The object went unnoticed amongst the rain of falling bombs and shells. Soldiers from both sides of the trenches were too busy shooting at each other to observe its descent from the sky.
It crashed, with a rather large bang that was drowned out by the whistling of flying bombs, not too far from the British side. As a result, the sentries that had remained behind while other troops went over the top, saw it, and called their commander over.
Captain Hale was a young man, approaching thirty, with slicked back hair and a wide jawline. He had climbed through the ranks relatively quickly, earning the appreciation of the General himself even, and it was he who now presided over the sentries’ concerns.
“What is it?” he barked.
“Sir!” saluted the sentry, “Some...thing has fallen out of the sky!”
“We’re in a war, lots of things fall out of the sky, and they’re usually trying to kill us,” snapped Hale, “Are you wasting my time, sentry?”
“No sir! But this...this is much different from a bomb, sir.”
Hale sighed and relented. He’d had just about enough of strange objects falling from the sky. “Let me see,” he ordered, and poked his head over the top into No Man’s Land.
He found himself staring at a large blue box that said “police” on it.
Hale climbed down.
“Okay, you were right, sentry,” he admitted, “This is different.”
“Thank you, sir,” smirked the sentry.
“Get some men!” ordered Hale, “And see if you can get that box back here!”
“What, go over the top sir?”
“Lots of men have gone over the top, sentry, you wouldn’t be the first to do it, now move!”
The sentry saluted and ran off in search of more men. Hale glared in his direction as he went, rubbing his hands. It was bitterly cold, he thought. There was no way they ought to fight in this weather.
A Private by the name of Douglas approached Hale.
“Do you think,” he said, “that it has any connection to the other object we found, sir?”
“The blue box?”
“Yes sir,” said Private Douglas.
“It’s too early to tell,” said Hale, “But both could be secret German weapons, quite easily…”
Hale strode off in the direction of the bunker. The roof had caved in, and it was apparent why. As Hale walked in, he was greeted by a most unusual sight.
It was a pod, of sorts, green in colour, scaly, and freezing cold to the touch. Inside was a giant block of ice that preserved perfectly what appeared to be a man wearing a suit of armour as green and scaly as the pod it was kept it. It did not look human.
“The men say it’s an alien from Mars,” said Private Douglas.
“Yes, well we mustn't let the men’s imagination run away with them,” said Hale absent-mindedly. “I admit it’s strange, but there’s a logical explanation for this.”
“Sir!” called a voice. Hale left the pod and rushed out into the trench, Private Douglas on his heels.
“What!” he snapped, “What now?”
“We’ve brought the box back, sir,”
Indeed, the box was now sitting in the middle of the trench.
“So quickly?”
“It was surprisingly light, actually.”
“Well!” said Hale, “It can’t stay here! Bring it back to base.”
“Now, sir?”
“After this battle has ended, then!” he boomed.
“Sir!” called the sentries, as they rushed off.
“Two possible German weapons in one day,” pondered Hale. “This is either a very lucky day or a very bad one.” He examined the object in closer detail.
“Police,” he said, “It’s in English…”
“And this sir,” said Douglas, “Pull to open…”
Douglas did, and found what appeared to be a phone. He looked quizzically at Hale, who had pressed a hand to the door, registering a low hum.
The door?
“Doors,” he said. He tried to open them, but he couldn’t.
“I’m almost sure it’s a bomb of some kind,” said Private Douglas.
“Me too…” said Hale slowly. He backed away from it carefully.
And as he did, one door began to creak open.
A man, dressed in a battered leather jacket and scarf, peered out of it cautiously. He seemed very lost and confused, as if he’d forgotten who he was. He made a tentative step forward into the muddy trench, and another, and another. He looked like he wasn’t used to his own legs.
Hale boldly spoke.
“Who...who are you?” he asked.
The man suddenly became aware of Hale, his head turning sharply in his direction and staring at him intently. He moved closer, still walking slowly, always looking him right in the eye.
Silence passed between them. The current battle, one of thousands before and thousands to come, was slowly winding down, though shells always rained down around them. All that happened now was the intense staring contest that this strange man and Captain Hale were locked in, Private Douglas looking on with the same amount of confusion and shock that was written all over Hale’s pasty features.
And then the man spoke.
“The ears,” he said.
“I - what, sorry?”
“The ears!” said the man, “What are my ears like?”
“Um…”
Hale considered.
“They’re quite large, stick out quite a bit…”
The man broke his resolve and fell into a look of deep disappointment.
“I wanted them to be inconspicuous! Is it too much to ask for me to be able to control the outcome of my regeneration a tiny bit every now and then?”
“Excuse me?” spluttered Hale.
“Sorry. Much too complicated, I doubt you’d be able to understand it all…”
“Who are you?”
“Me? Oh, I’m the Doctor - or I was.”
Hale shared a look of utter confusion with the Private as the “Doctor” felt the back of his head.
“Hair’s alright though,” he muttered, feeling the little hair he had, “much better than last time!”
“I’m sorry, but - Doctor who?” stuttered Hale.
“Just the Doctor!” said the Doctor, grinning madly, “And who might you be?”
Hale saluted.
“Captain Stan Hale,” he said, “British Army…”
“No, don’t salute,” said the Doctor. His grin was suddenly gone, and he looked very grave. Hale stopped saluting.
“Sorry.”
“So!” said the Doctor, “World War one, British trenches...am I right in saying we’re in Belgium? Good. What year is it?”
“I - are you thick?!” interjected Douglas.
“Yep!” said the Doctor, turning to the Private, “That’s me!”
“It’s 1915!” said Douglas, as if this was the most obvious thing.
“How interesting,” said the Doctor, “Ooh, what do we have here…”
Hale watched in horror as the strange man strode in the direction of the bunker where the strange pod was being kept.
“I - yes, um - Doctor - what are you doing here?” jumped in Hale, desperate to keep him away from the alien object on the off chance he was a spy of some kind “If you’re a civilian you aren’t exactly allowed - ”
“I crashed!” He said this as if it was the most obvious thing. “Didn’t you see, back there?” He motioned towards the police box. “My ship. It crashed and now I’m here!”
“Your - ship?”
“My ship, yes,” The Doctor brushed the question aside, having took to massaging his arm. “Still a little stiff, needs some movement...”
“You can’t go in there!” said Hale out of the blue, as the Doctor made to enter the bunker again
“Why not?” questioned the Doctor with another made grin plastered on his face.
“Well - it’s - it’s because you just can’t!” spluttered Hale, now seething with rage.
“Stop blubbering like that, it makes you look like a fish,” said the Doctor, “and the hair and jawline don’t help either.” With that, he entered the bunker, coming face to face with the mysterious object.
“Oh, I see,” he said, “You have an Ice Warrior pod.”
“A what?”
“Never mind, Fish-Boy. You wouldn’t understand. In my experience humans never do...”
The Doctor examined the pod closely, retrieving a long, silver object from his battered brown jacket. Its tip glowed red and it made a funny noise as he moved it along the length of the pod.
“This can’t mean anything good,” said the Doctor at last, “An Ice Warrior pod, complete with Ice Warrior, right in the heart of World War One…I’ll have to do something.”
He was still massaging his arm, but he suddenly stopped, looking worried.
“Oh,” he said, “That’s not good.”
“What’s not good?” prompted Hale.
The Doctor turned and looked at him. “I suppose you have a hospital of sorts nearby, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course.”
The Doctor smiled. “Great!” he said, “Then you can check me in!”
A gasp of pain escaped his mouth, and he fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen. He was out cold before Hale and Douglas could even flinch.
A sentry came rushing into the bunker.
“Sir!” he said, “We’re going to bring the box back to base now! What do you - who is that?”
“Never mind,” said Hale, gulping, “You can take him back with you - and this pod as well.”
“Sir!” saluted the sentry, not questioning any further.
“I think I’ll head back too,” said Hale to Douglas, “I think I need to speak to the General…”
He stared at the unconscious body of the Doctor, looking rather peaceful as it lay in the mud.
It crashed, with a rather large bang that was drowned out by the whistling of flying bombs, not too far from the British side. As a result, the sentries that had remained behind while other troops went over the top, saw it, and called their commander over.
Captain Hale was a young man, approaching thirty, with slicked back hair and a wide jawline. He had climbed through the ranks relatively quickly, earning the appreciation of the General himself even, and it was he who now presided over the sentries’ concerns.
“What is it?” he barked.
“Sir!” saluted the sentry, “Some...thing has fallen out of the sky!”
“We’re in a war, lots of things fall out of the sky, and they’re usually trying to kill us,” snapped Hale, “Are you wasting my time, sentry?”
“No sir! But this...this is much different from a bomb, sir.”
Hale sighed and relented. He’d had just about enough of strange objects falling from the sky. “Let me see,” he ordered, and poked his head over the top into No Man’s Land.
He found himself staring at a large blue box that said “police” on it.
Hale climbed down.
“Okay, you were right, sentry,” he admitted, “This is different.”
“Thank you, sir,” smirked the sentry.
“Get some men!” ordered Hale, “And see if you can get that box back here!”
“What, go over the top sir?”
“Lots of men have gone over the top, sentry, you wouldn’t be the first to do it, now move!”
The sentry saluted and ran off in search of more men. Hale glared in his direction as he went, rubbing his hands. It was bitterly cold, he thought. There was no way they ought to fight in this weather.
A Private by the name of Douglas approached Hale.
“Do you think,” he said, “that it has any connection to the other object we found, sir?”
“The blue box?”
“Yes sir,” said Private Douglas.
“It’s too early to tell,” said Hale, “But both could be secret German weapons, quite easily…”
Hale strode off in the direction of the bunker. The roof had caved in, and it was apparent why. As Hale walked in, he was greeted by a most unusual sight.
It was a pod, of sorts, green in colour, scaly, and freezing cold to the touch. Inside was a giant block of ice that preserved perfectly what appeared to be a man wearing a suit of armour as green and scaly as the pod it was kept it. It did not look human.
“The men say it’s an alien from Mars,” said Private Douglas.
“Yes, well we mustn't let the men’s imagination run away with them,” said Hale absent-mindedly. “I admit it’s strange, but there’s a logical explanation for this.”
“Sir!” called a voice. Hale left the pod and rushed out into the trench, Private Douglas on his heels.
“What!” he snapped, “What now?”
“We’ve brought the box back, sir,”
Indeed, the box was now sitting in the middle of the trench.
“So quickly?”
“It was surprisingly light, actually.”
“Well!” said Hale, “It can’t stay here! Bring it back to base.”
“Now, sir?”
“After this battle has ended, then!” he boomed.
“Sir!” called the sentries, as they rushed off.
“Two possible German weapons in one day,” pondered Hale. “This is either a very lucky day or a very bad one.” He examined the object in closer detail.
“Police,” he said, “It’s in English…”
“And this sir,” said Douglas, “Pull to open…”
Douglas did, and found what appeared to be a phone. He looked quizzically at Hale, who had pressed a hand to the door, registering a low hum.
The door?
“Doors,” he said. He tried to open them, but he couldn’t.
“I’m almost sure it’s a bomb of some kind,” said Private Douglas.
“Me too…” said Hale slowly. He backed away from it carefully.
And as he did, one door began to creak open.
A man, dressed in a battered leather jacket and scarf, peered out of it cautiously. He seemed very lost and confused, as if he’d forgotten who he was. He made a tentative step forward into the muddy trench, and another, and another. He looked like he wasn’t used to his own legs.
Hale boldly spoke.
“Who...who are you?” he asked.
The man suddenly became aware of Hale, his head turning sharply in his direction and staring at him intently. He moved closer, still walking slowly, always looking him right in the eye.
Silence passed between them. The current battle, one of thousands before and thousands to come, was slowly winding down, though shells always rained down around them. All that happened now was the intense staring contest that this strange man and Captain Hale were locked in, Private Douglas looking on with the same amount of confusion and shock that was written all over Hale’s pasty features.
And then the man spoke.
“The ears,” he said.
“I - what, sorry?”
“The ears!” said the man, “What are my ears like?”
“Um…”
Hale considered.
“They’re quite large, stick out quite a bit…”
The man broke his resolve and fell into a look of deep disappointment.
“I wanted them to be inconspicuous! Is it too much to ask for me to be able to control the outcome of my regeneration a tiny bit every now and then?”
“Excuse me?” spluttered Hale.
“Sorry. Much too complicated, I doubt you’d be able to understand it all…”
“Who are you?”
“Me? Oh, I’m the Doctor - or I was.”
Hale shared a look of utter confusion with the Private as the “Doctor” felt the back of his head.
“Hair’s alright though,” he muttered, feeling the little hair he had, “much better than last time!”
“I’m sorry, but - Doctor who?” stuttered Hale.
“Just the Doctor!” said the Doctor, grinning madly, “And who might you be?”
Hale saluted.
“Captain Stan Hale,” he said, “British Army…”
“No, don’t salute,” said the Doctor. His grin was suddenly gone, and he looked very grave. Hale stopped saluting.
“Sorry.”
“So!” said the Doctor, “World War one, British trenches...am I right in saying we’re in Belgium? Good. What year is it?”
“I - are you thick?!” interjected Douglas.
“Yep!” said the Doctor, turning to the Private, “That’s me!”
“It’s 1915!” said Douglas, as if this was the most obvious thing.
“How interesting,” said the Doctor, “Ooh, what do we have here…”
Hale watched in horror as the strange man strode in the direction of the bunker where the strange pod was being kept.
“I - yes, um - Doctor - what are you doing here?” jumped in Hale, desperate to keep him away from the alien object on the off chance he was a spy of some kind “If you’re a civilian you aren’t exactly allowed - ”
“I crashed!” He said this as if it was the most obvious thing. “Didn’t you see, back there?” He motioned towards the police box. “My ship. It crashed and now I’m here!”
“Your - ship?”
“My ship, yes,” The Doctor brushed the question aside, having took to massaging his arm. “Still a little stiff, needs some movement...”
“You can’t go in there!” said Hale out of the blue, as the Doctor made to enter the bunker again
“Why not?” questioned the Doctor with another made grin plastered on his face.
“Well - it’s - it’s because you just can’t!” spluttered Hale, now seething with rage.
“Stop blubbering like that, it makes you look like a fish,” said the Doctor, “and the hair and jawline don’t help either.” With that, he entered the bunker, coming face to face with the mysterious object.
“Oh, I see,” he said, “You have an Ice Warrior pod.”
“A what?”
“Never mind, Fish-Boy. You wouldn’t understand. In my experience humans never do...”
The Doctor examined the pod closely, retrieving a long, silver object from his battered brown jacket. Its tip glowed red and it made a funny noise as he moved it along the length of the pod.
“This can’t mean anything good,” said the Doctor at last, “An Ice Warrior pod, complete with Ice Warrior, right in the heart of World War One…I’ll have to do something.”
He was still massaging his arm, but he suddenly stopped, looking worried.
“Oh,” he said, “That’s not good.”
“What’s not good?” prompted Hale.
The Doctor turned and looked at him. “I suppose you have a hospital of sorts nearby, don’t you?”
“Yes, of course.”
The Doctor smiled. “Great!” he said, “Then you can check me in!”
A gasp of pain escaped his mouth, and he fell to the ground, clutching his abdomen. He was out cold before Hale and Douglas could even flinch.
A sentry came rushing into the bunker.
“Sir!” he said, “We’re going to bring the box back to base now! What do you - who is that?”
“Never mind,” said Hale, gulping, “You can take him back with you - and this pod as well.”
“Sir!” saluted the sentry, not questioning any further.
“I think I’ll head back too,” said Hale to Douglas, “I think I need to speak to the General…”
He stared at the unconscious body of the Doctor, looking rather peaceful as it lay in the mud.
NINTH DOCTOR ADVENTURES
COLD FRONT
WRITTEN BY AUDREY ARMSTRONG
“Where did you find him, Captain?”
“Well sir…” said Hale, “He...sort of dropped out of the sky, I suppose. In a blue police box.”
“Don’t be preposterous, Captain !”
“It’s true sir!” spluttered Hale, “The box just came out of nowhere and this man stepped out. He had brief moments of consciousness while being brought over here, rambled for a bit about some..Time War, I think, he was obviously delirious.”
“Where did you take him?”
