Doctor Who is a trademark of the BBC; chapter (c) 1997 to Jennifer Pinyan and Robert Marks

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 "Hello," said the man, standing up and reaching out his hand in greeting. "I'm the Doctor and this is my friend Grace. Do you think you could explain quite how you managed to get into my TARDIS while it was in mid-flight?"

 "I'm sorry," Crispin replied, still looking around wildly. "I don't know, but my friends are trapped and they need help."

 "Where are they trapped?" asked the Doctor.

 "In the lab," replied Crispin, finally regaining his composure. "I'll show you."

 Crispin led the Doctor and Grace down the corridor of statues and into what remained of the lab. The Doctor looked around expertly and raised an eyebrow.

 "This is quite remarkable," the Time Lord stated. "Do you know what you've done? You've grafted this laboratory into the TARDIS. I didn't think that was possible."

 "The two kids are just a bit bruised, but that's all," Grace reported, standing up. "I'm checking the woman now."

 "Let's get this equipment off them, shall we?" asked the Doctor, walking over to Anna. He softly nudged a small white rabbit away from her, and took a position beside her, with Crispin on the other side. "At least the bunny isn't pink," the Doctor mumbled. The two lifted the shards of the machine off Anna, and then moved over to Stuart. While this was happening, Grace was examining the older woman.

 She looked ancient. Her skin was nearly transparent, her hair was snowy white, and her hands were very wrinkled. While there didn't seem to be any broken bones, she was unconscious and her breathing was thready.

 "She doesn't look good," Grace reported. "Do any of you know her name?"

 "Professor Ysabelle Givenchy," Crispin supplied. Grace's eyes widened in shock.

 "She was going to kill us," Anna said weakly, cradling the rabbit. Stuart was standing close to her unsteadily, as if he was uncertain as to what to do.

 "The queen of the makeup industry?" Grace asked.

 "I don't get it," Crispin said. "She was young just a few minutes ago."

 "Well, she isn't now," Grace stated. "We'd better get her to sickbay."

 ***

 "...And this is sickbay," the Doctor said as the group entered a room that, apart from the cots, resembled the console room Crispin had wandered into earlier. Granted, it wasn't nearly so large and there was no console, but there were comfy chairs in the corners, a hat rack by the door, and shelves filled with books. As the Doctor placed Ysabelle on one of the cots, Grace began rummaging through a cabinet in the lower half of a shelving unit filled with Trakenite medical texts.

 Crispin did a good job of taking -- or at least pretending to take -- everything in stride, but Stuart and Anna were still slightly overwhelmed by their unusual surroundings.

 "Um, Doctor?" Anna mumbled.

 "Hmmm?" the Doctor answered, as Grace gently pushed him away from her patient.

 "It's nice that I get to be the doctor for a change," she muttered under her breath, administering a dose of sedative to the scientist.

 "Did you have a question, Anna?" the Doctor asked.

 "Could we look around a bit? I mean, um-"

 "Certainly! Although, I *would* really like to know what's going on here. Crispin, would you stay?"

 "Sure."

 "Too bad you can't come," Stuart told his friend as he and Anna headed for the door. Somehow, it was pretty obvious that his regrets were not entirely sincere.

 "Ah, wait just a moment!" shouted the Doctor, just as Anna was about to step into the hallway. "I prefer to use a scarf, myself, but I don't seem to have one," he murmured as he fished around in his pockets. Finally, he pulled out a ball of green thread. After securing one end to the doorknob of sickbay, the Doctor handed the rest to Anna. She looked at him quizzically. "It's so you don't get lost," the Doctor said with a grin.

 "Oh, and beware of the Minotaur!" he called after the departing pair.

 As the two youths wandered away, the Doctor turned to Crispin. "Now, tell me what happened."

 ***

 Stuart and Anna walked down the cathedral-ish corridors, glancing around in wonder. "This wasn't what I expected when I signed up with the rescue party," Anna smiled, making fleeting eye contact with Stuart.

