Children Of The Universe, Chapter 2

Caroline stepped out of the TARDIS and almost fell when her foot hit the sand. She wasn’t exactly sure why she had felt like falling over. Maybe it was the difference between the TARDIS floor and the soft, brown sand or maybe it was because she wasn’t quite expecting it. She suspected, though, that it was simply her bodies reaction to stepping out on an alien world.

She felt the Doctor grab her by the arms and she slowly lowered herself to sit on the sand.

“Are you alright?” he asked, smiling down at her.

She looked up at the Doctor and then up at the grey clouds set against the starry sky. This was fantastically unbelievable. She tried to tell herself that she was simply on the beach somewhere and it was a very, very clear night up above. But no, that couldn’t be it. The fact that there were two red planets high up in the sky defeated that idea.

She looked down at the sand and ran her hands through the grains. It felt much, much different to the sand on Earth. This felt so soft. Almost like it wasn’t there at all as she let it fall between her fingers.

She watched, mouth open as the sand trickled down onto her jeans. Then she put a hand to her forehead, looked up at the Doctor and laughed.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” laughed the Doctor back at her.

She shook her head, still smiling at the absurdity of it all. “I’m…I’m fine,” she said, looking up at him and smiling. “It’s just…all real!”

“I told you,” said the Doctor, reaching out and helping her to her feet. “Just take it easy.”

They both looked over to where Danny was standing. He was stock still beside the TARDIS, half-leaning, half-trying to move away from it. His eyes were unblinking and they had glassed over.

“And what about you Mr Lennon?”

“Yeah,” was all Danny could manage. “Planets.”

“What kind of people live here?” asked Caroline. “I don’t see anyone.”

The Doctor frowned. “I’m not sure. The inhabitants have always been private. Whenever they attend galactic peace conferences they always wear hoods. I have no idea why. They‘re rarely seen off-world.”

“Then won’t they be unhappy that we’re here?” she asked worriedly. “You know, if they’re private?”

“Yes, this planet is on the restricted level.”

“What!” spat both Danny and Caroline at the same time. “You mean we shouldn’t be here?”

“Absolutely not,” said the Doctor. “No one visits Trixatin.”

Caroline sat down on a nearby rock and gathered together her thoughts.

“It’ll be fine,” said the Doctor. “I’m the Doctor. Access all areas.”

The Doctor allowed Caroline and Danny to get acquainted to their new surroundings while he popped back in the TARDIS and emerged with three bottles of water. He tossed them to his two companions and headed off towards a distant dune.

“Where are you going?” asked Caroline, unsure of whether to follow or not.

“Over here,” he said, hands in his pockets and striding off into the distance.

“Is it safe?” asked Danny.

“Probably not,” came the Doctor’s voice, “but that’s space travel for you.”

“Maybe we should stay near the TARDIS,” shouted Caroline after him.

“Why come all this way and stay near the ship? C’mon! Let’s investigate!”

Caroline and Danny hesitated for a moment and looked at each other. “Well?”

Danny sighed. “This was what we came for.”

“Not exactly,” said Caroline. “I came for some answers about myself.”

“Maybe the answers are that way,” said Danny, nodding in the direction of the Doctor.

“Maybe,” she replied, unsure about that.

“Let’s find out,” said Danny.

Caroline smiled, grabbed his hand and they both started running after the Doctor.

By the time they had reached him he was standing at the top of the dune, looking out over the panorama, hands still firmly in his pockets.

Caroline and Danny reached him, out of breath from climbing the dune.

“About time,” said the Doctor, taking a swig from his bottle of water. “Drink.”

Caroline took a sip from her bottle. “Why do we need this?”

“Because the heat is going to get worse as the day goes on.”

“But it’s night,” said Danny, looking up at the stars.

The Doctor swung around, pointing up and behind them at a huge, burning sun that Caroline was sure hadn’t been there before.

“Short nights. Short days.”

“Lovely,” she said, shielding her eyes against the huge glowing orb.

“So, is there anything to see?” asked Danny.

“I think so,” replied the Doctor, diverting his gaze down the other side of the dune. “Can you see that?”

They squinted their eyes and in the distance they could see a large, metal object with wreckage trailing from what looked like some advanced form of rocket engines.

“Is that…?”

“A spaceship,” said the Doctor, answering Caroline’s would-be question. “And it looks like it’s crashed. Come on, let’s see if they need help.”

They made their way down the dune until they reached the plain. As they got closer to the ship they could make out much more detail. It was a huge, dark metal ship. At the front was a curved section with windows set into the front. Almost a dome but with a flat underside. A thinner tubular section extended back from this with two huge engines extending from the sides. One of them was damaged and wreckage from it was strewn across the sand. Underneath the other engine the sand was blackened and scorched and a trail snaked off into the distance.

As they approached the ship the Doctor called out. “Hello! Is there anybody there? Do you need help?”

Caroline looked up at the ship in awe. It was one thing to come to another planet, but now they were seeing a real life spaceship. She almost went giddy again, but managed to compose herself.

“What do you think happened?” asked an equally awed Danny.

“It looks like their engine was hit. Or at least something caused it to explode,” said the Doctor, looking over to the large hole ripped in the side of the damaged engine. “It’s been a good week or two since it happened as well. The engine’s have gone completely cold.”

“Do you think anyone survived?” asked Caroline.

“I don’t know. Maybe. Let’s find out.”

They reached an open airlock in the side of the ship. By the side of the door there was a name and code stamped in black onto the grey metal: Pythagoras - ES23.

“Looks like the name of the ship,” said the Doctor, running his hand along the letters. “In we go.”

They stepped inside the airlock. The air felt stale and everything was shrouded darkness. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He ran it along a control panel beside the inner door and there was tiny explosion and the keypad came loose, damaged. The Doctor slipped his hand into an handle alcove and pulled, forcing the door to slide open. As soon as he did an alarm started blaring out.

“Alert. Alert,” came a computer voice. “Unexpected entry at airlock 4. Unexpected entry at airlock 4.”

“Umm, Doctor,” said Danny, looking around nervously. “Perhaps we should get out of here.”

“Good idea,” said the Doctor.

They turned to leave and the outer door slid shut in front of them.

“Use the screwdriver,” said Caroline, pressing a button on the control panel in an effort to open it.

Before the Doctor could activate his screwdriver there came the click of guns behind them. The three of them turned to be confronted by a man and a woman, both pointing rifles at them.

The man wore glasses and had a bald head with a little grey hair around the sides. He looked stern and serious. The woman, meanwhile, was blonde with green eyes. She looked a little nervous and her hands shook as she pointed the rifle at the travellers.

“Move,” said the man in a gruff voice.

“If I could just explain-” started the Doctor.

“I said move!” said the man. “You’ll have ample time to explain yourselves later.”

“Well, that’s alright then,” said the Doctor, holding his hands up and edging around the man and woman.

Caroline and Danny, keeping quiet, raised there hands as well and followed the Doctor into the corridor beyond the airlock.




Elsewhere in the spaceship a group of about 15 children were sat on the floor, all of them reading books on biology, but looking ever so slightly nervous. A young, Asian man was standing beside a white screen which was showing a diagram of a frog. He took out a stick and pointed it towards the screen. A section of the frog was highlighted in blue.

