Vibrant. Alive! Ah, London! As she wandered up Windmill Street towards "The Fitzroy Tavern" Alf could not escape the feeling that she was home. She knew that she should have been shopping for supplies, but it was a hot day and she needed a drink. To that end she had decided to go to the pub. Just travelling across London (or under London, since she had used the tube!) had brought a sense of “home” to her. It was an unusual feeling. All she could really remember was her time spent in the twenty-sixth century, surrounded by all kinds of advanced technology and various forms of life. Yet being in something as simple as an underground train had made her feel more at home than anywhere else. But with it came a sense that things were not quite right. Alf didn’t know how exactly, since her memories of Earth were sketchy at best, but as she travelled from Highgate to Central London she knew there were differences. Posters on the tubes, in the stations. ‘UNIT needs YOU!’ What the hell was UNIT? Some kind of military organisation it seemed. Alf had to check her memory hard but even with her memory, flimsy as it was, she did not think that posters like that were right for 1980s London. During wartime, yes, but not in the 1980s. Random information about Earth is intact then, Alf realised. Just nothing personal. Well hardly anything at any rate. She had reached the end of Windmill Street and there was "The Fitzroy Tavern". It was a pub that Alf remembered. Although she had no idea what she remembered about it, but it was in her mind for some reason. It was an old pub, one with a lot of history. She smiled wistfully and walked into the pub. A good stiff drink was in order. Standing next to a restaurant opposite the pub, a small figure watched Alf enter "The Fitzroy Tavern". The figure took on the shape of a man, a very small man. Blonde hair and a rather cute face were the final touch. It is all I need to come across as trustworthy in this little world, the man thought. He looked down at his naked body. Ah, but I don’t think the twatty humans will approve of that. Prudes that they are. With barely a thought the man had clothed himself. Now wearing a black PVC suit and shoes which three-inch soles, the little man walked across the road and entered the pub after Alf. *** There was a big clunk as something hit the outside of the door. The dull noise shocked Bradley out of his deep sleep. For a few moments he sat there, unsure of where he was, and then he remembered. He had fallen into a deep slumber; as he was prone to do after a feast. He swung his feet over the edge of the cradle into which he had fallen and found them kicking the corpse of the prince. Bradley smiled as he looked down at his favourite toy. The look of pure horror frozen on the corpse’s face was a joy to behold. Again the dull thud came from outside Bradley’s chamber. His smile faded. ‘Just open the damn door, Nicholas!’ he growled. ‘Since when did you ever bother knocking before entering my chamber?’ The thick wooden door was opened and Nicholas entered the chamber. He paused at the threshold, glanced around the room and let a loud theatrical yawn. ‘There is only so much of your feasting that I can rest my eyes upon, Bradley. And I see that you had quite a feast last night.’ Bradley cast his eyes around his chamber, and smiled with satisfaction. A feast indeed! There were a dozen or so bodies scattered around the floor space. He looked back at Nicholas. ‘Are you sure you don’t want some?’ ‘No, thank you, I’m not interested in your seconds. And anyway...’ Nicholas tailed off and walked over to Bradley’s cradle. He roughly kicked aside the prince’s royal corpse, and sat down next to Bradley. ‘I have news for you. The Count will be here shortly, and he brings with him the Lady Dorothy.’ ‘Aha, your former love.’ Nicholas laughed, but it was not a good laugh. ’That whore!’ Bradley turned to Nicholas and kissed his companion full on the lips. ‘Not good news, then?’ ‘I would rather have my heart torn through by a large wooden stake!’ He looked away from Bradley. ’Either way, word has reached me that a new disturbance has appeared in Larkhowl.’ ‘Disturbance?’ ‘Bradley, if you were less busy indulging yourself in the pleasures of the flesh, you may have heard about the disturbances.’ Nicholas stood up and walked over to the door. ‘As it is I shall tell you now.’ He turned back to look at Bradley, a thin smile playing around his mouth. ‘Portals have appeared in many of the neighbouring countries, leading into strange new worlds. One such portal has appeared in my kingdom, which is probably the reason for the Count’s visit. He will no doubt want to know what is on the other side. So do I.’ Nicholas grinned, his eyes barely concealing the thoughts within his mind. ‘So, you see, I shall not be here when the Count arrives. I shall be wherever that portal takes me. When the Count arrives you can tell him that I am exploring the New World to see where we can spread our influence. I am sure he will approve.’ Bradley stood up and walked over to Nicholas. When there was only an inch between them, he spoke. ‘No doubt he will. And, of course, you will not need to see Lady Dorothy, either.’ ‘Of course.’ *** Sometime later Alf was sitting at a table beside the window in McDonald‘s; finishing off her burger and watching the people walk by. She blinked. Across the road she thought she saw a familiar face. She looked closer. Standing on the other side of Oxford Street was Nick. Only he looked different. It could have been the sun, but he seemed to be paler. Their eyes connected and Nick looked away. It was then that Alf realised that Nick’s blonde hair was short and spiky. Alf got up from the table and turned to pick up the bag with the supplies. As Alf turned she bumped into a McDonald’s crewmember. ’Oh, sorry,’ she said, then stopped. Beneath the cap there was no mistaking the rounded face. It was Alf. Younger, less worn, but Alf nonetheless. The younger looked at the elder with equal surprise. ‘Gordon Bennett!’ the younger exclaimed. Alf stepped back and looked herself over. She could not believe it. No wonder Oxford Street and the surrounding area seemed so familiar. She had worked here before leaving Earth with that possible future Doctor. Alf reached out a hand. The younger Alf stepped back, not quite sure. ‘Ere, how come you look like me? Only older. You are me, ain’t you?’ ‘Yeah.’ Alf was not sure what to say. This was her chance to find things out, this she knew. She looked at the name badge of the younger Alf, but where the name should have been stuck on there was nothing. ’Where’s your name?’ The younger Alf looked at her own badge. She smiled. ’Oh, well I keep tearing it off, don’t I? They keep on putting that naff name on it.’ She laughed. ’I keep telling them, “I’m Ace, not Dorothy, all right”, but they won’t listen.’ Ace frowned. ‘If you’re me, how come you don’t know that?’ ‘Ace?’ Alf repeated the name to herself. She thought back to the jacket that she had left in “Earth’s Pride”. There used to be a name on the back of it, but all that was left was an “A”. One of the first people she had met on Alpha Centauri, a rather mysterious bloke in a bar/cafe, had told her that her name was Alf, so she thought that was what the “A” stood for. But it had been Ace, not Alf. She reached out for the girl. ’Listen! You have to tell me...’ Alf’s hand connected with Ace’s shoulder and time seemed to stand still around them. They blinked in unison. There was a crackle of energy and the two of them hit the floor together. Standing by the counter, the young man in the PVC clothing watched this turn of events with a wicked grin on his cute face. Stage two complete, he thought and promptly vanished into a puff of illogic. *** 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |