Rain of Terror

 

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Doctor Who: Rain of Terror

By Nancy G. .

(14th April, 2008–1st draft—found on this website: http://moviefanficchains.com/Doctor%20Who/Individual%20Fanfic/Rain%20of%20Terror%2001.htm  )

( This version–2nd draft published  April, 2009)

Doctor Who is exclusive copyright of the BBC

Dedicated to Ms. Catherine Tate, and Mr. David Tennant.

CHAPTER ONE

Little Mary Perkins kept her face plastered to the window of the lounge. In the background, the television burbled out the drone of voices from some morning talk programme.

Through the doorway, Mary could hear her mum clattering dishes in the kitchen. She turned and cast the briefest of glances in that direction. Her mum had promised her that they’d go for a walk to the park, after she’d done the washing up.

 

Sighing, Mary turned back to the window and watched as a trickle of rain ran down the pane of glass. Another chased after it, as if they were racing each other to get to the bottom.

The child sighed again, impatiently stamping one of her blue wellies on the carpet.

“Mary, stop that at once!” Her mum shouted. “Making a fuss won’t get you outside any sooner.” She added in a softer tone, “You could always help me with the washing up, sweetheart. That would be much more productive than sulking the morning away, in there.”

The little girl didn’t reply. She looked at the photo of her dad on the fireplace mantle. He’d left home last month, without even saying goodbye to her. She remembered overhearing her mum telling one of the neighbours that he’d said that he didn’t want to deal with family responsibilities, any longer. Mary sometimes wondered whether her mum and dad would still be together, if they would have been happier, if she hadn’t ever been born.

After a long silence, her mother asked, “Is it still raining, dear?” But again, her daughter didn’t answer. Finishing up in the kitchen, Mary’s mum never heard the sound of the front door, opening and closing.

Mary had gone back to watching the rain and thinking of her dad, when suddenly a yellow balloon came down from the sky and landed in the little front garden. Well, at least it looked like a balloon.

Not bothering to put on her anorak, she went outside to investigate. She walked over to the object, which was lying on the grass. On second look, it seemed less like a balloon and more like a bouncy ball. Like the one she used to bounce in front of her parent’s garage, causing the old lady next door yell at her for making so much noise.

Mary picked the bouncy ball up and hugged it to her chest. It was somewhat soft and translucent, and rather heavy.

Just then, it began to slowly pulse with an inner glow, and Mary stiffened. Her head cocked, as if she was listening to someone’s voice. Yet, there was only the sound of the rain, dripping from the eaves and falling on the pavement.

Several minutes passed, but Mary didn’t even seem to notice coldness of the rain, as it plastered her hair, ran down her face and soaked her jumper and jeans. Abruptly, she nodded and said woodenly, “I understand.”

With the ball grasped against her diminutive frame, she purposefully walked a short ways down the street, and around the corner.

Seconds later, Mary’s mother opened the front door and called out for her daughter. There was no answer.

The Tardis was heading backwards through the time vortex. Inside, the Doctor was leisurely monitoring the controls, grinning with the delight of yet another journey with one of his human friends. In this case, they were headed into the Earth’s not-so-distant past.

On a whim, he’d allowed his latest human companion, Donna, to choose their next destination. The Doctor waited with mild impatience, as she tried to decide.

“I have well over a million years to choose from, Doctor. Give me a chance to think about it, yeah?” She’d retorted.

The Doctor recommended such events as the signing of the Magna Carta, the opening of the first World’s Fair, or even better, going back to ancient Egypt, to view the building of the Great Pyramid. “You might be in for a few surprises, there.” He said suggestively.

Donna shook her head. “Construction? That’s a bit boring, isn’t it?” She replied. “I’m thinking something much more exciting. Like one of those haute couture fashion shows, in nineteen-fifties Paris.”

He raised an eyebrow, looking at Donna askance. “A fashion show!” He exclaimed, “All the wonders of Earth’s past, and you want to look at clothing?”

She nodded, indicating the fifties-style casual attire she’d picked out from the Tardis wardrobe. “What do you think I changed into these togs for?” She said, “A stroll through some drafty, smelly medieval castle? I’m not havin’ that again!”

The Doctor suddenly looked a tad contrite. “Erm–yeah, sorry about that. But look on the bright side, those few minutes on the rack did wonders for your back.”

The look Donna shot in his direction was less than amused, muttering, “I knew I shoulda’ stayed home, that time.”

He gave a deep sigh, looking down at his scruffy white trainers. Then he shrugged good-naturedly. “Oh, alright, Donna, I’ll take you to the…fashion show.” He said, pronouncing those last two words as if they left a sour taste in his mouth. “After all, I did say anywhere you want.”

Under his breath he added, “Times like this, I almost miss having Mickey on board.”

Tilting her head at him, Donna said, with a hint of sarcasim, “What was that?”

“Oh, uh–I just was saying that it’s lucky I’m not easily bored.” The Doctor said innocently. “Right, then,” he smiled, “Oleg Casini, here we come.”

He confidently flicked a switch, banged something with the hammer, and then the Tardis’ central column lit up and slowly began to rise and fall. The Doctor’s face glowed with delight, as he stood staring lovingly at the machinery, groaning and shuddering into time and space.

The Tardis hadn’t been in flight for more than five minutes, when suddenly, something blew. It sent a shower of sparks cascading around the Doctor. He backed up, coughing and waving away the smoke.

“Now what?” Donna shouted.

The Doctor frantically waded in, fingers stabbing at the controls with lightning swiftness. He looked mildly disconcerted as two parts of the console broke off.

For a moment, he simply stood there, staring at the pieces lying in the palm of his hand. “Whoops.” He said casually, “Oh dear, that’s not a good sign, is it?”

Just then, the ship gave a sharp lurch, nearly throwing him into Donna’s arms.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, as he sprang towards the console again. The Doctor caused the metal decking to thunder, as he ran around the console in a frenzied state, trying to bring his ship back under control.

“What in the blazes is going on?” Donna shouted.

“The dimensional stabilizers have failed!” He called out through the smoke, “Something is interfering with the Tardis’ navigational equipment.”

His face a mask of worry, the Doctor spat out, “The stabilization adaptor has short-circuited, the antediluvian torque arrestor is completely off-line, and,–oh no. Look at that. The helmlick regulator has been fried until it’s extra-crispy!” He shook his head and gave a frustrated sigh, “Can’t blame that on Harry, this time.”

“Who?” Donna asked.

“Old friend of mine, it’s not important.” the Doctor said dismissively, glancing at the monitor. Shaking his head even more, he stepped back suddenly and stared at the still-moving central column, for once completely at a loss for words.

The Doctor looked at Donna, seemingly flummoxed. Scrunching up his face, he ran his fingers through his hair, muttering, “It can’t be! It just can’t be!”

“What? What is it, Doctor?” Donna asked anxiously.

He just shook his head, speechless for a moment. When he finally found the words, he said, “I don’t know how or why Donna, but we’ve been hijacked! We’re being pulled back to your own time period.”

 

CHAPTER TWO

Racing back to the console, the Doctor flipped the monitor around and was hunched over it, mesmerized by what he saw there. Donna came and stood beside him, leaning over his shoulder.

“For something to do that,” He said to her, “it would take unbelievable amounts of power, not to mention an advanced knowledge of time travel theory. There’s no one on Earth that would have that sort of knowledge, not even Captain Jack.”

Donna frowned, “Captain Jack? Is that another alien or something? Sounds like a pirate or a cheap brand of rum.” She said.

Again, the Doctor waved her query away, “Friend of mine, it’s not important.” He replied.

Before Donna could remark on the Doctor’s dismissal of her questions about his friends, he continued, “What is important, is the how and the why, Donna. That’s what worries me. Because if it is coming from your time, it’s a sure bet that whoever’s behind this is not one of the natives.”

She shook her head, trying to comprehend. “You mean there’s some alien hanging around my own time stream, deliberately pulling us back there?”

The Doctor had calmed down considerably, and seemed to be now taking this sudden turn of events all in his stride. “Yeah,” He said, straightening his tie, which had gone askew during the crisis, “I suppose so, Donna.” He winked at her and grinned, “Nice being popular, isn’t it?”

Donna wasn’t so sure. “Why would anyone want to do that?” She asked.

Just then, with a jolt and a thump, the central column stopped moving. “Well–” the Doctor drawled, shrugging into his coat and opening the Tardis door, “We’ve landed, so I guess the only way to find out, is to step outside and have a look, eh?”

They’d landed under a large tree in a park. In the near distance were tall buildings, and they could faintly hear the occasional sounds of police sirens, cars hooting and other traffic noises.

Nearby, the park benches, children’s swings and picnic tables all stood alone and deserted. The Doctor’s breath steamed up into the air, as a raw wind snatched at the corners of his long coat. The low gray sky was teaming down with rain.

Donna had gone and put on some rain gear, and was stood peering over the Doctor’s shoulder. “I hate the rain.” She stated flatly.

The Doctor grinned, “Not me.” Paraphrasing an old American pop tune, he sang: ‘Rainy days and Mondays never get me down.’ “

Returning the smile, she said, “I’d rather you left off the Britain’s Got Talent audition, thanks.”

He raised an eyebrow, “Then I suppose a Wombles song is out of the question?”

“Well,” she smirked, looking at the dreary scene, “I can tell you one thing. If the weather’s anything to go by, we’re certainly in England.”

The Doctor looked through the trees and spied a familiar building. “Not exactly.” He said quietly.

Donna cast him a curious glance.

“We’re in Cardiff.” The Doctor explained.

“Oh.” She said, and shrugged, “Well, at least we’re still on Earth–sort of.”

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong with Cardiff? I rather like Wales. Parts of it remind me a little of Galifrey.”

Tilting his head he added, “Especially the pubs. I rather like pubs. I remember one time, me, the Master and President Borusa walked into this pub down the street from the Citadel, and the Master says…”

Abruptly, Donna tugged on his coat, asking, “Doctor, what’s that ugly thing?”

He frowned, exclaiming indignantly, “Who’s telling this joke, you or me?”

Nevertheless, his gaze followed the direction of Donna’s pointing finger.

Hanging down from the top horizontal bar of the nearest set of swings, was some kind of snake-like creature. Greyish-green and mottled brown in colour, it was less than a meter long, with a dark knob-like head. It had a tubular body that was slightly wider than one of the Doctor’s arms, one side of which–the side gripping the top of the swings, seemed to be covered with gaping suckers.

The Doctor gave a low whistle, “Oh, you are right, Donna. That is rather ugly, isn’t it? Still,” he said, tugging on his ear, “beauty’s all in the eye of the beholder, as they say. Oh, look at that!” He smiled, holding out his hand, palm upwards, “The rain’s letting up.”

And indeed, the dark clouds had lightened to pearl gray, as the downpour changed over to a light mist, with a murky sun trying to shine through.

Stepping out of the Tardis doorway, he strode over to the swings. “Let’s have a look at our little friend here, shall we? I like parks, never know who you’re going to meet, when you go for a stroll in the park. Don’t you like parks, Donna?” He rattled off as he walked.

Yet, despite his light-hearted banter, Donna couldn’t help but notice that the Doctor wasn’t smiling any longer.

 

CHAPTER THREE

As the Doctor got closer to the slimy looking creature, Donna held back, trailing behind him. He stopped and she walked up beside him, but he’d put out a hand, barring her way. “Don’t get any closer.” He warned her sternly.

Donna simply stared at him like he’d suddenly grown an extra head, and snorted. “Yeah, right, Doctor.” She said sarcastically, “That was the first thing on my mind, when I woke up this morning: ‘I think I’ll get up close and personal with some disgusting alien thing.’

The Doctor turned around and looked at her with a surprised expression. “Really? I had the same thought, myself. Well,” He said, “truth to tell, I think the very first thing on my mind this morning was, ‘Where did leave my Zeus plugs?’ followed by, ‘Gosh, I really shouldn’t have had the curry, last night.’ Meeting a disgusting alien was actually my third thought, if you want to be a stickler for details.”

Donna just rolled her eyes at the Doctor, crossed her arms and gave a resigned sigh.

Slipping on his dark rimmed, geeky looking glasses, the Doctor stood at arm’s length from the creature. Hands in his coat pockets, he bent forward, giving the thing a close inspection. “Hmmm—a Gelina larva, by the looks of it.”

“What’s that, then?” Donna asked.

The Doctor backed up slowly, and looked at her with a sober expression on his face. “Trouble.” He said uneasily.

He got out his sonic screwdriver. “What are you going to do?” Donna whispered.

