The Eighth Doctor Adventures
Series 2 - Episode 5
MATERIAL VALUES
Written by Janine Rivers
“They’ve stopped.”
The Doctor circled a mannequin, running his eyes up and down it carefully. Robin didn’t move. Most of the other customers had fled now, save those who weren’t quick enough. Their bodies were dotted across the mall as testament to that. The Doctor was right – now the mannequins were still. They seemed like mannequins again, stiff and silent, their only trace of life being the uncomfortable complexity of their artificial faces.
“Signal cut off, maybe…”
The Doctor was startled by another sound, this time from the entrance to the mall. Flashing lights from outside could be made out at the doors, and as the Doctor twigged, dozens of troops moved into position around him, in a rehearsed and impressive motion, dressed in black, guns aimed in the direction of every mannequin. The sound of fluttering and engines from above the mall was deafening, and the Doctor looked up, seeing helicopters flying over the skylight.
Leading the troops was one man, middle-aged and dressed in more authoritative garb with badges recognising his importance and a tie beneath his jacket, barking commands through a megaphone. The man approached the Doctor and stopped.
“Well that was rubbish.” He had a Northern accent. “Colonel Ward of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce.”
The Doctor accepted the Colonel’s handshake. The Colonel did a mock-salute, stopping before it became anything. “It’s an honour, etc.,” he muttered. “Down to business I think.”
“You got here quickly.”
“We recognised the energy trace. And you. We’ve been waiting for this.”
“For me?”
“No, for the Nestene Consciousness. We’ve had several unexplained meteor sightings over the last month, and if the 80s taught us anything-“
“-the 70s-“
“-no one with a life actually cares.” The Colonel continued. “If your time with us taught us anything, it’s what a Nestene invasion looks like. So what are they after? The usual?”
“I’d expect so. Have you had incursions anywhere else?”
“Nope, this is it. Just this mall. Recently-built, actually.” The Colonel looked around, admiring the mall’s grandeur. It was sleek, shiny and stylish – no signs of chewing gum on the floor, of eroded handrails or the footprints of greasy food shops. “They stopped very suddenly.”
“Yes,” agreed the Doctor, grimly. “And what you’ve got to ask yourself is: if they stopped that quickly, how do you prepare for when they start again?”
Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast
“What are you doing here?”
Tommy looked up, covering his eyes whilst trying to recognise the silhouette in the doorway to the cellar. It was Mr N.
“Your dolls come to life, Mr N,” breathed Tommy, trying to stay calm. “What the hell are you?”
“I am a contraption of the Nestene Consciousness,” answered Mr N emotionlessly. “And you are interrupting the flow of data.” He turned away.
“Come on!” urged Tommy. “Talk to me! I’ve dealt with aliens before. Maybe I can help you. We can reach an agreement, before-“
The door slammed shut. Tommy climbed up the staircase, fumbling for the doorknob, but found nothing. He was trapped, in the darkness, alone – he hoped.
The Mall
Autumn tried to contain the bleeding, but first she had to find its source with her shaking hands…
Natalie’s whole body was covered. A lot of blood was lost, and it had formed almost an outer layer to prevent Autumn stopping the rest. She’d treated wounds before. You can do it again. She’ll live. But the certainty of life soon became a possibility, and then a distant hope. Natalie’s eyes were closing.
“Stay awake for me Natalie,” said Autumn, grabbing the scarf she’d been looking at to tie around Natalie. “Natalie? Natalie! Stay awake, please…”
“Oh my God,” said the Doctor, obviously having heard Autumn’s pleading, dashing in to crouch beside Autumn. “I’m so sorry. Colonel, get me an ambulance.”
Colonel Ward did as instructed.
“Poor woman. You’ve done well, but…”
“But what?”
“Autumn...” The Doctor clicked. “You know her?”
“Not that well yet. I was sort of hoping to. Can I stay with her?”
“Of course.” The Doctor patted Autumn on the back. “Keep doing what you were doing, when the ambulance gets here go with her. It should only be about a minute, UNIT will have one on-site.” The Doctor used his sonic to calmly detach the arm off the mannequin and threw it off the second floor, then ran out of the shop and back to Robin.
“I found Autumn.”
“Is she alive?”
“She’s alive… but she’s not good. Have you tried Tommy?”
“Yeah… I couldn’t get through. But I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Bad signal maybe?” suggested the Doctor.
“Not on my end.” Robin tossed her phone in her hand. “My signal’s better than usual today, and 3G is on fire…”
“What did you say?”
“I said, my signal… it’s…”
“Give me your phone,” instructed the Doctor, hurriedly taking Robin’s phone and scanning it with the sonic. “You’re right. It is.”
“And that’s important? It’s 3G. You never know what you’re going to get.”
“What if you do?”
“Meaning?”
“Wait a minute,” interjected the Colonel, “I see what you’re getting at here.”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t!” complained Robin. “You mean the Nestene are using a 3G network?”
“In most of the new malls, you can’t get a signal,” explained the Colonel. “Same for schools, some places put up blockers so that you use their Wi-Fi. But look.” The Colonel took the phone off the Doctor and opened up the settings. “No wireless connections detected. Not a single one.”
“Right…”
“Not one!” emphasised the Doctor. “No coffee shop Wi-Fi for laptops. No mall Wi-Fi. No staff connections, no private networks, no hotspots. Not one wireless connection is allowed here.”
“I think I’m getting it… but… how?! It can’t be a coincidence.”
“That’s the point. The mall was new. And if I’d hazard a guess, I’d say began planning shortly after the first meteor hit?”
“Christ almighty!” cried the Colonel. “It did!”
“They planned this. Probably used Nestene duplicates in the planning meetings.”
“But why? Why is Wi-Fi so important to them?”
“This is their base now – the lifeblood of the Nestene Consciousness is in the air. And this is just the beginning. A whole city of networks operating on their frequency which they can use to transmit, now that is a good way of using your resources, ingenious, even…”
“If they’re transmitting from everywhere, how are we meant to find them?” The Colonel huffed. “I could really use a major London landmark; you know, just knock it down and have done with it like the good old days.”
“There’ll still be a main transmitter somewhere, and if their planning for that is as good as this, it’s going to be a hell of a task to get to it…”
***
Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast
Mr and Mrs N sat back in their threadbare sofa in front of their rustic-looking television, 1970s wallpaper peeling from the wall which was, at this time of night, lit by the flickering strip-lights on the ceiling. There was truly no place like home.
“Why did the transmission stop?” hissed the TV, blinking and buzzing with a surge of static electricity.
“We were interrupted,” explained Mrs N. “But Mr N has been reactivated. It won’t be long now…”
The Mall
The Doctor watched intently as one of the mannequins, a man in a three-piece suit, started to twitch.
“I think they’re going to start moving again. Colonel, your best hope is to block the signal.”
“Block 3G? How in God’s name do we do that?”
“Try another one. For some reason, the Nestene didn’t want this place to be susceptible to any wireless influence. So, set up some Wi-Fi, see if you can, I don’t know, override the controls. Nestene in the present day; this is going to be harder than I expected…”
“You heard him,” said Colonel Ward, turning to his troops. “Get someone science-y on it.”
“But sir!” responded one of the men. “We don’t have any equipment on-site for this sort of thing!”
“Hold on…” Colonel Ward looked around him with blatantly feigned astonishment. “For a minute then, I thought we might have been in the middle of a shopping centre. You don’t have to bloody pay for it all; I think saving the world probably makes up for that. Go!”