“To the hospital ward, sir.”
“Good,” said the General, “However, I want to question him. We mustn't assume that he’s on our side, he may be a German agent.”
“That’s what I thought too sir. I’ll take you to him,” said Hale, “But he may be unconscious still. And speaking of German agents there was...something else we found.” Hale lowered his voice to a whisper, acutely aware of the two guards nearby and the coming and going of officers through the lobby area they were walking through.
“Oh?”
“I’ll tell you in a bit sir, it’s...very top secret currently. I’ve only told the men that needed to. This Doctor seemed to know much about it, in fact.”
“Very well Captain,” stated the General, “Now, take me to see this Doctor fellow of yours.”
*****
The hospital ward was rather full, with few beds left unoccupied by injured British soldiers, each attended to constantly by a team of nurses.
The Matron was stomping through the room in a stern manner. She was an elderly woman, but she was tough and hard-willed. She crossed the room angrily, looking for someone who was not there.
“Hannah!” she called, “Hannah Gray!”
Hannah Gray, however, did not respond.
Meanwhile, Captain Hale had reached the ward with the General, so the Matron turned her attentions to them. Or rather, the General.
“General Gray!” she called at him, “Do you have any idea where your daughter is?”
The General spluttered.
“I...no, I can’t say I have...,” he said.
“I’m here, Matron,” said a voice. A young woman about 20, with shoulder-length hair of a deep brown colour entered through a door to the left. She stood meekly in the presence of the Matron, rather aware of her incompetence.
The Matron was furious.
“Where have you been, Miss Gray!” she yelled, “You can’t go gallivanting off doing your own thing when there’s a war on!”
“I’m sorry Matron, I -”
“No, no excuses,” said the Matron, “Just get to work. Everyone else is busy, you’ll have to attend to the new patient.” She motioned to a bed in the far corner, and handed her a damp cloth. “Place this on his forehead,” she said, “He’s burning up from a fever, I imagine…”
“Do as the Matron says, Hannah,” said the General sternly, and completely butting in.
Hannah reluctantly took the cloth and crossed to the bed where the Doctor was lying, unconscious and barely breathing.
“Now!” said the Matron, “What was it you two wanted?”
“Well!” said the General, “Actually, I wished to see that man over there” - he pointed to the Doctor, who was being looked after by Hannah. “I wanted to question him.”
“Well I’m afraid you shan’t get much out of him,” said the Matron, “He’s been out cold since he got in here.”
“Have I?” asked the Doctor. He suddenly sat up straight, sending the cloth flying and making Hannah jump. “Oh, sorry about that,” he said to her. “And sorry to you too!” he said to the other three, “I’m not normally so rude, but post regeneration and all that!” He gave an awkward laugh.
The General stepped forward, having not even so much as changed expression at the Doctor’s sudden show of consciousness. He immediately began to interrogate him viciously.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Didn’t Fish-Boy over there tell you, I’m the Doctor!”
“What is that, some sort of code name?”
“Nope, it’s actually what people call me! Funny that.”
The General came closer, becoming more serious.
“Don’t play games with me, son. You turn out of nowhere in a blue box during the middle of a battle. Anyone decent would be suspicious.” He spat.
“I promise you I am not a German spy, thank you very much,” said the Doctor. He was grinning wildly like this was the best thing in the world.
“Then who are you - and why are you here?”
“I told you, I’m the Doctor. And if I told you why I’m here you’d never believe me.”
“Try me,” spat the General. The Doctor grinned.
“I’m a time traveller from outer space and that police box is my time machine!”
The General was taken aback slightly, but his surprise quickly turned to fury. All the while, the Doctor still had that mad smile smeared across his face.
“Are you mad!?” he boomed. Hannah flinched.
“General!” said the Matron, “Quieter, please, this is a hospital ward!”
“Like I said, sir - he’s delirious,” commented Hale.
“I quite agree,” said the Matron, stepping between the Doctor’s bed and the angry General “And what he needs is rest. You’ve intruded much too long, General, I must ask you to leave the ward!”
The General was red in the face, but he turned to leave.
“I will question you more later!” he said to the Doctor, and he left the room in a fit of anger. Hale remained behind, who moved closer to Hannah.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten your promise to meet me tonight,” he said in a whisper so that the Matron, now moving away, wouldn’t hear.
Hannah smiled weakly. “I haven’t, no,” she sighed.
A proud smile traced across Hale’s features. “Good,” he said. “I’ll see you tonight, then.” And with a small kiss on her lips, Hale left the room. Hannah wiped her mouth almost in disgust before turning back to the Doctor.
He was lying down again with his eyes closed. He had gone back to sleep, it seemed. Hannah sighed again and took to washing his forehead once more.
The Doctor opened one eye.
“Are they gone?”
“Um...yes,” said Hannah.
“Fantastic!” he said. “Ooh, now there’s a good word. I should use it more often. Fantastic! Fantastic…”
As he continued muttering the word over and over, Hannah spoke. “Doctor?”
“What? Yes? Which one are you?”
“I’m...I’m Hannah. Hannah Gray,” she replied.
“Nice to meet you Hannah Gray,” smiled the Doctor. Hannah smiled softly back. She didn’t know why, but she felt that she could trust this man. Something about him made her feel warm and comforted amidst all the horrors of war surrounding her.
“So you’re that General’s daughter then?” asked the Doctor, “Nice chap,” he added with a sarcastic tone in his voice.
Hannah gave a small sigh.
“I am,” she said. “He’s a good father, sometimes, but he does tend to...lose his temper a lot.”
“Yeah, I got that.”
Hannah giggled. “And that’s Stan there, Stan Hale - he’s my fiance.” she added with a hint of annoyance.
“What, Fish-Boy?” asked the Doctor questioningly.
Hannah laughed. “He’s nice enough, I guess. We planned to get married after the war was over...who knows when that will be. It feels endless. I don’t want to wait that long to get married. I’m not sure I really do want to, to be honest.”
“Oh, there is an end, I can assure you of that,”
“Well, of course you’d now, you with your time machine,” laughed Hannah.
“You believe me when I say I’m a time traveller?”
“No, of course not!” said Hannah, “You just said that to annoy my father, didn’t you?”
The Doctor paused for a moment.
“Yes,” he said, with reservation. “I did.”
Hannah smiled at the Doctor for a moment, then said: “Why am I even telling you any of this? For all I know father is right and you’re a German spy!”
“I tend to have that effect on people,” said the Doctor.
“Hannah!” called the Matron from across the room. Hannah gulped.
“Well, I better go…” she said to the Doctor.
“Goodbye!” waved the Doctor. Hannah laughed a little at his goofy demeanor, then with one last look at the Doctor, she turned and went in the direction of the Matron, who was waiting impatiently for her.
Within moments, Hannah noticed, the Doctor was asleep again.
*****
Sneaking out of her quarters, Hannah made her way through the dark passageways of the hospital. The building was actually a church - requisitioned by the Allied Forces, specifically the British Army, as a base of operations and medical area.
She didn’t like hospitals at the best of times. She didn’t particularly like churches either. Combining them both while stranded in the middle of a war zone was pretty much a nightmare.
“Why did I ever come here?” she wondered to herself, not for the first time. She missed her home in London, and the happiness she had there with her mother before she died.
But her mother was gone now, and here she was with her father the General, fighting a miserable war, sneaking out to meet a boy, of all things. She wasn’t exactly excited by the prospect of marrying Hale either (not least because she had never really been interested in marriage, she thought), for she found him repulsive, but it was hard to argue with Father. It was, after all, he who had given Hale his blessing to court her.
She turned a corner and made her way down the corridor that led to her father’s room. Hale had arranged to meet her just outside.
She could hear her father’s distinctive, booming yell from within. Momentarily, she backed off, not wishing to hear her father’s anger once more. But then -
“...a space alien from outer space!?!” came the General’s voice.
Hannah paused. And slowly, she continued towards the door.
*****
“D’ya reckon it’s a space alien then? Certainly looks it.”
“Nah, it can’t be! It’s gotta be a secret weapon.”
“A secret weapon that looks like an alien? Get outta here mate!”
“Space aliens don’t exist, d’ya hear me?”