Holding the screwdriver up to his face, the Doctor checked the settings. “It’s sort of hibernating at the moment. It’s the rain, you see. Cooler temperatures automatically cause these things to go dormant. The larva come from a semi-desert environment, and must have a certain amount of light and warmth in order to wake and feed.” He said.

Giving an amused snort, Donna said “Well, they really picked the wrong country to come to then, if that’s the case.”

The Doctor finished making the adjustments to the sonic, and pocketed his glasses. Then, he backed up some more and held the screwdriver at arm’s length, pointing towards the slimy thing. “Think I’ll give baby here a little wake-up call.”

Alarmed, Donna grabbed the Doctor’s arm. “Have you gone bonkers, Doctor? You just said it was trouble!”

Not taking his eyes from the creature, he shook her off, saying, “Relax, Donna, it’ll be fine. We’re far enough away that it can’t come in contact with us.” Still pointing the sonic, he cranked his head around at her and added, “But just in case I’m wrong, you might want to stand back.”

“Why? ” She asked, “What happens if it touches someone? Or do I want to even know? I mean, it’s not going to be something really disgusting is it? My friend Tinky used to blow milk bubbles out of her nose and that was so gross…”

The Doctor turned around and gave her a funny look. “Tinky? You have a friend named Tinky?”

“What are you on about?” She demanded. “You have a friend on Craxus Three named Mr. Peepoo! I mean, how bad is that? Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to keep a straight face when you introduced us?”

Returning his attention to the creature, the Doctor decided a change of subject was in order. “To the larva, we’re food. And believe me; these babies are born with quite an appetite. On their home world they’re fed intravenously, a diet of manufactured liquid proteins–basically an alien baby formula. But, when they have no parents to care for them, they must fend for themselves. And that means they have to get just a little more aggressive about their survival.”

Donna really wasn’t caring for the way this conversation was going. “By aggressive, I take it you don’t mean that these things start fighting each other to be the first one at the table in the morning.”

The Doctor shook his head. “No. They get their nutrients by attaching themselves to a host, and slowly turning it into liquid protein. Supposedly, one larva can consume a living being–a human in your case, in about two days. It usually takes about half that time for the host to actually die. Not a pretty picture, I’m afraid.”

“I knew this was going to be gross.” she said, shaking her head in disgust. ”Okay, let me get my head around this. This thing can slowly turn us into human milk shakes, and you want that to wake up and say good morning to us, before it has us for its breakfast?” Donna exclaimed, “What for?”

While he worked on the screwdriver, the Doctor explained: “These larva all grow independently from their family nestlings. They don’t actually meet their families until they develop into the humanoid form. But, when the babies are not within their dormant phase, their parents are able to maintain a low-level telepathic connection with their young, which enables them to monitor the growth process and check on its health. It works sort of like one of your remote baby monitors.”

Giving her a serious look, the Doctor continued, “The thing is, Donna, if I can trace the telepathic link, I may be able to find out where mum and dad are hiding.”

The Doctor pressed down on the screwdriver and, as the tip turned blue, it let out a low-pitched vibrating hum. Nothing happened.

The creature continued to hang there, limp as a wet tea towel. The Doctor looked down at the sonic and shrugged. “Huh. Either the little one here is deeply into its nap time, or I must’ve got the frequency a bit wrong.”

Pursing his lips, the Doctor put his glasses back on, and concentrated on readjusting the screwdriver’s settings.

It was while he was focused on the sonic, that the creature unexpectedly detached itself from the overhead bar and flung itself bodily though the air, right at the Doctor’s face.

 

CHAPTER FOUR

With a shout of “Whoa!” that was accompanied by a startled scream from Donna, the Doctor immediately sprang backwards.

Donna had screamed partly from fear, and partly because the Doctor had nearly landed in her arms again.

“What is it with you today?” A slightly breathless Donna asked sarcastically.

The Doctor only glanced at her. He then stood stock still, warily observing the creature. It was on the grass now, swaying in an upright position. The thing’s one enormous black eye stared at them unblinkingly.

It reminded Donna of a cobra she’d seen in some nature film, waiting to strike at its victim. The larva’s suckers moved in and out slightly, as if they were tiny little mouths, gulping in air.

Slowly and Carefully the Dcotor leaned over, whispering in Donna’s ear. Speaking so low that she could barely hear him, he said, “Don’t move or speak. Don’t even breathe loud. The larva are born nearly blind, but the suckers act these creature’s ears, nose and mouth. They can pick up the slightest sound, smell or movement.”

Indeed, as the Doctor spoke, the thing twitched and slithered forward slightly. He froze and held his breath, not taking his eyes off of the alien baby. Even a Time Lord couldn’t survive an attack by one of these creatures. There’d be no eleventh Doctor, for there’d be nothing much left of him to regenerate, just a puddle of nasty goop.

The sky suddenly seemed to turn dark. Apparently, the rain storm had kicked things up a notch again.

Over her wildly beating heart, Donna could hear the heavy drops pattering on her hat and coat, and pelting the plastic seats of the swings. A perishing wind began whipping through the leaves on the trees. For some reason, the sound made her suddenly think of the sea, beating relentlessly against a rocky shore.

After a few seconds, that seemed like long minutes to Donna, the creature dropped to the floor again and lay still.

The Doctor slowly let out his breath and re-pocketed his glasses.Walking backwards, he inched himself and Donna back towards the Tardis. Once at a safe distance, the Doctor turned his wet face up to the rain. “Ha-ha! Good old British weather!” He laughed.

Donna shook her head, “What’s so good about it? I’m freezing!”

Grinning with genuine relief, the Doctor said, “The sudden drop in temperature, reactivated the larva’s dormant cycle. A little soak in the cold rain, and it’s beddy-bye time for old slimey over there.”

Repositioning the sonic screwdriver, the Doctor held it out towards the creature once more. Donna grabbed his arm. “Yes? What is it this time?” he frowned.

“You’re not blinking waking it up again?” She exclaimed worriedly.

The Doctor smiled at her a little sadly. “No, Donna. I’m putting it to sleep.” he said quietly, “Permanently this time, because there’s nothing else I can do. Its mind isn’t fully formed yet, so there’s no way I can reason with it, ask it nicely not to go ‘round using humans for baby formula.”

The screwdriver emitted a gentle buzz for a minute. Donna watched as the larva curled into a tight ball and then slowly dissolved into itself, leaving nothing behind.

Looking at the Doctor’s somber face, Donna realized that although the alien thing was both ugly and deadly, it had also been young and alive. “I’m sorry.” She said simply.

Putting his arm around her shoulder, the Doctor sighed and said, “Yeah, me too.”

Immediately, the Doctor straightened his tie and clapped his hands together. “Right! So, the one-million pound question is, Donna, where did our little junior Gelina come from, eh?”

Donna shuddered. “I’m not sure that I’m going to like where this conversation is going.” She said, giving him an anxious look. “Hang about, Doctor. I’ve just realized; if that’s only a baby, what’s an adult one of these things look like?”

The rain coursed down the Doctor’s face, but he didn’t seem to notice as he enlightened his friend. “You know how a butterfly starts out its life, as a caterpillar, munching its way across a leaf?”

Donna nodded yes. “And we’re the leaf, yeah I got that bit.” She brightened suddenly, “Oh, wait Doctor! Are you saying those ugly things are going to turn into giant butterfilies or something? How cool would that be?”

Putting up his hand to hush her, the Doctor said, “No, Donna, they are not giant butterflies. I’m talking about how they evolve in the course of their lifespan, going from a larva to a an adult. It’s much the same with the Gelina. They start out life as a larva, feeding on formula–or, whatever life form happens to cross their paths. About six months later they shed their outer skin and turn into a humanoid creature.”

The Doctor paused, rubbing his hands through his hair, scattering drops of water onto Donna’s face, which netted him an indignant “Oy!” from his friend. “Well,” he continuted, after a muttered apology, “they are sort of humanoid. I mean, they have arms and legs, but really, they more closely resemble your ordinary garden snake: scales instead of skin, which are the loveliest shade of emerald green, by the way.” The Doctor enthused.

Donna raised an eyebrow. “Remind me to use one as a sample, next time I want to paint something green, then.” She muttered.

Looking as if what she just said was perfectly logical, The Doctor said, “Yeah, nice relaxing colour for a library or conservatory.” He went on, “They have forked tongues as well, but their eyes are on little stalks, sort of like a snail’s. They have speech of course, but the Gelina also can communicate by moving their tongues a certain way. Makes it rather complicated to talk to them, though. It took me ages to learn Gelina tongue language!”

So saying, the Doctor opened his mouth and rapidly flicked his tongue in and out at Donna.

“I hope you didn’t just say something rude!” She said suspiciously.

He actually blushed. “Nahh–why ever would you think that?” The Doctor replied innocently, unsuccessfully hiding the cheeky glint in his eyes.

As the Doctor went to open the Tardis door, Donna stopped him and asked, “Do you think it’s these Gelina that brought us back here?”

Shoving his hands into the pockets of his long coat the Doctor shrugged. “Dunno’, maybe. They do originally come from my part of the galaxy, albeit one of the far-flung corners. And, they are a very old race, so it’s entirely possible that the Gelina may have somehow developed vortex technology. I want to check the Tardis archives, to see what–”

 

CHAPTER FIVE

The Doctor and Donna exchanged the briefest of startled looks, before he tore off across the park, in the direction of the frightened cry.

Donna sprinted after him, trying not to slip on the wet grass. The Doctor rounded a large oak, and Donna nearly piled into the back of him. That’s because he had abruptly skidded to a halt.

There, on the gravel path stood a little girl. In front of her was an old lady carrying a shopping bag. The little girl was holding what looked like a large yellow ball, which softly pulsed with a glow from within it.

“Oh, no-no-no-no-no, it can’t be!” The Doctor whispered with dismay.

Even as he spoke, the little girl held up the ball to the lady. The old woman suddenly seemed to be irresistibly drawn to it, even though her fear of the object was quite obvious.

The rain had stopped again. But the three humans and the Time Lord seemed to take no notice of it.

Donna tore her gaze away from the yellow ball, to stare at the Doctor. “Why don’t you do something?” She whispered.

Without looking at her, the Doctor shook his head violently. “I can’t!” He hissed in frustration. “That’s a secondary transverse command sphere. It’s basically a remote connection to the primary sphere. Once the secondary sphere is connected with the slave’s mind, any disruption to the command interface between the secondary and primary sphere’s, would automatically trigger a failsafe device. If that happens, the secondary sphere is programmed to short-circuit the brain-stem.”

Clenching his fists impotentantly, the Doctor explained, “Whoever it is connected to would die instantly. I can only shut it off from the primary source, and we don’t know where that’s located.”

Donna looked on in dismay, as the old woman took the globe from the little girl and stiffened to attention. Donna turned, “Hang on a minute, Doctor.” She said, “Did you just say ‘slave?’ You mean that globe thing turns people into slaves? What for?”

Sucking in his breath the Doctor said, “Well, my first thought is that whoever they are, they must need humans to do something they can’t themselves do–or, won’t do.”

Not liking what she was hearing, Donna frowned, “You mean possibly something dangerous, don’t you? Something that might kill whoever is controlling these people?”

Nodding, his face somber and grave, the Doctor made no comment. The pair of them silently watched the two ‘slaves’ walk down the path, carrying the globe between them.

“Does that mean that the little girl with the sphere and the old lady are going to die, when their usefulness has ended?” Donna asked sadly.

Turning to her, his eyes glittering with anger. “Not if I have anything to say about it, they won’t.” the Doctor said grimly.

The Doctor and Donna cautiously followed Mary and the old woman down the path that lead out of the park.

Donna noticed that the little girl seemed to be staring at some object in the distance. “Doctor, where are we going?” she asked him.

“Where are we going?” the Doctor repeated, as if he hadn’t a clue.

“I asked you first.” Donna said dryly.

Arching an eyebrow at her, the Doctor licked his finger and made a tick mark in the air, saying cheekily, “Hmmm–Donna one, Doctor nil.”

Gesturing in the direction of the two ‘slaves,’ he confided seriously, “We’re following them, of course. Hopefully, they’ll lead us to whomever or whatever pulled us out of the vortex, and we can get to the bottom of all this.”

Donna looked up at him worriedly. “Isn’t that sort of like Daniel going into the lion’s den?”

Not slowing down, the Doctor said, “”I was a lion tamer once, not too long ago. It was right after I dropped you off at your parent’s that Christmas.”

Snorting derisively, Donna said, “Oh come on, Doctor. Pull the other one!”