 Stuart smiled shyly and looked at the string Anna was fidgeting with in her hand. "I suppose not," he said. "This doesn't usually happen."

 Anna realized that she was a lot closer to Stuart than she thought she'd been. He really did have nice eyes...

 Suddenly, the TARDIS lurched, throwing them to the ground.

 ***

 The TARDIS shook uncontrollably. Crispin dove for something solid as the trio were thrown to the floor. A strange noise began to sound.

 "The cloister bell!" the Doctor exclaimed. "We have to get to the console room now!"

 "Is the TARDIS dying?" Grace asked, making it to her feet. Strangely enough, it was only now that Crispin took a good look at Grace. He was impressed; she was truly a beauty and she *wasn't* trying to kill him, which was a bonus.

 "I don't know," the Doctor answered. "Can you feel anything?"

 "A bit of distress," Grace replied. Another tremor nearly knocked them off their feet again.

 "Right!" the Doctor said. "We have to get to the console room. Grace, could you please collect Anna and Stuart?"

 "Where are they?" Grace asked.

 "At the other end of the green thread," the Doctor replied. "Just follow it or tug on it, one of those should do."

 The Doctor and Crispin made their way to the console room. Behind them, Grace gave a swift tug on the string. The string went tight again. Grace gave the string another quick tug. No response. Grace then strode down the corridors, following the string. She did hate to be ignored.

 In the console room, the Doctor was going over his instruments. "Not good, not good," the Doctor said. "We have to land now." The Time Lord pulled the brake lever.

 Grace, Anna, and Stuart came in just in time to be thrown to the ground again by another tremor. The Doctor was the first one on his feet.

 "Right!" the Time Lord said. "We seem to have arrived." He turned on the viewer. "It looks peaceful enough. Shall we go out and explore?" With that the Doctor flipped the switch that opened the doors.

 ***

 The doors of the TARDIS opened, and out filed the Doctor, Grace, Anna, Stuart, and Crispin. The sight that greeted their eyes was quite similar to what they had seen on the view screen before leaving the console room. Tall skyscrapers reached toward the sky, sparkling in the morning sun. Giant windows abounded, offering the public a good look at every sort of merchandise available. The only difference between the actual town and what the view screen had shown was the aura of happiness emanating from the passersby. Somehow, out on the streets of the bustling city, the people seemed more friendly, more happy, and even more smiley than they had before. The Doctor motioned for the students to remain by the TARDIS while he and Grace went over to a group window-shopping along the avenue.

 The Doctor cleared his throat slightly and directed his query towards a young woman gazing at the latest in evening wear. At least, the Doctor presumed it was evening wear. It's hard to tell these sorts of things on strange planets, but the Doctor felt his guess was justified since the gown in question was covered with sequins. "Pardon me, Miss, but I've lost my map, and I was just wondering, what city is this?"

 *This never works,* thought Grace.

 The woman whirled around, startled.

 *It's just as likely that she'll draw a gun on us as it is that she'll answer the question.*

 "Why, you're in Clacktown, good sir," she offered with a huge smile.

 *I can't believe it worked!*

 "Clacktown, you said? What country?"

 *Now we'll get it....*

 With a good-natured laugh, the woman replied, "Keownar, of course!"

 "Oh, yes, of course! I should have known. Thank you, Miss. Would you care for a Jelly Baby?"

 The woman accepted the offer, and Grace and the Doctor returned to the students, who were now window-shopping near the alley in which the TARDIS had materialized.

 "Well, it's a good thing we were forced down now instead of then," the Doctor commented.

 "What does *that* mean?" Anna asked nervously.

 "If I've got the planet right, than in this nation's past there were some rather bloody wars with the neighbors... the, um, what was it again? Oh, yes, the Chattermalians. Nasty fighting... Sarah and I popped by for a visit back then and got caught up in the mess... or was it Leela... no, she would never have let me leave..."

 "Doctor!" Grace elbowed the Time Lord.

 "Oh, sorry."

 A breeze rustled Grace's auburn hair as she said, "So, we've actually landed in a safe time and place! How unusual... Maybe our luck's changing..."