The troops did as instructed and moved in the direction of a computer store. As they did, the mannequins jerked and raised their arms, firing more shots. A couple of guards were knocked down and the Doctor and the Colonel quickly turned into the end aisle of a gift shop. “Floors of them,” cursed the Colonel. “And they even look like us!”
“Not just floors. Very soon they’ll have taken the city. I need to get through to Tommy…”
***
Ambulance
Autumn’s vortex manipulator blipped, indicating a phone-call. One of the paramedics looked at her with a raised eyebrow but ignored it once Autumn had taken the call, either because of the situation, because he worked for UNIT, or because he was busy. Autumn didn’t have time to deduce which.
“Robin?” she whispered.
“Autumn,” came Robin’s voice. “It’s the Doctor, he wants to know where Tommy is, to make sure he’s safe.”
“He should be okay,” replied Autumn. “He’s staying at a B&B.”
There was some muffling on the other side, then Robin’s voice was replaced by the Doctor’s.
“Nowhere is safe. Autumn, once you’re at the hospital, phone him; if you can’t get through… I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to find him. Just stay away from the shops, stay away from the streets. Once you’re together we can find somewhere safe for you.”
“So this is serious then?” Autumn felt stupid asking that question as she looked down at the paramedics desperately working away on Natalie’s fatal bullet wound, which she’d sustained from an innocuous-looking thing of everyday life. Of course it was serious.
***
To Natalie, the world passed by in a blur, from the moment she was shot. There was red. Then there was Autumn’s voice – not soft and reassuring, but determined; desperate, even. Then there were lights, and there were blurs. There were more voices, more sounds, more lights, more blurs. The pain persisted, a pain so great and all-consuming that she couldn’t tell when she was moving and when she was laying still. Autumn’s voice remained. But soon she forgot Autumn, as she drifted away. She forgot who Autumn was. There was just that voice, that recognisable voice, the only voice she now knew, and she held onto it, though she didn’t understand it. “Stay with me, Natalie. For Tommy.”
“Hello.”
Natalie focused. Everything was clearing, and everything was still. The pain remained, eating away at her, but almost bearable. She was lying in a hospital bed. She tried to sit up but felt like she was being attacked. Autumn gently set her at ease.
“You need to lie down.” Autumn turned around, looking at the corridor, out of Natalie’s line of sight. “The place is full, but don’t worry, you’ll be cared for.”
“What happened?” asked Natalie, trying to piece it together. Everything was so confusing. She didn’t even know what the time was.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re stable.” For now, thought Autumn. You’re stable for now. Natalie couldn’t hear the weakness in her own voice. “I need to go and find Tommy,” said Autumn. “I have to leave you here.”
“You have to find him…” murmured Natalie. “I just hope he comes back in time… to….”
“Natalie, save your breath, please.”
“Autumn,” urged Natalie, “if I don’t… if this is it for me, I’m sorry, I wouldn’t ask… this… of anyone, if it wasn’t the only way, but they’re… I love them, and I need guarantee… my family are running out of money fast. They owe a lot, and they’re going to end up homeless.”
“I’m sure they won’t-“
“Either way, you watch them. Autumn, you said you had money. I hate to ask this, but they need looking after. I can’t bear to think that they…”
“It’s okay.” Autumn stood up as Natalie closed her eyes, breathing heavily. “I’ll do whatever it takes. See you later, Natalie.”
***
Tommy fumbled around for a light, for anything that could illuminate what was around – anything that wasn’t his mind, which told him relentlessly that those eyes were still on him, and that the broken dolls were all smiling, preparing something far too terrible for his mind to understand. He walked over plastic limbs and got out his phone.
No signal. He cursed. But… 30% charge. Tommy slid up the settings panel and adjusted the brightness. The phone was as good as a torch, giving a significant amount of clarity to his surroundings. The eyes were still on him indeed, and the faces were all smiling.
Then there was a laugh. A baby’s laugh, all hicking and innocent and… no, sadistic… no, innocent… no…
Either way, it was just electronic. Tommy tossed up the possibilities, of whether the plastic baby was innocent, laughing at the most simple of things… or whether it had a heart of pure evil, and was using that innocence to torture him.
But… no. It’s got to be a mistake. Tommy shuddered, as some creature of fear crept up his spine. This baby was worse than he’d ever imagined. Because this was a museum for antiques.
And antiques are not electronic.
***
Autumn approached the old house warily, acknowledging the B&B sign. Under the full moon, with its stained tiles, mossy brickwork and Victorian architecture, it looked like a façade in use for a haunted house movie. If she were to walk up and push her finger against the door, she’d half expect the whole building to topple over and reveal itself as a massive cardboard structure.
But it was just old and gloomy. Not haunted. The only thing that haunted it was the smell of dust.
Autumn stopped and listened. She thought she could hear something, and it was something that seemed attuned to her brain, as she tried and failed to ignore it. There was gunfire from streets away, screaming and smashing, but another voice, somehow a separate sound from the rest, in front of her.
“Help me!”
Tommy.
Autumn pulled a gun from her pocket – which UNIT had armed her with, under Colonel Ward’s command for her to protect herself after she refused back-up – and blasted open the door from a few metres away. It fell off its hinges easily enough.
She coughed as she entered, struggling to stand the dust which had gathered overnight, and found the source of the sound, a cellar door. It opened with one pull. Evidently, it was designed to keep things inside secure but things outside under control. Tommy ran out and slammed the door behind him.
“Autumn, I am so glad to see you.” He hugged her. Autumn let him, a little lost on the hugging thing, but strangely enjoying it all the same. “Now, I need to talk to the Doctor.”
***
The Mall
The Doctor, Robin and Chris hid behind the counter in Boots, a good few shops away from any Autons. As Robin’s phone buzzed, the Doctor grabbed and answered it quickly, talking in only a whisper.
“Tommy?”
“I’m here,” said Tommy at the other end. “I couldn’t get any signal because I was locked in someone’s basement.”
“Oh… was that planned…?”
“No!” hissed Tommy, sensing the Doctor was implying something about his preferred pastimes. “But the B&B I was at, Nagy’s B&B… Autumn told me about what’s happening and I think your answers might be here.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are plastics moving in here, not just moving, being really weird. One of them laughed.”
“Interesting.” The Doctor processed and cross-referenced in his mind everything he heard as the conversation progressed. “What else?”
“The two people who own it, Mr and Mrs N, they’re weird. Especially Mr N, he said something about me interrupting a transmission.”
“What did you do?”
“I went to see what the noise was in the basement, and he came down and found me. He was… I don’t know, it wasn’t human, he was like a machine.”
“And then he left?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, God, right…” The Doctor ran his hand over his face, exhausted. “Go to the hospital with Autumn, go and see Natalie. Keep yourselves safe. If the roads are blocked coming back, I can get you a vehicle.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Tommy.
The Doctor turned to Robin as he spoke to Tommy. “I’m going to fix this right now.” The Doctor got up slowly and opened the door to the back of the shop, emerging on the street, and slammed it beside him.
“Where are we going?” asked Chris.
The Doctor counted three doors down, and used his sonic to open the back door of what must have been another shop. Inside, UNIT were gathered around a mess of hardwire being carefully-wired. Colonel Ward turned to the Doctor, startled.