“The colour of a frog's skin is used for thermo-regulation. In cool damp conditions the colour will be darker than on a hot dry day,” he said. He then looked towards the door to the classroom as if expecting someone to burst in. Then he quickly looked back to the kids. “And can anybody tell me what the tree frog can do?”

None of the children answered. They continued to look at the books, still looking nervous.

“Anyone?” He looked across at a blonde girl with pigtails who was looking over to the classroom door as well. “Alison.”

“Sir?” she said, her head turning quickly to look at the man.

“What can the tree frog do?”

Alison fidgeted, cross-legged. Now the rest of the children were looking at her. None of them had been paying attention and each child was wondering if Alison was as clueless as the rest of them.

“What can the tree frog do?” asked Alison, repeating the question in her head.

“That was the question,” said the teacher, smiling a little to ease her worries.

“It can…croak!” she said, giving a smile back which showed that she had no idea what the tree frog could do.

All the rest of the children laughed. The teacher smiled and closed his eyes. “Okay, kids, settle down. Settle down. We’ve obviously all been distracted by the alarm.”

“Sir,” said a small voice from a curly haired boy in the corner. “Was it Mr Reynolds coming back?”

The teacher looked to the door again, lost in his own thoughts. “I doubt it, Marcus. He knows the access codes. He wouldn’t have set off the alarm.” He suddenly realised he was talking out aloud and this wasn’t really what a bunch of scared children wanted to hear.

“Then who was it, Mr Sanada?”

Sanada looked back to Alison. “I don’t know. And we needn’t concern ourselves with it. Our job here is to continue to learn. The ship may have crashed, but help is on the way and we have to carry on. We must not let our fears overcome us.”

“But Mr Reynolds has been gone for ages,” said another boy.

“Mr Reynolds has gone on a scouting mission. He’ll be back,” said Sanada, smiling.

“Scouting for what? It‘s been two weeks!”

“For food,” said Sanada. “Back to the books, children.”

“But there’s no food out there,” said Alison. “It’s just all desert. And anyway we have enough rations on the ship.”

“Our charts say there might be food somewhere out there.”

“Then where? If we have rations why does Mr Reynolds have to find more food? We‘re not going to be here that long, are we?” asked Marcus.

“That’s enough,” said Sanada in his sternest voice possible. “Just let the adults deal with this. Everything’s going to be okay. Now,” he said, returning to the screen, “back to the books, please. What can the tree frog do?”




The Doctor, Caroline and Danny were taken down identical, narrow metal corridors, each with various doors leading off at intervals. They were finally marched into a room with a number of tables and chairs filling it. The man indicated for the three travellers to sit down, which they did.

“Can someone explain-”

“Shut up,” said the man again. He turned to the woman. “Annie, go get Hideo.”

The woman nodded, looked back at the travellers and then went through a door leading out of the room.

The man went over to what looked like a futuristic coffee machine, typed in a code and a glass of water materialised in an alcove.

“Just like Star Trek,” said Danny.

“Really?” said the Doctor.

“Yeah,” whispered Danny. “Surely you’ve seen it?”

“Never happened in Captain Kirk’s day.”

“No. TNG. The Next Gen. Captain Picard.”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “Will you two shut up. We’re in big trouble here.”

“Kirk wins,” said the Doctor quickly.

The door swished open before Danny could reply and the woman called Annie was followed in by the Asian teacher - Hideo Sanada.

“Where are these two from?” he said, crossing over to the older man.

“We thought we better get you in here before we questioned them. Are the kids alright?”

“They’re fine,” said Hideo. “They’ve still got questions, but I left them reading a book on frogs.”

“Have they said anything yet?” asked Annie.

“Nothing of any importance,” said the man.

“Excuse me,” said the Doctor, “but we’re still here, you know. We can hear you.”

“Who are you?” asked the man.

“We’re travellers from Earth.”

“From Earth!” said Hideo excitedly. “Where’s your ship?”

“Over the dunes. About ten minutes away.”

“We never heard a ship land,” said the older man. “We never heard engines.”

“Well, it’s pretty quiet,” said the Doctor with a smile on his face. “It’s only a small thing.”

“Who are you?” asked Caroline.

“We’re asking the questions,” said the older man. “Until we’re sure you’re not hostile you won’t be getting any answers out of us.”

“Well, I’ll be happy to answer anything you’ve got to ask. We’ve got nothing to hide. We’ve already told you that we’re travellers from Earth.”

“Why did you come here?” asked Hideo.

“Just exploration,” said the Doctor. “Actually we didn’t expect the planet to be like this at all.” He looked around. “There’s a few too many chairs in here for just the three of you. Where’s the rest of your crew?”

“Shut up,” said the old man again.

“Look, this is getting stupid,” said Caroline. “I don’t know what more you want out of us. We just landed here. You’re the ones acting hostile and pointing guns at us.”

“Did you crash?” asked Danny. “Cos it looks like it from the outside.”

“I said-”

“Oh, Headmaster,” said Hideo, “give them a break. They look harmless.”

The Headmaster was about to say something when the same airlock alarm went off again. Red lights began flashing in the room they were in.

“You must have damaged the lock,” said the Headmaster. “Something’s gotten in. Stay here!”

The Doctor, Caroline and Danny watched as the three people ran from the room to the direction of the airlock. They waited a few seconds and then the Doctor motioned for them to follow.




At the airlock the door was open and a large, brown cover was half in and half out of the doorway. It was covering something. The three teachers rounded the corner of the corridor and Hideo crouched down over the bag.

“What is it?” asked Annie, nervously.

Hideo braced himself as he pulled back the cover. The three of them stepped back in shock. Annie turned away and let out a cry. Underneath the cover was the skeletal remains of a human, it’s ragged clothes still attached. Around it’s neck was a necklace of a star.

“Please don’t tell me-” started the Headmaster.

“It’s William,” said Hideo turning the star between his fingers. “Something’s eaten him.”

The Doctor, Caroline and Danny watched on in the background.

Children Of The Universe, Chapter 1

He looked up at the grey sky, the wind whipping at his face and blowing his thin grey hair. He looked for some sign of the sun - but there was none. He shivered and pulled his coat tighter around him and then continued on his way across the pale, brown sand.

After a while he turned and looked back. His footprints snaked off into the distance and over the hill that he had spent a good ten minutes climbing up. He sighed and wondered if he would ever find any more signs of life in this god forsaken place.

He continued on his journey, his left leg dragging slightly where he has twisted his ankle earlier on in his trek. He had had no choice but to continue though. He needed to find help for the others.

He looked up and groaned, the lines on his face deepening in a look of desperation. Another huge hill of sand ahead of him.

Resigning himself to the climb he made his way onwards. Eventually he reached the top and stopped to catch his breath. He was getting too old for this. At the age of 57 you really shouldn’t be trekking across deserts. Especially not with a twisted ankle.

He was going to continue on his journey when something made him stop. In the distance there appeared to be a large, brown, pyramid-like structure. It was almost like a huge, fat wing of a plane sticking out vertically from the ground.

“It’s got to be help,” he mumbled to himself. “It’s got to be!”

Forgetting about his damaged ankle he began a run down the sand dune. He tripped and fell forward, rolling down the hill. He finally came to a stop at the bottom, slightly shaken from the fall. But he didn’t care. He got to his feet and continue on his limping run towards the shape.

As he approached the weird thing a shaft of light appeared in the side of the structure.