“I’m telling you, it’s one of those green men from Mars you see in storybooks all the time. I mean, just look at it!”
The two guards stood by the door. Lying directly in the centre of the room was the block of ice that had been found by the trenches, melting slowly, nearly having unveiled the thing within. From what the soldiers could see, it was shaped like a man - a man in a green suit of scaly armour and a helmet with large red eyes. An alien, it seemed.
“Come off it, Jim!”
“I’m serious Percy, it’s an alien, look!” Jim strode forward to touch the creature, but Percy drew him back.
“We’re not supposed to touch it, you know our orders!”
“Seems a silly order to me, it’s harmless right now!”
And he reached out his hand to touch the Ice Warrior’s helmet.
*****
Daleks were advancing on a crowd of innocent Gallifreyans as the planet burned around them. There was no escaping the screams, the flames, the never ending war happening at every time and place in history.
“Exterminate!” monotoned a Dalek, as several more chimed in, chanting their deadly war cry. The crowds of people screamed as they were hit with Dalek rays and killed instantly. Daleks screamed as advancing soldiers blew them sky high. Dead bodies littered the ground.
The Doctor rolled over in his regenerative stupor, his post-traumatic dream still raging.
*****
Hannah leaned against the door, listening carefully.
“Preposterous!” yelled the General, “I’ve never known such incompetence! And all on the same day!”
“The men have been letting their imaginations run away from them, sir,” said Hale in a small voice. “The...Ice Warrior, as the Doctor called it, it’s obviously a new German weapon, quite obviously in fact. And now we’ve captured it!” His voice became more confident and he began to sound triumphant. “We can find out what it is, and use it against them!”
A silence fell, and Hannah heard only the creak of her father’s chair. The General had sat down, and his fury had subsided for now. She could tell he was in deep thought.
“You say the Doctor seems to know the name of this thing?”
“As I said, sir. He called it an ‘Ice Warrior’”
“Interesting. How very interesting.”
The General relapsed into silent thought.
“The more I hear of this Doctor, the more I am convinced he is a German spy of some kind. His stupidity is obviously an act to throw us off!”
“I have to agree there sir!” said Hale.
Hannah sighed. He seemed rather nice, that Doctor, even though she had only had a brief interaction with him. Her father was probably right though, she admitted. But she found herself annoyed at the fact that Hale would agree with him.
“Well! I would ask you to show me this…Ice Warrior, you said?” came the General’s voice, “But it is late, and I best be off to bed.”
“I have a guard on the Warrior for now. We’ll look at it together in the morning.”
Hannah jumped. Hale was making his way towards the door. The door that she happened to be leaning on.
*****
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?” asked Jim, “It’s harmless right now, if it’s even alive at all!”
“Those were orders! We can’t touch it, Private Hale said so!”
“Oh forget Hale, never liked him anyway!”
“I just don’t think you should have touched it.”
“It’s fine, Percy. Honestly, you worry too much!”
Percy said nothing. He just went white as a sheet, staring into the distance behind Jim.
“What, what is it, Perce?” asked Jim, sounding concerned for once.
Percy tried to speak but could only point and stutter, as Jim turned round and looked at the creature.
It was getting up. Jim screamed.
*****
A flood of memories tossed around in the Doctor’s mind. The Time War, Gallifrey, the Time Lords, Daleks, Skaro, the Moment…
They were gone, all gone, and now it was just him, only him. Just the Doctor. Only survivor of the Time War. All those people who burned, who he failed to save…
No more…
No more…
No more…
*****
“HANNAH!” boomed the General. As Hale yanked the door open to leave, Hannah had lost her balance and tumbled into the room. The General’s angry yell reverberated against the walls.
“JUST WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!”
Hannah stuttered, backing against the wall in fear as the General advanced on her, red in the face.
“I - I can explain!” said Hannah fearfully.
“She was coming to see me!” interjected Hale, stepping between the General and his daughter. “It was already arranged!”
“Why was I not informed of this!” said the General, rounding on Hale.
“I didn’t think it was necessary information!”
The General still fumed.
“She could have heard everything!”
“I didn’t hear anything, father, I swear I didn’t -” But the General cut her off.
“Stupid girl,” he said angrily. “I shall be glad to see you married to the Captain! Perhaps he will knock some sense into you!”
“Oh, you’ll be sure of that!” said Hale. Hannah felt repulsed again. “What you’ve done is foolish, Hannah,” he said, “You understand that? Try not to go listening at doors again, it’s bad behaviour.”
Hannah had had enough. She was fuming, desperate to be seen as something other than a silly little girl by both her father and her fiance. She was sure Hale didn’t really love her anyway; he just courted her to make himself look good. The General’s daughter! He was only marrying her for status.
And for once, Hannah was about to snap back. She had opened her mouth. She was going to do it, to hell with the consequences.
And then there was a scream.
*****
There were lots of screams. One more was unlikely to cause any difference. Just another scared Gallifreyan for vicious pepper pots to brutally murder.
It seemed to be a lot louder than the other screams though. He wondered why this was, so he thought about it for a bit.
The scream died away, and the normal landscape of burning Daleks and cities was back. More faraway screams cried out, as Daleks killed the fleeing crowds, crying “Exterminate!” in a faint voice.
Everything was getting quieter suddenly. And then a thought occurred to the Doctor, as a direct result of his previous thinking.
He woke up with a start, dressed in hospital clothes on a strange bed, and his suspicions were confirmed.
The scream was, in fact, real.
*****
“What was that?!” cried the General, dashing from the room with Hale in tow, both momentarily forgetting the existence of Hannah, who followed them out hesitantly, taking the opportunity to get away. Damn it, she thought. She was just about to fight back.
She turned down a corridor to her right, in the opposite direction of Hale and her father.
There were sudden sounds of gunfire as Hannah hurried into a room off the hallway and slammed the door. They were under attack from Germans. This was it, they were all going to be killed.
She crouched in the corner near a clothes rack with her head down, tears forming in her eyes. More shots fired and she could hear yelling, but she couldn’t understand what was being said.
“What do you think, leather or velvet?”
Hannah nearly screamed.
*****
“Sir!” Sir!” called Jim, “It’s alive!”
“What is Private? Speak up!”
“That Ice Warrior thing sir, it’s woken up!”
“Don’t be daft!”
The General’s assertion was suddenly disproven.
“Sir, look!”
Amongst the gunfire of approaching soldiers, a solid green mass was stomping against the shower of bullets. In their direction.
“Dear God,” cried the General, automatically reaching for his pistol. But it had no effect. The bullets ricocheted off the scaly green armour. The creature seemed to hiss as it pushed through the parade of soldiers.
“It’s heading for the sanctuary,” called a soldier.
*****
“DOCTOR!” yelled Hannah, clutching her chest, breathing heavily. The Doctor was holding up two different jackets - both were black, but one was leather and the other was velvet.
The Doctor considered his choices.
“Hmm. I think I’ll go with leather again!” He tossed the other jacket over his shoulder onto a pile of clothes behind him.
“What are you doing here?!” said Hannah, nearly crying.
“Clothes!” beamed the Doctor, seemingly unaware of the current gunfire. He motioned to the pile behind him as he donned the leather jacket, “I need clothes, and I got some!”
“Great, well, I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s a battle going on. Now is not exactly the time.”
“Oh yes! The shooting! Let’s see what that’s about, shall we?” And the Doctor, still smiling, strode towards the door.
“You can’t!” called Hannah, “It’s too dangerous!”
The Doctor looked even happier.
“Exactly!” he said. Then he walked out.
Against her better nature, Hannah followed.
*****
“Hold your fire!” called the General. The Ice Warrior stood stoically in the centre of the room, troops surrounding the perimeter of the sanctuary with weapons still aimed at him. The Ice Warrior made no indication of concern, turning and staring passively into the General’s eyes.
Was it passive? The General couldn’t tell. Its helmet thing got in the way, and its red eye visors were perpetually emotionless. Pistol aiming, the General got a good look at his new adversary. He could see why some would all it an alien from outer space. It was tall and imposing in its green, scaly armour, and looked nothing like a human being at all.
“You’re surrounded!” boomed the General, “Make one move and we will shoot you dead!”
The Ice Warrior turned and looked at the soldiers, poised to attack, standing alongside the pews.