“Any news?”
“I think I’ve found the transmitter,” said the Doctor. “No landmark this time, they’ve got one more efficient for its size. They’ve built a man to transmit, a combination of plastics and organics. That was why the mannequins stopped – he was distracted by a break-in.”
“Where are they?”
“Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast,” replied the Doctor. “If that’s where the transmitter is, the Nestene consciousness must be there too.”
“Sir!” interjected a UNIT officer. “We’ve got the Wi-Fi connection ready to transmit.”
“Will that stop the Nestene?”
“In this building, yes, hopefully.”
“Okay, then do it. And when you’ve done it, I want all troops to leave the Mall. We’ve got a new destination.”
***
Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast
The troops circled the building, guns raised from all angles. No one was getting out alive.
“So much for incognito,” muttered the Doctor.
An officer barked commands to a few others. Colonel Ward stood back against a tree next to the Doctor, keeping a close eye on the windows. The curtains were closed, but a light was on in one, and what looked like the transmission of a flickering TV.
“Catching up on the Antiques Roadshow?” suggested Colonel Ward sarcastically.
“Maybe it’s part of the transmission…” The Doctor squinted at the window. “We need to get inside.”
***
Hospital
“One Tommy,” said Autumn, placing a joker in Natalie’s weak hands.
“Bullshit,” murmured Natalie, forcing her eyes open.
“We need to find a game she’s bad at.” Tommy walked up to Natalie’s bed, taking a seat on the chair next to her and holding her hand.
“Tommy…”
“I’m safe. We just need to get you better.”
“They said…” Natalie paused to catch her breath. “On the streets, there’s a battle.”
“And it’s being sorted,” promised Tommy, trying not to cry for Natalie. This must be his fault in some way; it was all too much of a coincidence. “That blue box? Do you remember the blue box Natalie, the impossible blue box? It’s going to save us, just you watch.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because I travel in it. Through time and space. That’s where I’ve been, with Autumn. You should have seen it, Nat.”
“For once,” said Natalie, smiling, “I think you’re playing truthfully. I always knew…”
“I know,” said Tommy, holding Natalie’s hand to his face as she slipped away again, too tired to finish. “I know.”
***
Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast
An officer opened the door, moving out of the way immediately so that the troops behind her could get a clear fix.
The first in line shone a light inside the B&B. It was mostly empty, with dust particles catching in the beam of light. Shining over to the staircase, he made out a figure, and fixed on it.
“Identify yourself!” yelled Colonel Ward. “And don’t move a bloody inch.”
The Doctor wondered what happened to protocol. A bin, probably, or the bottom of a pile of paperwork on the Colonel’s desk.
The figure’s face was clearer now; a woman’s, red-haired with wide, blue eyes and exotic robes swinging behind her. Mrs N.
“Okay,” called the Colonel, “we don’t mean you any harm, but stay exactly where you are.”
Mrs N laughed, continuing down the staircase.
“STOP!” bellowed a UNIT officer. “STAY WHERE YOU ARE!”
The clicking of weapons was buried amidst yelling, but no gunfire – yet.
“Don’t shoot!” instructed the Colonel. “She’s just an ordinary woman!”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” murmured the Doctor.
Then the Doctor pulled the Colonel to the floor, at the sound of gunfire.
But the troops had not opened fire – they were falling, one by one, as bullet after bullet hit them from Mrs N’s arms, whose wrist had simply parted to form the muzzle of what was acting like a machine gun.
“SHOOT!” cried on the Colonel. “SOD CHIVALRY, SHOOT!”
Those still standing opened fire on Mrs N, and the Doctor moved away from the scene altogether, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, and stuck his fingers in his ears. Still he focused on the window, and the incessant flickering of the television. There was something up there…
Some shots were bouncing straight off Mrs N, while others pushed her back, denting her apparently plastic outer shell.
The Doctor got up and ran to the side of the house, using his hands to test the brickwork. He could get up, but it would be tricky. He crossed over to the tree and began to climb that instead, feeling decidedly more sure-footed. As he used a branch to haul himself up to the level of the second-floor window, he felt his jacket rip. Of all the days to wear a suit. I suppose I won’t be getting back into this any time soon…
He calculated the distance to the window. It would be tight, but if he used the right trajectory…
He knew there was a possibility that Mr N would turn his head in his direction and expose him, but equally, what were his defences like? Mrs N seemed to be the attacker, and at least Mr N wouldn’t hear him coming because of the gunshot.
The Doctor felt the branch giving way. He couldn’t leave it any longer.
He jumped.
After an involuntary mid-air contortion, the Doctor smashed through the second floor window, feeling shards of glass slicing finely through the skin on his face. He stood up and brushed himself down. The shards were so fine they must have surpassed the nerve endings. He’d feel that later.
Mr N seemed bizarrely unfazed, keeping watch on the television. The whole room was threadbare and sepia-themed, in a ‘what would happen if we left the 1970s to rot for a few decades’ kind of experiment. They were on their way out, and there was something final about the encounter, the Doctor felt. He doubted this room would survive much beyond Mr N, which, he hoped, wouldn’t be very long at all.
The TV screen was just white noise; hence the static electricity which could just about be differentiated from the gunfire outside, which itself was quietening, indicating that someone was winning. The Doctor didn’t want to place his bets.
“Am I addressing the Nestene Consciousness?” asked the Doctor.
“Yes,” the television replied, in a foreign hiss. The Doctor gathered something was being translated somehow.
“The Doctor again. Hello.” The Doctor sat down on the couch and patted Mr N on the knee, who didn’t even flinch. “You’ve got him carrying out quite a broadcast. Organic engineering, very compact, very efficient, and frankly very eco-friendly. I’d like to congratulate you.”
The TV hissed incoherently.
“So, disembodied consciousness, you’re transmitting from the TV, which you’ve tuned to your own wavelength, through Mr N and to the 3G network. That’s impressive too; I can really see the originality behind this invasion.” His expression turned serious. “But now it’s going to stop.”
The Doctor approached the TV calmly and intimidatingly, and crouched down to stare straight into the screen. “I’m still the Doctor. Next time you invade, wait for my funeral. I’m not going home any time soon – this is my planet and I will protect it. Understood?”
The Doctor waited for a response, piercing the white noise with his sharp, ancient eyes.
“…Yes.”
The screen went black and the Doctor smiled. After all that it had taken him to get there, he understood what the fight was all about, why the place had been so carefully guarded and hidden away – it was more vulnerable than any person in that shopping centre. The Doctor chuckled to himself, looking down at the plug in his hands, as Mr N fell over and hit the floor with a thud.
***
Colonel Ward watched sadly as some of his men were taken away in ambulances, and glared over at Mrs N’s body on the ground. All the emotions that hit him at once with this job – sadness, regret, satisfaction, fury, fear, confusion, dread, a sense of responsibility for the good and the bad – he contained them all, because he had to. And he could. He didn’t need a diary or a counsellor in his mind; maybe one day they’d be of use, pouring out at once, making the best memoirs in UNIT history.
“Looks like Mr N was the clever machine and Mrs N was the bodyguard,” said Colonel Ward, noticing the Doctor standing next to him. “That puts an end to gender stereotyping.”
“I won’t miss it,” laughed the Doctor.
“Not looking forward to the figures that come out of this one. A lot of casualties.”
“Sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”
“Between you and me, I’d have a Nestene invasion over rioting any day. At least this time we rallied together, all of us – Wi-Fi technicians, troops, and me and you – and stopped them together as a team. When we can do that, we always win.”
“Well said.” The Doctor patted the Colonel on the back. “I think you deserve a week off after this.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I will,” promised the Colonel. “A week on the Costa Del Sol with my wife and son is in order now, I think.”
The TARDIS – Two Weeks Later
“Home,” said the Doctor, landing the TARDIS smoothly. “Are you coming back in?”
“Oh, yes,” promised Tommy.
The Doctor nodded. “I’ll get a room ready.” Tommy slipped outside, and Robin and Chris could just about glimpse Tommy’s street through the gap in the door.
“So, you two…” The Doctor returned to the console, beginning to program in a new set of coordinates but pausing. Of course not. “You’ll be going home now, won’t you? Home to your, er, relationship. And that’s fine.” The Doctor didn’t look up as he adjusted the date and time settings.
“Yes,” said Robin, and as the Doctor looked up he realised she’d been having a quiet conversation with Chris. “Yes, it’s time he knows. Doctor.”
“Yes?” The Doctor stopped fiddling with the date and time settings and composed himself, leaving them to be filled in, the future uncertain, able to head forwards or backwards depending on where the next few minutes went.
“I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant,” said the Doctor, unable to muster anything apart from repetition. “Right… I see.” He smiled sadly, pleased for Robin, but sensing something else about to come to a close. “Pregnant.”
***
Tommy, Natalie and Autumn sat around the table in Tommy’s dining room, a box in Simon’s seat. Simon had gone on voluntary work to clear up the mess left by the invasion. He still didn’t know the truth.
“Natalie,” said Tommy, leaning forwards. “I spoke to Autumn.”
Natalie winced, embarrassed about her situation.
“What I’m about to say,” continued Tommy, “I am not taking back. You are not to argue. And you are not to feel guilty. Do you understand? I’ve prepared these words carefully, and I’m sticking to them.”
Natalie nodded.
“This house is yours.” Natalie gasped as Tommy continued. “You know the truth now, and I don’t need a home anymore. I have the TARDIS, and the whole universe. My parents have their home. We’re nearly at the end of this year and my flatmates will be leaving. This is for your family to move into until you can get back on your feet. I’m still paying for it, and I’m not short.”
“Tommy, I can’t-“
“I don’t want you to feel humiliated. I’m not a mighty saviour, Nat, I just got lucky. You have as much of a right to my life as I do, and that’s why I’m giving it to you. I want you to take it. Because it’s the right thing.” He nodded to Autumn, who was impressed with his words.
“Thank you,” said Natalie, a tear in her eye. “Thank you, both of you.”
“You’re the one who’s suffered, physically and psychologically,” said Autumn. “It’s compensation.”
“Now we both know that’s not true,” replied Natalie.
Hospital, One Week Earlier
“You’ll be discharged in five days,” said the Doctor, walking up to the bed and leaving some grapes on the side. “I think that’s what you’re meant to do.” He pulled up a chair and sat down. “You met Autumn, Natalie. And it looks to me like you took to her.”
“More than you can imagine,” spoke Natalie, beginning to sound a little better. “I got her very wrong the first time.”
“Maybe you could place that there was something off with her, maybe not. But she hasn’t been herself. For reasons that I don’t have I right to tell you. You do, however, have a right to know.” The Doctor placed some cash next to the grapes. “So when you get out of hospital in five days, there’s something I want you to do for me.”
“Why can’t you do it?”
“Because it’s such a human thing that I’d get it wrong. You only really understand each other, and I think you know this situation better than I do. But I do know about the small pleasures of life. Those well-prepared meals and sunsets, and I know what they can mean to someone. I think that’s the key.” He paused, considering his request. “I want you to find her something small but wonderful. A tiny but precious thing to hang on to.”
“I know what you mean,” said Natalie. “Don’t worry, Doctor. I’ve got this.”
Tommy’s House, the Present
Natalie lifted the box off Simon’s chair and opened it up. Inside there was a little creature, probably less than thirty centimetres in length; a clean, dark-haired rodent with patches of saffron-coloured fur either side of its body, two deep, dark eyes like marbles and a little mouth with large, clean teeth that looked like they were smiling up at her.
“What is it?” asked Autumn, intrigued.
“It’s a guinea pig,” said Natalie, laughing at Autumn’s reaction. “You can hold it.”
Unsure, Autumn, lifted the guinea pig out of the box and sat it on her lap, stroking it softly as it snuggled between her legs and flattened itself out.
“Blimey, I thought you had to tame them first. Looks like you’re a natural, Autumn.”
“It’s lovely.” Autumn turned the animal slightly so that she could see its eyes, so full of wisdom for a creature so small and probably a bit stupid.
“We nearly went with a dog, but I’m not made of money, as you’ve probably gathered. And I don’t know if you’re a walking person.”
“I suggested a cat,” added Tommy, “but Natalie said that would have seemed like an insult to your personality, given, well… things.”
“No, I mean it,” said Autumn. “It really is lovely. Does it have a name?”
“You can name him.”
“Alfie,” decided Autumn, almost instantly. “After my dad.”
“Not saving it for a child?” asked Natalie.
Autumn looked up at her, a moment of sadness passing over her, almost seriously saying: a child – as if.
The TARDIS
Autumn sat up on the barstool, watching Alfie crawl around on the floor in the lowered area of the ship where she could keep a closer eye on him, his feet pitter-pattering along as he squeaked merrily away to himself. Tommy watched from a distance, amused and faintly touched, bags of clothes and possessions at his feet to be taken to his room, while Chris and Robin stood up on the gallery, watching the others.
The Doctor circled a mannequin, running his eyes up and down it carefully. Robin didn’t move. Most of the other customers had fled now, save those who weren’t quick enough. Their bodies were dotted across the mall as testament to that. The Doctor was right – now the mannequins were still. They seemed like mannequins again, stiff and silent, their only trace of life being the uncomfortable complexity of their artificial faces.
“Signal cut off, maybe…”
The Doctor was startled by another sound, this time from the entrance to the mall. Flashing lights from outside could be made out at the doors, and as the Doctor twigged, dozens of troops moved into position around him, in a rehearsed and impressive motion, dressed in black, guns aimed in the direction of every mannequin. The sound of fluttering and engines from above the mall was deafening, and the Doctor looked up, seeing helicopters flying over the skylight.
Leading the troops was one man, middle-aged and dressed in more authoritative garb with badges recognising his importance and a tie beneath his jacket, barking commands through a megaphone. The man approached the Doctor and stopped.
“Well that was rubbish.” He had a Northern accent. “Colonel Ward of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce.”
The Doctor accepted the Colonel’s handshake. The Colonel did a mock-salute, stopping before it became anything. “It’s an honour, etc.,” he muttered. “Down to business I think.”
“You got here quickly.”
“We recognised the energy trace. And you. We’ve been waiting for this.”
“For me?”
“No, for the Nestene Consciousness. We’ve had several unexplained meteor sightings over the last month, and if the 80s taught us anything-“
“-the 70s-“
“-no one with a life actually cares.” The Colonel continued. “If your time with us taught us anything, it’s what a Nestene invasion looks like. So what are they after? The usual?”
“I’d expect so. Have you had incursions anywhere else?”