“Hey!” he shouted out. “Hey, we need help. We need help!” he shouted as he got closer.

Above him the grey clouds were beginning to part and the wind was dying down.

“Is there anybody there?” he called out as he reached the structure. It was huge. It towered above him - at least 100 feet from the floor to the tip of it’s pointed top. The door was huge as well and the glowing from inside was almost blinding.

He reached the door and placed his hand on the cold steel of the surface of the structure.

“Is there anybody there?” he called again. “My name’s William. William Reynolds. We had an accident. Please.” He stepped inside the light. “There are children. They need your help.”

William heard a growl from somewhere inside the structure.

“Hello?” said William, a little more cautiously.

The growl came again. Two growls. Three growls. There were more growls. They were surrounding him.

“I think I’ll be going,” said William nervously.

He turned to head back outside when he felt something grab his ankle. It felt like a claw. He screamed in pain. It was his bad ankle. And then he was dragged to the floor.

Outside all that could be heard was William’s screams and the howling of dogs coming from within the structure as the clouds parted to reveal a star field above.




On board the TARDIS the glowing green time rotor which sat in the middle of the central console was gently rising and falling whilst the sound of the TARDIS engines continued in the background.

The Doctor was hunched over the controls, looking at read-outs, jotting stuff down with a pen on his hand and randomly tutting to himself.

Danny, meanwhile, was sat in a chair, watching the Doctor with interest.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

The Doctor didn’t answer.

“Hey, I asked if you’re alright?”

The Doctor looked up at him, the pen in his mouth. “Yes.”

“I thought we were going to visit a planet.”

“We are.”

“Then why aren’t we there yet?”

The Doctor straightened himself up and crossed over to Danny. He looked like he was about to explode. “I’m trying. The TARDIS is just being temperamental.”

“It’s just that we’ve been stuck in this thing for over an hour now and so far all we’ve done is visit Caroline’s flat again for some spare clothes for her and my parents house to pick up my suitcase.”

“What’s your point?” said the Doctor, returning to his hunched-over position.

“My point is that you promised us time and space. So far I’ve been in a church and a room, a room and a room and now back in this room.”

“We’ll be there soon,” said the Doctor. He had gone distant again.

Danny sighed. “I’m off to find Caroline.”




Caroline was standing in what the Doctor had designated her room. He had taken her through the door under the staircase in the main console room, down a corridor and to a room just to the right. It was a fairly spacious room, but certainly no where near as big as the church-like control room. And this room felt much, much warmer. The same circular pattern adorned the stone walls, but this time they glowed a warm, orange colour and the hum of power that could be heard in the console room was much more subtle.

In one corner there was a huge, double bed with extremely soft pillows and a mattress and next to that an ornate wooden bedside table. Across on the other side of the room was a wardrobe and a full length mirror standing next to that.

She wasn’t really sure if she wanted to be on this trip right now, but she knew it was her only way of finding answers and at least she would be travelling in comfort.

Before they had left the Doctor had taken her back to her flat where she had gotten a suitable amount of clothes to keep her going until they had gotten her back. She had also taken the time to report Brian Cope, her landlord, missing to the police. She knew the truth, of course, but she could hardly tell the police that he’d been converted into a ghost-creature from another dimension.

Then they’d made a quick stop off at Danny’s parents. The Doctor had parked outside and he’d run into his parents house, made up some excuse of having to go back to his job for a couple of days, grabbed his suitcase and then re-boarded the TARDIS.

Since then they had done nothing. No promised answers from the Doctor and definitely no travelling to different planets.

She had changed from her winter gear into jeans and a dark, blue top. Although she wasn’t sure where they’d end up next, she definitely had a hope that it wouldn’t be as cold as it had been in Thornsby.

She stood there, looking at herself in the mirror for a few seconds and then smiled at her reflection. As mad as all of this sounded, perhaps she was starting to find a purpose to her life.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” said Caroline.

The door opened and Danny stepped inside. “How’s it going?”

“Good,” she replied. “How’s your room?”

“Well, it’s never gonna be the Hilton, is it?” he said. “But it’s fine.”

“And how’s the Doctor?”

“Being vague.” He sat on her bed. “I came along because I thought we were going to be going to other planets and visiting other times.”

“I’m sure he’ll get us there,” said Caroline, putting on a necklace with a cross around her neck.

Danny frowned. “I still don’t know why you wear that thing. I didn’t think you were religious.”

“I’m not,” she said, turning to look at him, “but it was my grandmas. She made me promise to always wear it to protect me from evil.” She turned the cross over in her fingers, looking down at it. “Maybe she knew something I didn’t. My parents didn’t let me have it until I was sixteen.”

“Your parents were overbearing and overprotective, if you don’t mind me saying so.”

“Well maybe they knew something I didn’t as well. It seems I’m the only one who’s in the dark.”

“Not the only one,” said Danny. “Why don’t you ask the Doctor to take you back to them? Question them?”

Caroline shook her head as she sat next to him on the bed. “No. I don’t want to see them. Not yet.”

He looked at her. “Fair enough. It must have been difficult when you fell out with them.”

She looked back and smiled sadly. “It was always going to happen. Always.”

The door to the room was flung open and the Doctor leant inside. “We’re about to land. Lovely little planet on the other side of your galaxy.”

Caroline and Danny jumped up.

“Finally!” said Danny.

“What’s it called and does it have anything to do with what’s going on with me?”

“It’s called Trixatin, and I doubt it does, Miss Parker. Come on.”

Caroline felt her heart sink a little, but followed the Doctor and Danny out to the console room anyway.




They entered the room and the Doctor ran to console, flicking switches and taking readings.

“Well?” asked Danny. “Can we go out?”

“Hang on..” he said. “Air normal. Gravity normal. It’s quite warm out as well so, Danny, I’d abandon the pullover and go for a t-shirt.”

Danny rolled his eyes and pulled off his jumper revealing a yellow, smiley-faced t-shirt underneath.

“Oooh, you’ll love it here. I’ve read all about the place. Rolling sands, rivers of silver-water, lush, blue trees and never-ending sunshine. I’ve always wanted to come here.”

He flicked a switch and a small TV monitor came down from the roof. The screen flicked on and the Doctor’s face dropped.

On the screen there were rolling sands, but that was it. Above them grey clouds rolled in the sky and a wind was whipping up, causing sand particles to spiral around and around on top of the dunes.

“It looks beautiful!” said Caroline mockingly.

“It’s definitely Trixatin,” he said, checking the readings. “I suppose the guide books must have been wrong.”

They made there way to the door of the console room which led outside to the surface of the planet. If they had been paying attention, though, they might have noticed the sound of howling dogs coming from the TV monitor.

Story 1.2: Children Of The Universe

"She said it was like an Alsatian dog, but that it was walking on it’s back legs. Walking upright.”

The eduction ship Pythagoras crash lands on the beautiful world of Trixatin...except it's not beautiful at all. It's a barren, desert wasteland with nothing but rolling dunes and grey skies.

Trapped and unable to communicate with the rest of their colony fleet, the teachers and children of the Pythagoras face the prospect of being trapped on the planet for a very, very long time. And that's not their only problem - somewhere close by there are vicious, intelligent dogs waiting to eat...

The Doctor, Caroline and Danny arrive and discover that there is much, much more going on than they had initially thought.

This is the second adventure in a continuing series for the Doctor, Caroline and Danny.

