CODE: S2/S8 Episode Eight Simon Catlow Severed Dreams Then... "Doctor!" Nick cried out, almost leaping with joy. "Nick. I thought you might come back here." "You've missed a hell of a lot while you've been away!" Nick exclaimed enthusiastically. "Where've you been?" "I..." the Doctor tailed off into silence. "That's rather difficult to explain." Nick looked at the Doctor, seeing the eyes distant. He snapped back into reality. "I have a bad feeling about this place. All this commotion - something has the locals panicked," the Doctor said. "Tell me about it!" Nick thought of all the events that the Doctor had missed. "Wait 'till I tell you what's been happening to me!" The Doctor seemed preoccupied and hardly responded to Nick's voice. "I think we should leave now," the Doctor said quietly. As they made their way to the docking bays, Nick was conscious of the Doctor periodically looking over his shoulder at the Qux security guards, with an odd expression on his face. Two Days Earlier... The Doctor and Nick had been in the bar for a while, and the Ossoban who had left earlier returned. He spoke briefly with one of the staff, who promptly handed him a coat. ‘Right. Time to start following. I want you to remain in this area, checking for suspicious activity, I'll follow our friend the Ossoban. Meet you back here in an hour.’ The Doctor pulled something out of his pocket. ‘What's that?’ ‘Tracking device. I'm going to use it as an aid to follow that man. I've got the locator here.’ He pulled a small grey box out of his coat pocket. The top was filled with a green grid, with a dot at the centre. ‘I see. Doctor...’ ‘Yes?’ ‘Why are we fighting for a restaurant?’ ‘Not every battle I fight has the whole Universe hanging on a thread. What's the point of fighting for good and righteousness if you can't get on with your life afterwards? After all, shouldn't things get better?’ ‘All I'm saying is...’ ‘Sometimes it's not just planets that need saving, it's hopes and dreams.’ *** Soon after departing the restaurant, and leaving Nick to check out the area, the Doctor was well and truly lost. His sense of direction had rarely failed him in the past but this station confused him no end. Everywhere looked the same, and whilst he’d had no problems knowing his way around the TARDIS, which the same description could easily be applied to, his infallible ability to find where he wanted to go appeared to have deserted him completely. After a few more minutes wandering, and essentially hoping that he’d literally bump into the Ossoban he was supposed to be following, he found himself in a deserted area of the station. ‘Argh!’ the Doctor yelled in frustration to himself when he realised this. There was a tightness around his chest all of a sudden, and while it was uncomfortable it was nothing compared to what happened next. Pain struck at the centre of his hearts and he fell to the ground, clutching himself. He screamed in agony, but no one made any move to help him. The pain overwhelmed him, and the life drained from his body as any semblance of attempt to resist died away and he collapsed totally. *** ‘Very good work, Travor,’ a cold female voice said, as two individuals emerged from their hiding places. ‘I knew you could do it.’ She was a Qux, and her associate was dressed in a similar fashion uniform. ‘Not without your help, Dennai,’ he responded, smiling at his associate, as they both looked upon the fallen and helpless form of the Doctor... * * * Bacon. The distinctive smell of bacon being fried drifted through the nose of the Doctor as his eyes snapped open. He breathed in deeply through his nostrils, breathing in the scent of the cooking meat. He most certainly wasn’t where he was a few minutes ago. He was standing in the middle of what appeared to be some sort of restaurant. Not the one he was supposed to be in, but there was something familiar about it. The walls were decorated in a dirty white paint that had been sloppily applied, resulting in peeling and cracks running through all the walls he could see. There were several tables scattered haphazardly around the room, but rather curiously no chairs. He turned full circle, but there was not another living soul in the room with him. Where was that smell coming from? It was reminding him that it had been quite some time since he and Nick had last eaten. Nick. Where had he got himself to now? He was always wandering off somewhere, but his whereabouts were for the moment of secondary importance. The Doctor walked towards the back of the room he was in, putting his hands on the counter as he reached it. He looked back through the wide-open space that formed the gap, but there was no one there either. And no sign of that bacon, which disappointed him more. He rotated around so he was facing the solitary door into the room. It was made of glass and he could see that it was a bright day outside. Of course! The Doctor mentally gave himself a telling off for not realising sooner why this place felt familiar. It was a small restaurant he had visited sometime ago. It felt like a lifetime ago. The Doctor smiled to himself when he realised it was a lifetime ago, when he’d been quite a different man. But this restaurant was on Earth, the south East