Standing in the middle of the circular road was the old woman who had given her name as Helenia. She looked intrigued to find the Doctor here and smiled.
“Hello again,” said the Doctor.
“Hello,” said Helenia. “You know you’re dreaming, yes?”
“Yes,” said the Doctor. “I think I drifted off after I had that cup of tea with Katy.” He looked around the cul-de-sac and then back to Helenia. “Are you going to explain this place yet?”
“Not yet,” said Helenia. “You haven’t looked for it yet.”
“I have more pressing concerns,” said the Doctor.
“Like?”
“I need to save my companion, Alice.”
Helenia smiled. “Very commendable, Doctor, but if you don’t get here soon then you won’t be around to save your friend.” She walked up to him and took his hand. “I’ve sent through a package. Something that should help you find this place.”
“A package?”
“It’s at Mount Cassius. Celestia is there with some friends.”
The Doctor frowned. “I can’t do this now.”
“You have to, Doctor.” She touched his chest and he winced in pain. “Time is running out. Make your decision and make it fast.”
He awoke with a start and turned to find Katy curled up in the big armchair, her head resting on a cushion.
They had spent most of the early hours talking and they had both slowly drifted off. Now the morning light was filtering through the windows in the living room and the rain had stopped. He got to his feet and crossed over to the window, opening the curtains and squinting in the morning light.
“Morning,” said Katy, stirring just behind him.
“Did you sleep well?” asked the Doctor.
“I didn’t intend on sleeping,” said Katy. “Sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” said the Doctor. He sighed. “I need to go and pick up Tylaya and Maxus.”
“Pick them up,” said Katy, “or pick up the body?”
The Doctor closed his eyes. He was disgusted at what Tylaya and Maxus had done to Alice, but over the past few weeks he had come to get to know them and realised that they weren’t as bad as he first thought. He felt sick at what was happening to Tylaya.
“Do you want to see the TARDIS?” said the Doctor.
“Your ship?” Katy thought for a moment. “Will Alice be there?”
“In a manner of speaking, yes.” He picked up the TARDIS keys from a cabinet in the hallway. “It may help her to calm down a little. Right now she’s like a raging poltergeist, getting angry at everything and everyone.”
Katy looked at him thoughtfully. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”
“You don’t have to come with me to Central City. I’d never expect you to do that, but maybe this would be good for you as well.”
Katy didn’t say anything.
“It’s entirely up to you.”
She nodded, but still didn’t say a word.
Gallifrey…a long time ago…
The path up the hillside was a picturesque one. Up the gently sloping path were two rows of not-too-small and not-too-large houses, each one a different design. Some of them were grand, imposing structures with intricate stonework. Others were small and flat and on one level. Some had beautifully cultivated gardens, whereas others had basic paving with short pathways up to their front doors.
Most of Reikon’s co-workers lived on this hillside. They bought it for a view rather than the size of the houses. On a clear day you could see out across the whole valley, even sometimes as far as Arcadia.
Reikon and Celestia’s house was a small, one-story white structure with a small wooden door and small windows. The house continued further back and was surrounded by trees and bushes.
Reikon and Caleb made their way up the garden path when the door opened and Celestia stood there, her hands on her hips and shaking her head.
“Good evening, dear,” said Reikon. He leaned in for a kiss and she offered him her cheek.
“What time do you call this?” she said. “Dinner’s been ready for over an hour.”
“Caleb had something he wanted to show me,” said Reikon as he made his way inside.
“Mother,” said Caleb with a slight nod.
“Ah, it’s wonderful for my son grace me with an appearance for once!” she said as he pushed his way inside.
The interior was basic but homely. The first room was open-plan. At the front end were a number of comfy chairs beside a roaring fire. Surrounding the fire were shelves stacked with books and the Gallifreyan symbol emblazoned on the wall above the mantel piece. Reikon had always been proud of his heritage. Further back was a large, oak dining table and either side were cupboards, shelves, a washing sink and an old, iron cooker.
Celestia opened the cooker and took out two plates of food. “I’ve kept it as warm as I could.”
“I’ve told you before,” said Reikon, “that you don’t have to cook.”
Celestia smiled as she placed the food down in front of them. “And what would you two big lugs do if I didn’t?”
Caleb smiled as he stirred his food with his spoon. “True.”
“So what was this thing that kept you two away for so long?”
Caleb dropped his spoon, excitement on his face. “Oh, Mother, you have to come and see. I’m so close now!”
“Close to what?”
There came a knock at the door and a voice. “Anybody in?”
Reikon rolled his eyes and looked at Caleb. “Don’t try and get him on your side.”
Caleb’s eyes lit up. He knew he the man at the door was.
“Come in,” said Celestia.
The door opened and a man walked in dressed in a cloak and simple, black robes trimmed with white piping. He had long, swept back brown hair. He had a thin but kindly face, and smiled mischievously when he saw Celestia’s face.
“Ah, I seem to have called at an inappropriate time,” said the man, noticing their food.
“Not at all,” said Celestia, taking the man’s outer cloak. “These two were late home. You’re more than welcome to join us.”
“Oh, well, I wouldn’t say no, but I’ve just eaten I’m afraid.” He looked at Reikon and smiled. “Good evening, brother.”
“Good evening, Doctor.”
The man chuckled. “You’ll never get used to calling me that, will you?”
“I don’t see why we should have to,” said Reikon, taking a mouthful of his food.
“Now, now,” said Celestia. “If this is what your brother wishes to be named, then that’s what he wishes to be named.”
“I think it’s pretty fantastic. Fantastic in a good way,” said Caleb, tucking into his meal.
“Thank you, young man.”
“You would agree with your uncle,” said Reikon with a shake of his head. “I’m surprised he hasn’t already roped you into one of his new schemes.”
