‘Brothers…’ the creature said looking around at the other members of his species. He was clearly the leader out of them all. ‘Capture them! We will execute at the ceremony tomorrow.’ The creatures seemed to smile with delight at the thought despite the lack of an obvious mouth.
The Doctor and Jenkins were marched forwards, long sharp arms sticking in their backs. ‘Alright, alright!’ Jenkins cried, wincing at the pain. The duo walked in the direction that they were lead.
They were thrown into a very cramped cell. Literally thrown, the Doctor and Mr Jenkins fell onto the mud floor. The Doctor sprung up from the ground, but the portly man struggled to get to his feet.
‘Help me would you?’ he asked. The Doctor obliged, using a lot of strength to pull the large man up.
‘Now,’ the Doctor said, ‘we need to figure a way out of here.’ He looked around at the cell. There was no sunlight and no windows. There were huge spiked metal bars in front of them and no visible way out. The Doctor stopped and checked the pockets of his plum tweed jacket, and sighed. He’d left his trusty sonic screwdriver in the car. Not to be defeated, the Doctor knelt down and tried to pick the lock but to no avail.
He stood up and turned to Jenkins. ‘Now, I want answers,’ the Doctor said, his eyes boring into Jenkins’ coal-like eyes. ‘When did you discover the wormhole?’
Jenkins asked, confusion spreading over his face. ‘The thing that brought us here?’
‘Yes, that.’ the Doctor said flippantly.
‘I don’t know where it came from; honestly, it was just there one morning. I stumbled across it and came here. Luckily there was none of those monsters.’
‘And the diamond, did you find that too?’
‘It was just there when I was taken here!’ he cried. ‘Where is here anyway?’
‘I’m not sure. Somewhere in the outer reaches of the universe,’ the Doctor pondered.
Jenkins laughed in disbelief. The universe?’ he asked, ‘Do you mean that we are on an alien planet?’
‘You wouldn’t find creatures like that anywhere on Earth, would you?’ the Doctor smiled at the man’s naivety. ‘So you had no idea about the importance of that mystery object?’
‘No. No idea at all,’ Jenkins said. The Doctor nodded, he believed the middle-aged man. Probably the only time he’d ever been honest that day.
~~~
Jenkins must have fallen asleep because he opened his eyes to find the Doctor fiddling with the lock. He sat up, and felt his back creak in pain. He was lying on the cold, mucky ground. There was silence all around, none of the noise from the stomping of the insect creatures.
‘Doctor how long have we been here?’ he asked.
‘By my reckoning, I’d say around nine hours. Jo was waiting for me outside. She was relying on me to stop the invasion. I’ve no idea what the world looks like now. It could be devastated,’ he said solemnly.
‘Any closer to opening that lock?’ Jenkins asked worriedly.
‘I’ve been working on it all night,’ the Doctor replied. ‘I tried shouting for the creatures, but I think they’re miles away. It’s very nearly there. It’s a very difficult lock, unlike every other I’ve seen. But we should be back home in an hour or so,’ he smiled. Jenkins sighed with relief.
Eventually, an hour later than promised, the lock came loose, and the cell door swung open. The Doctor smiled with delight. ‘Come on, we’re getting out of here.’
‘About time too!’ Jenkins complained.
The Doctor carefully looked around the corridor that the single cell was set in. The coast was clear. ‘No sign of those creatures,’ the Doctor muttered. ‘My guess is they are all too busy with the ceremony,’ He crept carefully down the corridor, Jenkins lagging behind him.
‘And busy preparing our deaths,’ Jenkins said to himself worriedly.
The Doctor, half hidden by rocks, made his way towards the location of the wormhole. The large figure of Mr Jenkins made less of an effort to hide despite his best attempts. The caves were silent as a grave. No hint of those monstrous creatures. But the Doctor stopped dead in his tracks, and looked back and Jenkins silently warning him to stay quiet. Two of the creatures darted out of nowhere, right in front of them both. The Doctor stayed still, working out what to do.
‘The sacrifices have escaped!’ one creature gasped.
‘No need to be like that, old boy,’ the Doctor said trying his hardest to be courteous. The creature roared at him, and lifted one of its giant legs ready to strike his victims. Jenkins cowered in fear, but the Doctor was quick to react. One of his legs gave a powerful kick sending the creature stumbling a few feet back. Jenkins smiled with surprise.
‘I’m rather spry for my age.’ the Doctor quipped. The Doctor and Jenkins ran to the wormhole, the two creatures giving chase. The kick that sent the creature back had saved both their lives. They were gone in instant, a ball of blue energy. The two creatures’ huge eyes stared at the energy with confusion and anger.