The Doctor turned and gave her a genuinely hurt look. “No really, Donna. I was looking for a bit of entertainment, thought I’d nip off to northeastern New York in the mid-nineteen twenties, and take in one of Barnum and Bailey’s shows. They really knew how to do a circus right back then, let me tell you. The parade down Broadway, the raising of the ‘big top’–now there was a feat, took twenty men and an elephant to put all that canvas up, oh, it was marvelous!”

Walking with his hands in his pockets, he went on, “Anyway, to make a long story short, I was asked to fill in for the bloke who worked with the big cats, when he became too ill to go on. And,” he exclaimed, patting his bottom, “I’ve still got the scars to prove it!”

Donna smacked him playfully in the arm. “Oh, come off!” she exclaimed.

The Doctor seemed a bit put out by her reaction, “I’m serious, Donna! I’d show them to you, but it wouldn’t do to be seen dropping my trousers in a public place. The Time Lords used to frown on that sort of behaviour.”

Reaching into a pocket, he pulled out a box of lemon drops, popped one in his mouth, and passed the box to Donna. “Here, might help keep you from catching cold. Actually,” the Doctor said, sucking on the sweet, “the Time Lords used to frown quite a lot things I liked to do, as I recall. No fun at all, my lot. Never catch any of them at a party with a lamp shade on their head. They might wear silly hats, but Rassilon forbid they should do something totally spontaneous like wear a lampshade! And, they hated bananas. Can you imagine? Always take a banana to a party, Donna….” the Doctor rattled on, as they continued walking.

A short while later, after following Mary and the woman through what seemed to Donna like half of Cardiff, Donna and the Doctor found themselves outside an abandoned factory near the docks. They followed the two slaves through a broken window, into the dusky interior of the building.

The pair of them quietly tread across the concrete floor, trying their best to avoid walking on any broken glass or debris. The interior of the building smelled musty, with a slight odour of machine oil. Skirting around a hulking piece of old machinery, the Doctor suddenly stopped dead.

Without a second’s pause, he whirled around and dragged Donna down to the floor, behind the big machine. The Doctor placed a firm hand over her mouth, to prevent her from shouting.

That’s when Donna heard the noise. It sounded very close; two strange hissing, guttural voices. The Doctor shot Donna a look that made no bones about the fact that he wanted her to keep still. She nodded her understanding.

He’d just caught a glimpse of two snake people, as he’d peered around the machinery, ducking back only just in time.

Removing his hand from Donna’s mouth with an apologetic smile, the Doctor leaned forward, listening intently to the conversation of two Gelina.

“The bodies of these two are not physically strong,” said the first voice, which had a coarse, deep sound, “We need more slaves, Matheen. It is imperative that we complete the task in the time required.”

The second voice, which was much different, with almost a delicate lilt to it, said, “I chose these two to be the first, because their minds are weak and more easily bent to our will, Slahaartha. I shall use them to help us to harvest other, more suitable slaves.”

The owner of the first voice, the one named Slahaartha, did not sound happy. “The rift will only be open for a few more days. We must be ready before it closes again. You know what will happen to our children if we fail.”

There was a long hiss, whether in anger or frustration, the Doctor was unable to tell. “Do you think he will come?” Matheen asked.

“The Doctor is already here, somewhere.” Slahaartha said.

Donna looked up at the Doctor, startled.

Without taking his eyes from the two snake creatures, the Doctor squeezed her arm reassuringly and shook his head.

The deep-voiced Gelina continued, “One of our children awoke, and for a fleeting moment, I felt the Time Lord’s presence. Unfortunately, I have lost contact with the hatchling, since then.”

There was another hiss, sounding more sad than angry this time. “I sense that it is no longer alive.”

Matheen gave a short, startled hiss. “He killed it?”

The Doctor looked away for a moment, a tired expression on his face, before returning his attention to the two snake people.

“It was highly regrettable,” said Slahaartha, “but I believe his actions were purely in self-defense. You know what happens when one of our young first awakens. We are not the only species that places a high value on self-preservation.”

There was a short pause. “Perhaps if he is angry with us, he will not come to our aid.” Matheen said softly.

The other Gelina gave a short hiss that sounded almost like a sigh. “Then, my mate, if we cannot get his assistance voluntarily, we shall have to find other methods of persuasion. Come, Matheen, we must continue with our work.”

The Gelina ceased talking and slowly walked away. The Doctor peered around the machinery, and saw the two creatures climbing the stairs leading to the second floor. Their ‘slaves’ followed behind them, still carrying the yellow globe.

The Doctor sat down on the grimy floor with his legs sprawled out, chewing his lip thoughtfully.

“You’ll have more than claw marks on your bum, if you do that.” Donna said, indicating a spot of oil on the dusty concrete. She crouched down beside him. “You ought to be more careful where you sit. Be a dry cleaners worst nightmare, that suit.”

Absently, the Doctor gazed down at the spot of oil on the concrete, and then his eyes widened in surprise. Scrunching up his face he said, “Now that’s very strange.”

Donna shook her head. “So, let me get this right. You don’t think that two snake people kidnapping old women and children in the heart of Cardiff seems at all strange, but you find a spot of oil next to an old machine and…”

The Doctor interrupted her with a wave of his hand. “Shh-shh-shh-shh-shhhh!”

Donna gave him a pointed look and said sarcastically, “Did someone just puncture a tyre?”

He gazed at the spot intensely. “Donna, bit of hush, ey? I’m thinking.” the Doctor replied tersely.

Giving an exaggerated sigh, Donna said, “Sorry, I didn’t see that lightbulb switched on over your head.”

Ignoring Donna’s jibe, the Doctor said, “That’s fresh oil.”

Donna shrugged, “Probably leaked from the machine.”

“But, Donna, this factory obviously hasn’t been in operation for a very long time, years perhaps.” the Doctor mused.

The Doctor dipped a finger in the oil, and then touched it to his tongue.

Donna made a face. “Do you want some chips to go with that?” she asked wryly.

Then she drew up short. The Doctor was staring straight ahead, his face frozen into a look of both fear and dread.

 

CHAPTER SIX

Grasping the Doctor’s arm, Donna crouched beside him, saying anxiously, “What is it, what’s got you so spooked, Doctor?” He remained silent. “Please, tell me What’s wrong!” she demanded.

After a pause, she released her grip on his arm, still looking into his face and adding more softly, “I know it must be something bad…well, worse than things are now. But, you’re not alone, I’m standing right here beside you, and we can deal with this together, yeah?”

Sucking in his breath, the Doctor looked over at his friend and in a low voice said bitterly, “It’s Vertoil, a very specialized lubricant. Originally discovered on the planet Skaro.”

Donna suddenly felt disquieted, without knowing why. Perhaps it was the expression in the Doctor’s eyes. For, this was one of those rare occasions, when he really did appear to her to be alien and distant.

After another long moment of silence, with the Doctor staring off across the room, Donna touched the Doctor on the arm. “Are you alright?” She asked, concerned.

Shaking off his funk like a dog shedding water, the Doctor bounded to his feet. Holding out his hand to Donna, he smiled sadly and said, “Yeah, ta. No worries.”

Getting to her feet, she looked up at his sad face, saying, “You seem to be a little more than worried, Doctor. I’m your friend, aren’t I? You can talk to me.”

The Doctor gave her a long look and sighed, “You know the old saying about a bad penny?”

Donna tipped her head, thinking. “Oh, I know what you mean, the one about the bad penny always turning up, just when you think you’ve got rid of it.”

Wrinkling her nose she said, “But, what’s that oil got to do with money? Is that some kind of abstract alien political statement?”

Despite his grave demeanor, a slight smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Abstract political statement?” the Doctor exclaimed, “What d’ya think I am Donna Noble, a Tory MP or something?” He held up his hands and gave a mock shudder. “Rassilon forbid.”

Sighing, the Doctor took his friends hand, smiled sadly and said, “No, Donna. The bad penny in this case is an old, old enemy of mine–of the entire universe, for that matter.”

Releasing her hand, the Doctor jammed his hands into his coat pockets, and stalked towards the broken window they’d climbed through.

Donna noticed that the sky seemed to finally be clearing, but that in stark contrast to the skies, the Doctor’s face was dark and ominous.

Once outside, he kept on walking, saying, “These are creatures whose sole purpose is to kill any race that isn’t their own.”

Walking fast to keep up with the Doctor, Donna said, “What? You mean like space Nazi’s?”

As they were walking past an old wool warehouse, the Doctor stopped and turned to look at her. His face was utterly grim. “Oh, they’re far worse than that. They don’t commit genocide on one group or another, but on every race, everywhere, regardless of who or what they are. These beings consider themselves to be the perfect race Donna, everyone else is inferior. No one is safe from them.”

Stopping, the Doctor turned and placed his hands gently on his friend’s shoulders, gazing seriously into her eyes. “You have to understand, Donna. It’s a warrior race whose solitary purpose in life is to kill. They have no concept of mercy, nor do they ever acknowledge compromise or surrender. They don’t just take over other planets, they’ve destroyed whole solar systems, blasted them into dust. That’s how my people…”

The Doctor’s voice faltered for a second, and Donna noticed his hands trembling slightly. Then he sucked in his breath, as if composing himself. “Anyway,” he continued, “these creatures want to be the only race in existence–anywhere. Time and again, I’ve tried to stop them. In fact, my people once tried to get me to break the rules, to go back to the creation of the species, and wipe them out of existence.”

The Doctor gave a bitter laugh and looked away, clenching his fists. “But,” he said in a tortured voice, “I couldn’t bring myself to do it, thought that I didn’t have the right, you see. But, I was only fooling myself. In the end, I did destroy a species, but it was my own people. Somehow, our enemies escaped–and no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try, It seems that I’m powerless to destroy them all. They’re like cockroaches; kill ten, and the next night there’s twenty running around your flat.”

Donna could see that whatever these enemies of the Doctor were, they must be something really awful, to rattle him like this. “And you’re saying that they’re here, in Cardiff? What about those snake people, aren’t they dangerous, as well?”

Running his fingers through his hair, the Doctor growled, “Quite possibly, I don’t know!”

Looking up at the bright white and leaden clouds racing across the sky, and the misty halo of the sun trying to poke through them, Donna rubbed her arms, suddenly feeling cold.

The Doctor had fallen silent, staring morosely at the dripping brick walls of the warehouse. It was as if his sudden outburst had temporarily taken the wind out of his emotional sails.

Putting her arm through his, she asked softly, “So, these enemies of yours, what are they called?”

Returning his hands to his pockets and hunching his narrow shoulders, the Doctor began walking again. “They’re called the Daleks.” He muttered.

Walking along with him, Donna nodded, “You’ve mentioned them before, I think? A while ago, you said something about a battle at Canary Wharf. But,” she said, pulling on his arm, “you defeated them–and though some people were lost, so many more were saved. The whole blinkin’ planet, if what you say is true.”

He stopped abuptly, and was stood staring at her, saying nothing, his eyes dark with a mixture of pain and anger.

Donna gave him a half smile, “And, Doctor, I think that if these Daleks are an old enemy of yours, and you’re still here, that means, you’ve beaten them before, yeah? Alright, they’re impossible to get rid of. Yet, you have managed to stop them, and with me along, we can defeat these things again. So stop being Mr. Doom and Gloom Time Lord, and feeling all sorry for yourself. C’mon, pull yourself together! I’d say we’ve got our work cut out for us, yeah?”

The way the Doctor looked down at her, Donna was half-afraid he was about to tell her off. Maybe even do the unthinkable and slap her.

Instead, to her delighted surprise, he reached over and hugged her warmly. He stood there and held her affectionately for a few moments, his chin resting on her shoulder.

Releasing her, he smiled and said, “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Donna. I think you’re rather special, as well. My own personal one-woman cheering section.”

Donna winked at him and laughed, “I hope you’re not going to ask me to do the ‘wave.’ I always was a bit rubbish at that.”

Grinning with restored confidence and walking with renewed energy, the Doctor took her by the hand and strode off back in the direction of the park. “Come on, Donna, allons-y! Let’s head back to the Tardis. I think a little research is in order.”

A short time later, Donna watched the Doctor standing over the Tardis console with his glasses on, reading whatever was scrolling across the monitor. She assumed that it was in that odd language of circles and shapes, which the Doctor had once said was his native Galifreyan glyphic writing.

Instead, when she peered over his shoulder, she saw the Google logo on the screen. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” She exclaimed, “We came all the way back here, so you could surf the ‘net?”

She along side him, watching the Doctor scrolling through websites at a seemingly impossible speed. “I hope you don’t find anything rude on there, looking up snake people.”

