. It's crude, but it should do the trick."
"What about the people already controlled?" asked Jenny, as she began to stuff the heavy equipment into the backpack.
"Oh, they'll snap back to normal once the signal is disrupted," the Doctor explained, her gaze intense. "But we better get a move on. If the Zerons realise we're onto them, they'll do all they can to stop us."
"Can't we just assemble that thing in here?" asked Nick. "It's gotta be safer than going back out there."
The Doctor shook her head. "No, we need to be closer to the source of the signal. The more central we are to the affected area, the better our chances of breaking through their control. Besides, my ship is capable of many things, but even it has it limitations, like with its transmitters. Better we find a power source somewhere in London that we can use to connect this lash-up to. And we'd probably need somewhere more sheltered than the Post Office Tower, in case the aliens try to use their mind-control beam again. We don't want to be in the open if that happens!"
"Say, what about this tube station that Nick said he was in?" suggested Jenny. "It's underground, and it's right in the middle of the affected area."
The Doctor grinned. "Smart thinking, Jen. It'll also have plenty of power equipment I can adapt for our purposes. If we can find a way to boost my signal from there, we might stand a better chance of reaching enough of the controlled populace to start a chain reaction of sorts."
With a plan in place, the trio set off back into the lifeless streets of London, the Doctor leading the way with a newfound urgency, while Jenny carried the various equipment in the backpack. The Doctor's mind raced with calculations and potential scenarios, her eyes darting this way and that, as they moved swiftly through the eerie urban landscape in order to reach the Underground before the Zeron have a chance to stop them.
The Zeron spacecraft streaked through space, a silent harbinger of the grim fate that awaited Earth. Its gleaming white hull seemed to pulse with the dark intentions of its inhabitants, the powerful engines propelling it closer and closer to its target. On board, the Zeron crew was ablaze with excitement, eager to extend their dominion over yet another planet. They had studied Earth from afar, cataloged its inhabitants, and concluded that the humans would be easy to manipulate. This would just be the first of many conquests to come.
"Deceleration phase one achieved," reported one navigator. "Now entering orbit around the Earth."
"Excellent!" said Issak. "Switch on long-range scanners. We need to locate the source of that interference immediately!"
Grola hurried to comply, his claws quivering slightly as he worked the controls. Within moments, the screen flickered with life, displaying a trio of blips moving swiftly towards a central point in London. "There they are, Commander. They appear to be heading for one of the planet's underground transport hubs. That will be one of the rejection areas I cautioned you about earlier."
"They cannot get far," snorted Issak arrogantly. "Reactivate subjugation beam. Apply emergency charge immediately. Focus on the area surrounding the entrance to that transport hub. We must take control of these rejects before we can commence the invasion."
A beam of energy, a vivid blue-green, shot out from the Zeron ship, cutting through the void of space like a knife through butter. It streaked towards Earth, as though to strike at the planet's very heart...
On the ground below in London, the Doctor and Jenny felt a disturbance in the air as the beam approached, the hairs on the back of their necks standing on end.
"What's wrong?" asked Nick, noting the worried looks on the two ladies' faces as they paused at the steps leading into the nearest underground station.
"Something in the air," said Jenny worriedly. "Do you feel it too, Mum?"
The Doctor's eyes narrowed. "I certainly can. Quick, we better get underground now!"
Suddenly, the sky above them lit up with bolts of lightning, each one a vivid, unnatural shade of blue-green. The Doctor and Jenny looked up in horror as one bolt streaked straight towards them.
"Look out, everyone!" cried the Doctor, as they jumped out of the way and narrowly avoided getting struck by the lightning-like bolt.
As more bolts began shooting downwards, the three humanoids dashed down the stairs, but before they could get undercover, one of the energy blasts managed to score a direct hit on Nick. For a moment, the young American's body lit up like a Christmas tree, and he gave a loud cry of pain. Then, with a groan, he crumpled to the ground, his eyes rolling back into his head as he lost consciousness.
"Nick!" Jenny gasped, dropping to her knees beside him.
Without wasting a second, the Doctor hurried over too, and together, she and her daughter lifted Nick's limp body and carried him in their arms as they raced down the steps, the electricity crackling dangerously close. The smell of ozone filled the air, a testament to the sheer power of the alien weaponry. As they reached the bottom of the stairwell, they ducked into passages of the underground, the echo of their footsteps the only sound in the eerie silence.
Once they were safely far enough away from the surface, they set Nick down gently on the cold, damp floor. The Doctor pulled out her sonic screwdriver and began scanning him. The device emitted a series of concerned beeps, but it seemed that the bolt of lightning had only stunned him, which made Jenny sigh with relief.
"He should be okay," the Doctor said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "Doesn't seem to be any serious damage done to him."
Jenny was very glad to hear this, and she put her mind back on the main situation. "What was all that? Do you think those bolts of energy were what was used to affect all the people here?"
"I imagine so," said the Doctor. "I think the Zerons may still be too far away to establish full proper control of the enslaved population, otherwise they would have been dispatched to intercept us. So instead they tried to seize control of our minds too."
