Furies from the Deep
by Richard Dinnick

Alex extended her arm to Tardis, palm facing her. Before the embodiment of the TARDIS could move, she was caught in a vortex of swirling crayons and dancing felt-tips.

‘What are you doing?’ cried the Doctor, stepping forward.

‘Remain still, Time Lord,’ Meg screeched. ‘Unless you want a proper squishing again.’

The Doctor froze in mid step and watched helplessly as the various crayons and pens started to snick at Tardis’s dress, ripping it away to leave her naked and defenceless.

‘You will not help the Doctor, time machine,’ shouted Alex gleefully. ‘You will become our plaything and then you will die!’

The blonde woman screamed as the nibs and points dug into her flesh, painting a rainbow of agony on her skin.

Tardis writhed in mid air, her multi-coloured body spinning ever faster. Finally she fell to the bed, wheezing and groaning quietly.

The Doctor rushed forward and placed the back of his hand gently on Tardis’s forehead. Despite her new, gaudy appearance, she had no other outward sign of distress and was apparently sleeping peacefully.

‘And now we will finish this game,’ Alex said.

Episode Four:

The Doctor led Ruby across the orchard and back into the graveyard. He was explaining his miraculous escape to her.

‘Of course, they weren’t easy to defeat,’ he said. ‘But they had a fatal flaw; one that I used to my own advantage. The upshot of my using this weakness was a small re-alignment in the reality of this domain of theirs. So I had to shut down and let things settle before I could awaken.’

They had now reached the door to the church and Ruby paused.

‘I left a nasty big brute in there,’ she said. ‘Are you sure it’s OK?’

‘It’s perfectly safe now, Ruby. Trust me.’ The Doctor grasped the heavy metal ring and twisted it to open the latch. Ruby frowned. There was something troubling her; a nagging feeling buzzing away on the periphery of her mind like a fly caught in a spider’s web.

‘Chin up, Ruby!’ The Doctor smiled. ‘We’ll soon have you home. And I could do with some coffee.’ He ushered her over the threshold and followed her, closing the heavy wooden door behind him.

Ruby found herself in a darkened cave.

‘Hang on,’ she said. ‘There was a barracks here before.’ She looked up at the Doctor. This was not adding up.

‘Really? How interesting,’ said the Doctor with his slight lisp. ‘Well, the reality twinge must have also affected this part of the Furies’ domain.’

‘And once we get out of this cave, the air is barely breathable and the heat…’

‘It’ll be fine, Ruby,’ the Doctor said, showing just a tinge of exasperation. ‘I think we will find that everything is now quite safe.’

Ruby looked her friend in the darkness. This was her hero! The man she trusted more than any other in the universe, yet suddenly she felt as if she could not trust him completely. She always questioned things, but not usually the Doctor’s word. He was already moving off, back up the cave towards an orangey light.

She shook her head. Pull yourself together, Ruby Mundy. This has all been very weird and it is not surprising that you feel a bit uneasy. She managed a fair attempt at a self-placating smile and hurried after the retreating form of the Doctor. But that fly was still twisting in the web of her mind.

The Doctor was sitting on the side of the bed, holding Tardis’s right hand. His focus was on the game board now, though. The Furies’ counter lay ten squares ahead of his on the next row up, in the top half of the board. It was his turn.

He shook the dice in his fist and gently blew on it for luck, before releasing the wooden cube. It bounced on the Persian rug and onto the chequered board before knocking the Furies’ counter off the edge and coming to rest showing a “six”.

Alex tutted and replaced the yellow counted where it had been. Meg moved the Doctor’s piece along and up onto the same row as theirs.

‘Perhaps we should make use of your time machine in this game,’ Alex said unexpectedly. ‘It said it wanted to help you.’ She looked at the Doctor with a coy expression.

‘She,’ the Doctor corrected.

‘What?’ Alex hissed

‘She, not “it”.’ The Doctor smiled as he felt a squeeze from Tardis’s hand.

‘Whatever,’ moaned Meg. ‘What we gonna do with it?’ she asked her sister eagerly, before sticking her tongue out at the Doctor as he frowned.