Coast of England if he wasn’t mistaken, and he couldn’t possibly be back there could he? He winced as he felt a slight discomfort within his hearts that brought back the memory of the pain vividly. He remembered the station, the restaurant, Nick. They were all gone, and he was here. The intensity of the suffering seemed to indicate to the Doctor that he might have suffered a hearts attack. But this body wasn’t old enough for that yet. He moved his hand up to his beard and began to stroke it as he pondered just what had happened to him. He caught sight of his reflection in the glass and the grey colour of his hair greeted him back. Was this a consequence of the ageing process he had been through? Was his whole body aged, rather than just his appearance? He didn’t know. But wherever he was, the answers to what had happened wouldn’t be found inside. He opened the door and stepped outside. It was a bright incandescent day; the Doctor had to put his hand up to shield his eyes from the sunlight as they adjusted themselves. It was not overtly hot, and the pleasant warmth on his face pleased the Doctor. He walked forward out of the doorway and into the light. There was a wonderful gentle breeze passing over him as he stood there taking in the surroundings. ‘Do sit down, Doctor,’ said a familiar voice behind him. A voice that the Doctor had not expected to hear ever again. The Doctor turned around and saw a figure sitting in the shade of the building, his face covered by a darkness broken only by the feral green of his eyes. ‘I’ve been expecting you.’ ‘You!’ There was an anger permeating the Doctor’s words that dripped with malice. ‘How touching. You still remember me after everything you’ve caused.’ The man’s face moved out of the shadow enough to see that he was sporting a neatly trimmed beard, but by the smile on his face, his sharpened teeth were painfully obvious. ‘Sit.’ The Doctor almost thought about making a scene, but he had to find out more about where he was and how he had got here, so he compliantly obeyed. ‘What are we doing here?’ ‘There will be plenty of time for questions later Doctor,’ the bearded man said pointing behind the Doctor’s shoulder. The Doctor turned his head to look around and saw a pretty young girl starring back at him. He didn’t know her, but the Doctor estimated that she was in her late teens. She stood confidently; her long black hair hung around her elegantly rounded face in an appealing manner. ‘Can I take your orders now, please, gentlemen?’ Her voice was out of place with the location. Not English at all. American definitely. ‘I’ll take my usual, my dear,’ the man said, bearing his fangs at the same time. ‘The Doctor will not be eating.’ The girl nodded, and disappeared into the restaurant. ‘You see Doctor, you have caused great pain and suffering through your being. The deaths of millions.’ ‘No,’ the Doctor bellowed. ‘You did. You brought me into being, and therefore you are responsible for any subsequent actions.’ The waitress appeared again, handing over to the man a plate with a large piece of raw meat on. He began to devour it instantly, his calm decorum vanishing and replaced with an animal viciousness as he attacked the meat time and time again with his sharpened teeth. The Doctor didn’t know where to look - the change in his one time friend was so instant and so total that it was disturbing. ‘What is done is done,' the Doctor continued, 'it cannot be changed. I’m looking to the future now.’ The man continued to devour the meat until only the bone remained. He dropped the remnants back onto the plate that they were served upon. ‘There is no future for you, Doctor. You know, the food here is excellent, you should try it sometime.’ ‘I don’t think I’ll bother,’ the Doctor said. ‘It will be your loss, Doctor, but then so many things are aren’t they?’ The man stood up and walked into the shade. ‘Goodbye, Doctor.’ His disappearance was sudden but instant. * * * The Doctor didn’t know what to make of the sudden disappearance of the Master. Something was clearly not right here, but what? He stood up and sighed as he pondered the answer to that question. The waitress who had served him had walked into the confines of the restaurant, and the Doctor walked to the glass door and stepped inside with every intention of confronting her as to where he was. Unfortunately for the Doctor, when he walked through the door he found himself no longer in a small restaurant on the English south east coast, but in a long corridor. There was an air of familiarity around them that the Doctor instantly sensed. He examined the surroundings around him and saw that the walls had feint traces of a round pattern repeated multiple times across them. Almost as if this was part of the... No. That had been destroyed. This was not part of his TARDIS. He looked behind him, and the door that he had just passed through was no longer there either, replaced by a seemingly never-ending corridor stretching as far as his eyes could see behind him. There was no other option but to go forward. The corridor looked endless but wherever the Doctor was, he had to find out what was going on. After several minutes of walking, the Doctor could see something up ahead on the walls. This