23 Nov 2014

Family (Part 4)

Katy was on her second cup of tea of the morning as she sat on the sofa in the middle of the console room, trying to regain some sort of normality to her way of thinking. The Doctor had taken her into his mysterious time machine, but even she couldn’t have prepared herself for what she found. It was like nothing she had ever seen before and she felt quite, quite sick.

The Doctor sat down beside her and sighed, rubbing at his chest. “Feel any better?”

“Slightly,” she said with a worried brow.

“Ah, you’ll be fine. Most people usually are.”

“I’m not travelling with you,” said Katy.

“No, definitely not,” said the Doctor quickly. “I’ve got too much to do. I don’t need any more complications on board my ship!”

“So where is she then? Where’s Alice?”

The Doctor got to his feet and crossed to the console. He rubbed his hands together and then turned to face her. “Please take this very slowly.”

“I will,” nodded Katy.

The Doctor flicked a switch and the lights dimmed, leaving only an eerie glow from the round circles set into the stone wall. “I’ve lowered most of the TARDIS’s defensive capabilities. It allows Alice to come through a little clearer.”

The room went as silent as a church hall in the dead of night. Katy needed to cough, but she felt that, if she did, even that would be too loud.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed something. It was a slight distortion to the air, and slowly a shimmering mass appeared. Eventually it solidified into the familiar image of her sister, Alice.

Katy gasped and put a hand to her mouth. She wanted to run up and hug her tightly, but Alice looked distant with a permanent frown fixed to her forehead.

“Can I…Can I speak to her?” said Katy, looking for some guidance from the Doctor.

“Go ahead,” he said, barely noticeable in the shadows.

“Alice,” said Katy.

The projection of Alice turned to face her, her face remaining stern.

“Alice, can you hear me. It’s Katy. It’s your sister.”

“Katy,” said Alice, her voice a monotone. “Katy.”

“That’s right,” said Katy, her eyes welling up with tears. “I’ve come to see you.”

“Katy,” said Alice again. “I want my body back.”

Katy looked to the Doctor again.

He walked out of the shadows until he was standing face to face with Alice. “We’re going to help you, Alice,” he said softly.

“Where is Tylaya?” asked Alice.

“She’s back in Central City.”

“I want my body back.”

The Doctor shook his head. “Tylaya is dying. Once she is…gone, then you can have your body back.” It sounded as though he were speaking to a child.

“It’s so cold here. I can’t feel anything.”

“The TARDIS is keeping you alive,” said the Doctor.

The image of Alice flickered and Katy stepped forward. She felt helpless.

“She’s fading again,” said the Doctor. “Let her know it’s okay.”

Katy stepped in front of Alice and looked into her deep, brown eyes. “Hold on, Alice. I’m here for you. You’ll be coming home soon.”

For a moment Katy thought she saw Alice’s lips attempt a smile, but then she shimmered and was gone.




Tylaya felt uneasy. She had been feeling like this for some time now, but now it felt even worse. It felt as if she was losing her grip on this body. She felt dizzy and sick and wanted to go to sleep. She sat on the park bench next to Maxus and continually had to bring herself back to the here and now by focusing on something. By focusing on anything, but it was all becoming so hard. The problems with her parents had accelerated her health issues, and Tylaya wondered how much longer she could keep her head together.

“He’ll be here soon,” said Maxus, his arm around her. “He’ll have an answer then.”

“He won’t have an answer,” said Tylaya. “When the Doctor lands I’ll just have to slip away. I’ll just have to accept it.”

“No,” said Maxus. “We need to get married, remember?”

“Then we need to do it now. I can’t keep this up much longer.”

“That’s why the Doctor will have found a way. Just something to hold back the effects.”

“I need to go, Quinn.”

He grabbed her face and looked down into her eyes. “You’re not going yet. Not until we marry, do you hear me?” He was fighting back his own tears now.

She nodded. She would hold on. Just a little bit longer.




Gallifrey…a long time ago…




It was the next morning and Caleb had invited the Doctor and Reikon along to his lab back in the city. It was still early and Reikon had some time to kill before another round of archiving began. He yawned as he entered the chamber to find Caleb and the Doctor already down beside the telescope-like-device; the Doctor flicking through the notes his nephew had made.

“Ah, Reikon, my dear fellow,” smiled the Doctor.

“I’m glad you two can be so bright-eyed and bushy-tailed at this time of the morning. I skipped my breakfast for this, you know?”

“It’ll be worth it, father,” beamed Caleb. “I’m doing a test run today.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, nodding, “I’ve had a look through all of Caleb’s notes, and I really do believe that he may be on to something.”

“You don’t seriously believe he can find a way through to this fairytale land, do you?”

“Well, maybe not exactly what he’s thinking,” he said, giving a wink to his nephew, “but he definitely has the capabilities here to open up a hole in time and space. Where that leads, well, who knows, eh?” He turned and smiled at Caleb. “Who knows?”

“And why on Gallifrey would you want to do that? We have time travel capabilities already.”