‘We can travel with it,’ Alex said, rising from her seat and waking across the room to gaze down at the supposedly stricken Tardis. ‘Get up!’ she said.

Tardis opened her eyes and meekly did as she was told.

‘As we have entered the end game, we will now examine your crimes first hand,’ said Alex. ‘And your ship will not help you. It will merely act as conveyance.’

‘I am glad to help in what ever manner you see fit, Alecto,’ replied Tardis, with no hint of sarcasm. The Doctor frowned.

‘Yes!’ shrieked Meg, jumping up and bouncing with excitement at the idea.

‘First time outside your domain?’ asked the Doctor with a raised eyebrow.

Alex and Meg ignored him.

Tardis took the Doctor’s hand once more. Alex took Tardis’s other hand and Meg took the Doctor’s. He, in turn, looked at Tardis quizzically. She just blinked several times and the Doctor felt a shift in time and space. He looked round.

They were no longer in the bedroom. Instead they were in a banqueting hall. A man was sitting at a large table, as if waiting for something. The Doctor recognised him immediately.

‘Count Orlock,’ he said. ‘Are you repeating yourselves?’ As he spoke, two large doors opened behind him and the familiar figure of his previous incarnation entered.

‘Doctor,’ said Count Orlock, smiling. ‘I am glad to see that you have not disappointed me.’

‘Nice to be expected, I imagine.’ The previous Doctor removed something from one of his coat pockets - a wooden stake.

‘I thought you never carried weapons?’ teased Alex.

‘I presume we cannot be seen because Tardis is shielding us?’ he asked, ignoring the Fury’s question. The other Doctor was speaking as well.

‘But I have not come here as your guest. Rather as your...’

The avuncular Doctor was cut short by a screech of anger. The Doctor turned his head to see what looked like Alf rushing his former self. Despite his size, the fourth Doctor moved incredibly quickly, spinning around, and thrusting the wooden stake into Alf’s chest.

‘Lady Dorothy! No!’ Count Orlock jumped to his feet.

Lady Dorothy turned to dust before the Doctor’s eyes. He looked down at her remains as his previous incarnation rubbed a booted foot in them.

‘You always do what is right, do you?’ asked Alex again. ‘That seemed positively wrong to me.’

‘And you would know,’ whispered the Doctor.

‘Did you know that I travel with a version of her?’ boomed the previous Doctor.

‘What do I care?’ The Count advanced on the old Doctor. ‘You who care so much about life are so willing to kill now?’

‘He’s got a point,’ said Meg, smiling.

The bearded Doctor stood firm. ‘You don’t qualify. Your kind are parasites, not life. You feed off the life of others, you have none of your own.’

The Doctor felt the odd displacement once more and found himself back in the girls’ bedroom.

‘Wasn’t that a bit ruthless,’ asked Alex leeringly.

‘Even for you?’ added Meg.

The Doctor remained silent. He had killed. But it had almost been an accident; an instinctive reaction. What was the point in telling the Furies this? They would only twist it. What was Tardis playing at? And where on earth – or rather in the Furies’ domain - was Ruby?

Ruby’s eyes darted across the ground, but it was not the rocks and stones she was scanning, it was what the Doctor had been saying. Well, not exactly what he had been saying, but how he had said it. It’s perfectly safe now, Ruby. We’ll soon have you home. “It’s”? “We’ll”? The Doctor didn’t use contractions, did he? She had never heard him do so. It was some sort of unspoken rule of his. This was what had been nagging at her. Could it be a side effect of this “reality twinge” he had mentioned?

The Doctor was a few paces ahead, almost rushing towards the familiar shape of the Police Box, standing beside the defunct waterfall. Ruby reached a decision and fell to the ground.

‘Doctor!’ she called.

The Doctor turned round and Ruby swore she could see him frowning. ‘What is it now?‘ he asked. The Doctor would never speak like that! Gotcha, Ruby thought.

‘I think I’ve sprained my ankle,’ she lied. Reluctantly the ersatz Doctor started to walk back to where Ruby lay.

‘Come on then,’ he said. ‘Lean on me. We really should get you home.’

‘We?’ Ruby blurted out before thinking.