His face lit up by the monitor’s glow, the Doctor shrugged. “You were quite right about some of these conspiracy web sites, Donna. Underneath all of the rumours and speculations, there’s often a grain of truth.”

The Doctor had brought up a website called The Cardiff Alien Theorists Society onscreen. “And, I think I’ve found that one little grain. My friend Captain Jack uses the CATS site all the time, to get information…and leave some misinformation as well, I suspect.” He murmured.

“CATS?” Donna said, “Bet they get a lot of hits for theatre tickets.”

Turning to her, he smirked, “And, people looking for a new moggy, yeah. But, let’s start by seeing what they have to say about any recent people gone missing, eh?”

The Doctor quickly scrolled through pages of information, before stopping and reading a small paragraph. “Look,” he said, pointing at the screen, “it says that there’s been a rash of missing persons over the last few years–whoa!” He exclaimed, wrinkling his brow in concern. “According to these statistics, that number goes way beyond the average for a city this size. Maybe it’s the rift. I wonder if anyone else has noticed?”

“The what?” Donna asked.

Shrugging, the Doctor said, “It’s a long story, we’ve not much time, so here’s the short version: There’s this rift between time and space that runs right through the heart of Cardiff. In fact I sometimes use the energy coming from it to refuel the Tardis. Funny thing though,” he said, tugging on his ear, “is that the rift seems to be getting more and more active, of late. I wonder why?”

Donna looked at him thoughtfully and nodded, “So, you think this rift might be what’s caused the Tardis to be pulled back here?” She mused, “Or, maybe these snake people or Daleks or whatever, are using it for the energy, just like you do.”

The Doctor stopped and raised an eyebrow at her. Then, his eyes widened with glee. “Oh Donna, that’s brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that?” He cried, tearing at his hair, “How could I be so thick? Just happy-slap me and call me an idiot.”

Donna smiled, “Nah, you’re no idiot Doctor, trust me. I had a boyfriend once named Larry, who was an idiot. He got sacked from the Everything-For-A-Pound shop, because he couldn’t remember the prices.”

The Doctor laughed. Then he gave Donna an incredulous look, “They have shops where everything is only one pound?”

Back in the deserted factory by the docks, in a darkened room, a tall domed figure stood before a bank of controls. Behind it, one of the Gelina stood deferentially. It was the male known as Slahaartha.

The Dalek turned suddenly to face him, and the snake creature unconsciously took a step backwards. “The rift energy is flowing into the autolyzer chamber, but the process is too slow. Isonasis must be complete by 21:00 hours tonight. We need more slaves to shift the chromo-magnetizer blocks closer to the rift opening.” The Dalek barked out in its high-pitched, grating voice.

Slahaartha bowed to the Dalek, “We are in the process of obtaining more slaves, and within the next two hours we will be able to increase the amount of slaves working in the chamber.” He said quietly, “Unfortunately, these humans are not immune to the radiation being emitted from the blocks. They quickly weaken and must be replaced often or they will die.”

“Then they will work until they die!” The Dalek shouted. “The process must be completed on time. This planet will become New Skaro, and the Dalek race will forever be supreme!”

Turning its back on the snake-man, the Dalek ordered, “You will double your efforts. You must obtain more humans to replace the dead workers, or you will die and I shall destroy your children, just as the Dalek race destroyed your planet.”

With an alarmed hiss, Slahaartha said sadly, “I understand and obey.”

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

It was late afternoon in the city of Cardiff, and the usual overflow of evening traffic was only just beginning.

In a factory near the docks, workers on an assembly line were busy doing their jobs, with several pairs of bored eyes occasionally straying to the time clock on the wall. At first, none of the workers noticed, when a young girl and old woman had entered the factory floor. Then, the floor manager came up shook his finger at them.

All eyes turned to watch as Mr. Hargrove, the brittle, pompous middle aged man who watched his workers like a hawk, descended on the pair of newcomers.

Looming over the elderly woman and the girl, he barked out, “’ere now, what’s all this then? You two can’t come in here! It’s not safe, is it? What do you want?” He asked, his eyes roaming from the girl to the old woman. “Selling Girl Guide biscuits, are you? Or, perhaps tickets to some charity do?”

From behind her back, the little girl produced the yellow globe which began pulsing with light.

Mr. Hargrove eyed it and looked genuinely surprised. “What’s that, young lady? Some kind of new toy, is it? Well,” he sniffed, “I’m afraid none of us can play with you, now. We’ve work to do, and…”

Without finishing his sentence, Mr. Hargrove suddenly stiffened, as the little girl held out the sphere to him. The old woman looked him in the eye and slowly pointed at the line of workers.

All of the employees in turn, collectively gave their manager a perplexed stare, as he walked towards them with the sphere. As he handed the nearest worker the yellow globe, the young woman stiffened and then mechanically passed it along to the man next to her. And so, the globe was passed on from one employee to the next, down to the end of the line.

The old woman beckoned to the men and women with her finger, and then pointed towards a green and white “EXIT” sign.

Leaving the factory floor, all the workers lined up behind the old woman and the girl, and like a gaggle of geese, followed them outside.

Elsewhere in the city, on a quiet residential street, the Doctor briskly walked down the pavement, carrying a piece of equipment from the Tardis in his arms. The little black box, about the size and shape of a shoe box, was lit up like a Christmas tree and gave off a slight blipping noise.

Donna walked alongside him. Her anorak made rustling noises as she hustled along the rain-drenched walkway, trying to keep up with the Doctor’s long legs. “Well,” she said breathlessly, “if nothing else, hanging out with you, at least I’ve no worries about being fit.”

Not taking his eyes from the dials on the box, the Doctor grinned, “And, just you wait until you see my diet plan!”

“If it involves little fat babies popping out of my bottom, you can forget it, I’m not havin’ any of that, matey.” Donna retorted playfully.

“What have you got against fat people?” The Doctor asked indignantly. “They’re no different from everyone else. Only, there’s more of them to…to be friends with.” He finished lamely.

“Oi!” Donna cried, “are you inferring that I’m…”

The Doctor shushed her, as the box suddenly gave off a series of strident blips. Slipping on his glasses, he studied the device’s readings eagerly. “Eureka! Got’cha now!” The Doctor shouted happily.

“What’s that do anyway, Doctor?” Donna asked, peering at the strange contraption.

“It’s a vibratoanalyer.” He said, as if she should know what he was talking about.

She didn’t, of course, and raised an eyebrow, “And, am I supposed to know what that is? Sounds rather kinky, if you ask me…is it something kinky?”

He looked at her over the frames of his glasses. “No, Donna. I’m a Time Lord, I don’t do kinky–well, not in a way you humans would appreciate, anyway.”

Showing her the device, the Doctor said, “Basically Donna, it’s a portable device to measure and locate energy fluctuations in the rift. It can also detect time-threshold surges and…”

He stopped when Donna suddenly gave his coat a sharp tug, to get his attention. “You can stop getting all techno-geeky on me now…while you’ve been paying attention to that thing-a-ma-wotsit, I’ve been paying attention to something else.”

“Techo-geeky?” The Doctor laughed, then noted Donna’s serious expression, and paused. “What is it?” he asked quietly.

She was stood upon the pavement, holding her palm out flat, letting the raindrops fall upon it. “Doctor,” She said, “I know this is going to sound a bit…odd, but the rain feels different, somehow.”

The Doctor looked at Donna with a baffled expression. “What?”

Then, quickly, he handed her the box, and stepped back. Lifting his face to the sky, the Doctor stuck out his tongue way out and caught the raindrops on it.

Donna smiled, “I used to do that, when I was a little girl.”

She stopped smiling when she saw the look upon the Doctor’s face.

The Doctor stood there indecisively for a moment, muttering, “Systolic hydrocarbons laced with biosodium monochromates? The only planet where it rains like that is…”

His voice trailed off and the Doctor stood there, morosely gazing first at the black box, and then up at the rain. “The main fissure in the rift where the rain is coming from is somewhere just to our north,” he whispered to himself, “but, I’m guessing that the actual control point is down by the docks. Thing is,” he said aloud, to no one in particular, “do I try to seal the rift first and stop the rain right away–and risk having the Daleks open another part of the rift somewhere else, or should I take more time, and work on stopping everything at it’s control point, thereby eliminating any chance of them re-starting their operation somewhere else?”

Donna was trying to follow the Doctor’s one-sided conversation, but all she got out of it, was that the Doctor had a difficult decision to make. For once, she decided that putting her two pence worth in, wasn’t going to help, and she left him alone to his dilemma.

After a long minute of pacing, the Doctor gave a great sigh, and with a shout of, “Come on!” he abruptly pelted down the pavement, back towards the abandoned factory by the docks.

“Where are we going?” Donna called out.

“Back to that factory! You were right, Donna.” The Doctor yelled over his shoulder as he ran, “Absolutely, brilliantly right. The rain has changed. But not for the better, I’m afraid.”

“Why, what’s wrong with it?” she panted, casting a worried glance at the sky, “Has it changed to corrosive acid or something?”

The Doctor turned a corner, his coat tails whipping out behind him. “Not acid rain, Donna, more like…alien rain.” He shouted.

They came to a halt outside the abandoned factory.

“I take it,” Donna said, somewhat out of breath, carefully cradling the Doctor’s box in her arms, “that by alien, you mean that this rain didn’t originate on Earth, yeah?”

Panting from their mad dash, the Doctor nodded yes.

“But,” she asked, “how is that even possible?”

The Doctor was checking out the buildings, making sure that none of the snake people or any Daleks were lurking around outside.

He turned to her, a look of intense anger on his face, “I think the Daleks may be manipulating the rift deliberately, causing a fracture in time and space. They are then using something, possibly some kind of temporal-spaceo magnetics, to pull the atmosphere from another planet, through that fracture, and shift it here to Earth.”

Taking the black box from Donna, the Doctor hid it behind some wooden pallets that were propped up next to a loading dock. “At least, that’s my theory.” He winked, “Let’s say we go back inside and find out if I’m right!”

Once again climbing through the broken window of the old factory, Donna stood on the concrete floor and closed her eyes for a moment, to adjust for the dim light.

With the waning of the day, the inside of the building seemed somehow more ominous and oppressive than ever before. The Doctor slipped a small, powerful torch from one of his pockets and flicked it on.

“What about the rain, Doctor? What’s wrong with it?” Donna whispered.

“Well,” He sighed, “the rain comes from a planet in the Triopane system. Without going into specifics about its exact composition, this rain contains compounds that in the right quantities can be lethal to humans. It won’t harm plants and most animal life, but when humans absorb enough of the rain’s toxins into their bloodstream, it forms a thick substance which coats the lungs for a few seconds before it liquefies. In essence, people literally drown in the rain from the inside.”

Donna shuddered and grabbed his arm, “Wait! We’ve just been out in that rain. Does that mean that you and I…”

The Doctor shook his head. “No, you’re safe for now. And, I would practically have to bathe for days in that stuff, before it would begin to have any effect on me. Human exposure has to last more than two hours, before enough of the toxins build up inside. Your body can flush away a small amount of the poison quite easily, with no side effects at all. However, it has a very low tolerance to larger quantities.”

He was silent for a moment, and then continued, “It’s not just the rain that’s worrying me, Donna. The atmosphere that they are forcing into existence here isn’t compatible with the Earth’s.”

Donna shook her head and frowned, “What? You mean this is going to get worse?”

The Doctor nodded gravely, “Oh yes. You see Donna, the two atmospheres cannot co-exist. Basically, when the alien atmosphere–with a little help from the Daleks and their friends the Gelina, hits the earth in full force, it will change the amount of carbon and hydrogen molecules in your air, instantly killing everything that depends on those substances to live. The Daleks don’t need them, so they won’t be affected.”

Checking her watch, Donna said, “It’s nearly 16:00 now. How long will it take for this to happen?” she asked.

He thought about it, doing some mental calculations, and said calmly, “If the process has already begun, I’d say we have about four hours until the end of the world. Eight O’clock on the dot.”

 

CHAPTER EIGHT

Donna followed the Doctor across the factory floor. The two of them stood against a wall, staring up at the flight of stairs leading to what had once been the factory offices.

Donna squinted up at the staircase and whispered, “So, that means that people here in Cardiff will start dying in about two hours, yeah? How are we going to…”

The Doctor put up a hand and shushed her. Donna was about to open her mouth in protest, but decided, after seeing the worried expression on the Doctor’s face, that it could wait until later.

His Time Lord senses catching something Donna missed, the Doctor had caught a glimpse of a dim shadow moving down the staircase, a shadow with a domed head and a glowing blue eyestalk.

Without hesitation, he’d flicked off the torch and grabbed Donna, dragging her backwards into the darkened recess of a nearby doorway.