“Because this is tuning in on a specific location, father,” said Caleb, grabbing his notes and thrusting them into Reikon’s hands.

“And if it all goes wrong, what then?”

“There’s a failsafe switch,” said Caleb. “If something goes wrong, I can shut down the power and close the breach.”

Reikon shook his head. “If the High Council find out-”

“Oh, Reikon, Reikon…” tutted the Doctor. “The High Council aren’t going to bother with such a small-scale experiment. Have a little faith, hmm?”

“I hope you’re right,” said Reikon.

Caleb handed the Doctor and Reikon a pair of dark glasses and then moved to the control panel adjacent to the machine.

Reikon frowned, looking down at them.

“Put them on,” said Caleb. “They’ll protect your eyes from the light.” He flicked a few switches and the device hummed into life. He consulted a few notes and figures on the scruffy bits of paper and then readjusted the device. The large, telescope section angled itself slightly.

After a few minutes the machine had built to its full power and Caleb turned back to smile at his father and uncle.

“Go on then,” said Reikon with a sigh.

“Fasten your seatbelts,” laughed Caleb as he threw a lever.

The device hummed with power, little blue lights flickering on around the base of the telescope. The room was vibrating with energy.

“Should the room be vibrating, Caleb?” said the Doctor, his hands concealed beneath his robes.

“It’s just a side effect, uncle,” said Caleb, checking the readings.

“Side effects can sometimes have terrible consequences,” said Reikon darkly.

“Don’t be such a stick in the mud, father,” said Caleb, peering down a viewing port to the inside of the machine. “This thing is loaded with Artimaxin crystals. They’re heating up nicely.”

“Artimaxin crystals?” said Reikon. “Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Not at all. I got some at the Theta market a few months ago. I’ve been growing them in here for weeks.”

“They are banned on Gallifrey due to their unstable composition,” scolded Reikon.

The Doctor stepped forward. “Actually, Caleb, your father is right. You really shouldn’t be messing with Artimaxin crystals”

“Oh, not you as well, uncle.”

“Yes, young man, me as well. I suggest you switch that machine off now. Until we‘ve checked that the crystals have the right composition elements with them.”

“Not a chance,” said Caleb, determination on his face.

“Do what your uncle says,” said Reikon.

Caleb glowered at his father, his face threatening to break into a rage. His father stared back at him. All his work. Everything he had been building towards, and his stupid, interfering father was about to put an end to it all.

Reikon was about to step forward and pull the fail safe switch himself, when a sudden burst of green, blinding light erupted from the top of the telescope. It hit the domed roof and a wave of energy exploded, opening up the ceiling to a twisting maelstrom of colours and shapes.

“I’ve done it,” smiled Caleb. “I’ve actually done it!”

“Switch it off!” said Reikon. He dived for the failsafe, but the lever was jammed.

Caleb watched helplessly as the Doctor joined Reikon, and both men, with all of their strength, tried to pull the lever down. It didn’t work.

Caleb’s attention was drawn to the void above as small, black imp-like shapes began to descend upon the chamber.

“Get to the main power supply,” shouted Reikon to the Doctor. “It’s outside in the corridor.”

The Doctor nodded and charged up the steps. He flung open the double doors and they slammed behind him. By now a group of Time Lords were gathering to see what all the commotion was about.

The Doctor located the small, metal box near the floor halfway down the corridor. He slid open the lid and was about to pull the cable from the inner circuitry when there was a huge boom.

The corridor shook and the Doctor, along with the group of Time Lords, were thrown to the floor. The corridor vibrated for a good few minutes, waves upon waves of vibrations shaking the Doctor to his bones. He felt like throwing up, but finally the vibrations subsided.

The corridor was still.

The Doctor got to his feet and raced back to the doors. He flung them open and gasped.

The chamber was gone. Reikon and Caleb were gone. All that was left was a huge, smouldering crater where…everything used to be.

The Doctor felt his hearts break.

His brother and his nephew were gone.










The Present




Celestia leaned against the balcony that overlooked the valley beyond. The sun was setting now and she could feel the last of it’s warmth on her face.

The Master walked up behind her and lay a hand on her shoulder.

“Leave me alone,” she said, shrugging him off.

“You know it to be true, Celestia,” said the Master.

“That my husband and son are still alive in some freak of nature dimension?”

“Exactly,” he said. He sat down on one of the stone benches. “Are you willing to give up on them?”

“I gave up on them eons ago,” she said, turning to him, her eyes full of tears. “They were gone. The machine Caleb built backfired and blew them up. Atomized them.”

“And you gave up that easily?” said the Master.

“No, Koschei, it wasn’t easy. When the Doctor came to me to tell me what had happened…I didn’t believe it. I searched for some way to explain it to myself; to try and make myself understand, but there was no way. They were gone. It was those blasted crystals.”

“The Doctor was going to take Caleb on his travels, wasn’t he?”

Celestia nodded. “He took his granddaughter instead.”

“Eventually. I don’t think he ever gave up on Caleb returning though.”