The fake Doctor’s eyes narrowed. ‘Just an expression,’ he said cautiously. Now she was rumbled.

‘That’s what you’ve been trying to do all along, isn’t it?’ Ruby asked, standing up without difficulty. Best to go with this while she still had the element of surprise.

‘I…what?’ asked the counterfeit.

‘Get me home,’ clarified Ruby. ‘Away from your domain. Yes?’

The bogus Doctor sighed. ‘Why did you have to spoil it?’ he asked. ‘I almost had you and you would not have had to feel pain.’ His outline shimmered and reduced in stature to be replaced by the little redhead girl, Tisi.

‘P… pain?’ stammered Ruby, not liking the sound of this at all.

‘I said you had to return,’ whined Tisi. ‘But oh no, you wouldn’t listen. Instead you tried to penetrate our defences.’ She shook her head and her Alice band slipped down over her eyes. Irritated, the little girl removed he hair band and held it in her hands. ‘When you thought you had trapped me, I had actually trapped you.’

‘Eh?’ asked Ruby. ‘You’ve got me all confused, pet.’

‘In the armoury,’ explained Tisi. ‘I knew I had to make you think you had escaped; make you think you had found your friend. Then you would return to the TARDIS.’ She hung her head low. ‘I told you we have no argument with you. You should not even be here. I told Alex we should have taken the Doctor when he was on Peladon. He was alone then. She wanted more evidence…’ she trailed off.

‘And I’ve told you, sweetheart, I won’t give up on the Doctor,’ Ruby said gently, smiling at the little girl.

‘Well, it’s too late now,’ replied Tisi. ‘We need to control the TARDIS and you need to go home.’

‘Control the TARDIS? Why?’

‘It does not concern you.’

‘It bloody well does,’ said Ruby indignantly. Then, ‘Sorry, pet, I didn’t mean to swear.’

Tisi looked up and Ruby saw there was actually a tear in her eye. ‘I’m sorry, Ruby Mundy, but I must hurt you now.’

Ruby took an involuntary step backwards.

‘And I actually quite like you,’ Tisi said and with that she tossed the Alice band to the former cook.

Instinctively, Ruby caught the curved, white strap and immediately wished she had not. It began to glow; first yellow then orange. Ruby tried to drop it, but the hair band seemed to be glued to her hands.

‘I know you won’t come into the TARDIS of your own accord now,’ said Tisi. ‘Sorry.’ Again she bowed her head.

Suddenly, Ruby’s hands began to tingle. The Alice band was now glowing red – ruby red – and her fingers were turning the same colour. Now she felt that she could not move her hands at all. The tingling became more intense, turning to cramp.

At first the pain was bearable, but as the red glow spread up her arms, it became excruciating. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to control the muscle spasms, but they were too much. Finally, she opened her eyes again and saw with horror that her arms now looked as if they had been crafted from red glass, their facets catching the light from the molten lava around her.

Dim realisation slithered down her spine, as if someone had dropped an ice cube down the back of her blouse.

She was being turned into a ruby.

Tisi watched as the final part of the human – her head – turned to precious stone. As the transmogrification ended, the glittering statue of what had once been Ruby Mundy began to fold in on itself, until a gem the size of a small apple sat amidst the less precious rocks on the ground.

The Fury skipped over to where her Alice band lay on the earth and picked it up. Putting it back on her fiery red hair, Tisi then hopped over the where the red stone was lying.

‘Ruby,’ she said. ‘That’s pretty.’

Tisi then placed the ruby in the pocket of her yellow dress and turned to face the TARDIS.

‘Not like you,’ Tisi hissed and jumped at the time ship as if it were a cow she was trying to frighten away. She landed before the TARDIS doors and cocked her head on one side. She had not been expecting this! The right hand door was slightly ajar. Tisi had been expecting the time ship to put up one last fight, but obviously Alex and Meg had such control over the craft’s corporeal form that they had subdued the machine itself.

Tisi smiled her funny little smile and stepped lightly into the TARDIS.

The game of snakes and ladders was now almost complete. The Furies had thrown a “four” and had climbed a ladder to stand within two rows of victory. The Doctor had managed a five, but this had led him to the head of a snake. Fortunately, it only took him one row down. But things were really looking hopeless now, he mused.