"Well, in that case, we better keep moving," said Jenny, her inbred military instincts telling her that they were still in far too vulnerable a position right now. "We need to get to a more secluded and secure area, before the alien invaders try any more tricks."
The Doctor quite agreed, and together, carrying Nick between them, they stumbled through corridors and reached the nearest underground platform. The Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver cast a red glow ahead of them as they stepped off the platform and made their way through the shadowy depths of the London Underground tunnels. Jenny could feel the weight of the equipment in the bag on her back, a stark reminder of the urgency of their mission. The tunnels seemed to grow narrower and more claustrophobic as they descended deeper into the bowels of the London Underground, the air thick with dust.
Finally, they saw the faint outline of the Baker Street station in the distance. They quickened their pace, the Sonic Screwdriver illuminating the path as they sprinted through the tunnel mouth. As they came alongside the platform, they could see a group of people huddled together on it, all dressed in the same blue coveralls as Nick. Jenny correctly assumed that they were Nick's colleagues from the underground cleaning crew.
"Say, where did you two girls come from?" exclaimed one of the workers, a middle-aged man with a beard.
"Hey, what happened to Nick?" added another, who was the first who noticed that the Doctor and Jenny were carrying Nick. "Is he hurt?"
"We hope not," said Jenny. "Could one of you give us a hand here? He is a bit on the heavy side!"
The workers quickly obliged, helping to lift Nick up, then offered a hand to help the Doctor and Jenny to clamber onto the platform. As the unconscious Nick was gently laid out on the concrete slabs, one of the workers took off his jacket and laid it under the young American's head to act as pillow.
"Do you think we should try to wake him up?" asked the bearded worker, who had introduced himself to the Doctor and Jenny as being called 'George'.
"No it's best that we let him rest," said the Doctor. "Besides, I'm afraid we have rather more pressing matters to deal with first."
"We're glad to see we're not the only ones stuck in this nightmare," said another of the workers, a young redhead named Tina. "We've been trapped down here, trying to avoid getting turned into zombies like everyone-else on the surface!"
"Yes, well, my daughter and I are going to try and do something about that," said the Doctor. "And we could do with your help."
The Doctor quickly explained the situation and their plan to use the underground tunnels as a base of operations while they attempt to disrupt the Zeron mind control signal. The workers, who had managed to avoid the initial beam thanks to their subterranean refuge, eagerly agreed to help. They had seen the chaos above ground and were desperate for a way to stop all this madness, though some of them admitted to being a little skeptical about the whole idea of an alien invasion.
"Now, does anyone know where the nearest underground control room is?" the Doctor asked, her voice carrying an urgent edge.
The workers exchanged glances, before George stepped forward. "As a matter of fact, we do," he said, pointing toward the tunnel mouth at the other end of the station. "It's just a couple of stops down the line."
The Doctor's eyes lit up with excitement. "Perfect! With luck, that'll be the perfect place to build and set-up the device I have in mind. Then we might just stand a chance of breaking the Zerons' control over the UK."
Having no better ideas or anything to lose, the group of the cleaning crew nodded in agreement, and Tina spoke up. "We'll take you there. It's not safe to navigate these tunnels on your own."
Leaving the still out-cold Nick to rest on the platform, the Doctor and Jenny followed George, Tina and the others through the labyrinthine passages of the underground. It did not take them too long to reach the control room, and the Doctor's eyes lit up as she took in the sight of the equipment and machinery there.
"Great!" said the Doctor, as she took the backpack from Jenny and began to get out her own equipment, the ones she had selected from the TARDIS. "This room is just right for what we need. I'll assemble my gizmo here, then hook it up to the power systems. Then I can broadcast my counter-jamming signal, which will, with a bit of luck, free everybody's minds."
"Is there anything we can do to help?" asked Tina, eager to help get out of this terrifying situation.
The Doctor nodded. "Yes, actually. As the Zerons get closer to Earth, their mind-control signals will grow stronger, and they may start to use the enslaved population against us. So we need to seal off this area. If we can take control of some of these trains, we can use them as barricades."
"No problem!" said George, squaring his shoulders, a determined expression on his face. "I once did some train driving a few years ago, so I can get some of the carriages into position."
"Good," said the Doctor. "Jenny will give you a hand as well. Meanwhile, I'll start wiring up my equipment."
With that, Jenny and the cleaning crew set off to commandeer the trains, the urgency of the situation encouraging them to move with some speed and coordination. Splitting up into groups, they soon located and boarded the nearest trains, which sat abandoned on the tracks. On the first train, Jenny took the driver's seat, her mother's instructions ringing in her ears. She flipped switches and turned dials with confidence, a smile playing on her lips as she felt the train begin to hum with power.
"You know how to drive one of these things?" Tina asked, her eyes wide with worry.
Jenny nodded, her hands steady on the controls. "I've flown a few spaceships in my time. How hard can it be to drive a train?" she quipped, trying to ease the tension.