“I did eventually,” came another voice.

Celestia and the Master turned. Standing there was the dishevelled form of the Eighth Doctor, his face cut and bruised, his hair matted.

“You need to go inside.”

“Why?” he said, stepping out into the light.

“Because you’re unstable. You shouldn’t be here. You’re pure regeneration energy.”

“But I still have all of those memories,” he said. He crossed over to Celestia and took her hands, looking down into her deep green eyes. “Caleb was one of the reasons why I went out to explore the universe. I did it partly for him.”

“But you forgot,” said Celestia.

“Because I had to.” He clutched his chest and frowned. “I didn’t want to…forget.” He stumbled backwards.

“Help me get him inside,” sighed the Master.

They helped him back into the medical bay were Aleena, Dennington and Millie were waiting impatiently.

“He just got up and walked out,” said Millie.

“We couldn’t stop him,” said Dennington.

The Doctor was beginning to glow.

“What’s wrong with him?” said Aleena, trying to get a closer look.

“He’s breaking up,” said the Master, a slight smile playing on his face. “He’ll soon be just pure regeneration energy.” The Master turned to Celestia. “Don’t you see, your husband and nephew blew a hole into the Nest. This is where he comes from.”

“I still don’t know what you want,” said Celestia, exasperated.

“What I want is to find the Doctor. And then we can find another way into the Nest were we can find your husband and finally fix the Doctor.”

Aleena had hope in her heart at hearing the Masters words, but still it didn’t ring true. She wasn’t sure she could trust this man. Not after what he had done to her in the past.




Katy closed the door of the TARDIS and left her hand resting on it for just a moment. The Doctor had promised her that he would return to Little Pebbleford with her sister as soon as he was sure she was safe. Katy had reluctantly agreed to let him go, and the Doctor had given her the keys to Casterby House.

She was going to wait there. Wait for her sister to return. And she promised to get his front door fixed as well.

A gust of wind whipped up, blowing her hair out of her face. She squinted as the blue box slowly disappeared until all that remained was a dry patch of mud where the time ship, and her sister, used to be.

With a sniff she turned and walked back towards the house.




The doors to the TARDIS swung open and Maxus helped the staggering Tylaya into the console room and to the sofa. As soon as they were in he set the ship in motion again.

“How did it go?” said the Doctor, rushing over to Tylaya and checking her pulse.

“Badly,” said Maxus. “Her parents don’t want anything to do with her.”

The Doctor shook his head. “She doesn’t have long left. The TARDIS has detected her again. It’s trying to force her out.”

“We need to help her.”

“Maxus,” said the Doctor, standing up and looking into his frightened eyes, “she’s dying. We’d just be delaying the inevitable.”

He pushed against the Doctor with an angry shove, like a petulant child. “I know that, but…we need to get married. It’s what she…we wanted. Please. Just another few hours. Please.”

The Doctor sighed.

And then nodded.




Gallifrey…a long time ago…




The Doctor stood in the doorway as Celestia lifted her container from the floor of her now-empty house. She stood and turned around slowly, remembering all of the memories she had had here. The love she had experienced here. The joy and the happiness as well as the sad times.

“Are you sure about this?” said the Doctor.

“I can’t stay here,” said Celestia. “I just…can’t.”

“But, Arcadia? Are you sure about Arcadia? You were never a city girl.”

She smiled sadly. “I need distractions, Doctor. I can’t stay here. All this quiet is just too much.”

“You must stay in contact,” he said.

“A clean break would be better,” she replied sadly.

The Doctor lowered his head.

She walked past him and then stopped. “I know Reikon was never your real brother, and Caleb never your real nephew, but that never stopped you treating them like they were. For that I’ll always be grateful.”

The Doctor smiled. “Adopted or not, he was still my brother.”

Celestia took his hand and then kissed him gently on the cheek. “If you ever make it out there, just be careful. There are some scary things in the universe.”

And then she was gone.

The Doctor watched as she disappeared down the winding road that ran between the houses and down the mountain side. He watched until she was nothing more than a blip in the distance.

He wanted to remain positive, but he knew he would never see her again.




Somewhere else…




The cave was dark and the sound of water came from somewhere in the distance.

And then he heard the footsteps.

Reikon opened his eyes. He was lying next to Caleb who was still unconscious. He sat up and winced in pain. He had a large gash on his head.

He looked to Caleb. He couldn’t be sure because it was so dark, but the young man looked like he had burnt his face.

The footsteps were getting louder.

He turned to their direction and a old, blonde-haired lady came into view.

“Where…?”

“Don’t try to speak,” she said, kneeling beside him.

Reikon looked around the dark cave. He was confused. One minute he was in the chamber and the next there was a big explosion and he woke up here.

“Welcome to the Nest,” smiled the woman. “My name is Helenia.”




TO BE CONTINUED…



Next time: Are Tylaya's days numbered? Darkpaths returns next week in the one-episode short story "Goodnight". Coming Sunday 30th November 2014.

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