“Nope, this is it. Just this mall. Recently-built, actually.” The Colonel looked around, admiring the mall’s grandeur. It was sleek, shiny and stylish – no signs of chewing gum on the floor, of eroded handrails or the footprints of greasy food shops. “They stopped very suddenly.”
“Yes,” agreed the Doctor, grimly. “And what you’ve got to ask yourself is: if they stopped that quickly, how do you prepare for when they start again?”
Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast
“What are you doing here?”
Tommy looked up, covering his eyes whilst trying to recognise the silhouette in the doorway to the cellar. It was Mr N.
“Your dolls come to life, Mr N,” breathed Tommy, trying to stay calm. “What the hell are you?”
“I am a contraption of the Nestene Consciousness,” answered Mr N emotionlessly. “And you are interrupting the flow of data.” He turned away.
“Come on!” urged Tommy. “Talk to me! I’ve dealt with aliens before. Maybe I can help you. We can reach an agreement, before-“
The door slammed shut. Tommy climbed up the staircase, fumbling for the doorknob, but found nothing. He was trapped, in the darkness, alone – he hoped.
The Mall
Autumn tried to contain the bleeding, but first she had to find its source with her shaking hands…
Natalie’s whole body was covered. A lot of blood was lost, and it had formed almost an outer layer to prevent Autumn stopping the rest. She’d treated wounds before. You can do it again. She’ll live. But the certainty of life soon became a possibility, and then a distant hope. Natalie’s eyes were closing.
“Stay awake for me Natalie,” said Autumn, grabbing the scarf she’d been looking at to tie around Natalie. “Natalie? Natalie! Stay awake, please…”
“Oh my God,” said the Doctor, obviously having heard Autumn’s pleading, dashing in to crouch beside Autumn. “I’m so sorry. Colonel, get me an ambulance.”
Colonel Ward did as instructed.
“Poor woman. You’ve done well, but…”
“But what?”
“Autumn...” The Doctor clicked. “You know her?”
“Not that well yet. I was sort of hoping to. Can I stay with her?”
“Of course.” The Doctor patted Autumn on the back. “Keep doing what you were doing, when the ambulance gets here go with her. It should only be about a minute, UNIT will have one on-site.” The Doctor used his sonic to calmly detach the arm off the mannequin and threw it off the second floor, then ran out of the shop and back to Robin.
“I found Autumn.”
“Is she alive?”
“She’s alive… but she’s not good. Have you tried Tommy?”
“Yeah… I couldn’t get through. But I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Bad signal maybe?” suggested the Doctor.
“Not on my end.” Robin tossed her phone in her hand. “My signal’s better than usual today, and 3G is on fire…”
“What did you say?”
“I said, my signal… it’s…”
“Give me your phone,” instructed the Doctor, hurriedly taking Robin’s phone and scanning it with the sonic. “You’re right. It is.”
“And that’s important? It’s 3G. You never know what you’re going to get.”
“What if you do?”
“Meaning?”
“Wait a minute,” interjected the Colonel, “I see what you’re getting at here.”
“Exactly.”
“I don’t!” complained Robin. “You mean the Nestene are using a 3G network?”
“In most of the new malls, you can’t get a signal,” explained the Colonel. “Same for schools, some places put up blockers so that you use their Wi-Fi. But look.” The Colonel took the phone off the Doctor and opened up the settings. “No wireless connections detected. Not a single one.”
“Right…”
“Not one!” emphasised the Doctor. “No coffee shop Wi-Fi for laptops. No mall Wi-Fi. No staff connections, no private networks, no hotspots. Not one wireless connection is allowed here.”
“I think I’m getting it… but… how?! It can’t be a coincidence.”
“That’s the point. The mall was new. And if I’d hazard a guess, I’d say began planning shortly after the first meteor hit?”
“Christ almighty!” cried the Colonel. “It did!”
“They planned this. Probably used Nestene duplicates in the planning meetings.”
“But why? Why is Wi-Fi so important to them?”
“This is their base now – the lifeblood of the Nestene Consciousness is in the air. And this is just the beginning. A whole city of networks operating on their frequency which they can use to transmit, now that is a good way of using your resources, ingenious, even…”
“If they’re transmitting from everywhere, how are we meant to find them?” The Colonel huffed. “I could really use a major London landmark; you know, just knock it down and have done with it like the good old days.”
“There’ll still be a main transmitter somewhere, and if their planning for that is as good as this, it’s going to be a hell of a task to get to it…”
***
Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast
Mr and Mrs N sat back in their threadbare sofa in front of their rustic-looking television, 1970s wallpaper peeling from the wall which was, at this time of night, lit by the flickering strip-lights on the ceiling. There was truly no place like home.
“Why did the transmission stop?” hissed the TV, blinking and buzzing with a surge of static electricity.
“We were interrupted,” explained Mrs N. “But Mr N has been reactivated. It won’t be long now…”
The Mall
The Doctor watched intently as one of the mannequins, a man in a three-piece suit, started to twitch.
“I think they’re going to start moving again. Colonel, your best hope is to block the signal.”
“Block 3G? How in God’s name do we do that?”
“Try another one. For some reason, the Nestene didn’t want this place to be susceptible to any wireless influence. So, set up some Wi-Fi, see if you can, I don’t know, override the controls. Nestene in the present day; this is going to be harder than I expected…”
“You heard him,” said Colonel Ward, turning to his troops. “Get someone science-y on it.”
“But sir!” responded one of the men. “We don’t have any equipment on-site for this sort of thing!”
“Hold on…” Colonel Ward looked around him with blatantly feigned astonishment. “For a minute then, I thought we might have been in the middle of a shopping centre. You don’t have to bloody pay for it all; I think saving the world probably makes up for that. Go!”
The troops did as instructed and moved in the direction of a computer store. As they did, the mannequins jerked and raised their arms, firing more shots. A couple of guards were knocked down and the Doctor and the Colonel quickly turned into the end aisle of a gift shop. “Floors of them,” cursed the Colonel. “And they even look like us!”
“Not just floors. Very soon they’ll have taken the city. I need to get through to Tommy…”
***
Ambulance
Autumn’s vortex manipulator blipped, indicating a phone-call. One of the paramedics looked at her with a raised eyebrow but ignored it once Autumn had taken the call, either because of the situation, because he worked for UNIT, or because he was busy. Autumn didn’t have time to deduce which.
“Robin?” she whispered.
“Autumn,” came Robin’s voice. “It’s the Doctor, he wants to know where Tommy is, to make sure he’s safe.”
“He should be okay,” replied Autumn. “He’s staying at a B&B.”
There was some muffling on the other side, then Robin’s voice was replaced by the Doctor’s.
“Nowhere is safe. Autumn, once you’re at the hospital, phone him; if you can’t get through… I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to find him. Just stay away from the shops, stay away from the streets. Once you’re together we can find somewhere safe for you.”
“So this is serious then?” Autumn felt stupid asking that question as she looked down at the paramedics desperately working away on Natalie’s fatal bullet wound, which she’d sustained from an innocuous-looking thing of everyday life. Of course it was serious.
***
To Natalie, the world passed by in a blur, from the moment she was shot. There was red. Then there was Autumn’s voice – not soft and reassuring, but determined; desperate, even. Then there were lights, and there were blurs. There were more voices, more sounds, more lights, more blurs. The pain persisted, a pain so great and all-consuming that she couldn’t tell when she was moving and when she was laying still. Autumn’s voice remained. But soon she forgot Autumn, as she drifted away. She forgot who Autumn was. There was just that voice, that recognisable voice, the only voice she now knew, and she held onto it, though she didn’t understand it. “Stay with me, Natalie. For Tommy.”