The Ghosts Of Winter, Chapter 14

There was silence as Danny stood in the cold snow, the air smelling of sulphur. The crack was gone and everything was still.

Caroline and the Doctor walked over to Danny.

Caroline put a hand on his shoulder. “How do you feel?”

“Relaxed,” smiled Danny, “but tired.”

“Well done, young man,” said the Doctor, patting Danny on the shoulder. “You beat them.”

Danny laughed as he crossed over to the wall and sat down. “I still don’t quite know how.”

“When that Apparite was inside you, it was there physically as well. Even though it was gone it left some of it’s power there. You were, essentially, partly turned into one of them.”

“And what about you?” asked Caroline, looking suspiciously at the Doctor.

“I’m not from this planet,” he smiled. “I suppose they didn’t have the same effect on me.”

There was a huge crack of thunder and the heavens opened up. Rain pelted down on the snow and started to melt it away. The three of them ran and took shelter in one of the church doorways.

“The snow will melt now,” said the Doctor, looking up at the rain clouds in the dark night sky. “The weather will return to normal.”

Caroline shook her head. “I still don’t quite understand. I mean we never knew what they wanted with me or why they looked like ghosts.” She thought for a moment. “We don’t even know where they came from and where are they now!”

The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and sighed. “I wish I could answer all of your questions, Miss Parker, but I’m afraid until we come up against our cloaked friends again we won’t know any answers.”

“Brilliant,” said Caroline. “So if I want answers we have to meet them again?”

“I’m afraid so. And I’m afraid that that won’t be the last we see of them. They’ll be back. Remember that although the crack is closed, they can still fade across from time to time. They’ll never be fully gone.”

Danny, who had been keeping quiet decided to speak. “There’s one thing you two are not spotting here.”

“And what’s that?” asked the Doctor, looking around him.

“Where did those other two people go?”

Danny was right. During the chaos of the last few minutes, Margot and Ben had disappeared.




Danny and Caroline were sitting in the church, trying to dry off when the Doctor emerged from the doorway that led to the crypt.

“Any luck?” asked Caroline.

“Unfortunately not,” said the Doctor. “They’ve vanished. No sign of them at all.”

“Great! So more unanswered questions,” grumbled Caroline. “I’m starting to feel like we’re in an episode of Lost!”

The Doctor laughed. “Wait until you see the film.”

“So what are we going to do about them?” asked Danny.

“They clearly knew more than they were letting on,” said Caroline. “Like, loads more.”

The Doctor sat down, looking visibly frustrated. “I don’t like to be kept in the dark, but I promise we’ll find the answers out eventually. Which leads me onto the next item on the agenda.”

Caroline stood up and held out her hands. “Oh, no, no, no. I’ve already told you that I’m not going with you.”

“You have to,” said the Doctor. “The ghosts clearly had an interest in you and the only way for you to get answers is to come with me. You too, Danny.”

“Me?” said Danny, looking confused.

“Yes, you,” said the Doctor. “You’ve had one of them in your head. I need to make sure you’re in the clear with that one.”

“You mean it could still be in there?” Danny looked concerned.

“No, but those powers might be. I need you both where I can see you. Where I can keep track and try and help you.”

“I’m not going,” said Caroline bluntly.

“Why not? Are you scared?”

“Don’t be stupid,” spat Caroline. “I just…believe in getting on with real life.”

“Caroline, I’m not saying that you have to abandon your world completely, but you could at least give it a go. See how you feel.”

“No,” she said again, arms folded and her back to the Doctor.

“Pretend it’s a holiday. You can come away, we can investigate you and then I can get you back here.” He paused. “To your supermarket.”

She whirled around and looked him in the eye. “It’s not that bad.”

“It is,” he said quickly. “You know you don’t want to be there.”

“I’ve already said I’m gonna leave anyway. I’ll find a new job. Pursue a career.”

“Or travel in time with me,” said the Doctor quietly.

Caroline sighed. “And space, I suppose?”

“New planets,” grinned the Doctor. “Aliens. Monsters. Robots. Lovely stuff.”

She looked down at him. He refused to stop grinning.

“Well?” he asked, still grinning.

“I’m gonna regret this,” she said, resigning herself to the fact that she had no way out of this. “But only if Danny goes,” she added quickly.

“I’m game,” said Danny. “As long as you get me back for Christmas day. I’ve still got my family to see, you know?”

“Excellent!” said the Doctor, jumping up and clapping his hands together. “Let’s get going then.”

“What about the town. Won’t people ask questions? There are buildings in bits all over the town centre.”

“They’ll blame it on the weather,” said the Doctor quietly. “Humans always find ordinary explanations for extra-ordinary situations. The town will rebuild and start again.”

“And this time travelling thing?” asked Danny.

“Yes,” said the Doctor, opening the door to the outside.

“Do we need passports?”




Down in the crypt of the church the room that had been empty all of this time was suddenly a hive of activity. All around the room people sat at banks of computers, monitoring readouts and typing in figures onto keyboards. Amongst the dozen or so people stood Ben and Margot. They were deep in conversation with a striking strawberry-blonde haired woman who looked to be in her early thirties. She wore jeans and a black, leather jacket and had her eyes folded. She looked tired, but she listened intently to Margot and Ben.

“It’s a miracle the Time Lord didn’t find us,” said the strawberry-blonde woman with an American accent.

“Blame Ben,” said Margot.

“I won’t blame him,” said the woman calmly, “but we do need to be much more careful in the future. Do you hear me, Ben?”

Ben looked down at the ground. “I’m sorry. I just didn’t want all of our work to be undone just because we wanted to see if that Doctor could cope.”

“The ghosts are our concern,” said the woman. “If things hadn’t worked out, I would have stepped in. You know that, Ben.”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

The woman smiled. “Go put your gear back on. You’ve got a sermon to give in the morning,” she said, nodding her head towards the vicars outfit he had worn earlier on.

“What about me?” asked Margot.

“Back to station 5,” said the woman. “We’ve got to monitor any more escapes.” She sighed. “Maybe one day this will all be over.”

“Maybe the Doctor can help us,” said Margot.

“Maybe. One day. He couldn’t this time. I so wanted him to fix this thing for good, but until then I’m determined to deal with this ourselves. We caused the problem and we’ll deal with it.”

Margot nodded. “You’re doing the best you can, Jayne.”

The woman - Jayne - smiled. “Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

Jayne left the room and made her way into an ante-chamber. She looked at her hands which glowed an orange colour. She looked to be in some distress and started shaking as her hands glowed brighter and brighter. Then, as soon as they had started, the glowing stopped.

Jayne closed her eyes and smiled. It wasn’t over yet.

1982

A couple sat in their living room. In the woman’s hands was a baby. It was still and silent, sleeping peacefully.

“What shall we call her, Tony?” asked the woman with the long, dark hair.

“Does it matter?” asked Tony, glumly.

“Of course it matters,” said the woman. “She’s ours.”

Tony gave a slight chuckle. “Call her what you like, Cath.”

Cath looked down at the baby. “How about Caroline?”

“That’ll do,” said Tony, getting up and crossing over to the TV. The Big Match was on. He went back to the armchair and sat down.

“You’ll learn to love her,” said Cath. “You’ll soon realise how important she is.”