‘Before we make our final move, let’s go somewhere else!’ squealed Meg.

‘Yes,’ said Alex. ‘What a good idea!’ She stood up once more and pointed at Tardis. ‘Come here,’ she ordered.

The Doctor watched as Tardis submissively crossed the room to stand before Alex. For some reason, little beads of sweat were beginning to form on her forehead. Perhaps the Furies had induced greater strain than he or his ship realised.

‘Alecto.’ Tardis extended her arms and the little girls took a hand each. Meg held her free hand out for the Doctor.

‘Come on Doctor Shell!’ she smiled.

The Doctor clasped the little girl’s hand and once more time and space seemed to fizzle around them.

They were standing in a room decorated in Fin de Siecle style, and furnished with a large table, chairs and a chaise longue. Almost in the middle of the room was a tableau of three people.

The Doctor’s previous incarnation was flanked by Alf and Nick, all staring at the ground where moments before an Eternal had dissipated.

Off to one side, stood a tall and elegant figure. He did not stand for long, however, and even as the foursome watched, he fell to the floor, unconscious.

‘Help me,’ the former Doctor was saying to Nick, laying a hand on his companion’s shoulder. Nick stared up at him, then turned to where the Doctor was nodding.

‘Oscar! What the hell -?’ Nick yelled and ran over to the prone figure, grabbing ineffectually at his shoulders. Alf and the rotund Doctor quickly joined him; all three manoeuvred the writer onto the chaise longue. Alf tossed a book out of the way.

‘Oscar?’ asked Meg innocently.

‘Wilde,’ replied the Doctor, frowning. ‘One of earth’s greatest wits and raconteurs.’

As they spoke, Alf and Nick collapsed onto the floor by the couch. The fourth Doctor seated himself in the easychair and after a few moments, reached out to take Wilde’s pulse.

‘Right then, Doctor,’ Nick said. ‘Care to explain what exactly you think just happened?’

The fourth Doctor gave a brief explanation about the Eternal that had possessed Wilde’s dreams.

‘Oscar was a real prize, his imagination would have done most of the work for the Eternal. He would have been too strong for them earlier in his life, but his stint in prison left him a broken man and an easy target,’ the former Doctor concluded.

‘And will he be all right now?’ Nick asked, looking down at Wilde.

‘The Eternal is gone, if that’s what you mean,’ said the Doctor’s previous incarnation. ‘Back to its own dimension, where it belongs.’

‘Even then you had a knack for dodging questions…’ whispered Alex as if the other occupants of the room could hear her.

‘No, that’s not what I mean,’ Nick was saying. ‘When will Oscar recover?’

The Doctor and Alf exchanged a look.

‘Doctor?’ Nick’s voice took on a pleading tone.

The room in the Paris of 1895 faded and the Doctor found himself back in the bedroom.

‘What was it Nick said to you later?’ asked Alex, mockingly.

‘He asked me to save him – Oscar, that is – by taking the writer to Alpha Centauri,’ the Doctor replied evenly. He looked round the group and caught Tardis’s eye. She was still sweating, but she managed a subtle wink.

‘And did you?’ asked Meg.

‘I suspect you know the answer to that,’ the Doctor muttered darkly.

‘He was a friend of yours?’ Meg persisted.

‘He was a great man. I am not sure I could call him a friend, but he became a friend to Nick.’

‘And still you did not save him,’ Meg sneered, turning away from the Doctor in disgust.

‘You – more than any other being – should know the reason I could not,’ the Doctor said. He brought a hand to his mouth in realisation. Of course! ‘I can’t change history,’ he said simply. ‘The consequences are as great as they are unpredictable. No matter what the circumstances, no matter who loses their lives, I cannot alter time in that manner.’

‘Because to do so would create more anomalies,’ added Tardis quietly.

‘Who gave you leave to speak, time machine?’ Alex scowled.

‘Myself, chiefly,’ replied Tardis. ‘You see, as an impartial mode of conveyance, I just thought I should point out that if you want to torment the Doctor for his actions, you have to take into account that had he changed them after the event, he would have been breaking the laws of time and indeed your own laws about creating anomalies.’