 The wind had picked up quite a bit by this point, drowning out Grace's last words.

 "What did you say?" shouted the Doctor over the howling gusts.

 Blue and green lights bounced off the buildings along the block, and the swirling pattern soon found a point of interest on which to center.

 "MAYBE OUR LUCK'S CHAN-"

 Suddenly, the wind and the pretty light display were gone.

 And so was Grace.

 ***

 Grace shook her head clear. She was lying on the ground in the courtyard of some sort of stone structure. On closer inspection, it seemed to be some sort of monastery. Several people in brown monastic robes were tending a garden; at least, they would have been, if they hadn't been looking at her.

 "Excuse me, but where am I?" Grace asked. Several of the monks looked at her in discomfort.

 "Quam linguam ea dicit?" one monk said. The monk next to him shrugged.

 Grace stood up and brushed herself off. Several of the monks gasped, some covering their eyes. "Like they've never seen pants before," Grace mumbled.

 "Ea venifica est!" one monk insisted behind her. "Ea non nostram linguam dicit et similem meretricem vestit!"

 On one of the parapets, a figure dressed in coarse black robes looked at her in shock. The figure shook his head, and began to make his way down from the parapet.

 Grace tried to take one of the monks aside. "Perhaps you can help me. I came with a friend of mine, the Doctor, but we seem to have gotten lost...what?"

 Grace screamed as the monk grabbed her, and kicked him in the nether regions. As the monk doubled over, two more monks took her by the arms and dragged her out of the courtyard.

 "Ea flagratus erit!" Grace could hear them shout, and then her worst fears were confirmed.

 The monks were dragging her towards a blackened pole, with bundles of wood being thrown into a pile at its base. A couple of monks held ropes in their hands, and one monk had a torch.

 "Venefica flagratus erit!" the monks shouted, and Grace was forced up to the pole, where her arms, torso, and legs were secured.

 The figure in black came off the steps of the parapet, hitting the ground at a run.

 "Stop this!" Grace screamed. "I'm a doctor! I'm not a witch!" She could suddenly sense one of the monks behind her.

 The monk quickly threw a rope around her neck and began to tighten it. Grace tried desperately to get some air, but the monk tightened the rope again. Her world began to go black.

 "Tenete!" shouted the figure in black. The rope around Grace's neck went slack. "Ego eius cognosco! Ea non venefica est!"

 The monks were silent as the figure in black untied Grace. Grace fell to the ground, gasping for air. The black monk took her by the arm and led her out of the courtyard.

 "What are you doing here?" the black-clothed monk demanded. "This is the early fourteenth century! Hardly the place for pants or twenty-first century English."

 "I'm with the Doctor," Grace gasped. "I was caught in a...whirlwind, and then I was here."

 "You're with the Doctor?" the black monk said. "You have my sympathies. I am called 'the Abbot', and I am a Time Lord historian."

 "What was wrong with them?" Grace asked, rubbing her neck. She could feel the rope-burn.

 "You appeared in early twenty-first century clothing speaking a language that doesn't exist yet," the Abbot stated. "What were they to think? You were lucky I was here. I told them that I know you and you are not a witch."

 "What's between you and the Doctor?" Grace asked.

 "The Doctor interferes with history where it should be left alone," the Abbot explained. "The people of the universe are quite capable of going about their lives without our help."

 "But we do what is necessary," Grace protested.

 "Do you?" the Abbot asked, stroking his grey beard. "Why don't you ask any Dalek that survived the destruction of Skaro if it was 'necessary'."

 ***

 The students stared at the spot where Grace had formerly been standing. Many of the natives of Clacktown were also similarly engaged.

 The Doctor put a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes for a moment. "Something is quite wrong...."

 "You think?" exclaimed Crispin. "Grace was just eaten by the same bunch of weird green and blue lights that brought the lab to your TARDIS!"

 "No," the Doctor said, "Something more serious than that.." He directed a penetrating stare at the TARDIS. Suddenly, he turned to give Crispin the same look. "*That* was what it looked like?"