“Schemes?” queried Celestia, offering the Doctor a cup of water.
“He’s always on about getting off-world to explore the universe.” Reikon chuckled. “I don’t know what’s wrong with life down here.”
“Reikon, what is the point in our race having time travel capabilities if you don’t use that power to explore?”
“Go on then,” said Reikon with a laugh. “Do us all a favour and go and explore.”
“Reikon!” scolded Celestia. She looked to the Doctor. “I’m sorry.”
“Oh, don’t be, my dear,” he said with a chuckle. “Reikon has always been the same, ever since he was young.”
“So why haven’t you, then?” said Caleb.
“Why haven’t I what?”
“Gone out there to explore.”
“Oh, I would have. Yes, I would have,” said the Doctor his hands in a steeple position, “but since my granddaughter was born, I’ve been needed at home.” He leaned in. “But rest assured, my young man, that when the time is right, you’ll be the one I take with me.”
Caleb smiled and pointed his spoon at the Doctor. “I’ll hold you to that one, uncle.”
Now
All conversation about the Nest had been interrupted when the Eighth incarnation of the Doctor had started to convulse wildly. He almost fell off the bed, but Dennington and the Master managed to hold him down. The Master went to a medicine cabinet and pulled out a syringe and a bottle. He injected the Doctor in the arm and slowly the Doctor’s convulsing stopped and his breathing returned to normal.
“Physician, heal thyself…” muttered the Doctor.
The Master frowned and pressed a button. The bed rose slightly so the Doctor was at a more upright angle. “How do you feel?”
The Doctor’s head lolled from side to side, his eyelids heavy. “Hmmm…” was all he could manage.
“I asked how you felt?” said the Master. “Do you know who I am?”
“Never…seen you before in my…in my…life,” slurred the Doctor.
“He sounds drunk,” said Millie.
“The effects of travelling from the Nest,” said the Master, scratching his chin.
“Again - the Nest,” said Aleena. “What is it?”
“A myth,” said Celestia, who had remained quiet during the commotion. “A fairytale to tell the young of Gallifrey.”
“It most certainly is not a myth,” said the Master.
“This is unbelievable,” said Celestia, shaking her head. “There is no such place.”
“Oh, come on,” said the Master with an incredulous laugh. “You’ve heard the nursery rhyme!”
“And that’s exactly what it is!” said Celestia. “It’s just a nursery rhyme from the dawn of our civilisation.”
“And in all nursery rhyme’s there exists a ring of truth.”
Celestia turned away, shaking her head and chuckling to herself.
“How does this nursery rhyme go then?” said Millie, her interest piqued. She liked a good mystery.
The Master cleared his throat and spoke the rhyme: “All my incarnations standing in a row, when they are gone, where do they go? Carried by the darkness on time’s winged glitch, taken up and eaten by the dreaded Swytch. Where the fires burn an ice-cold blue, you will find yourself looking at you. So keep your eyes open and keep out of their way for the Swytch will come and eat you up one day.”
“Sounds pretty scary,” said Aleena. “Scary for children I mean.”
“It’s still just a nursery rhyme though,” said Dennington.
“There’s a story as well,” said the Master.
“Oh, good!” said Celestia. “Let’s throw the story in on this.”
The Master sighed and then turned back to the other three. “It tells of a tale of a man called Wizberass who witnessed his brother regenerating. It was said that as his brothers body changed, Wizberass saw a group of black, imp-like creatures momentarily appear and pull the regeneration energy from him.”
“Again, it was just a story for children.”
The Master almost growled at Celestia. “Oh, that’s what I thought, until my TARDIS picked up some interesting readings.”
“Okay, humour me,” said Celestia.
“It was during 2012. Summer time, I believe, in the USA. A place called Little Newtown.” The Master chuckled. “The Doctor visited there a while back in a different, unrelated problem. Sherman Prison.”
“Get to the point,” sighed Aleena.
“Well, to cut a long story short, a religious cleric managed to tap into the Nest. He didn’t know what he was doing, but it momentarily broke through into their dimension. Hundreds of the little black imps - the Swytch - scuttling out of their dimension before they returned to where they came from.”
“It could have been anything,” said Celestia.
“No,” said the Master. “The readings I detected in my TARDIS match up exactly with the ones the High Council received on the day that your husband disappeared.”
“Died,” corrected Celestia.
“Disappeared,” said the Master again. He turned to the Doctor, who still looked delirious. “I managed to tap into some rather strange radio transmission waves and that’s when I made contact with Helenia. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that she came from the Nest.”
“And she sent this version of the Doctor through?” said Aleena.
“Exactly,” said the Master, glee in his eyes. “You see, the Nest is where the Swytch take the energy of previous incarnations of Time Lords when they die.”
“Don’t be so stupid!” laughed Celestia.
“It’s true. Throughout our entire history, every time a Time Lord dies, although their previous selves live on inside the new incarnation, the energy, or an echo if you like, is harvested and deposited in the Nest.”
“Like a snake skin being discarded?” offered up Millie.
“Top marks, Millie,” smiled the Master. He turned back to the Doctor. “What’s the last thing you remember, my old friend?”
“What…?” murmered the Doctor.
“The last thing you remember.”
“I…I remember….dying. Regenerating…and then…then….” He narrowed his eyes. “…I remember being alive…somewhere else. Caves…houses…an old woman.”
“The old woman sent him through. And I also believe the Nest is where we will find Reikon and Caleb.”
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| The Young 1st Doctor (William Hartnell) |
Next time: In the final part of "Family", things go wrong for Reikon and Caleb, Katy reunites with Alice, and Tylaya takes a turn for the worst. Coming Sunday 23rd November 2014.
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