As the various teams powered up the trains, they moved them into the correct positions to block off the tunnels as best as possible, the clank of metal on metal and the grinding of wheels against the rails filling the air. Once the trains were all in place, they were secured in place with the emergency brakes, and the power cut off to make it more difficult for any invaders to push them out of the way.
"Great work everyone!" congratulated Jenny, as they completed their work, disembarked the trains, and regrouped a little further down the tunnels. "That should make it a bit harder for anyone to come and give us any bother."
"I sure hope you're right," said George anxiously. "Cause if these aliens are as nasty as you think they are, I reckon they won't be too happy about us sticking up to them!"
At that precise moment, the Zeron spaceship was hanging in orbit, and the Commander was none too pleased to find that the rest of the planet was on high alert, apparently alerted by whoever had been scanning their ship. Luckily, the stealth equipment onboard had not been compromised, so they had quickly rendered their ship invisible using their cloaking devices, ensuring their orbit was still unnoticed by the primitive detection systems looking for them.
"This is intolerable!" Issak snarled. "We have lost the element of surprise. We must strike now before they have a chance to mobilise against us!"
"That is impossible, sir," said one crewmember. "To use our subjugation beam, we would have to deactivate the cloaking device first, and that would leave us vulnerable to detection and attack."
"There may still be a way for us to attack successfully, Commander," reported Grola. "I have been making modifications to the subjugation beam's range. In the moment that we drop the shields, we can quickly activate the beam and subdue the rest of the planet in one blast, though it may cause a massive power drain on our ship and leave us vulnerable for a few minutes. However, since the entire population of the planet should then be our willing servants, this should not pose a problem."
Issak paused, considering the risks. "We shall attempt it," he finally barked. "But first, we must eradicate whoever detected our ship and alerted the human authorities. Do we know where the rebel elements are?"
"They must still be within the rejection area, Commander," pointed out Grola. "Now we are in closer range, we can give the humans under our control more precise instructions. We can direct them to attack!"
"There may be a more effective way, Commander," suggested one Zeron technician, helpfully offering an alternative option. "Our subjugation beam was able to strike one of the three rebels detected by our scanners. He is now connected to our mind link and under our control. Even though he is in the sheltered area, we will still be able to direct him to eliminate the rebel leader."
"Good," said Issak, his eyes glinting with malice. "Activate him immediately and instruct him to eliminate the rebel element responsible for disrupting our plans."
"Yes, sir!" saluted the technician eagerly, as she hurried over to the subjugation beam controls and set about activating the selected subject.
While Jenny and the unconditioned humans had been at work, blockading the tunnel mouths of the Underground, the seemingly still-unconscious Nick had been left resting alone on the platform at Baker Street. Suddenly, his eyes snapped open, the look in them vacant and emotionless. He got to his feet, moving like a robot, and stood to attention as the voice of his masters echoed in his mind.
"Human. You now serve the Zerons. You will obey all our commands."
"Yes, my masters," intoned Nick in a dull voice. "I hear and obey."
"Good. Now, who is the one who detected our craft and resists us?"
"A woman called the Doctor," replied Nick. "She is an alien from the planet Gallifrey."
"You will find this female creature and kill her. Do you understand?"
"Yes, my masters. It will be done."
With that, Nick climbed off the platform, his movements unnaturally fluid and precise, and he walked silently down the tunnels, his mind focused on one task: The death of the Doctor.
Blissfully unaware that Nick had been turned into a mindless assassin intent on her elimination, the Doctor was elbow-deep in a sea of wires, her brow furrowed in concentration as she carried on with assembling her equipment. The once neat control room was now a cluttered mess of cables and machinery, as the Doctor had dismantled various of the room's machines to connect up to her half-complete device, which looked rather like a rather bizarre cross between a satellite dish and a teapot. Exposed electrical cables had been left hanging from the ceiling like snakes, and the floor was covered in a mess of various bits and pieces that the Doctor had disregarded as she pressed on with her work.
"Hmm, this circuit will have to be re-routed," the Doctor muttered to herself, as she worked tirelessly on her contraption.
So engrossed was the Time Lady on her task, that she failed to hear the door open, as Nick silently entered the room, his eyes fixed on her, her back turned towards him. The Doctor did not hear his approach, as he quietly moved towards her. As his eyes caught sight of a metal spanner left discarded on a workbench, Nick picked up the blunt object without a second thought, his mind overridden by the cold command to eliminate the threat.
"Kill the Doctor. Kill the Doctor," the command continued to echo in his mind.
Nick clenched the spanner in his fist, his eyes cold and lifeless as the instructions from the Zerons took over. His grip tightened around the tool, his muscles tense and ready to carry out his new masters' will. The room was quiet except for the persistent buzz of the Doctor's Sonic Screwdriver, which she was using to calibrate the device. The air grew heavy with anticipation as Nick took a step closer, the spanner glinting in the dim light of the control room. Still the Doctor remained unaware of his presence, as he raised the spanner high above his head and prepared to bring it crashing down on the woman's skull...
To Be Continued...