 "Yeah, and like this, too."

 The wind and lights had started again.

 "Maybe it's bringing Grace back!" Anna said, as she ran off in the direction of the eye of the timestorm.

 "Anna, wait!" Stuart anxiously ran down the street after her. Naturally, the Doctor and Crispin had to follow.

 The travelers were nearly to the focus when they realized that it wasn't Grace who'd been teleported by this particular storm. In fact, no one in the newly arrived group was even remotely as attractive as the human heart surgeon. Bushy beards, all askew, were sported by men clad in primitive clothing made of hides and furs and stained with both beer and blood. Horned helmets finished the ensemble, and each man carried a hefty axe.

 Amazingly, only two words ran through the Doctor's stunned mind at this sight: Oh, no. Snapping back to attention, he tossed Crispin the key to the TARDIS. "Open the TARDIS and get anyone you can to go inside with you. When I enter, one of you hit the giant red button on the console. It'll close the doors." At Stuart's look of concern, the Doctor continued, "I'll get Anna. Now hurry, these are ancient Chattermalians we're dealing with!"

 Anna had skidded to a halt in the middle of the avenue and was staring wide-eyed at the spectacle before her. The anachronistic warriors took one look at their surroundings and charged. The freshman screamed as the first axe bit into the first of many victims. Suddenly, a hand grabbed her arm, and Anna, all set to fight for her life, turned to see the Doctor.

 At the look of relief that flitted across Anna's features, the Doctor offered her a grin. "Come on, I think we should be going."

 As they neared the TARDIS, the Doctor saw a berserker charging towards them from the side. The Time Lord pushed Anna to the ground; an axe whirled by over their heads. The angry barbarian was fast approaching, a nasty knife in hand, as the pair staggered to their feet and continued on their way. The Doctor shoved Anna through the TARDIS doors and stumbled in after her. The doors swung shut.

 Picking himself up, the Doctor rushed over to the console. Crispin and a handful of Clacktown residents were staring at the viewscreen, watching the barbarian bang ineffectually at the door with the hilt of his knife. Stuart was gingerly holding Anna as she sobbed in his arms.

 The attention of all the guests was brought back to the center of the room when the Doctor slammed his fist into the console and swore in High Gallifreyan. The Time Lord looked up at them self-consciously. After a moment, he turned to the blond student. "I was right, Crispin; something is definitely wrong. The TARDIS is not responding and not just because she misses Grace."

 ***

 ["Your guest is comfortable?"] one of the monks asked the Abbot. The Abbot had taken Grace onto one of the parapets, and they were looking out at the countryside.

 ["She has almost recovered,"] the Abbot replied. ["In future, I would not recommend that you burn people without cause. We live in an age of enlightenment from God, not barbarism."]

 "Why can't I understand the latin?" Grace asked. "Usually the TARDIS translates everything for me."

 "You have obviously been separated from your TARDIS," the Abbot replied. "The language circuits do have a great range, although it is limited. I fear that I have never heard of this 'Clacktown' or 'Keownar'. Are you certain you do not know the temporal-spatial co-ordinates?"

 Grace shook her head. She was not feeling well; in fact, she felt close to manic depression. Right now she felt like she was going to throw up.

 "So you do have a link to the Doctor's TARDIS," the Abbot said, watching her turn green. "The link must be weakened greatly for you to be feeling withdrawal side effects. But the link can help us. We'll backtrack it to the Doctor's TARDIS, and return you to him."

 The Abbot looked over the horizon. He could see a green and blue glow just behind the nearby hills. Something was wrong; ever since Grace had shown up, time didn't feel right. Then he saw the soldiers.

 "Rassilon!" the Abbot cursed, pushing Grace towards the stairs. It had been a timestorm. The soldiers were wearing the uniforms of the army of the Roman Empire. The only times the Romans landed on the shores of Ireland had been to raid...

 ["Brothers!"] the Abbot shouted. ["Close the doors! Danger approaches!"]