was the first time that there had been any kind of deviation from the standard pattern that dominated the corridor walls. The Doctor quickened his pace and soon he arrived at them. He was very surprised with what he saw. On the walls in front of him was a row of thirteen pictures - or to be more precise, portraits of different individuals. The faces of the first three people were familiar to him. The first, an elderly man with flowing white hair and a stern disposition. The second, a more impish figure with untidy hair and a mischievous glint in his eye. The third was more unfamiliar but the Doctor knew who it was immediately. He was a taller figure with shocked white hair and a distinctive face. Given what happened to him, the Doctor felt very uncomfortable seeing him in that way. The fourth picture on the wall, which the Doctor supposed should have been him, had had its image defaced. He couldn’t make out who it was, but it wasn’t him. That was puzzling. The Doctor didn’t have time to dwell on it, but why would it depict someone other than him? Although the pictures on the remaining portraits were clear, the Doctor couldn’t really gain a sense of who they were. The fifth was of a familiar blonde haired man whom the Doctor was sure that he had seen before somewhere. The ninth portrait depicted an intelligent looking man with a hawk-like face but, again, he couldn’t make out the details. He shook his head, there was no point in speculating on what the significance of these portraits were, but the Doctor couldn’t help but feel that the fourth painting was important somehow. In Rassilon’s name where was he? Turning his back on the paintings, the Doctor continued on his way, and whilst the corridor looked endless he made his way to the end quite quickly. The exit was a massive door, oak panelled, elegantly carved. There was no way to open the door though. The Doctor decided that the only way to open it would be to prise the doors open some how, but the thought suddenly came to him that perhaps knocking on the door would have an effect. He rapped three times on the great door, the noise reverberating through the corridor. Silently, the doors swung open and the Doctor stepped through into the unknown. * * * Elsewhere, the body of the Doctor lay conscious beneath the intense lights of the examination table. His face twitched occasionally but was otherwise still. Around him, several Qux medical officers worked busily, keeping his body intact. There were several tubes connected to the body of the Doctor through veins in both his arms and others connected to his mouth. A clear liquid flowed through these into some unseen machinery. One of the Qux, Loqra Haddasi, was clearly in charge. He was overseeing the entire operation of the removal of the necessary materials from the subject’s body. His face did not show that he liked what he was doing. ‘No!’ he snarled at one of his underlings. ‘Keep a constant monitor on the patient’s condition. He must not recover before we are ready.’ He shook his head, and looked up at the five Qux above. They were some of their race’s strongest telepaths, yet they looked like any other Qux. He allowed himself a moment to look upon their faces as they concentrated on the task in hand. All of their eyes were focused on the patient’s lifeless body. Travor Haddasi was the strongest of the group, which liked to be known as the Quardarax, but not their spokesperson. He was also an untypical looking Qux, as he considerably larger in size and weight than Qux tended to be. His face was a mass of concentration as his mind focused solely on the occupation of the patient within the dreamscape. Of the entire Quardarax network, Travor was the only one that Loqra had ever been in contact with given their familial connections. Ytine Kramanzer was a more conventional in appearance Qux with his tall, slim demeanour. There were many rumours about Ytine that he was unstable, but nothing had ever really been proved, and given the fact that he had been one of those born of the Ferhamzint Machine, Loqra doubted that this was true as, in his wide experience, those Qux born in that method were always perfect. G’xlan Hiaalox stood next to Ytine. He was an odd looking Qux to say the least. Short and stocky, his odd appearance made him stand out as much as Travor did but for different reasons. Loqra knew very little about G’xlan, but he trusted that any member of the Quardarax would have the necessary ability for the task in hand. Kaitnan Pertarnai was one of the most beautiful Qux that Loqra had ever seen. Despite her relative youthfulness she still stirred an inclining of passion in someone as old as him. But despite this, her beauty was nothing compared to that of the leader of the Quardarax, Dennai Serapart. Although Travor was a stronger telepath than Dennai, there was no doubt that she was the most important member of the Quardarax Order, and there was much speculation that she would one day soon leave the Order and move into the power of the government. He admired her greatly, and her presence onboard the station was surely a good sign with this latest patient, whom Loqra knew, was one of the most important that they had processed so far. ‘Status Haddasi,’ a powerful voice said through the intercom. Loqra always felt a little anxious before speaking to the station commander, for Frencius Serapart was the most influential and important Qux outside of their homeworld Qux Prime. Dennai was related to him, but Loqra did not know how specifically. He walked across to the communication station and activated the controls. Serapart’s face dominated the screen immediately. He was an intimidating individual. His face conveyed his great intelligence and his iron resolve. ‘Commander Serapart, the procedure is going well. Although the internal systems are some of the most complex that we have ever seen, we are making good progress. We should have all the material required imminently.’ ‘See that it is so,’ Serapart replied. ‘This is the most important work we have processed so far. The specimen is most unusual, and we must utilise that to it’s maximum potential.’ ‘If the early indications are correct, then he should prove a very useful addition to the Program.’ Serapart laughed. ‘That’s one of the things that I like about you, Loqra. You have the most unique ability to understate. If those indications are proved right, then this specimen will make the Program.’ The jollity dissolved from his face almost instantly though. ‘Continue.’ He ended the call, and Loqra’s screen went black. Loqra gave a brief glance back up to the Quardarax above, and went back to the patient. * * * The Quardarax were in constant communication with each other during the procedure, but should any outsider have been present they would not have heard a thing. The Quardarax were some of the strongest telepaths within the Qux race, and had taken a unique bond between them to ensure that their telepathic powers had become increased even further than their natural ability. By joining the Quardarax Order, Qux had had their powers doubled or even trebled. There were drawbacks to this process though as the ceremony which every new initiate into the Quardarax underwent meant they became bonded to four other Qux and their increased powers would only be at their most effective in their presence. A single Quardarax Qux was only slightly more powerful than a normal one on it’s own, but with their fellow Quardarax, their powers were almost limitless. The five Quardarax here were totally focused on the body of the patient below. Their bodies conveyed a stillness and a peacefulness that belied their true situation. For although they were standing on the gantry physically, mentally the Quardarax weren’t really there. They were in the joining phase at the moment. They shared the same task, and were exploiting their increased ability to do so. Communicating telepathically, Travor was speaking to the others. ‘This is a powerful mind. He will take more effort than all of those that went before.’ Dennai responded in her typically blunt way. ‘That much is obvious, Travor. He is shrouded in darkness. He regrets those that he has lost, yet he feels comfortable with who he is. We must alter his perception.’ Ytine and G’xlan nodded their agreement with Dennai. She remained one of the most imposing Qux that they had ever met, even away from her physical body. ‘He has had many friends over the years,’ Pertamai said. ‘Let us exploit that next.’ * * * The Doctor found himself in a massive chamber, packed with ornate columns in each corner. The recesses of the room were in darkness, but the centre was dominated by the presence of two antique chairs. Again, the Doctor noted that there was a connection to Earth as they were clearly of Eighteenth Century design and represented the finest styles of the time. Unlike the alcoves of the chamber, the chairs were in the only part that was illuminated, and were the focus of the room. The Doctor moved forward into the centre and sat down in the chair. He felt very tired all of a sudden. Wherever he was, it was taking its toll upon him. He felt relief as he let himself relax into the plush comfort of the chair. He closed his eyes as the temptation to succumb to sleep overwhelmed him. ‘Tired?’ A confident voice said. The Doctor’s eyes snapped open. The other chair, which had been empty before, was now occupied by someone, who was clearly human or at the very least humanoid. The Doctor immediately noticed the glare off the top of his head as his bald, dark skin reflected the lights from above them. ‘I said are you tired?’ The man repeated. He was dressed in a long black leather coat, and he rested his elbow on the arm of the chair, his hand stroking his goatee-bearded chin. ‘A little,’ the Doctor said, trying to match the bravado of the man, but his lethargy made it sound mumbled. ‘That’s to be expected.’ ‘Who are you?’ There was something about the man that the Doctor found familiar somehow, as if he’d met him before someplace. The man smiled, revealing a set of brilliant white teeth. ‘Your questions can wait. There are more important things happening here than asking my identity.’ ‘Such as?’ The Doctor felt much better all of a sudden and his voice boomed once more around the chamber, echoing loudly. ‘What you’re doing here. Who brought you here.’ The figure moved both his hands to the arms of the chair and leaned forward. ‘And most importantly, why you are here.’ ‘And you know the answers to this?’ ‘I do.’ He laughed. ‘But it’s not time for me to help you yet. You must find yourself first. In the meantime, just think of me as a figure that has you’re best interests at hearts...’ The Doctor got to his feet, but as he did so the man disappeared. The Doctor was becoming increasingly frustrated with the way that people kept disappearing on him. * * * The Doctor stepped forward and found himself in the confines of the TARDIS console room. The white walls blazed with roundels, and whilst the Doctor now knew that whatever was happening wasn’t real for a moment it felt good to be back in his true home. The TARDIS. ‘Look, you just can’t do that!’ said a voice, tinged with a distinct American accent. The Doctor had been too busy, lost in the splendour of being amongst the familiar surroundings of the control centre of the TARDIS that he had not noticed the three individuals present in the room too. The voice was very familiar to the Doctor, and he wasn’t surprised when he saw Brad DeMars engaged in a heated conversation with two other individuals. Their identities did come as a surprise to him. ‘I can do what a like,’ the Celtic tones of a Scottish voice said. ‘I’ve been with the Doctor longer than you!’ ‘Jamie!’ It was Victoria. Dear, dear Victoria. Her eloquent voice was a stark contrast to the burr of Jamie’s or the slickness of Brad’s. ‘Can’t we just get along like we used to!’ The Doctor wandered across to the three of them, happy to see his former companions, but sad because he knew that they weren’t real. They couldn’t be. Jamie and Victoria had been a long time ago. A long time before Brad. A long time before this regeneration. They paid the Doctor no attention whatsoever. ‘A long time before you helped destroy the universe you knew,’ whispered a confident voice in the Doctor’s ear. The Doctor spun around and the man he had met before in the chamber was here inside the console room. The Doctor couldn’t help but think of him by the term he used when they had met, in what seemed like only moments before. ‘You,’ the Doctor said, addressing the Figure directly. ‘Interesting isn’t it?’ the Figure said, ignoring the Doctor’s accusing gaze. ‘That you find yourself here, of all places.’ ‘The TARDIS was my home.’ ‘True, true.’ The Figure was circling the Doctor now, who in turn was shuffling around to keep eye contact with him. ‘But why would these people appear to you? Jamie and Victoria, who never knew you in your current form, and Bradley De Mars, who didn’t know these two at all. Why together?’ ‘I don’t know.’ ‘What significance do your former companions have upon you?’ ‘They were my friends.’ ‘Were they?’ ‘Yes!’ the Doctor said, more defensively than he had intended to. The Figure seemed to know more about where he was and why he was here than the Doctor did, and that was something that didn’t please the Doctor one bit. ‘Did they really know you? Did they really see the darkness within you?’ ‘They trusted me. And I trusted them.’ ‘And therein lies the problem.’ The Figure stopped pacing. The images of his former companions had become faceless, indeterminable objects neither substantial nor tangible. ‘All of this is a massive illusion. Designed to prevent you from realising the truth.’ ‘And the truth is?’ The Doctor’s voice echoed throughout the hollow confines of the console room. He was shouting and he didn’t even know it. ‘That you’ve been trapped,’ the Figure exclaimed. * * * Dennai Serapart had a worried look across her face. She had momentarily disengaged herself from the mindscape, and her fellow Quardarax had followed suit. The patient was proving to be much stronger mentally than they had ever imagined, and as a result the procedure was more stressful than they had expected. Ytine rubbed at his head. ‘He is a formidable adversary.’ Kaitnan signified her agreement. ‘His mind is quite unique. If we can just keep it occupied long enough.’ ‘The level of resistance he has put up was the most resilient I’ve ever seen,’ Travor Haddasi said. ‘That is not surprising,’ Dennai said. ‘He’s being helped by something or someone.’ The other four Quardarax turned to face her. ‘Are you sure?’ G’xlan asked. ‘Of course I am,’ Dennai snapped, her voice signalling her anger and frustration. ‘Something is assisting him in seeing our work. Something or someone.’ ‘Surely you imply that it is another Qux?’ Kaitnan asked suspiciously. ‘That is one of the possibilities,’ Dennai responded. ‘But no single Qux would be powerful enough to break through our Quardarax abilities and reach the mind within. And with no other Quardarax members present onboard the station, we can rule out the possibility that a Quardarax group has gone rogue. Which means that...’ Travor interrupted her. ‘Which means that there is a being onboard the station with extraordinary mental powers. Much like the patient himself.’ ‘Indeed.’ Dennai concluded. ‘I will inform the Commander when we have concluded our business. Until then, this information must remain amongst us.’ The other four Qux all signified their understanding and compliance. ‘To prevail, we must attack the Patient at his most vulnerable part. Himself.’ * * * The Doctor was alone once more. He recognised the Chamber that he had been in previously from the decor, complete with the baroque chairs standing tall in the centre of the room. But there was something different this time; the Doctor could make out figures standing in the dark recesses of the chamber. Shadowy individuals, their faces indeterminable. He walked forward into the light that illuminated the centre, and the light burned bright in the heart of the interior. ‘Sit down, young man!’ came a voice from behind, chilling the Doctor to his bones. He turned slowly around and saw an elderly man approaching him, so familiar yet so different. ‘I said sit down!’ The old man’s voice was authoritative, but the Doctor didn’t comply. ‘I deny your existence!’ The Doctor shouted loudly, his voice resonating around the coldness of the chamber. ‘You can’t deny yourself,’ the old man snapped. ‘Lost your manners too, have you boy?’ ‘I can deny whatever I want,’ the Doctor retorted. ‘Especially that which is not real!’ The emphasis was definitely on his final word, and he stared accusingly at the image of his former self. ‘You’re a failure.’ The Doctor laughed. ‘I have had to deal with events you could never have hoped to cope with.’ ‘Nonsense! You caused it.’ This hit the Doctor hard, but he had come to terms with his role in the events of the universe. He was not responsible for what happened, and he knew that now. He noticed that the Figure had stepped out of the shadows behind his younger (yet older) self and was watching silently. ‘I did no such thing. I was not responsible for what happened,’ the Doctor stood firm. ‘I deny your existence!’ he shouted into the face of the old man. He vanished, almost instantaneously, leaving the Doctor with the Figure once more. ‘Haven’t you got anything to say this time?’ the Doctor asked him impatiently. He grew tired of this charade. ‘In good time,’ the Figure said, smiling. ‘It’s not over yet though.’ ‘Ahem,’ said a distinctive voice from behind the Doctor. He turned around and was faced by a tall, slim man dressed in a green velvet jacket with a shock of white hair and a frilly shirt. The Doctor knew who he was immediately. His former self. The one that was condemned to a pitifully short existence by the Master. There was a look of fury on his face as he confronted his successor. ‘You!’ His briefest incarnation adopted a fighting stance, which the Doctor recognised as belonging to the ancient lost art of Venusian Aikido. ‘You caused my destruction. You killed me.’ ‘No - it was the Master...’ ‘He’s an incorrigible fool,’ the Third Doctor yelled. ‘No. You killed me because you were too eager to exist!’ He lunged at the Doctor, but he had not reckoned on the Doctor’s impressive physical stature, who was able to avoid the glancing blow. ‘That’s not true. I never asked to exist!’ The Doctor yelled back at himself. ‘But I do, and you can’t change that!’ The Third Doctor looked at him before disappearing into the ether, leaving nothing behind. ‘How can I end this?’ the Doctor said, directing the question towards the Figure. ‘You have to do that yourself,’ he replied. ‘None of these former selves are real - that much is evident.’ ‘All true.’ ‘None of the individuals I have met in this mindscape have been real.’ The Figure walked closer to the Doctor. ‘That’s not entirely true, but there is more than enough truth in it to be considered accurate.’ The Doctor looked at the Figure. Did his statement mean that he was real? ‘You can end this yourself. Now. Just do it.’ The Doctor’s gaze continued to focus on the Figure. Wherever he now found himself was not real. This whole environment did not exist. Those who he had met here were not real. Something had put him into this situation. The Doctor looked beyond the figure into the darkness of the corners of the chamber. The beings in the shadows were still there. The Doctor knew what he must do. He ran across the room, all the time being watched by the Figure, and into those unlit areas. The chamber began to lose its form as he did so, with the pillars that made up the room starting to fade away. When he got close enough, the Doctor could see that the creatures were five humanoid beings. Their appearance was inconstant but the Doctor saw them take on the forms of those incarnations he had seen of him. They changed into his companions as well, their faces morphing from one to the other. One by one, the figures disappeared until only one was left. The being took on one final form, that of a tall curly haired man with a bohemian like quality about him. ‘This is not the end!’ he said before changing violently once more. For the briefest of seconds, the Doctor saw the being take the form of the race that ran the station he had been onboard. What was their name? But, like the others, it too vanished, leaving nothing behind. The entire room had faded to black, and yet the Figure remained along with the Doctor. ‘Well done Doctor,’ the Figure said. ‘I did nothing really,’ the Doctor replied. He faced the Figure once more. ‘Who are you? Really?’ ‘A question for the ages, Doctor. We’ll meet again.’ Although the other beings had almost disseminated themselves into nothingness, the Figure vanished immediately. One moment he had been talking to the Doctor, the next minute the Time Lord was alone again, once more. * * * Loqra Haddasi and his team had been working at their hardest to ensure they gained the genetic materials needed from the patient in the time they had, and word had come down that even the Quardarax were having trouble with the patient, they had redoubled their efforts. But they’d done it. They had taken what they needed from the patient. * * * ‘Oi!’ The Doctor could hear the sound of something terrible echoing through his head. He felt odd, yet strong somehow, full of life. ‘Oi! You can’t lie down there all day long,’ came an irritating voice from next to him. The Doctor’s eyes snapped open. ‘Hello!’ he boomed out to the Tkarsein standing above him. He was lying down in the area he had been in before. Where he had felt that pain. ‘So you are alive then!’ the Tkarsein said in its hideously repulsive voice. The Tkarsein were an odd species. Very small reptilian creatures, they were the ultimate form of scavenger throughout the universe. ‘I was just about to put you down as being down amongst the dead men. Lot of it about around here.’ ‘I can confidently assure you that I’m not in any shape of form a “dead man”’ the Doctor propped himself up and got to his feet carefully. His head was filled with images of his former selves, friends and the Figure still. But he was still here, where he had blundered into, and suffered the pain of the hearts attack. Yet now he felt better than ever. He felt truly alive for the first time in quite a while. ‘What do you mean - “a lot of it about”?’ ‘This place - notorious it is. Lots of people end up here, end up dead.’ ‘And that means easy pickings for you and your kind.’ The Tkarsein grinned. The Doctor found it disturbing. ‘That’s right. I was just about to take your belongings if you were one of the dead men. No offence.’ ‘None taken.’ The Doctor said, brushing himself down. He turned to the Tkarsein, ‘If you’ll excuse me I have a friend onboard who may be wondering where I am.’ ‘No problem. As long as he’s not one of the dead men, then I don’t mind.’ The Doctor turned away. So many different species attracted to this station. He had never cared much for the Tkarsein before, even less so now. Now to get his bearings back. * * * It didn’t take the Doctor long to find his way back to the Restaurant. He’d also found out that a number of days had passed since he had "disappeared". The images were still clear in his mind about what happened. He remembered it all; the Master, Jamie, Victoria, Brad and the others. He remembered the beings that he could only get a sense of. Beings in his mind. And then there was the Figure. Why could he not shake his face from his thoughts? The Doctor had the strangest feeling that he knew him somehow, but he hadn’t had the faintest idea from where. Was all it all a dream? The Doctor knew that he was sometimes prone to falling into very deep sleeps, but could he really have fallen down on a strange space station and slept for several days? Knowing him, the answer was invariably yes. The Doctor moved towards the bar, and with no patrons frequenting the restaurant at the moment, he had the whole selection of chairs to choose from. He eased himself into position on the stool. Something definitely happened to him. A member of the station security guard passed outside the restaurant, and he was a member of the Qux species. The Doctor eyed him distrustfully as he moved along, and the glimmer of suspicion began to grown within his mind. The Qux were a race of telepaths, but the Doctor wasn’t sure just how powerful they were. He doubted that they had the power to project things into anyone’s minds. It was only when there was a loud increase in the amount of noise outside, a rush of commotion which signalled to the Doctor that something of potential importance was happening, that the Doctor realised just how long he had been thinking to himself in the empty restaurant. He got off his stool and moved towards the door, pausing at the exit. The Doctor was amazed by the transformation outside in the corridor. Whereas the station had always been quite busy, this was something completely different. A constant mass of harassed people pulsed through the area, battling their way through. They all looked very worried about something. The Doctor tried to flag down several people, but the Draconian he approached first ignored him and the abuse that the Tharil dished out to the Doctor was something that he wouldn’t want to repeat to anyone. Eventually he managed to flag down a passing Chimeron. ‘What’s happening here? Why is everyone in such a rush?’ ‘You don’t know?’ She had dark hair - very unusual for a member of the Chimeron - but quite a pleasant face, and the hint of an exotic alien accent. ‘They say that Death has come to the station! Death will destroy us all!’ Her voice built up and she ended up shouting the last sentence to make herself heard. The Doctor thanked her, and made his way back into the restaurant. The Doctor began to feel that this place was cursed somehow. Death? What was she talking about? And why did it have everyone in such a panic? He sat down, and started to think again. Before he had had a chance to really get to grips with his thoughts he was interrupted by someone shouting his name. ‘Doctor!’ cried a familiar voice. The Doctor turned around and was pleased to see his friend Nick ambling into the room. ‘Nick,’ the Doctor said. ‘I thought you might come back here.’ The Doctor didn’t want to discuss what he thought had happened to him just yet, so as he stood up to greet his companion he resolved to try and be aversive to any line of questioning of that kind. ‘You’ve missed a hell of a lot while you’ve been away!’ Nick said, the relief at finding the Doctor again evident on his face. ‘Where’ve you been?’ ‘I...’ The Doctor deliberately adopted a tone of silence, before becoming more abrupt. ‘That’s rather difficult to explain.’ Even to someone who experienced it, the Doctor added to himself. ‘I have a bad feeling about this place, all this commotion - something has the locals panicked.’ the Doctor said, indicating the busy corridors outside. ‘Tell me about it’ Nick whispered, to himself more to the Doctor. ‘Wait till I tell you what’s been happening to me!’ The Doctor wasn’t listening to him. He caught sight of another Qux guard amongst those traversing the corridor outside. ‘I think we should leave now.’ While we still can, the Doctor nearly added. Now... The Doctor and Nick made their way to the docking bay, the Doctor carefully surveying the surroundings and those infesting them. He was particularly aware of every Qux guard that they passed, and he eyed them with increasing suspicion. This was not lost on Nick who was keeping a close eye on his friend. ‘Your passes?’ The Qux guard stood tall in front of them. The Doctor silently handed his pass over, staring straight into the eyes of the guard. The guard silently checked the pass before handing it back and then doing the same for Nick’s. ‘You may pass.’ As the Doctor and Nick walked through the gates towards their awaiting transportation, neither of them noticed as a man watched them both from further back in the queue. The Doctor would have recognised him instantly as the Figure from his recent dreams, but he was too concerned with getting away from the station to notice. As the Figure stepped forward in the line, he smiled to himself revealing his perfect white teeth. * * * ‘And you have no idea whom caused this presence to appear in the mindscape?’ Frencius Serapart said to his daughter as she stood proud before his desk amongst the lavish surroundings of his main office onboard the station. ‘No, sir,’ Dennai Serapart replied. ‘Whoever or whatever it was, it eluded our efforts to locate them.’ ‘No matter. We gained what we needed.’ Both Frencius and Dennai knew that he was right. ‘You know how important this is to the Qux, Dennai.’ Serapart said. ‘I selected you for this task, not because you’re my offspring, but because you are one of the few that can be safely entrusted with the transportation of such significant material.’ ‘I understand perfectly, Commander,’ Dennai’s tone was respectful. ‘I will not rest until I have returned this to Qux Prime.’ The ‘this’ she was talking about was the opened container sitting on the desk in between them. It’s contents were a series of tubes and vials containing various coloured liquids. She reached out and shut the silver box, it’s lid snapping into place as the cryogenic lock activated. She went to take the box from the desk, but the Commander’s voice stopped her. ‘Dennai.’ Serapart rested his chin on his fingers that he had assembled to form a pyramid. ‘Do not fail us. The Qux are counting on you.’ ‘I understand.’ Dennai nodded her head. She took the container off the desk and left the room. As soon as the office doors had closed, signifying her departure, Serapart turned in his chair to a monitor station. ‘Computer, open a COMMline to Qux Prime. Inform the President that the package is on the way.’ The monitor signified that the communication was underway. It would take some time before the connection was made. He stood up, and walked over to the other side of his office. There was a bust of the head of the Qux President there, which Serapart paused in front of. He placed his right hand upon the cold stone of the head, making sure his fingers were in specific places. Once his identity was confirmed, there was a soft chime and a hatch opened in front of him. The small space contained a silver box, identical to that which Dennai took with her only a few moments before. A smile overtook Serapart's face as he contemplated the contents within and what it would mean to him and the whole of the Qux Empire. Next Episode: The Extinction Device CAST Brian Blessed as The Doctor Nick Pereira as Nick John Goodman as Travor Haddasi Lara Flynn Boyle as Dennai Serapart Anthony Ainley as The Master Amy Acker as A Waitress Peter Jurasik as Loqra Haddasi Michael Richards as Ytine Kramanzer Jason Alexander as G’xlan Hiaalox Portia De Rossi as Kaitnan Pertarnai Ian Richardson as Frencius Serapart Samuel L. Jackson as The Figure James Marsters as Brad DeMars Fraser Hines as Jamie McCrimmon Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield William Hartnell as The Original Doctor Jon Pertwee as The Short-Lived Doctor Tom Baker as The Might-Have-Been Doctor Nabil Shaban as Tkarsein Mira Furlan as Passer-by | Season One Index | Season Two Index |