Tony looked at Cath and then at the baby. “She’ll be nothing but trouble. You heard what they said: keep her safe. One day bad people will come for her. Are you sure you want to get involved in that?”

Cath smiled and looked down at the baby. “What could anyone possibly want with her? She’s just a baby.”

“Just a baby,” repeated Tony. “I wish.”

Cath looked at Tony with a sad face and then back down at the baby. “Poor little Caroline.”



The End

Next Time: Children of the Universe

The Ghosts Of Winter, Chapter 13

“Come and join us,” said the Apparite version of Mr Cope.

“Mr Cope!” exclaimed Caroline. She stopped right in front of him and looked him up and down, fear in her eyes. “What did they do to you?”

He looked just like the rest of the Apparites, except Caroline could spot his wedding ring on his left hand. It had been half-fused into the skin. She also noticed the tattered remains of his cap beneath the cloak.

The Doctor skidded around the corner and stopped dead when he saw Cope.

“Give us the woman,” said Cope, looking at the startled Doctor.

“Ah,” said the Doctor, trying to catch his breath. “I wondered when they’d send you.”

“They’re trying to get to me through my emotions, aren’t they?” asked Caroline, continuing to stare up at the sad figure of Mr Cope.

“Yes,” said the Doctor.

“So they used me as a first weapon to get to her.” said Danny. “At the same time they’d taken over Mr Cope?”

“Yes,” said the Doctor grimly. “Absorbing memories of her and any information they could.” The Doctor, now with his breath back, walked over to face the ghost. “No doubt if anyone else close to Caroline had been nearby they would have suffered a similar fate to you, Danny, or Mr Cope.”

Cope smiled, his jagged teeth as sharp as razor blades.

“But why me?” asked Caroline. “I still don’t understand. It’s not like I’m any different from anyone else.”

Cope pointed towards Caroline. “Your energy,” he hissed. “You are special. One of us.”

Caroline shook her head. “I’m not. How can I be?”

The Doctor looked confused. “She’s not like you. She’s a human being.”

“So were we once,” said Cope.

“Of course,” said the Doctor. “That’d explain how they were so easily able to convert Mr Cope here, and how they got into your head, Danny.”

“What happened to you?” asked Caroline. “We can help you?”

Cope suddenly bent over double and there was a cry from deep within him. “You cannot help us.”

“We can,” said the Doctor quickly. “We don’t want to hurt you. Let us help you.”

“No!” shouted Cope. “Too late. Too late!”

Cope reached out to touch Caroline on her head.

Danny hesitated.

“Now, Danny, now!” shouted the Doctor.

Danny leapt in front of Caroline and stood between her and Mr Cope. For a moment Cope’s eyes looked confused and sad. And then his face twisted into a look which was somewhere between anger and joy and grabbed Danny around the neck.

The Doctor pulled Caroline out of the way.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked as he dragged her back to a small wall which they both crouched behind.

“We’ll soon find out. Fight him, Danny!” shouted the Doctor.

For a moment Danny was taken aback and didn’t know what to do. He could feel the icy hand around his throat and his air supply was being cut off. He gasped for breath and felt he was about to pass out.

“Fight him!” came the Doctor’s voice again.

“I can’t!” yelled Danny.

“Yes you can. You’ve been touched by them. Tainted. There’s still some vestigial power left inside of you.”

Danny fell back into the snow and started kicking out at Cope.

“No, no, no,” said the Doctor. “With your mind. With your mind!” He jabbed at his own temple.

Danny tensed up and tried with all of his might to force the Apparite off him. “No!” he said. “You’re not getting me again.”

All around the church the Apparites were beginning to gather to watch the proceedings.

Caroline looked around her. “We’re kind of trapped here, Doctor. This had better work,” she said nervously.

“It had better work,” said the Doctor, mimicking her nervousness.

Caroline looked at him worriedly.

Danny was still struggling on the floor, but he had stopped kicking. Instead he was staring Cope right in his blank, white eyes. His body was rigid and his face had a look of determination on it.

“You can’t struggle against us,” growled Cope.

Danny could feel the skin on his neck start to freeze up under the grip of Cope. He tried to shut the pain away and channel it back in his determination.

“You are pathetic.”

“You don’t know anything about me,” said Danny, through gritted teeth.

“We know everything about you,” Cope laughed.

Danny felt himself failing again as the skin on his neck turned grey. “I never told you anything.”

“You didn’t have to.” Cope raised his finger and tapped towards Danny’s temple. “All we needed was in there.”

“No!” yelled Danny as he felt his body go rigid.

Caroline, meanwhile, could already see that this was going to end badly. “We’ve got to do something.”

“Danny has to do this himself,” said the Doctor. “He has to.”

“Why can’t you go to the TARDIS and do it?”

“I can’t risk it,” he said. “I really can’t.”

Caroline looked at him. It was quite clear that he wasn’t going to make a move until the last moment. He wasn’t willing to risk his TARDIS, even if that meant Danny dying.

“Please, Doctor.”

“I can’t, Caroline. Not now.”

Caroline stood up and looked down at the Doctor. “Then that’s all I needed to know.”

She turned and ran towards Danny.

“Caroline, no!” she heard the Doctor shout behind her.

The rest of the Apparites became restless as they saw Caroline reach Danny, but Caroline ignored them and crouched down beside Danny who was about to lose control completely.

She grabbed his hand tightly and then looked up at Cope.

“What are you doing?” said Danny, feeling himself slipping away.

She continued to stare at Cope. “Mr Cope?” she said softly. “Brian. Are you there?”

Cope refused to look at her.

“Mr Cope, it’s Caroline. Remember? The girl upstairs.”

The ghosts eyes flicked towards her for a second and then back to Danny.

“I know you’re in there somewhere.”

“Go away!” yelled Cope. “Not yet. Not you. Not yet!”

“Yes!” shouted Caroline back at him. “I don’t care what you are now. You used to be human being. A man.”

“Not anymore!” it yelled back.

Caroline noticed it’s grip was significantly less secure around Danny’s neck than it had been a few seconds ago.

She moved in closer to Danny and whispered in his ear. “You have to do this. Be ready.”

Danny looked at her and nodded.

“Brian, what would Eleanor think about this?”

Cope flinched at the name.

“What would your wife think?” asked Caroline, continuing to probe Cope’s memories.

“She’s gone!” growled Cope, barring his teeth.

“I know,” sad Caroline sadly. “Three years ago. Pneumonia, wasn’t it?”

Cope’s grip loosened on Danny. “She is not mine.”

“She was yours though,” she continued. She reached out with her hand and placed it on his cloaked shoulder. She could feel the cold fabric on the palm of her hand. “She loved you very much.”

“You never knew her,” said Cope, turning to look at her.

“I know what you told me. Remember that summer’s night the other year when the power went out and you made me some hot chocolate on the old stove. We sat in the back garden and you told me all about her.”

“I hate hot chocolate.”

“But Eleanor loved it, didn’t she?” said Caroline, looking into Brian’s eyes. “And you carried on buying it even though she’d been gone two years.”

“I…grew to like it,” said Cope. “I…”

“You couldn’t bare to be without her. That’s why you rented out the top of the house. You couldn’t bare to go up there and be in that old bedroom without her by your side. That’s right, isn’t it?”

“Yes,” said Cope, his voice had lost the growl and was full of emotion. “I missed her so much. All I want is her back with me. My Eleanor.”