It turned back to the General.
“Your weapons have no effect on me,” it hissed in a low whisper.
“Well,” said the General, cowering slightly upon hearing the Ice Warrior’s voice, “We shall see about that. Answer me some questions, will you!”
The Ice Warrior hissed.
“Who are you - and what are you? And why are you here?”
“Yes, I’d quite like to know myself!” said a voice. The General looked and saw the Doctor, striding from a door behind the choir loft, his own daughter Hannah following nervously.
“Doctor! And - Hannah?! You have no right to be here!”
“Why not?” questioned the Doctor, staring the General in the eye with a look of contempt.
“I - well…” stuttered the General.
“Fantastic! Now then. Hello! Haven’t met your lot in a while,” said the Doctor to the Ice Warrior. He strode towards it briskly.
“No! Don’t!” said Hannah worriedly.
“Why not? He’s not dangerous. Are you?”
The Ice Warrior said nothing.
The Doctor smiled.
“Good! Now then, first things first - what is your name?”
The Ice Warrior remained unresponsive. An eerie and awkward silence passed, as soldiers continued to aim. The General had lowered his gun.
“Skaarz,” hissed the Ice Warrior.
“Good!” smiled the Doctor, “Very good. I like that name. Suits you! One other thing though - why are you here?”
“Well, that is obvious,” said the General, gaining the use of his voice again, “That thing is a secret German weapon, come to destroy us!”
The Doctor sighed.
“That ‘thing’, as you put it, is an Ice Warrior, and I doubt it would be so hostile if you didn’t keep shooting at it with your puny guns.”
“My pod crashed,” said Skaarz.
“Ah, there we go, we’re getting somewhere! Why did it crash?”
“I was escaping. I was being held prisoner on board a spacecraft.”
“What kind of spacecraft?” asked the Doctor.
“It was an Ice Warrior ship.”
Nothing changed in the faces of the soldiers, nor the General. But Hannah registered a look of confusion on the Doctor’s face, and his tone now turned from cheerful to something far more serious.
“Why were you being kept prisoner on a ship of your own species?” he asked Skaarz.
“I am a prisoner of war,” hissed the Ice Warrior, “My people are in turmoil. We are fighting amongst ourselves. I am War Lord Skarz, one of the leaders of the revolution.”
The Doctor looked grave.
“Ice Warriors, locked in a civil war…” he mumbled. “But why?” he asked.
“The leaders of my race are not true Ice Warriors,” continued Skaarz, “They have reached out to other races with a guarantee of peace. They have become...diplomatic. Ice Warriors have long disdained such practices. We are a warring race, not a peaceful one. We have no allies”
Hannah could tell that the Ice Warrior was passionate about this topic. He spoke with greater anger in his hissing voice than before. The Doctor sighed.
“You lot never were one for globalization, were you,” he quipped. “So that’s it then! Start a revolution! Chuck out the elites who are ruining everything! And then establish your own rule, where you make all the same mistakes as the rulers before you - Oh, I’ve seen it many times. It never works. But I’m not going to meddle in your affairs, Skaarz, nor your revolution’s. Except, I can’t yet you stay here on Earth.”
Skaarz’s hiss became something almost like a laugh.
“They’ll be looking for you, won’t they? The Ice Warrior leaders. And if I know the Ice Warriors well, and I do, they will tear this planet apart to hunt you down - their traitor.”
Skaarz’s cackling laugh continued. Hannah was deeply worried by it.
“Millions will die in the process,” continued the Doctor, “I have a ship - I can take you away, to Mars, or anywhere uninhabited, and leave this world in peace. There are already too many deaths happening in this war here - I don’t need you adding anymore innocent lives to that count.”
“I was not aware, Doctor,” cackled Skaarz, using his name for the first time, “That the lives of innocents weighed so heavily on your conscious.”
A dark look fell over the Doctor’s features. For a moment, the warm, funny, and friendly man that Hannah had talked to beside his hospital bed was gone. He looked angry and terrified. And he turned away from Skaarz, as the latter hissed in triumph.
“Doctor?” said Hannah in a quiet voice, moving to him. The Doctor pushed her away.
“Open fire!”, boomed the General. Hannah jumped. She almost forgot that she was standing in a room surrounded by armed soldiers.
Bullets rained through the air as she ducked behind a pew. But the Ice Warrior didn’t flinch. In fact, it’s cackling intensified, as it raised its arm, revealing a miniature gun, aiming it at the soldiers.
Immune to bullets, Skaarz, fired his weapon and sent soldiers flying through the air, screaming at the top of their lungs.
Hannah had to get out of there.
“Doctor?” she called. Suddenly, she realized he was nowhere to be seen. “Doctor!” she yelled.
Crawling close to the ground, she fled to the door as gunfire became sparse and she heard her father’s yell of “Retreat!”, before Skaarz shoved him aside brutally and exited through the far door.
“Draw him out into the open!” he ordered, “We’ll blow the thing up!”
Hannah caught a glimpse of Captain Hale, stumbling after the General, before she decided she’d lingered too long, and ran from the room.
*****
Skaarz stood by his escape pod, fumbling with the mechanical insides of the wreck. Finally, he found the radio mechanism, and tapped the glowing buttons in a specific pattern.
“Calling General Rilk. I am in distress. Help requested.”
He finished his message just as the two guards broke into the room, armed with hand grenades. Skaarz shot them both and they fell dead to the ground. Stepping over their crooked bodies, Skaarz made his way out just before an explosion rocked the room.
He looked back. Part of the building had caved in, and the escape pod’s remains were flaming and in pieces. The bodies of the two soldiers were charred.
No matter, though Skaarz. He had no need for his pod anymore. The message had been sent, and the rebellion was likely on its way.
They would crush the oppressors once and for all.
*****
Aliens. Green, scaly aliens. Green, scaly aliens, with the ability to destroy everything. Hannah didn’t know what to think.
And then there was the Doctor. He had come practically out of nowhere, bursting onto the scene just as this Ice Warrior arrived, seeming to know all about the situation. He confused Hannah even more.
But she was sure he had answers, that he could help. She felt safe in his presence. But right now, Hannah didn’t know where he was.
“Doctor!” she called. Only the sounds of gunfire and bombs answered. There was something else too. A low, mechanical-like hum, coming from behind. She swung round.
It was a blue box, and it said police.
Hannah didn’t recognise it, but she recalled the Doctor’s words to Skaarz. He mentioned being able to take him away in his ‘ship’. And then there was the moment he told her father that he was a time traveller…
It was preposterous. It couldn’t be. He was just joking! But he wasn’t joking when he was talking to that Ice Warrior…
A whirring noise began to fill the air, emanating from the box. It seemed to be - disappearing! Hannah rushed for the door, finding herself able to open it, stepping inside and tumbling into -
A large, spacious, circular room, centred around what appeared to be some kind of control panel with a transparent pillar, which was moving up and down in time with the whirring.
The room was bright, the walls adorned with white, indented roundels, and there the Doctor was, in his new leather jacket, swiping levers and pressing buttons.
“Um…” said Hannah quietly.
The Doctor turned around to look at her, shock registering on his face.
“You?” he said, “What are you doing here?”
“I was...looking for you…” she said.
“Well what do you need me for?”
“You can help!” said Hannah, “Can’t you?”
The Doctor bitterly turned away and focused on the control console.
“Help,” he muttered. “I don’t ‘help’ anymore. I never should have in the first place”
“But you’re the only one who knows anything about these...‘Ice Warriors’”, she pleaded, “They’ll destroy Earth, like you said!”
The Doctor said nothing. He just stood by the controls in silence. Hannah approached cautiously, looking around.
“What is this place, anyway?” she asked him. “And why is it so much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside?”
“It’s called the TARDIS,” he answered, “It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It can go anywhere in time and space.”
“So you really are a time traveller then,” said Hannah, “You weren't just joking.”
“Yep!” said the Doctor sadly. There was pain in his voice. Hannah didn’t dare question why.
“And these aliens - the Ice Warriors - what are they?”
“They’re from the planet Mars. I had no idea they were fighting amongst themselves, but then I didn’t have much opportunity to check…”
Hannah breathed deeply.
“Aliens…” she muttered. “Actual aliens. I always wondered if they existed. And now…” She trailed off.