Meg looked at Alex.

‘Enough of this,’ hissed Alex. ‘You have served your function. We have toyed with you. Now be gone!’ Alex stretched her hands at the naked, yet multi-coloured woman. Nothing happened. Alex tried again, straining and gritting her teeth. Nothing.

‘I, too, think it is time to end this,’ said Tardis. ‘What did you call it? “The end game”?’

‘What have you done?’ shrieked Alex. Meg began to cry.

‘All in due course,’ smiled Tardis. ‘Doctor, do you have anything to say?’

‘I have a great deal to say,’ the Doctor said gently.

‘Good,’ said Tardis. ‘But I think we should wait for Ruby.’

The Doctor gave her a questioning look, but before he could phrase the right question, the bedroom door opened behind him. He spun round to see who could possibly turn up now. It was Tisi.

The moment she entered, she froze. The look on her face belied the fact that she was not where she was expecting to be. Her eyes darted from Alex to Meg to Tardis.

‘I believe you are carrying a very precious stone,’ said Tardis, stepping forward with her hand outstretched.

For a few seconds nothing happened. Then, with a banshee wail of anguish and frustration, Alex threw herself on the bed and started balling. The noise was almost unbearable. Meg rushed over and began to hug her sister.

Tisi remained motionless, just her eyes moving as if in REM sleep. Then she removed her Alice band and threw it at Tardis.

‘You shan’t have her!’ she shouted and turned to run. But where a door had existed a moment before was now wall.

Tardis caught the hair band and examined it. ‘My locks don’t really suit this,’ she said. ‘However, it may be more decorous if I were to robe myself once more. Her rainbow coloured form faded, to be replaced by her pale, ivory white skin and a dress of fine midnight blue velvet; its hem trailing elegantly on the ground.

Tisi turned back to Tardis, put her hand in the pocket of her narcissus-hued garb and produced a large ruby from within. With a decidedly sheepish look, she held it out.

‘Now I want everyone to calm down,’ said Tardis, taking the gem from the redhead.

Slowly the noise abated and Alex sat up on the bed, cradling her knees and clasping the hand of her younger sister very tightly. Tisi slowly edged towards the bed and then sat on the edge, taking Alex’s other hand in hers.

‘Thank you,’ said the Doctor to Tardis. She smiled sweetly and stood back so that the Doctor could take up position at the foot of the bed to address the three little Furies.

‘Tardis is right. We must end this, but I do not wish you ill.’ He fished the polka-dot handkerchief from his breast pocket and offered it to Alex. She eyed him suspiciously, but took it just the same, wiping the hot tears of frustration away.

‘We will play by your rules,’ said Tardis from behind him. ‘But let me show you a few items in the Doctor’s defence. The elegant blonde now moved forward and sat on the end of the bed. She patted the remaining space beside her and the Doctor, too, sat down.

‘Up, up and away,’ Tardis laughed.

Suddenly, the bed was no longer in the room, but hovering in a gleaming metal corridor. Ahead and below them was a Draconian running towards an intersection – running for his life. Behind him, struggling to keep up was the familiar figure of the Doctor’s previous incarnation – no, not the previous incarnation; the master from which the present version was modelled.

‘Nova Mondas…’ breathed the Doctor from his bed top perch. ‘Cyber Control.’

Before anyone could reply, an explosion ripped through the corridor and the ceiling above the junction collapsed. The blast sent the real Doctor flying, but he did no appear to be seriously injured. He got to his feet and looked at the debris blocking his retreat.

“Save yourself, Kostaash!” shouted the bearded Doctor. There was no reply.

The Doctor brushed himself down and looked around. He seemed to be immensely calm. He had fished out his gold pocket watch, flipping the lid open with his thumb.

‘No time…’ whispered the Doctor in horror.

Everything started to move in slow motion. The real Doctor looked up from his watch; the corridor filled with an intense light – the light of fusion bombs.

The blinding flash obscured the Doctor’s face slowly as everyone on the bed watched in silence.

Then Tardis spoke.