“Hello.”
Natalie focused. Everything was clearing, and everything was still. The pain remained, eating away at her, but almost bearable. She was lying in a hospital bed. She tried to sit up but felt like she was being attacked. Autumn gently set her at ease.
“You need to lie down.” Autumn turned around, looking at the corridor, out of Natalie’s line of sight. “The place is full, but don’t worry, you’ll be cared for.”
“What happened?” asked Natalie, trying to piece it together. Everything was so confusing. She didn’t even know what the time was.
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you’re stable.” For now, thought Autumn. You’re stable for now. Natalie couldn’t hear the weakness in her own voice. “I need to go and find Tommy,” said Autumn. “I have to leave you here.”
“You have to find him…” murmured Natalie. “I just hope he comes back in time… to….”
“Natalie, save your breath, please.”
“Autumn,” urged Natalie, “if I don’t… if this is it for me, I’m sorry, I wouldn’t ask… this… of anyone, if it wasn’t the only way, but they’re… I love them, and I need guarantee… my family are running out of money fast. They owe a lot, and they’re going to end up homeless.”
“I’m sure they won’t-“
“Either way, you watch them. Autumn, you said you had money. I hate to ask this, but they need looking after. I can’t bear to think that they…”
“It’s okay.” Autumn stood up as Natalie closed her eyes, breathing heavily. “I’ll do whatever it takes. See you later, Natalie.”
***
Tommy fumbled around for a light, for anything that could illuminate what was around – anything that wasn’t his mind, which told him relentlessly that those eyes were still on him, and that the broken dolls were all smiling, preparing something far too terrible for his mind to understand. He walked over plastic limbs and got out his phone.
No signal. He cursed. But… 30% charge. Tommy slid up the settings panel and adjusted the brightness. The phone was as good as a torch, giving a significant amount of clarity to his surroundings. The eyes were still on him indeed, and the faces were all smiling.
Then there was a laugh. A baby’s laugh, all hicking and innocent and… no, sadistic… no, innocent… no…
Either way, it was just electronic. Tommy tossed up the possibilities, of whether the plastic baby was innocent, laughing at the most simple of things… or whether it had a heart of pure evil, and was using that innocence to torture him.
But… no. It’s got to be a mistake. Tommy shuddered, as some creature of fear crept up his spine. This baby was worse than he’d ever imagined. Because this was a museum for antiques.
And antiques are not electronic.
***
Autumn approached the old house warily, acknowledging the B&B sign. Under the full moon, with its stained tiles, mossy brickwork and Victorian architecture, it looked like a façade in use for a haunted house movie. If she were to walk up and push her finger against the door, she’d half expect the whole building to topple over and reveal itself as a massive cardboard structure.
But it was just old and gloomy. Not haunted. The only thing that haunted it was the smell of dust.
Autumn stopped and listened. She thought she could hear something, and it was something that seemed attuned to her brain, as she tried and failed to ignore it. There was gunfire from streets away, screaming and smashing, but another voice, somehow a separate sound from the rest, in front of her.
“Help me!”
Tommy.
Autumn pulled a gun from her pocket – which UNIT had armed her with, under Colonel Ward’s command for her to protect herself after she refused back-up – and blasted open the door from a few metres away. It fell off its hinges easily enough.
She coughed as she entered, struggling to stand the dust which had gathered overnight, and found the source of the sound, a cellar door. It opened with one pull. Evidently, it was designed to keep things inside secure but things outside under control. Tommy ran out and slammed the door behind him.
“Autumn, I am so glad to see you.” He hugged her. Autumn let him, a little lost on the hugging thing, but strangely enjoying it all the same. “Now, I need to talk to the Doctor.”
***
The Mall
The Doctor, Robin and Chris hid behind the counter in Boots, a good few shops away from any Autons. As Robin’s phone buzzed, the Doctor grabbed and answered it quickly, talking in only a whisper.
“Tommy?”
“I’m here,” said Tommy at the other end. “I couldn’t get any signal because I was locked in someone’s basement.”
“Oh… was that planned…?”
“No!” hissed Tommy, sensing the Doctor was implying something about his preferred pastimes. “But the B&B I was at, Nagy’s B&B… Autumn told me about what’s happening and I think your answers might be here.”
“What do you mean?”
“There are plastics moving in here, not just moving, being really weird. One of them laughed.”
“Interesting.” The Doctor processed and cross-referenced in his mind everything he heard as the conversation progressed. “What else?”
“The two people who own it, Mr and Mrs N, they’re weird. Especially Mr N, he said something about me interrupting a transmission.”
“What did you do?”
“I went to see what the noise was in the basement, and he came down and found me. He was… I don’t know, it wasn’t human, he was like a machine.”
“And then he left?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, God, right…” The Doctor ran his hand over his face, exhausted. “Go to the hospital with Autumn, go and see Natalie. Keep yourselves safe. If the roads are blocked coming back, I can get you a vehicle.”
“What are you going to do?” asked Tommy.
The Doctor turned to Robin as he spoke to Tommy. “I’m going to fix this right now.” The Doctor got up slowly and opened the door to the back of the shop, emerging on the street, and slammed it beside him.
“Where are we going?” asked Chris.
The Doctor counted three doors down, and used his sonic to open the back door of what must have been another shop. Inside, UNIT were gathered around a mess of hardwire being carefully-wired. Colonel Ward turned to the Doctor, startled.
“Any news?”
“I think I’ve found the transmitter,” said the Doctor. “No landmark this time, they’ve got one more efficient for its size. They’ve built a man to transmit, a combination of plastics and organics. That was why the mannequins stopped – he was distracted by a break-in.”
“Where are they?”
“Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast,” replied the Doctor. “If that’s where the transmitter is, the Nestene consciousness must be there too.”
“Sir!” interjected a UNIT officer. “We’ve got the Wi-Fi connection ready to transmit.”
“Will that stop the Nestene?”
“In this building, yes, hopefully.”
“Okay, then do it. And when you’ve done it, I want all troops to leave the Mall. We’ve got a new destination.”
***
Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast
The troops circled the building, guns raised from all angles. No one was getting out alive.
“So much for incognito,” muttered the Doctor.
An officer barked commands to a few others. Colonel Ward stood back against a tree next to the Doctor, keeping a close eye on the windows. The curtains were closed, but a light was on in one, and what looked like the transmission of a flickering TV.
“Catching up on the Antiques Roadshow?” suggested Colonel Ward sarcastically.
“Maybe it’s part of the transmission…” The Doctor squinted at the window. “We need to get inside.”
***
Hospital
“One Tommy,” said Autumn, placing a joker in Natalie’s weak hands.
“Bullshit,” murmured Natalie, forcing her eyes open.
“We need to find a game she’s bad at.” Tommy walked up to Natalie’s bed, taking a seat on the chair next to her and holding her hand.
“Tommy…”
“I’m safe. We just need to get you better.”
“They said…” Natalie paused to catch her breath. “On the streets, there’s a battle.”
“And it’s being sorted,” promised Tommy, trying not to cry for Natalie. This must be his fault in some way; it was all too much of a coincidence. “That blue box? Do you remember the blue box Natalie, the impossible blue box? It’s going to save us, just you watch.”