“Oh there’s lots of us aliens in the universe. Thousands. Millions, even. I’m one of them.”
“You?” asked Hannah, “You’re an alien?”
“Yep!” grinned the Doctor, “Hello!”
“I...but you look...human!”
“There are many aliens who do,” said the Doctor.
Hannah was curious. “What planet are you from, then? Jupiter?”
“I’m from…” The Doctor trailed away, and didn’t finish the answer. “Never mind that. What matters right now is these Ice Warriors!”
“So you’re going to help, then?”
“Why not,” smiled the Doctor, “My treat.”
The TARDIS landed with a thump and the whirring stopped. “Ah! We’ve landed.”
“Landed? Oh, of course,” said Hannah. “Where?”
“The Ice Warrior ship…”
The Doctor creaked open the door of the box and stepped into a dark, metal hallway.
“The Ice Warrior...ship?” said Hannah, following him, “Are we in space?”
“Yep!”
Hannah stood with her back to the TARDIS door, trying to calm down. “I’m...in space. Actually in space.”
“Don’t get too excited, you’re on a spaceship with a horde of angry Martians somewhere nearby.”
“Fair point,” said Hannah. The Doctor made his way down a corridor, away from the TARDIS. Hannah followed after him.
“What are we going to do?” she asked quietly as they peered around a corner. She saw a kind of door at the far end of the hall, and could glimpse the scaly shapes of Ice Warriors just beyond it.
“I’m going to try and get into the control room. If I can destroy their transmat system, they won’t be able to beam down to Earth.”
“Oh,” said Hannah, not quite understanding, “And that will stop them attacking Earth?”
“Probably not,” said the Doctor, “But it will buy us some time to draw them away from the planet.”
“Okay,” was all Hannah could manage in her confusion.
“The control box should be around here somewhere…” muttered the Doctor, fumbling around with strange looking mechanics, attached to the wall of the corridor.
He retrieved a short, silver pen-like object from his jacket, holding it to some wires as its tip glowed red, emitting a rhythmic buzzing.
“Um...Doctor?” said Hannah with concern.
“It’s alright, Hannah,” said the Doctor, “It’s called a sonic screwdriver.”
“No, not that Doctor,” said Hannah from behind him, “It’s…”
“This wire should lead to…”
“Doctor!”
“What?” The Doctor said, turning round.
Hannah was looking at a large, scaly green shape standing right behind them.
“Ah,” said the Doctor.
“Who are you?” hissed the Ice Warrior angrily.
*****
“Sir!”
“Captain Hale! Where has the thing gone?”
“Over the wall. It’s out there in No Man’s Land!”
“Excellent,” said the General with glee, “We can destroy it with our explosives. Fire more shells!”
“Sir!” saluted Hale, and he ran off down the length of the trench.
“Captain Hale!” called a voice.
“Private Douglas!” yelled Hale. “What’s the matter?” Private Douglas caught up, panting. He looked distressed.
“Sir, there’s more of them,” he said.
“More?”
“More of those Ice Warriors, sir!”
“Where?” said Hale in alarm.
“Sir, over the top!” Hale poked his head over the wall and peered out into the chaotic mist of No Man’s Land. All he heard was the sounds of whistling shells and flying bullets. And then…
Shapes were moving out of the fog. They were large, bulky, green...scaly. Their red eyes unfeeling, unemotional. Ice Warriors.
“Soldiers!” yelled Hale. “We are under attack! Man your stations!”
*****
“You have failed to destroy our transmat systems. Already my warriors are beaming down to the planet.”
“You can’t do this,” said the Doctor as an Ice Warrior shoved him and Hannah into a room, “You’ll destroy the human race!”
“If it is necessary,” said the Ice Warrior general.
“I can’t allow it,” said the Doctor. “I’ve already seen two races go extinct because of a large scale war. I don’t wish to see another added to that list.”
“We will do whatever is necessary to crush the Ice Warrior leaders,” said the Warrior.
“Leaders?” asked the Doctor.
“I think they’re the rebels…” said Hannah.
“Skaarz must have sent a distress signal...oh no,” said the Doctor, “That makes everything worse.”
“How?”
“Well, now there’s two warring space fleets orbiting the planet, hell bent on trying to destroy each other!”
“And both are trying to find Skaarz,” said Hannah in horror, “They’ll be beaming down to find him, I suppose…”
“Exactly,” said the Doctor.
“Our soldiers will protect our glorious leader Skaarz,” said the Ice Warrior general, “And crush the oppressive, corrupted traitors to our race in the process!
“General Rilk!” hissed an Ice Warrior entering the room, “The transmat is fully functioning. I am beginning to beam down our soldiers.”
“Excellent,” hissed Rilk. He motioned to Hannah and the Doctor. “Guard them well,” he said, “I will deal with them later!”
“Yes, General,” said the soldier.
Rilk exited the room, leaving Hannah and the Doctor alone with an Ice Warrior at the door.
“What now?” whispered Hannah, cautious of the fact that the guard was intently watching their movements around the room.
“If I can get to the control room,” said the Doctor at the same volume, “I may be able to…”
“Stop!” hissed the guard.
“Why?” said the Doctor, smiling sarcastically.
“You are not allowed to speak!” said the Ice Warrior.
“We weren’t speaking about anything important!” said the Doctor, “Were we Hannah?”
Hannah didn’t speak. The Doctor nudged her.
“Oh! Um, no, nothing important, we’re not planning to escape or anything!” she laughed nervously.
“Nope! No escape! You have successfully defeated us and we have no desire to resist!”
“You are planning something!” hissed the guard violently.
“Now where did you get that idea!” said the Doctor.
“You will stay quiet!” said the guard, rounding on the Doctor. Hannah slipped out its eyesight, creeping behind the guard. She caught the Doctor’s eye. He nodded.
“Oh well!” said the Doctor to the Warrior, “I will obey whatever you command, for you are our benevolent overlords!”
The guard hissed in anger, reaching out to strike the Doctor, with its clawed hand - then it spluttered and became disoriented, and fell over. Hannah was standing behind it holding a piece of loose pipe.
“How did you do that?” asked the Doctor.
“Got him in the back of the neck,” said Hannah.
“Right,” said the Doctor, “Where did you get the pipe?”
“We’re in a storage hold.”
The Doctor looked around. It was indeed a storage hold. A container box to his right contained bits of metal.
“Oh,” he said.
“Did you not notice we were in a storage hold?” asked Hannah with some considerable sass.
“I was busy,” said the Doctor, “Come on, let’s go.”
He dashed out of the room, leaving the guard unconscious on the ground. Hannah followed.
******
“FIRE!”
A shell rocketed off into the chaotic fog, whistling. It exploded in the distance, killing several. Hale couldn’t tell who had died. There were human and Ice Warrior shapes slumping dead all around him.
He couldn’t tell, but it seemed as though there were more than just one army of scaly invaders. A corpse of an Ice Warrior flew past him, crunching into the trench, as another Martian emerged from the fog, gun raised.
Hale ducked, dislogding a hand grenade, which exploded and killed the incoming Ice Warrior.
“Sir!” came a voice.
“Private Douglas!”, said Hale, “What is it?”
“The Ice Warrior from base, sir,” he panted, “It’s coming this -”
Douglas screamed in pain as he fell to the trench floor, dead. Hale backed away from the Ice Warrior approaching, gun arm raised.
“No!” he said helplessly, “You can’t kill me!”
“You will give me access to your explosives!” screamed Skaarz.
“No!” said Hale, “I won’t do it!” He hastily drew his revolver, aiming for Skaarz, but his cold, shivering hands meant he missed.
“Those bullets wouldn’t have killed me anyway,” laughed Skaarz, moving closer to Hale. Hale backed further away, trying to scream for help, but Skaarz had already fired his laser.
Hale screamed as the shot ripped through his flesh, burning endlessly. His last thought was jumbled as extreme pain took over his mind, and he screamed and screamed and screamed until he could no longer think.
He landed in the mud that layered the trench floor with a splat, unmoving and lifeless.
Skaarz took no notice. It was merely another necessary death in order to defeat the merciless traitors to his race. He could not tell how the battle was progressing; he saw Ice Warriors fighting Ice Warriors, but did not know which side they were on. But he was sure his side was winning. After all, they had to. They were the stronger side.