Caroline saw him close his eyes and a trickle of tears slipped from the tear ducts. She almost felt sorry for the thing standing there in front of him, but her plan had worked. She waited for a moment and then, with a look of disgust on her face turned to Danny and said, “Now!”

Danny gritted his teeth, screamed out and forced Cope off him. He continued to yell as he pushed Cope back and then slowly rose to his feet. Cope was powerless as Danny grabbed him by both hands and flung the weak, frail creature across the snowy ground.

Cope looked startled for a few seconds and then started making his way back towards Danny. Danny grabbed him and threw him back again.

Cope, seemingly regaining a lot of his prior strength jumped up and ran towards Danny. But, now filled with a new sense of determination, Danny flung his hand forwards, his palm towards Cope and Cope ground to a halt, as if the air surrounding Danny had become too thick to pass through.

Caroline stood back as she watched currents of air flow from Danny, forcing Cope backwards.

“What do I do now!?” shouted Danny, sounding slightly panicked.

The Doctor came running up beside Caroline. “Force Cope back then close the crack.”

“How the hell do I do that?”

“Just think about it. You have the power of the Apparites flowing through you. Use their own power to close the gap!”

Danny started to walk forward. One foot and then the next. It looked like he was walking into a gale force wind.

Cope fell to the ground again and cried out in pain.

Now the rest of the Apparites were converging on Danny.

The Doctor ushered Caroline out of the way. “He can do this,” he said, almost trying to convince himself.

“No thanks to you,” said Caroline quietly.

The Doctor looked down at her but she refused to look back up. “I guess you have a better way with people then I do.”

“I don’t feel proud about it,” said Caroline, as she watched Cope continue to get up and then fall down again.

“But you’ll learn to live with it.”

“I’ve already told you,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “I am not coming with you.”

The Doctor didn’t answer her back.

Now all the rest of the Apparites were standing in front of Danny, helping Cope to his feet and trying to fight against the invisible force field Danny was conjuring up. Despite their best efforts Danny was able to force them further and further towards the crack.

“How are you doing this?!” cried Cope, who was almost at the opening.

“I don’t know,” laughed Danny. “I’m not even having to try anymore.”

“Stop him!” yelled Cope. As he was flung back into the bright light of the crack.

“Keep going, Danny!” yelled Caroline. “Keep going!”

Danny growled as he forced himself to move closer and closer towards the crack. “Get out of my town!” he yelled, and with one, final shove of the hands he pushed the remaining handful of ghosts back into the crack.

Screams came from beyond the realm as Danny edged closer and closer towards it.

“Be careful not to get too near,” shouted the Doctor as energy crackled and fizzled from the gap. “You don’t want to get pulled in as well.”

“What now?” asked Danny, still standing with his hands in front of him. “I look like a bloody tree worshipper here.”

“Just…close it!” said the Doctor. “Just do what comes naturally.”

Danny straightened himself up and then pointed his finger towards the top of the crack. It fizzled and a glowing ball of energy appeared at the top. Slowly he moved his finger down and the glow of energy followed down the length of the gap. It was almost like a giant zip, closing up the crack. As the energy ‘zip’ neared the bottom of the crack a hand emerged from inside and tried to claw it’s way out.

Danny brought his other hand forward, as if pushing at the air, and the hand disappeared back inside.

Then, with a fizzle, the crack sealed itself up.

To be concluded...

The Ghosts Of Winter, Chapter 12

In the alleyway behind House Of Fraser the same wheezing and groaning sound was beginning to fill the air once again. The snowflakes danced on an invisible air current down the alleyway. Eventually the blue shape of the TARDIS began to materialise and, with a loud thump, the blue box became a solid shape.

Caroline and Danny emerged from the time machine. Danny held his hand to his forehead and looked about him, unsure of what had just happened.

“Feeling okay?” asked Caroline.

“This is just…mad,” he said, looking back at the TARDIS and shaking his head in disbelief, his mouth open and his eyes unmoving.

They had spent the last fifteen minutes explaining to Danny what had been going on with the Apparites, and then they had explained what exactly the TARDIS was. Or at least the Doctor had. Caroline was still unsure exactly what was going on with that, but she’d seen so much over the last few hours that she was willing to accept the unbelievable now.

Danny had taken it quite well, staying calm and collected as he was taken into the TARDIS and shown around the main console room. He had listened quietly and not bothered to ask too many questions.

But now he was outside the ship he was starting to show signs of panic.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” asked Caroline as Danny placed his hand against the wooden outside frame of the TARDIS.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said, not quite believing it himself. “I’m good. I’ll be fine.” He ran his hand down the box. “It’s just…”

“I know,” said Caroline, not waiting for his answer.

“How can you just stay so calm?” asked Danny, crossing over to her and looking at her as if she was talking nonsense.

“I don’t know,” she said, turning and folding her arms. She looked down the passage and to the swirling snow beyond. “Maybe I want to believe in it. Maybe I believe in it too much because there’s nothing else.”

Danny crossed over to her and put his hand on her shoulder. “Caz, you shouldn’t feel like this.”

She rounded on him, her face full of thunder. “And why shouldn’t I?”

“I…I don’t understand,” he said, taken aback by her.

“I thought Steve and I had something together. I felt happy with him.” She turned from him and walked a few paces away, her back still turned to Danny. “It felt perfect. When I fell pregnant. Well…it just made me feel complete.”

“Caroline, I’m so sorry.”

“I was going to ask him to marry me. We’d only know each for a few months, but everything just felt so right. You know, when you meet that perfect person,” she said, turning to face him, waiting for a response.

“I don’t know, myself,” he said, smiling sadly. “I’m still waiting for that perfect person.”

“Two months carrying a life inside you. I know it wasn’t there for that long, but I felt different. Complete. And then nothing.”

Danny crossed over to her. “I didn’t realise you cared so much about this Steve.”

“I try and hide it these days. I try and pretend it never existed because it’s too painful to remember.”

Danny edged around to her front and lowered himself to her eye line. He looked her right in the eyes and put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m here for you,” he said slowly.

Caroline smiled and nodded. “I know you want to be,” she said, sadly, “but I don’t think anyone can help me now.”

Danny continued to look at her, not knowing whether to be upset or hurt or angry. She refused to meet his gaze. He had really shaken her up earlier on, although he couldn’t exactly remember it. He wondered if their friendship would ever be the same again.

The two of them jumped when the door of the TARDIS creaked open and the Doctor stepped out.

“How’re you feeling Mr Lennon?” asked the Doctor as he jammed a woolly hat onto his head and squeezed past them in the passage. “I knew a Mr Lennon once. Nice bloke. Very nice glasses.”

“I’m as well as can be expected,” he said with a nervous laugh.

“Look,” said Caroline, brushing past Danny and following the Doctor out into the street, “are you sure this is the right thing to do?”

“Absolutely sure,” said the Doctor. “We have Danny here as a weapon to use against them. We have to take that opportunity.”

“A weapon,” said Danny, raising his eyebrows and stuffing his hands into the pockets of his long, grey coat. “I’ve never been called a weapon before.”

“There’s risk,” said the Doctor, “and normally I wouldn’t ever ask anyone to do this, but if we don’t we’re going to have to risk the TARDIS, and that, my friends, is something I cannot afford to do. Here,” he tossed Caroline a walkie-talkie which she just managed to catch, “radio those two back at the church.”