“How can you know that?”
“Because I travel in it. Through time and space. That’s where I’ve been, with Autumn. You should have seen it, Nat.”
“For once,” said Natalie, smiling, “I think you’re playing truthfully. I always knew…”
“I know,” said Tommy, holding Natalie’s hand to his face as she slipped away again, too tired to finish. “I know.”
***
Nagy’s Bed & Breakfast
An officer opened the door, moving out of the way immediately so that the troops behind her could get a clear fix.
The first in line shone a light inside the B&B. It was mostly empty, with dust particles catching in the beam of light. Shining over to the staircase, he made out a figure, and fixed on it.
“Identify yourself!” yelled Colonel Ward. “And don’t move a bloody inch.”
The Doctor wondered what happened to protocol. A bin, probably, or the bottom of a pile of paperwork on the Colonel’s desk.
The figure’s face was clearer now; a woman’s, red-haired with wide, blue eyes and exotic robes swinging behind her. Mrs N.
“Okay,” called the Colonel, “we don’t mean you any harm, but stay exactly where you are.”
Mrs N laughed, continuing down the staircase.
“STOP!” bellowed a UNIT officer. “STAY WHERE YOU ARE!”
The clicking of weapons was buried amidst yelling, but no gunfire – yet.
“Don’t shoot!” instructed the Colonel. “She’s just an ordinary woman!”
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” murmured the Doctor.
Then the Doctor pulled the Colonel to the floor, at the sound of gunfire.
But the troops had not opened fire – they were falling, one by one, as bullet after bullet hit them from Mrs N’s arms, whose wrist had simply parted to form the muzzle of what was acting like a machine gun.
“SHOOT!” cried on the Colonel. “SOD CHIVALRY, SHOOT!”
Those still standing opened fire on Mrs N, and the Doctor moved away from the scene altogether, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, and stuck his fingers in his ears. Still he focused on the window, and the incessant flickering of the television. There was something up there…
Some shots were bouncing straight off Mrs N, while others pushed her back, denting her apparently plastic outer shell.
The Doctor got up and ran to the side of the house, using his hands to test the brickwork. He could get up, but it would be tricky. He crossed over to the tree and began to climb that instead, feeling decidedly more sure-footed. As he used a branch to haul himself up to the level of the second-floor window, he felt his jacket rip. Of all the days to wear a suit. I suppose I won’t be getting back into this any time soon…
He calculated the distance to the window. It would be tight, but if he used the right trajectory…
He knew there was a possibility that Mr N would turn his head in his direction and expose him, but equally, what were his defences like? Mrs N seemed to be the attacker, and at least Mr N wouldn’t hear him coming because of the gunshot.
The Doctor felt the branch giving way. He couldn’t leave it any longer.
He jumped.
After an involuntary mid-air contortion, the Doctor smashed through the second floor window, feeling shards of glass slicing finely through the skin on his face. He stood up and brushed himself down. The shards were so fine they must have surpassed the nerve endings. He’d feel that later.
Mr N seemed bizarrely unfazed, keeping watch on the television. The whole room was threadbare and sepia-themed, in a ‘what would happen if we left the 1970s to rot for a few decades’ kind of experiment. They were on their way out, and there was something final about the encounter, the Doctor felt. He doubted this room would survive much beyond Mr N, which, he hoped, wouldn’t be very long at all.
The TV screen was just white noise; hence the static electricity which could just about be differentiated from the gunfire outside, which itself was quietening, indicating that someone was winning. The Doctor didn’t want to place his bets.
“Am I addressing the Nestene Consciousness?” asked the Doctor.
“Yes,” the television replied, in a foreign hiss. The Doctor gathered something was being translated somehow.
“The Doctor again. Hello.” The Doctor sat down on the couch and patted Mr N on the knee, who didn’t even flinch. “You’ve got him carrying out quite a broadcast. Organic engineering, very compact, very efficient, and frankly very eco-friendly. I’d like to congratulate you.”
The TV hissed incoherently.
“So, disembodied consciousness, you’re transmitting from the TV, which you’ve tuned to your own wavelength, through Mr N and to the 3G network. That’s impressive too; I can really see the originality behind this invasion.” His expression turned serious. “But now it’s going to stop.”
The Doctor approached the TV calmly and intimidatingly, and crouched down to stare straight into the screen. “I’m still the Doctor. Next time you invade, wait for my funeral. I’m not going home any time soon – this is my planet and I will protect it. Understood?”
The Doctor waited for a response, piercing the white noise with his sharp, ancient eyes.
“…Yes.”
The screen went black and the Doctor smiled. After all that it had taken him to get there, he understood what the fight was all about, why the place had been so carefully guarded and hidden away – it was more vulnerable than any person in that shopping centre. The Doctor chuckled to himself, looking down at the plug in his hands, as Mr N fell over and hit the floor with a thud.
***
Colonel Ward watched sadly as some of his men were taken away in ambulances, and glared over at Mrs N’s body on the ground. All the emotions that hit him at once with this job – sadness, regret, satisfaction, fury, fear, confusion, dread, a sense of responsibility for the good and the bad – he contained them all, because he had to. And he could. He didn’t need a diary or a counsellor in his mind; maybe one day they’d be of use, pouring out at once, making the best memoirs in UNIT history.
“Looks like Mr N was the clever machine and Mrs N was the bodyguard,” said Colonel Ward, noticing the Doctor standing next to him. “That puts an end to gender stereotyping.”
“I won’t miss it,” laughed the Doctor.
“Not looking forward to the figures that come out of this one. A lot of casualties.”
“Sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”
“Between you and me, I’d have a Nestene invasion over rioting any day. At least this time we rallied together, all of us – Wi-Fi technicians, troops, and me and you – and stopped them together as a team. When we can do that, we always win.”
“Well said.” The Doctor patted the Colonel on the back. “I think you deserve a week off after this.”
“Oh, don’t worry, I will,” promised the Colonel. “A week on the Costa Del Sol with my wife and son is in order now, I think.”
The TARDIS – Two Weeks Later
“Home,” said the Doctor, landing the TARDIS smoothly. “Are you coming back in?”
“Oh, yes,” promised Tommy.
The Doctor nodded. “I’ll get a room ready.” Tommy slipped outside, and Robin and Chris could just about glimpse Tommy’s street through the gap in the door.
“So, you two…” The Doctor returned to the console, beginning to program in a new set of coordinates but pausing. Of course not. “You’ll be going home now, won’t you? Home to your, er, relationship. And that’s fine.” The Doctor didn’t look up as he adjusted the date and time settings.
“Yes,” said Robin, and as the Doctor looked up he realised she’d been having a quiet conversation with Chris. “Yes, it’s time he knows. Doctor.”
“Yes?” The Doctor stopped fiddling with the date and time settings and composed himself, leaving them to be filled in, the future uncertain, able to head forwards or backwards depending on where the next few minutes went.
“I’m pregnant.”
“Pregnant,” said the Doctor, unable to muster anything apart from repetition. “Right… I see.” He smiled sadly, pleased for Robin, but sensing something else about to come to a close. “Pregnant.”
***
Tommy, Natalie and Autumn sat around the table in Tommy’s dining room, a box in Simon’s seat. Simon had gone on voluntary work to clear up the mess left by the invasion. He still didn’t know the truth.