 The Time Lord was too late. With a great warcry, the Romans broke through the door to the Monastery, slaughtering all the monks near the door.

 "Follow me, Grace!" the Abbot ordered, running towards his quarters. Grace could see him pull something long out of his robes. All around them, Roman soldiers were struggling with the monks.

 Suddenly, one of the soldiers charged the Abbot. Grace could only watch in horror as the soldier struck out towards the Time Lord with a bloodstained sword.

 Iron met steel. With a push of his broadsword, the Abbot disarmed the Roman, hitting him with the pommel of the weapon. The soldier went down.

 The Abbot and Grace raced into the Abbot's cell, the Time Lord barring the door. They could hear shouting from outside.

 "Here," the Abbot said, handing Grace the sword. "Just in case they break in." While Grace tried to figure out how to hold the sword, the Abbot ruffled through a bag on his desk. He finally took out a thick scroll, and attached it to the wall. He then unrolled the scroll, and began to unfold it.

 "They're breaking through!" Grace shouted in alarm.

 "It doesn't matter!" the Abbot said. "Quickly, into the TARDIS!"

 Grace turned to find the Abbot holding what appeared to be an large sheet of paper folded in half and opened like a door. Well, she had seen stranger things. She ran into the paper. The Abbot followed her, and the paper fell to the ground.

 The Abbot's TARDIS was similar to the Doctor's TARDIS, but the structure seemed more Mediaeval than Gothic. Several stained-glass windows decorated the walls, and the control console was on an elevated platform with no supporting pillars. The Abbot fiddled with some of the switches on the console.

 "I've turned on the force field," the Abbot said. "We're safe for now. Now, if you could just touch the telepathic circuits here, then we can trace your connection back to the Doctor's TARDIS."

 Grace did as she was told, and was hit with another wave of depression. The Abbot looked at the console readouts, worry on his face.

 "According to this the connection can't be traced," the Abbot said. "Perhaps it's the timestorm. We'll go into temporal orbit and try from there." The Time Lord triggered the dematerialization sequence.

 Nothing happened.

 Now the Abbot was very concerned. Perhaps they were being jammed. While Grace looked on, he began to scan for temporal fields. Nothing except for the timestorm, and that couldn't stop them; at least, it couldn't stop a type 65 like he had. Perhaps it was something in the time vortex itself.

 When he saw the results, the Abbot stepped back from the console in shock. It couldn't be possible.

 "What's wrong?" asked Grace. "You're as pale as a ghost."

 "According to the scanner, we can't enter temporal orbit, spatial orbit, or any type of flight involving time and space," the Abbot said quietly. "The time vortex itself is gone. No wonder there was the timestorm."

 "I don't understand," Grace said.

 "In order to fly through time and space, we need to use the time vortex. That is the way a TARDIS works; it travels from one timestream to another inside the vortex. If the vortex has collapsed, then it is no wonder that there are timestorms. The various timestreams are colliding."

 "Timestreams?" Grace asked.

 "Look, your path through time is called a timestream. Everybody has them. That is what the vortex is made of."

 "And why are the timestreams colliding?" Grace pressed.

 "Imagine a large tower made out of sticks," the Abbot explained, looking a bit irritated. "Now, that tower is the vortex, and the sticks are the timestreams. When you destroy the tower, all the sticks fall down and collide. This means that if the timestream is destroyed, the entire space-time continuum is destabilized." The Abbot suddenly looked up, an idea in his head. "It could work!"

 "What?" asked Grace, and then she leaned against the console. She really felt ill now.

 "We can't jump from one timestream to another, but we can travel along yours!" the Abbot explained. "The TARDIS is in direct connection with your timestream, and your timestream is in direct connection with the Doctor's. We can travel along your timestream and arrive just before the timestorm that brought you here before."

 "Back in Clacktown," Grace added.

 "Exactly!"

 The Abbot manipulated the controls, and then stood back in shock.

 "It isn't possible," the Time Lord breathed. "Grace, according to this you have no timestream."

 To Be Continued...