Donna mentally sighed with exasperation, ‘Good thing we’re mates,’ she thought to herself, ‘or I’d be slapping the Doctor on a regular basis.’

The Doctor held Donna in a taunt grip, as the Dalek slowly floated down the staircase. Settling onto the concrete floor, it stood there silently for a moment, looking around in all directions. Then, it moved off to patrol the opposite side of the room, its gun arm swiveling in synchronization to wherever the eyestalk was pointing.

As the Dalek moved farther away, Donna felt the Doctor’s fingers relax. He let out a barely audible sigh of relief.

She was about to ask him a question when he put a finger to his lips and then pointed upwards. Gesturing with his head to indicate the staircase, the Doctor took Donna by the hand and led her up the stairs.

Reaching the second level, the Doctor pulled out his torch and trained its bright halogen beam along the walls. Though there was some light coming from a window above the stairwell, the space was still shadowed and dim.

They were in a narrow, brick-lined hallway. Half a dozen wooden and frosted glass doors ran down one side. The torchlight revealed that there was a single, large metal door at the end of the hall.

Slipping on his glasses, the Doctor squatted down to examine the dusty floor. Donna raised her eyebrows and watched him. “I hope you’re not going to lick something again.” She said.

He gave her a disapproving look and murmured, “This place either has taken to giving abandoned factory tours, or, has some very heavy ghosts or, there’s a secret alien lair up here. Which do you think it is?”

That’s when Donna noticed the footprints. There were dozens of them, all heading towards the rear of the building.

The Doctor stood up, and took off his glasses. Giving Donna a manic grin, he whispered, “I vote for the secret alien lair. Let’s go and investigate, shall we?”

“Secret alien lair?” She muttered under her breath, “What is this, a Scooby cartoon?”

Not missing a beat, he rummaged through his coat pocket, “Can’t offer you a Scooby snack, but I think I have a Mars bar here somewh–oooaff!”

The next thing that the Doctor knew, he was on the floor. Just as he had put his hand in his pocket, Donna had caught a movement out of the corner of her eye.

One of the snake people had silently opened a door, mid-way along the narrow passage and was staring at them. When the creature aimed what seemed to be a sort of pistol at the Doctor, Donna’s immediate instinct was to save him…which in this case, meant tackling her friend to the floor like an American football player.

Lying there on top of him, she was none too pleased when he didn’t appear to be all that grateful.

“What in the Face of Boe’s name–? Donna,” the Doctor huffed, his surprised face only inches from hers, “uh–now really isn’t the time or place to suddenly get amorous. Besides,” he said, in a slightly indignant tone of voice, “I thought you said that I was too skinny–or too alien, or a narrow streak of…something.”

Then, he noticed Matheen standing above him, training her weapon on them.

The Doctor glanced at Donna and noted the frosty look on her face. He gave her a brief apologetic smile and whispered sheepishly, “Oh. You were trying to keep me from getting shot, weren’t you?”

She gave him a curt nod, and he mumbled, “Riight. Sorry.”

They both rolled away from each other and sat up.

“Am I interrupting some sort of mating ritual?” The snake woman asked curiously.

“No!” said the Doctor and Donna simultaneously.

Sitting there, the Doctor shot a grin at Matheen, “Hello, I’m the Doctor. And this,” he said, flicking a thumb in her direction, “is my friend, Donna.”

The Doctor smiled genially as he looked up at the snake-woman. “May we get up now? I promise I won’t do anything. Only, it is a bit dusty, down here. And, you never know, I might be allergic to dust.” He explained, and then sneezed as if to prove his point.

Matheen kept her weapon trained on the Doctor and Donna, but seemed uncertain as to what to do with them. “I am Matheen, a citizen of the Imperial Gelina Empire. I know who you are, Doctor. The Dalek somehow harnessed the rift energy in order to bring you here. I believe it wants your time machine. You and your friend may stand. But please do not try to escape.” She said.

Helping Donna to her feet, the Doctor replied, “Escape? But we only just got here! So tell me, are we too late for the guided tour? I do love an interesting tour, don’t you Donna?”

Donna had long since learned to simply go along with with the Doctor, and nodded, “Erm–oh, yeah, I’ve love a look around. Do you have a gift shop? My mum could use some new tea towels.”

Without waiting for an invitation, the Doctor, his hands in the air, moved towards the nearest door. He pressed his face and hands up to the frosted glass.

The Doctor’s muffled voice said, “Is this the room where the rift controls are? I bet that’s interesting. I do adore a room filled with alien technology, don’t I Donna?”

She nodded again. “Oh, does he ever,” Donna said with an exaggerated sigh, “can’t drag him away, once he gets his mitts on some alien…techno-geeky stuff. We could be here all day.”

Giving Donna the old raised eyebrow look over his shoulder, the Doctor said, “Techno-geeky? What’s with that? There you go again, refusing to embrace the wonders of technology. I’ll never fully understand you humans.”

Then, the Doctor turned with his hands still raised–for the gun was pointing directly at his head, and faced Matheen.

But, his look was anything but happy or subdued. “Or,” he muttered angrily, “is this the slave quarters? Where are you keeping those people you kidnapped? Because I’m warning you, I won’t stand for it. Do you hear me? I’ll give you one chance to stop what you and your Dalek masters are doing. Otherwise, I won’t help you or save you. I’ll just let you suffer the consequences of your actions, whatever they may be.” He growled, “Am I making myself clear?”

Matheen’s eyes narrowed until they were nearly closed. She gave a long, angry hiss. “You are in no position to make threats, Doctor.”

He looked at her with surprise. “Really? Ohhh–you mean the whole hands in the air the air, and we’re your prisoners and all that? Yeah,” he shrugged, “I suppose it might seem a bit silly, threatening someone while they’re holding a vaporizer pistol to your head.”

The Doctor leaned forward, and his eyes narrowed to match snake creature’s look, “Yet, you can take me at my word, Matheen.” He hissed, flicking out his tongue a few times for emphasis. “I will stop this. Don’t make me do something we’d both regret.”

Yet, his face softened slightly, as he added in a more reasonable tone, “I really can help you, you know. But, this has to stop, before it’s too late–-for all of us.”

Matheen glanced at the stairwell and gave a sad hiss. “Perhaps it is already too late, Doctor.”

He followed her glance and stiffened. There was a barely discernable humming noise. A noise all too familiar to the Doctor.

The Dalek had finished its patrol and was returning, slowly floating up the staircase again. “I understand that you are an enemy of our Master. He would reward us well, perhaps, for your capture.” Matheen said quietly.

“You don’t have to do this.” The Doctor said through gritted teeth.

Matheen bowed her head regretfully, “I have no choice, Doctor. My mate and I are the last of our species. The Dalek holds our children prisoner. I do not wish for either of you to die, but neither do I wish my species to be obliterated from the universe.”

The Doctor cast an anxious glance at the faint shadow of the approaching Dalek, “At least let my friend go, she has nothing to do with this!” He whispered desperately.

The blue glow of the Dalek’s eyestalk shone on the wall of the stairwell, as Matheen shook her head sadly.

 

CHAPTER NINE

 

Suddenly, Matheen slumped and gave a resigned hiss. Without warning, she pushed the Doctor and Donna towards the room that the Doctor had been peering into, only moments before. The snake woman opened the door and swiftly shoved a surprised Doctor and Donna inside, before quietly closing the door behind them.

And, none too soon, for the Dalek had entered the hall, just as she’d shut it. Trying to appear calm, Matheen stood with the door at her back, and bowed to her master. She dared not tremble as the Dalek came to a stop in front of her.

“I heard voices!” It grated, “Explain!”

If snakes could sweat, Matheen thought to herself, she’d be soaking wet right now. “It was one of the slaves, master.”

Holding up the pistol she said, “The problem has been dealt with. We are on still on schedule.”

The Dalek waved a sucker arm at her. “The change must take place at the exact time. Nothing must interfere with the atmospheric transference. I will go and check on the progress. You will continue to oversee the slaves.”

Matheen bowed to it, saying, “I obey.”

As the Dalek trundled off down the hall towards the big metal door, she gave a long hiss of relief. It hadn’t noticed the Doctor’s torch lying on the hallway floor, where he’d dropped it.

In the former factory office, the Doctor and Donna hid beside some empty filing cabinets. She looked out the grimy office window. The skies had noticeably darkened, and the poisonous rain seemed to be coming down harder, now. The wind whistled mournfully through a small break in one of the panes.

The Doctor heard the Dalek move off, and indicated to Donna that they were safe for a time.

Looking out from her hiding place, Donna could see the silhouette of Matheen through the frosted glass. “Doctor, I know you said that these Dalek things are dangerous, but what about snake lady out there? What’s to stop her from having the two of us as a little tea break snack?”

He looked away from the door and raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been watching too many of those old science fiction films on tele.”

Walking over to the wall next to the file cabinet, the Doctor put his ear up against it. “Only the larva will eat humans. Once the Gelina assume humanoid form, they become mainly vegetarians. On their home planet, parma beans are their main food staple.”

He didn’t hear any vibrations of machinery or detect the sound voices from the wall, so decided that the room next door must be empty.

Brushing the dust away with a tissue, Donna leaned against an old wooden desk. “Bleh. Talk about a bland diet, eating nothing but beans all the time.” She said, “Are you sure they don’t eat people?”

Giving her a look, the Doctor shook his head, “Nahh–, no worries, Donna.”

He frowned at her, saying disapprovingly, “And, what’s wrong with beans? I like baked beans, especially on toast. Very good for your heart, cholesterol, blood sugar…I knew a hundred and ten year old American Indian once, who worked on a ranch in Wyoming. Claimed he lived to a ripe old age, because he ate nothing but beans every day.”

The Doctor tugged on his ear. “Nice chap. His name was Thundering Wind.”

Donna smirked, “Sometimes Doctor, I don’t know whether to take you seriously.”

“Yeah,” he sighed, “neither do I, love, neither do I.”

The door opened, and Matheen slipped inside. Sticking his hands in his pockets, the Doctor waited for her to speak. She stood there uncomfortably for a moment, and then said, “I think you can help us, Doctor. You know our race, how we were enslaved by the Sontarans for centuries. You helped us to free ourselves, long ago. It goes hard with us, being forced to abduct the humans. I hope you will believe that.”

He nodded. “Yes, I do. But, before I help you, I have to tell you something. Those babies of yours, they’ll kill anyone they come in contact with. I can’t have that.”

Matheen gave a sad hiss. “It was not of our doing.”

The Doctor’s face grew suspicious. “Whose idea was it then?” He asked sharply.

The snake woman leaned against the wall, as if suddenly tired. The Doctor’s face became sympathetic. Concerned, he went to her. “Are you alright?” He asked gently.

She nodded. “The Dalek drives us hard, my mate Slahaartha and I. We get so few rest periods. I shall be alright, never fear.”

The Doctor looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, and then asked in a kinder voice, “What happened? How’d you end up consorting with a Dalek? And, what did you mean, before, when you said you were the last of your species?”

Matheen gave another long hiss. “Our world was lost, just as yours was, in the last great battle of the Time War. My mate and I were away, on a rescue mission to one of the outer planets. We were the only Gelina to survive the devastation.”

Donna noticed that the Doctor seemed to draw into himself, that he seemed incredibly sad, all of the sudden. “I’m sorry.” He whispered.

Matheen nodded, “I know. Thank you, Doctor. And I too, am sorry for your loss.”

Though he was still listening, the Doctor had turned and was stood with his hands clasped behind him, staring at the wall.

The snake woman continued, “We were left with no choice but to wander the galaxy, the two of us, alone. But, we thought we might find, in our travels, some uninhabited planet, where we could reseed our race and rebuild our society again.”

“Alas,” she said with another hiss, “it was not to be. Our ship developed a fault and we sent out a distress signal. Unfortunately, it was the Dalek who found us. At first, we tried to resist. But then, it found our larva in the ship’s hold, and took them from us. It’s hidden them here in this human city. We have had no contact with our young in weeks, although we sometimes have been able to monitor them. We felt one awake, today, and, felt it die.”

There was a short, uncomfortable silence, as Matheen thought of the dead larva. The Doctor’s head bowed slightly. “Still,” she said with a short hiss, “we have no way of knowing precisely where our children have been hidden. The Dalek holds the very existence of our race hostage. If we don’t obey its orders, not only shall we be killed, but our offspring will also die.”

The Doctor faced her, looking very grave. “Why does the Dalek want my Tardis?, And, why does it need you? Obviously it desperately does, or it would have killed you back on your ship.”