Finally, the war would be over. They would win.
“War Lord Skaarz,” hissed a voice with delight. Skaarz turned around, looking upon the new Ice Warrior, Grand Marshall Silz. Leader of the traitors.
“Silz,” hissed Skaarz.
“You will address me as Grand Marshall,” spat Silz.
“You have no right to be Grand Marshall, traitor,” replied Skaarz. Silz hissed in anger.
“You will die, Skaarz,” he gurgled. “Already our side is winning!”
“No,” said Skaarz, “Our side is stronger. It is us who will win!”
“Then I shall take pleasure,” hissed Silz with delight, “In killing you here and now!” He raised his gun arm. Skaarz laughed, raising his own.
“Shoot me and I shall do the same to you!” he cackled.
“It’s over, Skaarz,” hissed Silz. Two Warriors crept up behind Skaarz, lasers aimed.
Skaarz hissed in anger, trapped.
*****
General Rilk paused as he entered the control bridge of the ship. “What is the state of the battle,” he hissed to a guard.
“Unknown,” came the hissing reply.
“Thank you,” he said, “Join the soldiers on the battlefield and report back to me at once.”
“Yes, General,” said the guard, blundering through the door immediately without noticing the Doctor and Hannah hiding behind a wall.
Rilk operated the ship’s controls.
“What’s he doing?” asked Hannah quietly.
“Trying to fly the ship, I expect,” said the Doctor, “They’ll be looking for the “traitor” ship, the current leaders of their race, to destroy it.”
“Are we going to let them?”
The Doctor looked grave.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“So we’re on the leader's’ side then?”
“We’re on no-one’s side,” said the Doctor, “We have no part in their squabbles. We just need to drive them away from Earth. Convince them to never bring their battles here again…”
“But how?” asked Hannah, concerned.
“Give them a chance. Talk to them. Try to make them see some sense.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
The Doctor looked Hannah in the eye.
“When I say run, we run.”
Hannah didn’t question any further.
*****
Rilk surveyed the scanner.
“General,” said an Ice Warrior entering, “Is there any sign of the traitor ship?”
“Yes,” said Rilk, “I have located them in the orbital path. Prepare to launch a missile,”
“Yes, General,” obeyed the Ice Warrior, striding over to the controls.
“I doubt that will be such a good idea,” came a voice. Rilk turned around.
“You!” hissed the general.
“Yes, me. Hello!” said the Doctor, entering the room.
“Who are you?” hissed Rilk.
“A very good question! You see, I don’t really know myself! Ooh, look, flashing lights!” The Doctor stepped towards a panel of controls, pressing buttons at random with a childlike glee.
“Stop!” hissed Rilk.
“Oh, it’s okay, I’m very stupid you see, I don’t know what any of that does!” He backed away from the controls nonetheless.
“You have caused us too much trouble already!” hissed Rilz, “Now you will die!”
The Doctor stepped closer to Rilz. “Before you do that, perhaps you could listen to what I have to say,” he said.
Rilz had raised his gun arm, pointed at the Doctor. He relented. “What is it, then. Speak! It better not be playing for time!”
“I assure you it’s not. You see, those people down there - those humans - they’re fighting a war too. They already have seen thousands of deaths happen as a result.”
“What is your point!” hissed Rilz in anger.
“That you have no right to be here!” shouted the Doctor, “Those humans, they are capable of so much more! Don’t intrude with your petty little squabbles. Leave this planet’s vicinity and go have your war in peace!”
Rilz laughed horrifically, calling two guards into the room. They restrained the Doctor immediately.
“I’m begging you, Rilz!” he said desperately. “Just go!”
Rilz continued his laugh.
“We have no desire to leave when we are so close to finally destroying the traitors!”
Hannah had watched this scene from behind a corner, horrified at what was happening.
“Then I’m sorry,” said the Doctor, “But then I’ll have to destroy you.”
“How can you destroy us when you are about to be killed?” laughed Rilz, prompting other Ice Warriors to hiss in delight.
Hannah jumped out from her hiding place.
“He has me!” she proclaimed.
“Hannah, no!” said the Doctor. Rilz laughed even more as another Ice Warrior tried to restrain Hannah, as she attempted to free the Doctor with the pipe she was still holding from her last attack.
It didn’t last long. Eventually she was caught.
“Well how are we going to get out of this?” she whispered to the Doctor as an Ice Warrior
“I’ve already thought of something,” he replied.
“What is it?!” she asked desperately.
“Kill them!” hissed Rilk.
Hannah closed her eyes, anticipating her own death.
“You know, I really think you’ll regret this,” said the Doctor suddenly.
“Killing you,” cackled the Ice Warrior, “Will be an honour!”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it. But before we say our last goodbyes, you may want to check your engine status…”
“You are playing for time!”
“I really think you ought to check.”
“General!” hissed a nearby Warrior, “The engines are critical!”
General Rilk looked from the Doctor to the Ice Warrior in alarm.
“What is the meaning of this!?” it screamed.
“It means,” said the Doctor, grasping Hannah’s hand. Hannah held tightly, anticipating what came next, “That you really shouldn't have let me near your controls.”
Rilk hissed violently.
“I’ve lowered your power levels to below normal. The engines are heating up, ready to explode!”
“You imbecile!” screamed Rilk, “Kill them!”
But the soldiers stumbled, the heat becoming too much for them. One fired off a shot, but it hit the controls instead, and it burst into flame.
“Aaaaaaaaaaargh,” yelled Rilk, as he fell to the ground.
“Well, we’ll be going now!” said the Doctor, “Run!” he said Hannah.
Rilk gurgled. “Who...are you?” he shouted with anger.
The Doctor turned at the door, facing back and addressing the dying Ice Warrior.
“For the longest time I called myself ‘The Doctor’. I rejected that name for a while; I failed to live up to the promise I made when I chose it. But that part of my life is over - I am the Doctor again! And if you have any common sense in that reptilian bucket head of yours, then you’ll know to be very, very afraid. Bye!”
Hannah had dashed to the TARDIS door as Ice Warriors fell screaming around her. The ship was rattling, breaking apart.
“Doctor!” she called.
“Coming!” came the Doctor’s voice, and he turned a corner, key in hand, as they both stumbled through the blue doors.
A whirring sound filled the air as the TARDIS dematerialized out of the collapsing ship. Before long, it erupted, breaking apart completely with an almighty explosion, sending space debris flying into the black depths of space.
*****
As the rebel ship broke up, the fighting down below had ceased. Ice Warriors fighting on the side of Rilz had realized there was no means of escape, and with Grand Marshall Silz having captured Skaarz, there was nothing else they could do. They surrendered themselves.
Grand Marshall Silz trod through the muddy depths of No Man’s Land, Skaarz following him flanked by two guards restraining him. There were bodies everywhere, human and Ice Warrior alike.
Silz thought he could hear a wheezing noise. He looked around to see where it was coming from as it grew louder and londer, wheezing and groaning metallically as a blue box materialized out of thin air on the foggy battlefield.
A man stepped out, with large ears and a black leather jacket, followed by a girl dressed in nurse’s clothes.
“You,” said Silz, “Are you the one who the rebels we captured have spoken of? The one who has destroyed their ship?”
“Yes,” said the man, “I’m the Doctor.”
“Grand Marshall Silz,” said the Ice Warrior, introducing himself. “I am glad to have you on our side, Doctor. You would make a most useful ally in this war.”
“I’m not your ally,” said the Doctor, “And never will be. If I had, by chance, landed on your ship, it would have likely been yours destroyed instead. I did what I had to to stop your race from destroying the life on this planet.”
He continued, “I’m done with wars. It’s a terrible thing for everyone involved. They achieve absolutely nothing in the long run. You can’t count on my help, Silz. Go, and leave this planet, and remember this: so long as I’m around - it is protected.”
Silz hissed angrily, but said nothing. Then suddenly he disappeared, beaming up to his spaceship in orbit. Skaarz and his guards followed him, Skaarz leering at the Doctor as he went. The Doctor sighed.
“Well, that’s it then,” said Hannah, “They’re gone.”