“Yes sir!” she said sarcastically. She switched on the walkie-talkie and at first all she could hear was static. She spoke into it. “Anyone there? This is Caroline. Is there anyone there?” Nothing but static. “Hey, England to the USA. England to the USA. Is anyone there?” Still nothing.

The Doctor, getting frustrated, grabbed the walkie from Caroline. “Hello, hello. This is the Doctor. Is there anybody there? Please pick up, you fools.”

A cracked voice came across the radio. “This is Margot. Keep calm. We’re here.”

“Excellent,” he said, looking up and down the street. “We’re making our way to the church now.”

“Yes, okay. Good.”

The Doctor couldn’t be certain, but he was sure he could here a third voice coming over the speaker. Ben, Margot and someone else.

“I think they know we’re up to something,” said Ben over the radio. “They’ve been circling the church for the past hour or so. The ghosts.”

“But they haven’t attacked yet?” asked the Doctor.

“Not yet,” said Ben. “It’s like they’re waiting for something.”

“Us,” said the Doctor grimly.

The radio hissed and let out a high-pitched whine. Then a growling, crackling voice came over the other end, through the static. “Poor little people.”

“That’s them!” said Caroline, crossing over and looking at the radio as if expecting to see something come out of it. “Have they got Ben and Margot?”

“No,” said the Doctor, also looking down at the walkie. “They’re just using the radio waves to communicate.”

“Come and play,” hissed the voice. “Bring Caroline Parker.”

“They want me,” said Caroline blankly. “But why?”

“I have no idea,” said the Doctor. He pressed the TALK button and brought the radio up close to his mouth. “Now listen to me. This is your last chance. We have a way to defeat you, but I’d much rather help you out. Try and get you home. What do you say?”

“We want Caroline Parker,” came the same, twisted voice.

“Is that your final answer?” asked the Doctor.

“Caroline Parker,” said the Apparite, as if to confirm the answer to the Doctor’s question.

“Right. You were warned.” He switched the radio off and threw it into the snow. “Come on, let’s go.”




Ben and Margot emerged from the staircase leading down to the crypt and Ben let our a long sigh.

“What now?” asked Margot, getting a little fed up with Ben’s attitude.

“I’m just wondering how we ended up here,” he said glumly. “We had a life, you know?”

“I know,” said Margot, looking up at the windows. Thankfully the ghosts had left them alone. They were far more interested in wrecking the town centre.

“Don’t you ever miss it? Don’t you ever miss Harry?”

Margot turned and looked at Ben. “You know the answer to that one,” she said.

“I miss my brother and sister,” he said, sitting down on one of the pews. “I always miss them.”

“But we promised Jayne we’d do everything we could do contain this situation,” said Margot, as if repeating something she had been taught to learn. “Whether we like it or not, this is our job now.”

Ben shook his head. “Dressing up as a vicar though…I’m not exactly the right person for the part.”

“It’s worked these last few years. I’m sure you can keep up the illusion.”

“You’re not the one who has to give sermons. I’m not even an religious man.” He ran his hand through his dark hair and then rubbed his face. “I need a shave. I feel like I haven’t had a shower in weeks.”

Margot crossed over to him and patted him on his shoulder. “Come on,” she said, attempting a smile, “it’s not all that bad. Eventually we’ll work out a way to put an end to it all.”

“You hope,” he said quietly, staring into space.




Caroline was out of breath and she was sure that her feet were no longer touching the ground. She was running so fast that she felt like she was flying and, to be fair, this was the first time she’d ever attempted to run in snow. It had actually started out quite easy, but now she was struggling. She constantly felt like she was falling forward and when her feet did eventually touch they ground they didn’t hit anything solid.

She turned back to look behind her and there was Danny and the Doctor following up the rear. They’d emerged into the shopping street and were cautiously making their way towards the church when one of the Apparites had appeared down the side street. At first it hadn’t noticed them as the Doctor motioned for them to back up into a shop doorway. It was only when an already-leaning lamp post came crashing to the ground that the ghost had looked up and spotted them.

The Doctor hadn’t hesitated and told them all to run, make their way for the church and not to look back.

But now Caroline was looking back. She could see the Apparite floating above the snow right behind the Doctor. It’s hand kept grasping out in an effort to grab him, but the Doctor was always one step ahead of the ghost. Just.

It was then that she lost her concentration and found herself slipping and falling face-first into the deep drifts. The cold on her face almost sent her into shock. But then she could feel herself being grabbed by the back of her coat and hauled to her feet.

She automatically started to run once again and realised it was Danny who had grabbed her.

“Doctor!” she shouted out.

“Just keep running!” came his voice in the distance.

They passed the frozen-over fountains and ran past the Wilkinson’s situated in what was once the town’s main open-air market. They could see the church and rounded the corner to see Ben and Margot standing in the doorway and beckoning them onwards.

“Round the side!” came the Doctor’s voice again.

“What?” shouted Margot.

“To the crack! There’s no time like the present!”

Caroline rolled her eyes, skidded on an icy patch in front of the church door and, grabbing hold of Danny, continued running down the side of the church to where the crack was.

When they rounded the corner, however, they found their route blocked. Standing right in front of the opening to the Apparites dimensions was the ghostly image of Caroline’s transformed landlord - Mr Cope.

To be continued...

The Ghosts Of Winter, Chapter 11

The Doctor and Caroline had made their way the long way round through the town to reach the centre. They’d turned down Welholme Rd and then onto Abbey Rd before finally making there way down Wellowgate, past the old fashioned second hand furniture shops, around the side of the railway station and onto Bethlehem St which ran parallel with Victoria St and near to where the Doctor’s police box was standing.

It had been a treacherous journey and one that had almost put them into contact with the ghosts again, but every time they came close the Doctor had dragged Caroline into a shop doorway or a passageway and they’d simply hoped they wouldn’t be spotted. So far it had worked.

Along the way they had seen the Apparites dragging people out of their homes and from flats above the shops and converting them, just like Mr Cope, into their own kind. Caroline and the Doctor had felt powerless to stop them. On a number of occasions Caroline had begged the Doctor to let them go and help, but the Doctor had simply told her that they wouldn’t have even had the first clue about how to go around stopping them let alone help to transform the people back. They had to progress with the mission and get to the TARDIS.

Finally they reached the passage behind House Of Fraser where the blue box stood, covered it heaps of snow.

“What have they done to you?” said the Doctor, as if he were talking to a pet dog.

“So that’s your…TARDIS, yeah? That‘s what Margot called it, wasn‘t it?” asked Caroline, still unsure of whether to move nearer towards it after her feelings from last time.

“Yes,” he said, brushing snow away from the lock in the door. “This is my TARDIS.” The Doctor stopped for a minute and then turned back to face Caroline. “Do you know something odd?”

“What?” she said, unable to think of anything that would stand out as being odd amongst the already-odd things that had happened this evening.

“I never told Margot what my machine was called.”

“You must have done,” said Caroline, her thoughts going back to the conversation in the tunnels.

“I didn’t.” He sighed. “She already knew the name TARDIS. She knew that this was a TARDIS.”

“So you think she’s definitely lying to us?”

“Definitely,” said the Doctor, “and when all this is over we’re going to get some real answers out of those two.”

Caroline had never felt comfortable with the two strangers and what the Doctor had said had just confirmed those fears. “So this is a spaceship, then?”