Matheen walked over to the door. She opened it a crack and looked outside. The hallway was empty. Closing it again, she said to the Doctor, “I believe that the Dalek thinks it can use your time capsule to go into the past, and bring others of its kind back here to Earth.”

His eyes darkening with increasing anger, the Doctor was liking what he was hearing, less and less.

The snake woman continued, “As to why it wants the two of us, it is because before the war, we used to be scientists. We were working on atmospheric transference theory. One of outlying planets was badly polluted, and suffering from drastic climatic change. We thought that if we could help them to eliminate the pollution, and replace the damaged atmosphere with one from a similar, uninhabited planet, we could save them.”

The Doctor’s head came up. He paced over to the door and put his hand on the handle. “Suddenly, everything has become crystal clear.” He said with a slight smile.

Donna got up from the desk and sighed, “Maybe it is to you, but I’m still somewhat in the dark, Doctor.”

He looked over at her, “Oh right, I dropped my torch, didn’t I?

Rolling her eyes, Donna said, “That’s not what I meant–oh, never mind. What do we do now?”

Chewing his lip thoughtfully, he said, “Hmmm–I think it’s time you gave us that guided tour, Matheen.”

The Doctor opened the door. Slahaartha stood there, pointing a laser-rifle in his face. “Ah,” the Doctor muttered, drawing back a little, “well, I suppose it can wait for a little while longer.”

 

CHAPTER TEN

 

With an angry hiss, the snake man pushed his way into the room and closed the door. “Why don’t you go and check on the slaves, Matheen.” Slahaartha said, “I will take care of these two.”

As the alien’s finger tightened on the trigger, the Doctor instinctively moved between him and Donna. “Listen to me,” He whispered hoarsely, “if you kill me now, all of you are lost. That atmosphere the Dalek is shifting through the rift, may or may not harm you, but the toxic rain that’s falling out there, is already killing your babies.”

“You lie!” The snake man hissed, sighting down the barrel of the rifle.

“No, you can’t!” Donna gasped with fear, as Slahaartha prepared to shoot the Doctor.

Matheen put a restraining hand Slahaartha’s arm. “Enough!” She commanded.

Moving in front of the weapon, Matheen tried to reason with her mate. “The Doctor is right. What reason has he to lie? The Dalek has deceived us. Daleks exist only to kill. You know that, as well as I. What need has it for us, after we are finished with this project? It knows our children will die, and perhaps us, as well, when the change occurs. Let the Doctor help, let him try. We must not allow our race to vanish, Slahaartha.”

To Donna, it seemed like a very long time before the snake man finally lowered his weapon. In reality, it was less than a minute. Slahaarta eyed the Doctor suspiciously. “The final destruction of our race has already begun.” he said pointedly.

The Doctor visibly winced. Donna stepped forward, “Look you…you, snake, the Doctor didn’t know anything about that. And even if he did, maybe you don’t mind being turned into baby formula, but we don’t especially like the idea of…”

Placing a hand on her shoulder, the Doctor said softly, “No, it’s alright, Donna.”

Turning somber eyes on the snake man, the Doctor deliberately changed the subject, “Where is the room where primary rift opening is? I assume you need those slaves to do something you can’t…or won’t. What is it?”

Matheen looked at Slahaartha, and he nodded his assent. “The Dalek has devised a way to use chromo-magnatizer blocks, to both open and then stabilize the rift.” She said. “When the rift opening is stabilized, the transference beam can be focused on a specific point in time and space for a prolonged period. The opening of the rift in this place is quite small. But, that is what’s needed.”

She looked down at the floor. “The slaves are used to move the blocks closer to that opening. The blocks would not be as effective with the larger opening that is elsewhere in this city. Somehow, Doctor, the Dalek has found a way to link this smaller opening with the larger one, using the bigger one to pull the new atmosphere through. It is a very complex process, as I am sure you must be aware.”

Nodding his head, the Doctor sighed and blew out his cheeks. “Yes, indeed, very complicated–and, quite brilliant…for a Dalek. Even the Time Lords had difficulty maintaining control over these rifts in space and time. They’re so unpredictable with their continual fluctuations. Unfortunately, the downside of using the blocks to stabilize those fluctuations, is that they are very deadly. Chromo-magnitzers were banned by the Shadow Proclamation.”

Inwardly the Doctor gave a sad sigh, thinking about how sick some of the humans were likely to become, soon. He looked to Donna and explained, “The blocks that the Dalek is having the slaves move, give off something known as hyperchromo radiation. Prolonged contact will cause the radiation to attack the blood cells, and eventually, it will also begin to kill off some the brain cells, as well. Once the process has begun, it’s totally irreversible. Even a Dalek will die after long-term exposure.”
 
“Which means,” he said, opening the office door and peering out, “that we have to get the human slaves away from that room, as quickly as possible.”

Worried about everything she just heard, Donna asked the Doctor, “And then what? How are you going to stop the toxic rain and keep the atmosphere from changing?”

“And,” Matheen asked him, “how will you keep the Dalek from finding out?”

“More importantly,” Slahaartha interjected, “how are you going to keep it from killing you?”

The Doctor glanced from one face to another, seemingly at a loss for any answers. Then, he shot them a wide grin, “I’ll just do what I always do.”

The two snake people stared at each other, and then at the Doctor.

“He means,” Donna said, “that he’ll just make it up as he goes along.”

Giving a short hiss, Matheen replied, “That’s what I was afraid he meant.”

Two doors away, Slahaartha opened another door, and ushered the Doctor inside. Donna made to follow, but he stopped her. “Stay here with Matheen.” He whispered.

Donna looked uncertainly at the snake woman. “It’ll be alright, Donna. I promise I won’t be long.” The Doctor reassured her. “My body can handle exposure to hyperchromo radiation a lot better than yours.” With that, he slipped inside and the door was quietly closed.

Once inside, the Doctor blinked to adjust his eyes. Unlike the rest of the building, the slave-room was brightly lit. It had been rigged up with portable lights.

About twenty humans mechanically walked back and forth, shifting the deadly blocks. There was an auto-teleport pad there, and as one worker picked up a block, another block would appear. The slaves would then set them down next to a dazzling white light, a jagged tear in the fabric of time and space–the rift opening. The Doctor realized that the slaves were needed, because teleport devices had a tendency to malfunction when they got too close to a rift opening.

The blocks were approximately the size and weight of concrete building blocks, only they were a dull gold in colour. Beside teleport station stood the little girl and the old woman.

They had the much larger primary slave command sphere, sitting on the floor between them.
The old woman held the secondary command sphere in her arms. Both she and the little girl stared ahead unblinkingly, as if unaware of their surroundings.

The Doctor looked at the two of them, and shook his head. “There’s no need for those two to be here.” He muttered angrily. “If they stay there much longer, they’ll both die.”

Still watching the slaves, the Doctor was trying to come up with a way to break the hold the Dalek had on them.

Slahaartha hadn’t moved from the doorway. “On the contrary, Doctor.” He hissed softly, “Those two serve a very useful purpose.”

Seeing a young woman stumble, as she set down a block, the Doctor asked impatiently, “What purpose? How can killing innocent people ever have a purpose?”

The snake man, who still clutched the laser rifle, brought it up to bear on the Doctor’s back.

Meanwhile, the Doctor noticed that the child and the old woman had turned, and both now stared at him, unblinkingly.

Slahaartha gave a long hiss, and said, “They are the eyes and ears of our Dalek master.”

 

CHAPTER ELEVEN

 

The Doctor whirled around with a surprised look on his face. Then, in the blink of an eye, he dropped down to the floor. Before he had even hit the ground, the Doctor had snatched his sonic screwdriver from out of his pocket.

Slahaartha, unused to handling a weapon, hadn’t reacted quickly enough to the Doctor’s move.

Lying prone on the floor, the Doctor aimed the sonic at the rifle. There was a small flash and a bang, as it blew apart. Slahaartha instantly dropped the weapon, backing away fearfully.

Suddenly, the little girl, Mary, said, “The Doctor is our enemy. He must be destroyed. Exterminate!”

In seconds, all the slaves had turned to face the Doctor, unemotionally repeating the chant: “Exterminate. Exterminate.”

Meanwhile, Donna waited anxiously outside the door for a few minutes, until the worry got too much for her. Her hand was on the door handle, when Matheen stopped her. “Wait, there’s something I need to show you. It is something that your friend the Doctor, will want to know about, of that I am sure.”

Donna glanced at the door, and then asked, “What is it?”

The snake woman gestured to the metal door at the end of the hall. “The Dalek has gone for the moment, but will soon return. There is some information stored in the control room that the Doctor may find useful.”

Her hand still on the door, Donna hesitated. She didn’t want to become seperated from the Doctor, like that time on Midnight. “Why don’t you get it, and I’ll wait here.” She finally said firmly.

The snake woman gave a short hiss. “The Dalek might return at any moment. If it sees you or the Doctor, it will kill you both instantly. I need to keep watch. I cannot do that, and collect the information at the same time.”

Considering this, Donna realized that the clock was ticking away towards 8pm, and that she probably shouldn’t waste time, standing around arguing with some alien. Sighing, she gave a worried glace at the rift room’s door, and shrugged, “Oh, alright. Show me where it is.”

Matheen opened the metal door and Donna cautiously stepped inside. The room was dimly lit with a greenish glow, and filled with all sorts of strange, humming machinery and computer terminals. She turned to ask the snake woman what she should be looking for, when the door was slammed shut in her face.

Shocked, Donna said a rude word and ran to the door, but the snake woman barred her way. Matheen gave a warning hiss and drew her pistol. Donna grew alarmed, “What are you doing? We’re trying to help you!”

The snake woman flicked her tongue out at her, and gave a mocking hiss. “You do-gooder’s are naive. I have never before done any play-acting, but you and the Doctor made it so very easy.”

Donna shook her head in disgust, and hissed right back at Matheen. “Oh yeah, Nagin? Well, don’t go expecting me to nominate you for a BAFTA award!”

The snake woman stepped closer, her hands gripping her weapon. Donna swallowed hard and stared at the pistol that was aimed directly at her heart.

“What are you going to do?” She asked, knowing that she probably wasn’t about to be invited to give a talk on climate change.

Matheen waved the pistol towards the back of the room. “I think that it’s time for you to meet my master.”

That’s when Donna heard another voice: “You are one who travels with the Doc-tor?”

The voice that spoke had a harsh, high-pitched grating sound to it. She turned, and gasped. There in front of her, was a creature that looked like nothing more than a giant, futuristic pepper pot. It had two appendages coming from it, one with what looked like a sink plunger, the other seemed like it might be some sort of weapon.

Instead of eyes, there was a tube with a glowing blue light coming from the domed head. “Answer!” It commanded.

Donna fumbled for an answer that might buy her–and the Doctor, some time. Unfortunately, all she could think of, was, “Who wants to know?”

The Dalek moved closer. “Questions are not necessary. Are you one who travels with the Doc-tor?”

Bravely standing her ground, but trembling with fear, Donna said nothing.

To her dismay, she soon realized that she would have to answer, when the Dalek said, “If you do not answer, you will be exterminated.”

Hanging her head with the shame of giving in too easily, Donna muttered. “Yeah, that’s me.”

The Dalek’s eyestalk swiveled to look at a monitor on a nearby table. On the monitor was the image of the Doctor, surrounded by the slaves. Without looking at Donna, the Dalek said, “I have need of the Doc-tor’s Tardis, but I do not know its location. You will tell me where it is.”

Drawing a deep breath, Donna said quietly, “I’m not sure.”

That, apparently, wasn’t something the creature in front of her, was prepared to accept. “You will tell me or you will watch the Doctor die first, before I destroy you!”

She could feel her heart start to pound. “It’s in a park somewhere,” she said pleadingly, “I don’t know which one. I swear to you, that’s the truth. I’ve never been to Cardiff before.”

The Dalek somehow manipulated the screen to bring a map up on it. Systematically, it went through the map, until it found what it was looking for, a little green square. “The Gelina said they felt the death of one of their offspring. According to my data, it was in this place that is designated to be what you humans call a park. You will take me there.”

Donna was afraid, now. “What for?” She asked, even though she had a good guess.

The creature trained it’s eyestalk on her. “You will open the Tardis for me, and then I shall travel into the past and bring back the millions of Daleks that the Doctor has destroyed. I will find the emperor, and rebuild the empire. We shall make this planet our new home.”

Raising its gun arm triumphantly, it shouted, “Once again the Dalek race will rule the cosmos! Daleks are supreme!”