‘In the moment the Doctor died, he saw his past flash before him. Memories of his homeworld; his days at the Prydon Academy; escaping from the insufferable rigours of life amongst the Capitol; his granddaughter Susan; and those who travelled with him after her all flooded through his mind. Ian, Barbara, Vicky, Steven, Katarina, Sara, Dodo, Ben, Polly, Jamie, Victoria, Zoe, Brad, Nick, and poor young Falex.

‘He saw himself on trial on his home world, banished into exile on Earth; the rabid creature that had created this alternative, fourth incarnation and distorted the Universe in so many ways. He saw his confusing journeys with Brad, facing the Dommervoy. Learning that he had never known the real Brad after all.

‘He saw himself addressing the Federation council, his mind laid open by the Qux on board the space station, meeting the Figure – me - after stealing the package from the mind-walkers, departing Alpha Centauri and seeing the destruction of everything he’d worked for. Hundreds of years of experiences all compressed into a microsecond.

‘In the moment that the Doctor died he thought of the future. Was everything worth all this? Had his actions secured the future of the new Universe, or damned it to more death and destruction? He would never know for sure - but the one who would follow would know.

‘In the moment that the Doctor died, he felt nothing but darkness ascending all around him, consuming him. It was time to let go. No change would follow, despite the Doctor sensing it inside him... but the moment had been prepared for.’

‘Me,’ the Doctor said.

‘Yes,’ said Tardis.

‘So?’ asked Alex quietly.

‘So the Doctor sacrificed himself to ensure the future of the entire universe. A by-product of this sacrifice ensured that you could continue to exist,’ Tardis turned and smiled at the three rather frightened little girls. ‘His legacy – his gift to the universe – was twofold: first his life and then a new version of himself, a new Doctor.

‘You say he is an anomaly. Yet in this – new – universe he is the glue. Without him, there would have been more chaos. Perhaps even complete and immediate entropy.’

The whiteness faded and the bed rested in a vast landscape of sand. The Doctor looked round. Meg had left the bed and was sitting on a nearby dune, patting sand into a plastic bucket.

‘Where are we?’ he asked.

‘Yahanis,’ replied Tardis, sweeping her blonde hair from her face as the desert wind toyed with it.

‘Hmm.’

‘Would you say that you helped the people in distress here?’ asked Meg, up-ending the bucket.

‘Sometimes it is not possible to help everyone,’ explained the Doctor, bowing his head.

‘You mean “no”.’ Meg lifted away the bucket and the dry sand within simply collapsed onto the dune – a pile of grains on the unforgiving dune. She looked up and smiled. ‘Oh well.’

‘The Doctor is right,’ said Tardis. ‘He could not intervene here, as he could not in the life and death of Oscar Wilde. These events are written.’

‘If I was such a powerful being,’ said Alex broodily, ‘I’d have found a way.’

‘That the Sontarans exist is a fact,’ replied the Doctor.

‘Indeed,’ agreed Tardis. ‘But what he prevented here was the unleashing of another race – the Tiger’s Eyes. Had they escaped Yahanis…’

‘Chaos,’ said Alex, nodding. ‘Perhaps even complete and immediate entropy?’

‘You learn quickly, little one,’ Tardis stroked the mixed race child’s hair.

‘Have we seen enough?’ asked the Doctor uncomfortably.

Tardis held up a hand to the Doctor’s face. ‘Brave heart,’ she said with a gentle smile. ‘Come, Megara.’

The Asian child hopped back onto the bed, abandoning her bucket and failed sandcastle.

Time and space fizzled once more and they were in the ruins of the TARDIS’s secondary console room.

‘Thank you,’ said the Doctor.

Tardis stood up and moved to the irreparable console. ‘Can you now see that travelling the universe – outside a domain over which you have total control – is fraught with decisions and choices,’ she said. ‘These decisions and choices change the universe and every single sentient being makes such judgements – except you! I am not speaking of the judgements with which you are familiar. I speak of picking paths and deciding actions. The Doctor has to live with these decisions and as he has repeatedly said – he tried to do what he feels is right. Not good or evil, but right.’