“Yes. Well actually it’s a time and space ship. Flies in space and time.”

“And you can go anywhere in it?” asked Caroline, her eyes all over the box.

“Yes. Well, within reason.” He patted the side of the TARDIS. “It stands for Time and Relative Dimension In Space.”

“That makes it all much more clearer,” she smiled. A thought occurred to her. “So why don’t you go back in time and stop these things from appearing?”

“It doesn’t work like that,” he smiled. He had told this story all to often before. “I can observe and gather information, but I can’t just go and change things. Some moments are fixed points in time. I’m involved in this and it spans too much time for me to just stop it happening. The whole of space and time would collapse down around us.”

“Then why don’t you go back and observe?” said Caroline. “Get some sort of clue as to what made these things in the first place?”

“I wouldn’t know where to start,” said the Doctor sadly. “Wherever and whenever these things came from…well, it’s being masked from TARDIS’s senses. We need to deal with it here and now.”

“Okay then,” said Caroline, straightening herself up, “let’s get on with this. Show me around.”

The Doctor nodded. “Try not to splutter too much on the console.” He grinned.

Caroline closed her eyes, composed herself and then followed the Doctor into the box.




The first thing she noticed was darkness and the smell of stone. There was no light or sound. Just darkness and silence.

“Give me a second,” said the Doctor, his voice echoing in what she could only assume was a large chamber.

She could hear him moving away from her. There were a few clicking’s of switches and buttons and a small, green light flickered into few in the darkness.

“I had to switch her on low power,” said the Doctor, his face now illuminated by the green glow coming from the side of him. “I didn’t fancy the idea of the ghosts getting on board the ship.”

Caroline watched as the green light grew brighter and brighter. It was now clear that the Doctor was standing next to a mushroom-shaped console with an array of dials, buttons, switches and a number of other unusual objects seemingly fixed onto it. The glow was coming from some green rods which were housed in a glass tube which extended from the top of the mushroom console and towards the ceiling.

She followed the glass tube upwards. The ceiling was high, but she was now able to see much more. Lights were slowly coming on and the roof was illuminated. It looked similar to the church roof where they had just come from. High, wooden beams spanned an old stone ceiling. Around the walls near the ceiling was a stone walkway with a balcony. The walkway contained small doors leading off to who knew where.

Her gaze was drawn down again. The walls were also stone and at regular intervals there were glowing green circles. Every now and again the pattern would be halted by stone pillars attached at various points along the wall. The room was a pretty big, hexagonal chamber, not the size of the church, but certainly bigger than what she was expecting. At the furthest end was a stone staircase which led up to the walkway near the ceiling and behind the staircase was another doorway which presumably led to yet more rooms.

She was standing on a stone floor and a walkway led from the central console to the door they had just come in. The walkway was mapped out with a few, very small trees in plant pots. And, bizarrely, the door they had just come through was the reverse side of the police box door.

“Well?” asked the Doctor. “What do you think?”

Caroline didn’t say anything. She wobbled slightly and then slowly walked over to an old wooden chair near to the console and sat down.

“Are you okay, Miss Parker?” asked the Doctor. “I know it can knock people for six sometimes.”

“I’m fine,” she said, a little dazed. “I just…well, I wasn’t really expecting this.”

The Doctor frowned. “What did you expect? The star ship Enterprise?”

She gazed up at the ceiling again. “It’s just so big. And old.”

“Old?!” said the Doctor, sounding hurt.

“I mean…what I meant to say is that it doesn’t look how I expected.” She wasn’t really able to explain herself too well, but this was certainly not what she thought the inside of a time machine would look like.

“Well I’m sorry to disappoint you,” said the Doctor, gloomily flicking switches on the console.

“I’m not disappointed,” she said, looking at him. “I’m impressed. Really impressed.”

The Doctor turned to her, he looked hurt. “Really?”

“Really.” She smiled.

The Doctor’s face broke out into a grin and he started darting around the console, activating switches and pulling levers. A background hum had started to get a little louder as the machine grew in power.

“Why does it look like a police box?” asked Caroline, deciding to ask one of the many questions she had.

“The TARDIS used to be able to disguise herself a long, long time ago. I landed in the 1960’s and it got stuck in that shape.”

“Haven’t you ever tried to fix it?” she asked, getting out of the chair and looking around her.

“No. I like it like this.”

She moved over to the console and placed both hands on it. The lights pulsated with power.

“What was that?” she asked.

“The TARDIS. She’s just getting accustomed to you.” He looked at her and then quickly looked back down at the console again.

“Hmmm,” said Caroline. “I hope she likes me.”

“She does,” said the Doctor quietly.

“So what’s the next move?”

“We need to go and pick up Danny.”

“Won’t that draw our attention to the ghosts?”

“Possibly, but it shouldn’t be too bad. We’re just making a short hop across the town and back again. It’ll barely register with them.”

“You said you had to leave the TARDIS on low power.”

“No one notices one drip from the tap, but if you leave the tap on, no matter how slowly, it’ll get noticed.”

“Clever,” smiled Caroline. “You’ve always wanted to use that one haven’t you?”

“Always,” smiled the Doctor. He typed in a few numbers on a side panel and then put his hand on a large, red lever. “Ready?”

“I guess.” But she wasn’t exactly sure that she was.

The Doctor pulled the lever and there was a huge thud from somewhere deep within the bowls of the ship, and then, like a hidden, waking monster, there came a wheezing and groaning sound. The sound of the engines. They ground into life, getting faster and faster. The green rods in the glass tube had started to move up and down and the entire room was vibrating.

“Everything okay?” asked the Doctor, realising that Caroline was clinging tightly to the console.

She gave him the thumbs up, but her face looked a little unsure.

Then, almost as suddenly as it had started, there was another loud thud and everything was still.

“Was that it?” asked Caroline, slightly disappointed.

“Just a short hop,” said the Doctor as he made his way towards the doors.




The TARDIS had somehow landed itself perfectly in Caroline’s front room. It only just fitted in, however, and the light on the top had punctured the ceiling above it. Plaster had sprinkled down on the already-melting snow which had coated the box.

“Oh dear,” said the Doctor, emerging from the doors.

“Brilliant,” said Caroline as she spotted the ceiling. “I go on my first spaceship and it costs me in repairs!”

“I’ll sort it for you, don’t worry,” said the Doctor, looking around the room.

Caroline suddenly felt herself go light headed. The Doctor stepped over to her and helped her onto the sofa.

“What’s happening?”

“Travel in the TARDIS can affect you. You’ve got to remember that you’re stepping into a separate dimension and flying through space. It’s going to send you a bit funny.”

“Lovely. I can’t wait for my next trip,” she smiled wearily and lay back on the sofa.

“Plus the TARDIS is now psychically linked to you.”

“Huh?” Caroline was getting more and more confused.

“It gets in your head. Helps translate alien languages.”

“Terrific. A space/time machine disguised as a police box which you call a ‘she’ and it can get in your head and obliterate any need for a German translation book. Anything else?”

“Hmmm,” thought the Doctor, “nothing I can think of yet.”

There was a noise from the bedroom and Danny emerged from the doorway, looking confused and his hair a mess. He rubbed his eyes, looked at the Doctor, then Caroline and then at the huge blue box sat next to the armchair.

“What?” was all he could manage.

To be continued...