“Natalie,” said Tommy, leaning forwards. “I spoke to Autumn.”
Natalie winced, embarrassed about her situation.
“What I’m about to say,” continued Tommy, “I am not taking back. You are not to argue. And you are not to feel guilty. Do you understand? I’ve prepared these words carefully, and I’m sticking to them.”
Natalie nodded.
“This house is yours.” Natalie gasped as Tommy continued. “You know the truth now, and I don’t need a home anymore. I have the TARDIS, and the whole universe. My parents have their home. We’re nearly at the end of this year and my flatmates will be leaving. This is for your family to move into until you can get back on your feet. I’m still paying for it, and I’m not short.”
“Tommy, I can’t-“
“I don’t want you to feel humiliated. I’m not a mighty saviour, Nat, I just got lucky. You have as much of a right to my life as I do, and that’s why I’m giving it to you. I want you to take it. Because it’s the right thing.” He nodded to Autumn, who was impressed with his words.
“Thank you,” said Natalie, a tear in her eye. “Thank you, both of you.”
“You’re the one who’s suffered, physically and psychologically,” said Autumn. “It’s compensation.”
“Now we both know that’s not true,” replied Natalie.
Hospital, One Week Earlier
“You’ll be discharged in five days,” said the Doctor, walking up to the bed and leaving some grapes on the side. “I think that’s what you’re meant to do.” He pulled up a chair and sat down. “You met Autumn, Natalie. And it looks to me like you took to her.”
“More than you can imagine,” spoke Natalie, beginning to sound a little better. “I got her very wrong the first time.”
“Maybe you could place that there was something off with her, maybe not. But she hasn’t been herself. For reasons that I don’t have I right to tell you. You do, however, have a right to know.” The Doctor placed some cash next to the grapes. “So when you get out of hospital in five days, there’s something I want you to do for me.”
“Why can’t you do it?”
“Because it’s such a human thing that I’d get it wrong. You only really understand each other, and I think you know this situation better than I do. But I do know about the small pleasures of life. Those well-prepared meals and sunsets, and I know what they can mean to someone. I think that’s the key.” He paused, considering his request. “I want you to find her something small but wonderful. A tiny but precious thing to hang on to.”
“I know what you mean,” said Natalie. “Don’t worry, Doctor. I’ve got this.”
Tommy’s House, the Present
Natalie lifted the box off Simon’s chair and opened it up. Inside there was a little creature, probably less than thirty centimetres in length; a clean, dark-haired rodent with patches of saffron-coloured fur either side of its body, two deep, dark eyes like marbles and a little mouth with large, clean teeth that looked like they were smiling up at her.
“What is it?” asked Autumn, intrigued.
“It’s a guinea pig,” said Natalie, laughing at Autumn’s reaction. “You can hold it.”
Unsure, Autumn, lifted the guinea pig out of the box and sat it on her lap, stroking it softly as it snuggled between her legs and flattened itself out.
“Blimey, I thought you had to tame them first. Looks like you’re a natural, Autumn.”
“It’s lovely.” Autumn turned the animal slightly so that she could see its eyes, so full of wisdom for a creature so small and probably a bit stupid.
“We nearly went with a dog, but I’m not made of money, as you’ve probably gathered. And I don’t know if you’re a walking person.”
“I suggested a cat,” added Tommy, “but Natalie said that would have seemed like an insult to your personality, given, well… things.”
“No, I mean it,” said Autumn. “It really is lovely. Does it have a name?”
“You can name him.”
“Alfie,” decided Autumn, almost instantly. “After my dad.”
“Not saving it for a child?” asked Natalie.
Autumn looked up at her, a moment of sadness passing over her, almost seriously saying: a child – as if.
The TARDIS
Autumn sat up on the barstool, watching Alfie crawl around on the floor in the lowered area of the ship where she could keep a closer eye on him, his feet pitter-pattering along as he squeaked merrily away to himself. Tommy watched from a distance, amused and faintly touched, bags of clothes and possessions at his feet to be taken to his room, while Chris and Robin stood up on the gallery, watching the others.
The Doctor returned to tapping in coordinates, but again paused… nothing had answered his question. Was he left to assume? He cursed the differences between humanity and the alien, wished he understood what they meant by things. Of course, he suspected, they probably didn’t know themselves.
“Right, everyone,” called the Doctor, and the team gathered together: Autumn, Tommy, Robin, Chris and the Doctor, around the TARDIS console. Almost enough to pilot a TARDIS how it was meant to be piloted. “Not exactly sure, well, where we’re going from here…” The Doctor contemplated for a few seconds. “Autumn – staying?”
“Yes,” answered Autumn.
“Tommy?”
“I’ve got no choice now – you’re stuck with me.” But he seemed glad to say that, like he’d wanted it for a long time.
“And Robin, Chris…” he approached them more softly. “It’s fine, I understand, like I said before, and now… well, it makes more sense. Everything ends, and I’m glad for you.”
Robin smiled. “It doesn’t have to. We’ve discussed it.” She looked up at Chris, who looked back down at her, completely lovingly. “We’re staying.”
The Doctor’s eyes widened as he processed it. “But-“
“I know. And eventually, yes, we’ll have to review it. But that promise should keep us going. We make the most of the time we have left.”
Chris smiled warmly at the Doctor, a kind of ‘she’s good, isn’t she?’ smile.
“So…”
The Doctor finally tapped the coordinates in – the other side of the universe – and admired his new team. All a little bit different from how they were before, and all looking towards different futures.
“Here we go.”
“Right, everyone,” called the Doctor, and the team gathered together: Autumn, Tommy, Robin, Chris and the Doctor, around the TARDIS console. Almost enough to pilot a TARDIS how it was meant to be piloted. “Not exactly sure, well, where we’re going from here…” The Doctor contemplated for a few seconds. “Autumn – staying?”
“Yes,” answered Autumn.
“Tommy?”
“I’ve got no choice now – you’re stuck with me.” But he seemed glad to say that, like he’d wanted it for a long time.
“And Robin, Chris…” he approached them more softly. “It’s fine, I understand, like I said before, and now… well, it makes more sense. Everything ends, and I’m glad for you.”
Robin smiled. “It doesn’t have to. We’ve discussed it.” She looked up at Chris, who looked back down at her, completely lovingly. “We’re staying.”
The Doctor’s eyes widened as he processed it. “But-“
“I know. And eventually, yes, we’ll have to review it. But that promise should keep us going. We make the most of the time we have left.”
Chris smiled warmly at the Doctor, a kind of ‘she’s good, isn’t she?’ smile.
“So…”
The Doctor finally tapped the coordinates in – the other side of the universe – and admired his new team. All a little bit different from how they were before, and all looking towards different futures.
“Here we go.”
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NEXT TIMEThe Cloud Beneath The Sea
The Doctor and his team set off on a new adventure - a city, concealed in a dome underneath the sea, protected from a terrible war on the surface. But the city has a secret of its own, a secret so awful its consequences will be felt forever. For one unlucky member of the Doctor's team, this will be their last adventure in the TARDIS... Episode List: 1. The Magic Box 2. Dinner With Nobody 3. Passing in the Night 4. A Shop For Limbs 5. Material Values 6. The Cloud Beneath The Sea 7. Wish You Were Here 8. A Castle Deep in the Woods 9. In Slumber Repose 10. A Perfect Circle 11. Under Ice 12. Waking the Witch 13. The Morning Fog |