‘I have now realised what the danger Tardis mentioned to you earlier is,’ said the Doctor, also stepping from the bed. He bent to pick up a charred console panel from the TARDIS floor.

Alex looked up at her former prisoner. ‘Danger?’

‘Yes. You must see it,’ the Doctor said. ‘All those graves – all those representations of the anomalies you have dealt with sent to you by the Dommervoy…’

‘What of them?’

‘You said yourself. I am the “ultimate anomaly”. Ultimate as in last, final… the end.’

The three Furies looked at the Doctor, their jaws slowly dropping as realisation sank in.

‘Our work would be complete,’ said Alex.

‘No more games?’ asked Meg.

‘W… w… what would happen to us?’ stammered Tisi, fear now beginning to grip her. The alarm spread to her sisters.

‘I suspect you would cease to exist,’ said the Doctor solemnly.

‘You mean die?’ asked Alex, incomprehension etched on her face.

‘Yes,’ said Tardis. ‘But we can offer you an alternative.’

‘We must complete our labours,’ Alex said uncertainly.

‘All through this trial, I have been listening to you rebut every word I have uttered. You have twisted things to suit your purpose in a manner only children could do. But,’ the Doctor gazed at each child in turn, ‘you have made me realise that I must mend my ways. I have done things in the past of which I am not proud. However, I am a living being with feelings and emotions. Sometimes they may appear different from those of many races, but they are there nonetheless. I feel anger, I even feel hatred on occasions – dark occasions when things seem hopeless – and contrary to commonly held belief I feel scared. Not for me - for others. I know now the journey I have set out upon. Ever since I left Gallifrey with Susan all those years ago, I have battled those things that queer the universal pitch. I know in my hearts that the universe can be a good place if there is knowledge and understanding. I undertake to learn the lessons you have shown me.’

‘There is no need to destroy the Doctor,’ said Tardis. ‘You know this to be true, now. It is the fact that this situation has not arisen before that holds you back, but you should not fear change. Indeed, I feel that you crave it.’

‘Yes,’ said the Doctor earnestly. ‘Your joy at being able to use Tardis to travel outside your domain was obvious.’

‘You can come with us,’ said Tardis. ‘Or more accurately, me.’

Alex shook her head. ‘You are right,’ she said, gazing at the Doctor with – what was it - admiration? ‘But we cannot come with you in our current form.’

The Doctor sighed. ‘You must. I can save you. You need not sacrifice yourselves!’

‘We know what we must do now, don’t we sisters?’ Alex rose from the bed and beckoned Meg and Tisi to her. As the two other little girls joined their leader, the bed faded away.

‘You see, Doctor, what you do not realise is that we know what would happen to you if we decide to free you,’ explained Alex.

‘The future is mutable,’ said Tardis.

‘It is,’ replied Meg, smiling. ‘But we know what decisions the Doctor will make now. His undertaking has cemented his future.’

‘We can tell you if you like,’ teased Tisi.

‘No, no, no,’ said the Doctor.

‘A return home, old friends, old enemies…’ Tisi laughed.

‘Please stop!’ insisted the Doctor, sticking his fingers in his ears.

‘Daleks, familiar faces worn by new bodies, Cybermen…’ chimed in Meg.

‘Change - so many changes,’ added Alex. ‘And a fate worse than death.’

‘Enough,’ said Tardis, approaching the girls.

‘We know,’ said Alex. ‘But we still have two things to do to fulfil our role in all this.’

Tisi stepped forward. ‘Give me the pretty gem,’ she said.

‘You cannot use your powers,’ said Tardis, passing the Ruby ruby to the Doctor.

‘Yes,’ added the Doctor, examining the glowing gem in his hand. ‘I presume that when the Furies – sorry, I suppose I should call you Kindly Ones now…’ he smiled. ‘When the Kindly Ones attacked you, you used it as a diversion?’

Tardis nodded and a drop of sweat fell to the floor.

‘You materialised around the Kindly Ones’ domain?’ the Doctor gasped. ‘The strain must be enormous!’

‘I can handle it,’ Tardis smiled.

‘I doubt you can for much longer.’ The concern in the Doctor’s voice was evident.

‘I must maintain temporal grace.’