 

CHAPTER TWELVE

 

In the rift chamber, the Doctor lay on the floor, motionless. He warily eyed the human slaves as they slowly tightened the circle around him. Very slowly, by degrees, the Doctor adjusted one of the settings on his sonic.

The slaves moved closer, their hands reaching for him, renewing their macabre chant: “Exterminate…exterminate…exterminate.”

All of the sudden, the Doctor sat upright, with his arm outstretched, training the sonic screwdriver on the primary command sphere.

As he pressed down on the switch, the sonic device gave a barely audible hum. The globe went dark and slowly deflated, as did the secondary sphere in the woman’s arms. The slaves stopped and stood immobile.

“Oh, please. Please, please work.” he whispered desperately.

One by one, going around the circle, the Doctor aimed the screwdriver at each of the slaves. And, one by one, each of them held their hands to their heads and then dropped to the floor. He got up and knelt next to a middle aged man, checking his pulse. The Doctor gave an enormous sigh of relief, when he found that the former slave was merely unconscious.

Inside, the Doctor was seething. Standing again, he turned an angry face upon Slahaartha, who was cowering in a corner. He stood there, looking at the snake man and clenching his fists, too exasperated for words. “Pl-please,” Slahaartha stammered fearfully, “don’t hurt me. I was only doing as I was told. The weapon was set to maximum stun. I wasn’t going to kill you, Doctor.”

The Doctor, too busy trying rein in his boiling emotions, only glared at the snake man. Finally, he said contemptuously, “I won’t hurt you. I’m not a Dalek.”

The remark seemed to only make the snake man cringe, all the more.

Slahaartha slumped against the wall. “Matheen told me that the Dalek has promised us our freedom, if we helped to capture you, even promised to return some of the children to us.”

The Doctor snorted in disgust, “A promise from a Dalek? It’s as worthless as a tin shilling! You can’t be that delusional, Slahaartha. As long as there’s even one Dalek in existence, your people will never be free.”

“Anyway,” he added sadly, “I’m afraid it’ll be too late for that. I wasn’t lying about the toxic rain. If you don’t believe me, try monitoring one of your young.”

The snake man closed his eyes and concentrated, as the Doctor looked on. Seconds later, Slahaartha staggered to his knees. He gave a long hiss of disbelief. “No! It cannot be. It must be the rain, keeping the larva dormant. I cannot connect with them, when they are in the hibernation phase.”

Closing his eyes tiredly, the Doctor whispered, “You know when you’ve lost one of them.”

Slahaartha suddenly sat down on the floor, placing his head in his hands. Eventually, he raised his head to the Doctor. “They are all gone.” He said flatly.

Crouching down beside Slahaartha, the Doctor spoke softly, “It’s too late for your children, but not for the humans, and not for you. Where’s the rift control centre?”

The snake man gave a short hiss, which sounded almost like a sob. Then, he seemed to gather himself up, saying, “It is at the end of the hall, the metal door. That’s where the Dalek normally is, when he’s not on patrol, downstairs.”

The Doctor nodded, and put a hand on the snake man’s shoulder. “Here’s what I want you to do, I’m going to take these people outside and wake them up. I want you to come with me, but stay out of sight. Keep out of the rain as much as you can. Not enough of the toxins have built up yet, to harm you or the humans, but I don’t want you taking any chances. Just for the time being, try to get as far away from this factory as possible, alright? I can take you and Matheen back to your ship and help you to repair it, when this is all over.”

Slahaartha nodded and stood, as the Doctor went over to the human slaves. Quickly, he moved from person to person, touching two fingers to each slave’s forehead and whispering in their ears. As he did so, the slaves stood up, one at a time, and moved towards the door.

The Doctor finished and went over to the door. Peering out, he saw that the hall was clear. He turned to the humans lined up behind him, and said, “Follow me.”

Giving Slahaartha a slight smile, he touched the snake man’s arm reassuringly and said, “You too, come on.”

Slahaartha began to protest, but the Doctor stilled him. “Don’t worry, I’ll find Matheen and Donna and get them out, as well.”

Seconds later, the Doctor crept down the hallway and down the stairs, followed the snake man, the little girl Mary, the old woman and the rest of the human captives.

Once outside the old factory, Slahaartha disappeared. The Doctor led everyone to the cover of a warehouse a few buildings away. The former slaves lined up and stood still, staring straight ahead. For good measure, he quickly ran his sonic screwdriver over each person, checking their amount of exposure, taking especial care with Mary.

The Doctor frowned, and crouched down beside her. He sighed, and whispered, “What’s your name?”

“Mary.” The girl said mechanically.

“Well Mary,” the Doctor said gently, “I’m afraid you’re going to be sick for a while, like some of these others. But, it will be alright. You won’t die, I promise. You’ll all be right as…well, as rain, in a week or two. I’m sure your mummy and daddy will take good care of you.”

“Daddy’s gone away.” Mary said in a monotone.

The Doctor looked sad, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He said, “But I promise you Mary, your mummy loves you very much, and will be very happy to see you, when you get back home again.”

Standing again, the Doctor faced the people. “When I count to three and snap my fingers, you will awake.” he said sternly. “You were all invited by some bloke named John Smith to go on a special guided tour of…erm–uh…” Racking his mind for a reason for the odd assortment of people to be here, he finished lamely, “uh…industrial revolution architecture. Unfortunately you were caught out in a terrible thunderstorm, and came in here for protection from the weather. You will continue to stay here, until the rain stops.”

Pausing, the Doctor had an sudden idea. He grinned, adding, “You are all having a good time, getting to know one another better…and, you will help Mary, who got lost, to get home safely.”

The Doctor slowly backed towards the exit. Then, standing in the open doorway, with his lanky frame silhouetted by the rain, he said, “One. Two. Three,” and snapped his fingers. When the people awoke, they began chattering away to one another. No one saw the Doctor leave.

Tearing up the factory stairs once more, the Doctor cautiously made his way to the room at the end of the hall. The building seemed deserted. The Doctor frowned deeply, looking around. “Where’s Donna and Matheen got to?” He asked himself worriedly.

The metal door to the control room was locked. Using his sonic picklock, the Doctor opened the door and slipped inside. He stood in the greenish light, surveying the equipment. “Right,” he muttered, with a determined look on his face, “time for a little change in the weather.”

With an intense look of concentration, the Doctor got busy. He was racing around the room, stabbing at buttons, his sonic whirring away, as he tampered with the rift controls. The green lighting inside the room slowly changed to red, as warning lights began to glow and some of the machinery began to shake and emit smoke.

The Doctor grinned, and sang the first verse of an old American pop song, “Raindrops keep falling on my head…well, not any more! Ha!” He crowed triumphantly, flipping a final switch on the equipment.

He’d just placed his hand on the door handle,  it froze there when the Doctor felt a gun being pressed to the back of his head.

“You won’t live to see the sun again, Doctor.” Matheen hissed behind him

 

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

 

The Doctor held himself very still, but his face was filled with a mixture of anger and anxiety. “Where’s Donna?” He demanded, “What have you done with her?”

Matheen hissed, but it sounded almost like a laugh. “She’s making herself useful Doctor, never fear.”

He frowned. “I don’t suppose you mean that Donna is busy manning the Dalek’s tea trolley, passing out the biscuits.”

Another hiss from Matheen, as she said, “Let’s just say that she’s opening the doors to a new world. The Dalek won’t be alone for long, he’ll soon gain accesss to every Dalek in that was ever created.”

Puzzled, the Doctor tried to make sense of Matheen’s cryptic remark. “What do you mea–oh.”

He suddenly caught on to exactly what the snake woman meant. “It will be a wasted trip, then.” He said shortly. “True, I did give Donna a Tardis key a while back. But, before I left, I turned on the security system. Right now, controls of my ship are isomorphic, Matheen. Only I can operate them.”

The end of the pistol pressed harder into the Doctor’s head, and he winced slightly. “If that were true, Doctor,” she whispered in his ear, “then the Dalek never would have been able to bring you back here.”

Hesitating, the Doctor shrugged and gave a resigned sigh. “Yeah well, okay. You got me there. But, the Tardis was desinged to be operated by half a dozen Time Lords.”

Matheen gave a long hiss. “You operate it. Another lie, Doctor?”

The Doctor would have shaken his head, but that would have been uncomforable with the gun pressed tightly against his skull. He shrugged again, “Well, you know, the thing is Matheen, is that the Tardis isn’t just a machine. It’s a living organism, grown, not constructed. As such, she can be a bit tetchy at times, and have a mind of her own. I’m not sure she’d take to a lone Dalek handling her.”

Despite the grave situation, the Doctor cracked a smile in rememberence, “The Tardis didn’t like the Master very much, that I know. Apparently she kept trying to land him in the loo at Victoria Station.”

Meanwhile, as they’d been talking, the room had deepened to an ominous dark red glow, as the machinery began to throb and shake. White smoke began to billow up towards the ceiling.

Matheen glanced at the machinery and flicked her tongue nervously. Even humanoid snakes don’t like smoke and fire, and she felt a sliver of fear tremmor through her.

Knowing that time was running out, the Doctor decided to try a different approach. “What about your children, Matheen? They’re all dead, now. And, if you stay with the Dalek–providing that the both of you survive, you and your mate will go back to being slaves, no different than those people you kidnapped. Except that unlike them, you will spend every waking moment, completely aware of your fate.”

Feeling the pressure of the gun on his skull ease off fractionally, the Doctor softly urged, “Slahaartha’s safely out of it, Matheen. I’m taking him back to your ship. You can come, as well. I meant what I said. I can help you, take you back. From there, we can find you to a planet where you can try and start over again, without having to hurt anyone. What do you say, ey? The Dalek’s plans may be a wash out, but yours don’t have to be.”

The snake woman backed off, and the Doctor quickly stepped away. He threw open the door. “Come on, quickly. We’ve got to get out of here.”

As he turned to her, Matheen gave an angry hiss and pushed away from him, causing the doctor to teeter off balance for a moment.

“No, Doctor!” The snake woman shouted, “My children are dead, my mate has betrayed our cause, and the Dalek’s plans are in ruins. You and the Daleks have taken everything from me. I do not know which of you is worse!”

With a chilling look of menace, she turned the gun on the Doctor once more, and sent an energy bolt sizzling towards him.

Alarmed, the Doctor cried out, “No, don’t!” and ungracefully hurled himself through the open door.

The second he lay sprawled out in the hall, there was an enormous blast. The overloaded machinery had finally gone critical and exploded. Now, smoke and fire belched from the control room door. Coughing and backing away from the intense heat, the Doctor could just make out what was left of Matheen’s body, lying on the floor.

Not pausing for a second glance, the Doctor bolted for the stairway. The entire building had begun to vibrate heavily, and bits of masonry and broken glass were starting to rain down upon him.

The staircase was shaking so badly that the Doctor could barely negotiate it. Two minutes later, he took a flying leap through the broken window. As he did so, the entire building belched flame as the final death thoes of the  rift machiery tore the structrure apart. The blastwave was so violent, that it lifted the Doctor into the air.

Unmoving, the Doctor lay spread-eagled on the pavement, amid a litter of debris.

 

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The rain poured down on the Tardis, with the leaves of the tree above it, offering scant protection. Standing under the tree, Donna shivered, but it wasn’t entirely the rain which caused that reaction. It was also the end of the Dalek’s gun arm, pointing directly at her.

She was trying to stall for time, hoping that the Doctor would turn up. Donna made a show of patting down her pockets, searching for the key. “It’s here somewhere. Oh, I hope I haven’t lost it back at the factory.”

The Dalek waved its weaponry at her, threatening, “If you cannot open the door, then you are no longer of any use to me.”

Donna frowned at it, “Yeah, I know. You’ll exterminate me. I think I’ve got the idea, already.”

She sighed, realizing that she was either going to have to produce the key, or die. Donna reached down into her clothing and fingered the string which hung around her neck, the long piece of twine which held the precious Tardis key on the end of it. She paused, “So, if I open the Tardis for you, then what?”

The pepper-pot shaped alien waved its gun arm again. Its eyestalk glowed a brighter blue, as it barked at her, “Questions are not necessary.”

Donna shook her head, “No, questions are necessary. At least, I think this one is. I mean, what will you do with me, after I open the Tardis? Kill me anyway? Turn me into one of those zombie slaves?”

She glanced at the toxic rain, and thought about her grandfather, and, about the Doctor. What would either of them do? In her heart, Donna knew.

With a cold dread forming an icy ball in the pit of her stomach, she took a deep breath, “No way mate, not today. I’m not havin’ it! And neither would the Doctor–-or my granddad.”

Donna closed her eyes as the Dalek prepared to shoot.