The Doctor and Mr Jenkins stepped back into familiar territory of the shop. The Doctor grabbed a strange looking device from a pocket and used to it to seal the wormhole. He just couldn’t let those creatures stalk the country; the results would be barely worth thinking about.
‘That was close!’ Jenkins exclaimed.
‘Quite,’ the Doctor replied.
‘What day is it?’ he said, looking at the Doctor with the sudden realisation that he didn’t know how long they’d been there in total.
The Doctor craned his neck to look at the clock that adorned one of the walls. He frowned.
‘According to the clock, we’ve only been gone a minute. Time does pass differently depending on the location of the planet in question, I guess.’ He smiled with realisation, ‘That means Jo is still waiting outside,’ he said, catching a glimpse of Bessie’s distinctive yellow bodywork.
Suddenly there came a voice from the back of the shop. ‘I’ll be away in a few minutes Mr Jenkins.’ said a girl’s voice. It was Sophie.
‘I thought she’d gone? Actually I need a word with her,’ said the Doctor with a serious look.
‘Sophie could you come here, somebody would like a word with you,’ Jenkins said in the direction of the girl. There were a few noises and Sophie appeared from the back of the shop.
‘Yes? Just popped back for my coat, completely forgot it. My mum says I’d lose my head if it wasn’t—‘
‘Hello, I’m the Doctor,’ he said, cutting the girl short. ‘I need to ask you a few questions, if that’s alright my dear?’
Sophie looked confused. ‘Fine.’
‘Did you know about the wormhole?’ the Doctor questioned her.
‘I don’t know what you are talking about,’ she told him. She looked at her boss, ‘Is he mad?’ she asked him.
‘Just answer the question, Sophie.’ her boss replied.
‘No, I don’t know anything about a wormhole,’ the teen said.
‘You see, I rather think you do, Sophie.’ said the Doctor accusingly. ‘Obviously, this isn’t your real form, but you have created the wormhole, knowing fully that Mr Jenkins here would stumble across it and find the religious artefact. I didn't quite buy the idea that the precious object would be left there for him to find.’
Jenkins looked confused, but he went along with what the Doctor was saying.
‘Have you anything to say?’ Mr Jenkins asked her.
‘You knew that stealing the diamond and that leaving it there would cause a full scale war. I don’t know the full story, but I’m assuming you have a grudge of some sort against those insect creatures,’ the Doctor continued.
Sophie, or rather the creature inside her body, grabbed a silver weapon out of her pocket. She aimed it at the Doctor. ‘You know too much,’ she said. ‘I can’t let you go. I’m afraid you both have to die!’
‘Not today thank you,’ the Doctor said. He reached out for Sophie’s gun, but she pressed firmly on the trigger. Nothing happened. It needed ammunition, and the Doctor had spotted that, even if she hadn’t.
‘Now, off you pop back to your people, and don’t do that again!’ he told her, like a school teacher giving a small child a right ticking off and with that Sophie angrily stormed out.
‘All that time, she was alien?’ Jenkins said, hardly believing his ears. But the events of the adventure in the caves had opened his mind to all sorts of things.
‘Yes, I’m afraid so.’
‘And to think I almost retired and gave her the shop!’ he said, smiling at his foolishness. ‘Whatever possessed me?’
‘Low-level hypnotism, I expect,’ the Doctor pondered.
‘Doctor, I have to thank you. Without you, I’d have died at the hands of those things!’
‘Not at all, happy to be of service,’ he smiled. ‘Now, where did those car parts get to?’
The Doctor exited the shop, his hands full of curious metal parts, and greeted Jo Grant. ‘Hello Jo.’
‘You sound like you haven’t seen me for days!’
She laughed. He smiled knowingly at her. She didn’t know that’s exactly what had happened.
‘Now then, time to fix Bessie.’
‘Actually, Doctor,’ Jo started. She was slightly worried about the Doctor’s reaction. ‘I took the liberty of finding a telephone box and calling UNIT HQ. The Brigadier is going to send a car to fetch us.’
‘Jo, you really should have more faith in me.’ The Doctor walked around to look at Bessie’s engine. It was a mess of wrecked parts; some had even exploded and fallen to the ground around him. ‘But perhaps you’re right,’ he smiled paternally at his young companion.
‘You know, the Brigadier will never let me forget this,’ He shut the engine cover and walked back beside Jo.
‘Let’s wait for the car.’
‘So, what took you so long?’
‘Oh, nothing.’ the Doctor lied.
written by
STELLAR EXPLORER
artwork by
COLIN JOHN
copyright 2012