‘You need not fear us now,’ said Alex. ‘Materialise in our domain once more. Believe me, we will not harm you or the Doctor and you need Tisi to restore your companion.’

The Doctor nodded. ‘Very well. A show of good faith.’ He nodded to Tardis. She slowly dematerialised from the control room and the Doctor moved to the console. One button remained intact - the door mechanism. He depressed it and ushered the three girls up the twisted stairs.

The TARDIS stood in the serene environs of the apple orchard. Tisi stepped out first followed by Meg and Alex. Finally, the Doctor emerged, patting the side of his ship.

‘The ruby?’ Tisi held out her hand once more. The Doctor passed her the stone. ‘I can reinstate her, but it will be a little while before she awakens.’

‘She will be all right?’ the Doctor asked.

‘Oh yes,’ smiled Tisi. She clasped the ruby in both her hands and bowed her head as if in prayer. A concentrated red light began to form around the Kindly One. Gradually, the light turned orange, then yellow and the precious stone began to unfold, until Tisi was clasping the waist of a ruby statue. Finally, the light became white and for a split second, Ruby stood in the exact pose she had been holding when Tisi had thrown her the Alice band. Then she swooned. The Doctor stepped forward and caught her as she fell, easing her to the soft grass.

‘Thank you,’ he said, stroking Ruby’s dark hair. Then he looked up at the three Kindly Ones ranged before him. ‘Are you sure I cannot persuade you to come with us?’

‘No, Doctor,’ Alex said.

‘Not as we are,’ added Meg.

The Doctor frowned. ‘You said that before. What do you mean.’

‘We’ll merely be a page in your history,’ giggled Tisi.

‘Or rather three pages,’ said Alex.

The Doctor watched in fascination as the Kindly Ones stood to attention, bolt upright.

‘Goodbye, Doctor,’ said Alex.

‘Beware the snakes,’ said Meg.

‘And always seek out the ladders,’ said Tisi.

‘I will,’ said the Doctor.

Then, like someone closing a pop-up book, the three little girls began to fold in on themselves, first in half; then quarters, then eighths, sixteenths, thirty-seconds. At last all that remained were three foolscap pages, moving slightly on the grass as the breeze toyed with them.

Behind the apple trees, the Doctor could see the sun beginning to set.

As he stood to examine the pages, he heard the church clock striking. He counted the bells. Eight. Soon darkness would fall on the Furies’ domain once and for all. Their work was done. The Doctor collected the first two pages from the ground, but had to dash after the third as a gust of wind blew it across the orchard. Did that mean that the Dommervoy no longer existed? Before he could think of a suitable answer, he caught the last page and looked at it.

Like the other two, it was a shade of off-white and the writing was familiar – ancient High Gallifreyan – just like those he had found on Counterpane. He placed them in his jacket pocket and returned to Ruby.

The Doctor bent down to pick her up, but as he did so an indignant voice rang in his ears.

‘Oi!’ said Ruby. ‘Do you mind?’ She wriggled from his grip and rose unsteadily to her feet. Then she looked at him with suspicion. ‘Is that you?’

‘Yes, Ruby, it is I.’

Ruby smiled. ‘What happened?’ she asked.

‘Come on – into the TARDIS – I will explain later.’ He afforded her a broad grin. Ruby looked like she was thinking about arguing, but then she shivered – possibly feeling that the warmth had gone from the breeze. She nodded as the Doctor held the TARDIS door open for her.

‘”I will explain later”,’ she complained. ‘You always say that.’ And she disappeared inside.

The Doctor took one last look around the now deserted orchard. ‘Hell hath no Fury like a woman scorned, Ruby. I know that full well.’ He patted the TARDIS doorframe and whispered: ‘Well done, old girl.’ Then he stepped inside and the door shut behind him.

As the TARDIS faded from view, a strange form emerged from the Wendy House. It was human shaped, but could not be discerned properly.

‘Well done, Doctor,’ it said. ‘The end’s in sight now.’

As the sky bruised overhead in the semblance of twilight, the form, too, took one last look at the bizarre domain. ‘Good job, girls,’ it said and faded slowly away, leaving the empty world to its fate.