“Then the key shall be retrieved from your dead body.” It said matter-of-factly.

Bracing herself and trembling with fear, Donna stood there, waiting for death to come to her.

“Now, hold on a minute! Don’t I have something to say about all of this?” an indignant voice called from behind the tree.

Donna’s eyes flew open as the Doctor came striding over. She found herself returning his brilliant smile.

“Hello, Donna,” the Doctor said breezily, “having a nice chat, are we? That’s nice. Mind you, I don’t think killing is the best conversational topic.”

Abuptly, a stern-faced Doctor faced the Dalek. He merely stood there silently, hands in his pockets, virtually nose to eye stalk with his deadliest enemy, glaring at it.

“Doc-tor!” The Dalek’s voice sounded almost shocked.

It actually moved back a pace. Giving it a wink that held no humour in it, the Doctor said bitterly, “Yup, that’s my name. The Oncoming Storm himself.”

Gently pushing Donna behind him, the Doctor gave the Dalek a steely smile. “And, I’d really rather that you didn’t use my ship as some sort of Dalek taxi, if you don’t mind. I’ve only just cleaned her, ya’know. I doubt you’re Tardis trained, and it won’t do having your lot cluttering up my ship, leaving little Dalek droppings all over the deck.”

The Dalek moved forward slightly. “You destroyed the Daleks, but I shall be their savior. You will operate the Tardis and bring back those of my race, which you have exterminated over the centuries.”

The Doctor simply blew the Dalek a raspberry and gave it a two-fingered salute.

“What does that gesture mean?” The Dalek rasped.

Looking dead serious, the Doctor growled meanacingly, “What it means is, that is never going to happen. Got that? Never. As in never-ever-ever.”

He leaned forward, “Furthermore, you’re little weather experiment is finished. They’ll be no New Skaro here, just the lovely, mad, magnificent old Earth. So why don’t you make like that tree over there, and leave. Go on, hop it! Take the rift back to whichever dark hole you crawled out from.”

The Dalek seemed disconcertingly un-intimidated. “You will operate the Tardis for me, or you will watch your human friend die.” It threatened.

Showing that he wasn’t to be intimidated by a mere Dalek, the Doctor gave a great yawn. “Sorry, rainy days always make me sleepy.”

Tugging on his left ear, he mused, “You know, at my age, threats just don’t seem to have the same impact on me, as when I was younger, dunno’ why.”

The Doctor’s casual refusal seemed to make the Dalek almost shake with anger. “You have no way of stopping me!” It threatened, “If you will not obey, I will kill you both, and take your ship anyway!”

 

Donna had silently watched the exchange between the Doctor and the Dalek, now she said defiantly, “You can’t let it have the Tardis, Doctor. Forget about me. Do whatever you need to.”

The Doctor turned to her, and raised an eyebrow. “What? Me, forget about you?” he gave a snort and said with mock surprise, “As if!

“Besides,” the Doctor said, turning serious again, and turning back to the Dalek, “Thing is, my little intergalactic yobbo, I actually do have a way of stopping you. I have this.”

He produced the sonic screwdriver from his pocket.

The Dalek asserted, “Your sonic probe is not a weapon!”

The Doctor laughed. “Oh, like I’ve not heard that one before. You’re right, it isn’t a weapon. My mind and my highly advanced Time Lord sense of humour, those are my weapons…well, that and the occasional water pistol…and maybe a whoopie cushion.”

With the fire of determination in his eyes, the Doctor glanced affectionately at the sonic screwdriver and continued, “You see, the thing is, Dalek,” he said, pronoucing the name like it left a bad taste in his mouth, “is that this little screwdriver of mine is an excellent electrostatic conductor.”

Without warning he shouted to Donna, “Get back!”

Reaching out with his right arm, the Doctor pointed the screwdriver at the Dalek. The tip of the sonic turned blue and a low him filled the air.

Caught flat-footed, the Dalek panicked as it was instantly encased within a crackling energy field.

At that same moment, a bolt of lightning abruptly shot down from the sky. With a blinding white flash and a massive ear-splitting crack, the bolt struck the Dalek directly on the top of its dome.

Donna had been knocked to the ground, when she recovered her senses and looked again, the Dalek was a smoking ruin, and the Doctor, still gripping his sonic, was leaning against Tardis gasping for air.

Getting to her feet, Donna rushed up to him, “Doctor! Are you alright? Did the lightning strike you as well?”

His chest heaving, the Doctor merely shook his head.

Donna helped the Doctor to stand upright. “Thanks Donna,” He said. “I didn’t take the direct hit thankfully, that really would have given me a headache.”

“Well, the Dalek’s gone,” Donna said anxiously, “but Doctor, what about the poison rain and those two snake people?” She asked.

Slowly recovering, the Doctor was about to reply, when he was interrupted.

“Where is she?” someone asked.

It was Slahaartha. He came around from behind the Tardis, anxiously approaching the Doctor. “Did you bring her with you? Or is she back at the factory?” the snake man asked.

Donna noticed that the alien still had his rifle. It was hanging by its strap from his shoulder, muzzle down. It looked almost as if the snake man had forgotten it was there, which in fact, he had.

Giving a tired sigh, the Doctor looked sadly at the snake man.

“I’m sorry.” He said gently, “I’m so very sorry. Matheen is gone. She was killed in the explosion, I’m afraid there was nothing I could do. I tried, I really did try. And, forgive me Slahaartha, I don’t know how to put this any other way; I think your mate was so affected by everything she’d been through, that Matheen literally went mad with grief.”

Slahaartha seemed to sag. He absently un-slung the rifle and dropped it. “There is nothing to forgive, Doctor. In fact, it is you who should forgive me. I knew. I knew that Matheen wasn’t…quite right, any longer.”

He gave a long, drawn-out hiss. “Yet, despite my misgivings about her…stability, I went along with her. Even though I knew in my heart that what she–what we, were doing was wrong. I thought that all would be right again. Matheen suggested that perhaps we could find a way to escape through the rift, while the Dalek was preoccupied with getting your Tardis. I was wrong.”

Giving a long sad sounding hiss, he said, “And, because of my error in judgement, I am now alone, the last of the Gelina.”

Putting a hand on Slahaartha’s shoulder, the Doctor said, “I know, and believe me, I wish it could be otherwise.”

Donna walked over and stood beside the snake man, “You don’t have to be alone though, you could come with us. Couldn’t he Doctor?”

A slight smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, the Doctor turned and gave her a look of deep affection. He looked at Slahaartha, “Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?” the Doctor enthused, “You’re still a scientist, aren’t you? I can tell you that there’s loads of fascinating discoveries still out there in time and space. You’d love it! What do you say, ey?”

Slahaartha stared at the Doctor. His body language giving the impression of defeat, the snake man shook his head. “Matheen was my life, Doctor, she wasn’t just my mate. She belonged to me, and me alone. My wife was everything to me. I allowed her to do what she did because,” he said, flicking out his tongue, “I loved her more than my own life or the lives of our children.”

Then, without any indication he was going to do so, the snake man snatched up the rifle from the grass. Hhe pointed the rifle at the Doctor. “And you killed her.” Slahaartha said flatly, as his finger pressed the Trigger.

Donna yelled, “No!”

Without hesitating, she knocked the snake man to his knees, throwing herself on top of him. There was a quick zap and a tiny puff of white smoke. Both of them suddenly became completely still, lying motionless on the wet grass.

For a few of his heart’s beats, the Doctor simply gaped at the two bodies in shock and horror. “No! Donna!” He screamed with fear, rousing himself and rushing to her side.

He let out a huge sigh of relief, as she rolled off of Slahaatha’s inert form.

Before Donna had time to gather her wits about her, the Doctor had knelt down beside her, holding her in his arms. “Are you hurt?” He asked fearfully.

She shook her head and whispered, “No, I’m alright, thanks.”

The Doctor helped her to her feet. He glanced at Slahaartha’s silent form despondently. With bitterness in his voice, he whispered, “Another race wiped out, gone forever.”

Clenching his fists, the Doctor closed his eyes and groaned with sheer emotional pain. “No matter how much I try to carry on with my life, the Time War still comes back to haunt me. No matter what I do, however many regenerations I have, it follows me, wherever I travel.” He spat out bitterly.

Donna felt very sad for the Doctor. Taking his hand, she gave it a comforting squeeze and looked up at him, saying, “This wasn’t your fault, Doctor.”

Instead of being comforted, the Doctor looked at her angrily, “Then whose fault was it?” He said through gritted teeth.

Donna looked away from him, to stare at the snake man’s body. Suddenly, she realized what she’d done. Shamefaced and mortified, Donna backed away from the Doctor and choked out, “I’m–I’m sorry, Doctor. I didn’t mean to, I didn’t think, I just wanted to stop him from shooting you.”

Unable to look at her friend, Donna buried her head in her hands and sobbed, “I’ve never killed anyone before. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Observing the grief on Donna’s face, the Doctor understood his mistake. She’d totally misinterpreted his remark. He realized that his friend had thought that he was laying the blame of Slahaartha’s death on her doorstep. That sudden realization made him visably wince. He’d been so blinded by his own anger and self-pity, that he’d hurt his friend.

The Doctor walked over to Donna. Without preamble, he scooped her up and enveloped her in a warm hug, and said reaasuringly, “It’s alright Donna, really. It wasn’t your fault, I promise you it wasn’t. You were trying to my life.”

Still sobbing, Donna shook her head stubbornly. “But, you were right. It was my fault. If I wasn’t so busy pretending to be Cagney or Lacey, that snake fella’ would still be alive, wouldn’t he?”

Taking a step back the Doctor held her at arm’s length. Looking her in the eye, he said sternly, “Now listen to me, Donna Noble. You didn’t kill Slahaartha, and neither did I. He did that to himself. He was holding the gun, not you, and certainly not me–you know how I feel about guns. So, yeah, we can both stand around in the rain all day, feeling sorry for ourselves. But, truth is, it that it was an accident, plain and simple. It might just have as easily have been you, who’d been killed.”

Taking her hand, the Doctor looked down at Donna and asked quietly, “Okay? We’re good now?”

She nodded, whispering, “Yeah. Thanks for the pep talk.”

The Doctor grinned, squeezed her hand and said, “Pep talks come free with every trip in the Tardis. Didn’t I give you the voucher for that, Donna?”

Handing her a tissue from his pocket, he said, “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

He led her away from the two dead aliens, towards the city centre.

Giving her nose a good blow, Donna asked, “Where are we going?”

Putting his arm around her shoulder affectionately, he said, “Oh, I think what you need right now, is a quiet sit in a warm caf, with a nice cuppa, ey?”

As they walked out of the park, the Doctor added, “I really am glad you’re okay, if you weren’t here now, that would have been a terrible tragedy. After all, I’ve not taken you to see the building of the Great Pyramid, yet!”

Donna halted and faced him, raising an eyebrow, “Pyramid? I thought we were going to Paris?”

The Doctor thought, “Blimey, Donna’s got a memory like an elephant.” Clearing his throat, he said out loud, “Erm–Pyramid, Paris, easy to get confused you know, they both begin with a P.”

Standing with her hands on her hips, Donna gave the Doctor one of her now-familiar looks that clearly indicated that she wasn’t take any nonsene off the Doctor, “You know the name of every star in the sky,” she snorted, “but you can’t remember that?”

The Doctor knew he’d been caught flat-footed, “Well, uh, you see, uh, Donna…” he stammered, groping for a smart reply.

Donna glowered at him. “Paris. Late nineteen-fifties. Fashion show. She said evenly, like she was speaking to someone who wasn’t familar with the English language. “Are you getting senile, or did the lightning mess your short-term memory?”

Giving what sounded suspiciously like a martyred sigh, the Doctor stood there a moment, looking down and scuffing the ground with one of his trainers. Then, he relented and beamed a smile at her, “Oh, alright, I did promise. At least the models back then were truly lovely and gracious. They weren’t a mob of dour, cross-looking, half-starved models, like what you lot have got, these days.”

As they resumed walking, Donna grabbed the Doctor’s arm. “Wait a minute Doctor, I’d forgotten. Look, it’s still raining.”

The Doctor gave her a perplexed look. “Yes, I can see that it’s still raining.” He said patiently.

“But,” she persisted, “What about the poison? Aren’t people going to die?”

Running his fingers through his damp hair, the Doctor said, “Oh that? Nah, everything’s sorted. No worries, Donna. This has gone back to being plain old ordinary British rain.”

As he finished speaking, the rain stopped. The sun edged out from behind a cloud, making the raindrops on the leaves of the trees, sparkle like diamonds.

END

 

 

(orig. published 23rd May, 2008.)