“Yep,” said the Doctor. He stood in silence, looking around at the hellish landscape surrounding them. Hannah thought he looked sad.
“Are you okay?” she asked. It took a while for him to respond.
“Yeah,” he said to her, smiling. But it wasn’t his goofy smile this time. It was a sad smile.
“Well, I better get you back to the hospital then, shouldn’t I?” said the Doctor. Hannah’s heart sank.
There, sitting peacefully against a horrid background of war, was a blue box with a whole other world inside it. Hannah had long wanted to escape the war, and this was her chance, to travel with the Doctor and leave it all behind.
But perhaps the Doctor didn’t take guests. He seemed very lonely aboard his spacecraft. Hannah wondered when the last time someone hugged him was. Or shown him any sort of kindness. She sighed.
“Yeah,” she said sadly, “I guess.”
“Great. Come on then!”
The Doctor strode toward the TARDIS, Hannah following. She heard a faint whistle above her. It didn’t register what it was until much too late.
The Doctor heard it too.
“Hannah! Run!”
The bombs had resumed falling. An explosion rocked the ground as the TARDIS door slammed shut and it began to materialize, fading in and out of reality as a shell fell into the side panel.
The ship rocked back and forth, falling into the vortex of time and space.
*****
“He was a good man, the Captain,” said the General, surveying Hale’s dead body. He still had a pained expression on his muddy face from the laser shot that ripped through his abdomen.
“I guess I ought to see Hannah,” he continued, “Oh, she’ll be devastated I suppose. I do feel bad about yelling at her like that earlier. Perhaps I should apologize…”
“Sir?” said the soldier.
“Yes?” The General looked up, having lost himself in a rare moment of introspection.
“I hate to tell you this sir, but...Hannah’s gone missing.”
“What?!”
“The Matron can’t find her anywhere. She wasn’t seen after the Ice Warrior left the building. Neither was the Doctor too, come to think of it…”
The General found himself devastated.
“Hannah…” he muttered helplessly.
“I’m sorry sir.”
The General said nothing.
He just wiped his eyes.
He wished this war would end.
“Well sir…” said Hale, “He...sort of dropped out of the sky, I suppose. In a blue police box.”
“Don’t be preposterous, Captain !”
“It’s true sir!” spluttered Hale, “The box just came out of nowhere and this man stepped out. He had brief moments of consciousness while being brought over here, rambled for a bit about some..Time War, I think, he was obviously delirious.”
“Where did you take him?”
“To the hospital ward, sir.”
“Good,” said the General, “However, I want to question him. We mustn't assume that he’s on our side, he may be a German agent.”
“That’s what I thought too sir. I’ll take you to him,” said Hale, “But he may be unconscious still. And speaking of German agents there was...something else we found.” Hale lowered his voice to a whisper, acutely aware of the two guards nearby and the coming and going of officers through the lobby area they were walking through.
“Oh?”
“I’ll tell you in a bit sir, it’s...very top secret currently. I’ve only told the men that needed to. This Doctor seemed to know much about it, in fact.”
“Very well Captain,” stated the General, “Now, take me to see this Doctor fellow of yours.”
*****
The hospital ward was rather full, with few beds left unoccupied by injured British soldiers, each attended to constantly by a team of nurses.
The Matron was stomping through the room in a stern manner. She was an elderly woman, but she was tough and hard-willed. She crossed the room angrily, looking for someone who was not there.
“Hannah!” she called, “Hannah Gray!”
Hannah Gray, however, did not respond.
Meanwhile, Captain Hale had reached the ward with the General, so the Matron turned her attentions to them. Or rather, the General.
“General Gray!” she called at him, “Do you have any idea where your daughter is?”
The General spluttered.
“I...no, I can’t say I have...,” he said.
“I’m here, Matron,” said a voice. A young woman about 20, with shoulder-length hair of a deep brown colour entered through a door to the left. She stood meekly in the presence of the Matron, rather aware of her incompetence.
The Matron was furious.
“Where have you been, Miss Gray!” she yelled, “You can’t go gallivanting off doing your own thing when there’s a war on!”
“I’m sorry Matron, I -”
“No, no excuses,” said the Matron, “Just get to work. Everyone else is busy, you’ll have to attend to the new patient.” She motioned to a bed in the far corner, and handed her a damp cloth. “Place this on his forehead,” she said, “He’s burning up from a fever, I imagine…”
“Do as the Matron says, Hannah,” said the General sternly, and completely butting in.
Hannah reluctantly took the cloth and crossed to the bed where the Doctor was lying, unconscious and barely breathing.
“Now!” said the Matron, “What was it you two wanted?”
“Well!” said the General, “Actually, I wished to see that man over there” - he pointed to the Doctor, who was being looked after by Hannah. “I wanted to question him.”
“Well I’m afraid you shan’t get much out of him,” said the Matron, “He’s been out cold since he got in here.”
“Have I?” asked the Doctor. He suddenly sat up straight, sending the cloth flying and making Hannah jump. “Oh, sorry about that,” he said to her. “And sorry to you too!” he said to the other three, “I’m not normally so rude, but post regeneration and all that!” He gave an awkward laugh.
The General stepped forward, having not even so much as changed expression at the Doctor’s sudden show of consciousness. He immediately began to interrogate him viciously.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“Didn’t Fish-Boy over there tell you, I’m the Doctor!”
“What is that, some sort of code name?”
“Nope, it’s actually what people call me! Funny that.”
The General came closer, becoming more serious.
“Don’t play games with me, son. You turn out of nowhere in a blue box during the middle of a battle. Anyone decent would be suspicious.” He spat.
“I promise you I am not a German spy, thank you very much,” said the Doctor. He was grinning wildly like this was the best thing in the world.
“Then who are you - and why are you here?”
“I told you, I’m the Doctor. And if I told you why I’m here you’d never believe me.”
“Try me,” spat the General. The Doctor grinned.
“I’m a time traveller from outer space and that police box is my time machine!”
The General was taken aback slightly, but his surprise quickly turned to fury. All the while, the Doctor still had that mad smile smeared across his face.
“Are you mad!?” he boomed. Hannah flinched.
“General!” said the Matron, “Quieter, please, this is a hospital ward!”
“Like I said, sir - he’s delirious,” commented Hale.
“I quite agree,” said the Matron, stepping between the Doctor’s bed and the angry General “And what he needs is rest. You’ve intruded much too long, General, I must ask you to leave the ward!”
The General was red in the face, but he turned to leave.
“I will question you more later!” he said to the Doctor, and he left the room in a fit of anger. Hale remained behind, who moved closer to Hannah.
“I hope you haven’t forgotten your promise to meet me tonight,” he said in a whisper so that the Matron, now moving away, wouldn’t hear.
Hannah smiled weakly. “I haven’t, no,” she sighed.
A proud smile traced across Hale’s features. “Good,” he said. “I’ll see you tonight, then.” And with a small kiss on her lips, Hale left the room. Hannah wiped her mouth almost in disgust before turning back to the Doctor.
He was lying down again with his eyes closed. He had gone back to sleep, it seemed. Hannah sighed again and took to washing his forehead once more.
The Doctor opened one eye.
“Are they gone?”
“Um...yes,” said Hannah.
“Fantastic!” he said. “Ooh, now there’s a good word. I should use it more often. Fantastic! Fantastic…”
As he continued muttering the word over and over, Hannah spoke. “Doctor?”
“What? Yes? Which one are you?”
“I’m...I’m Hannah. Hannah Gray,” she replied.
“Nice to meet you Hannah Gray,” smiled the Doctor. Hannah smiled softly back. She didn’t know why, but she felt that she could trust this man. Something about him made her feel warm and comforted amidst all the horrors of war surrounding her.
“So you’re that General’s daughter then?” asked the Doctor, “Nice chap,” he added with a sarcastic tone in his voice.
Hannah gave a small sigh.
“I am,” she said. “He’s a good father, sometimes, but he does tend to...lose his temper a lot.”
“Yeah, I got that.”
Hannah giggled. “And that’s Stan there, Stan Hale - he’s my fiance.” she added with a hint of annoyance.
“What, Fish-Boy?” asked the Doctor questioningly.
Hannah laughed. “He’s nice enough, I guess. We planned to get married after the war was over...who knows when that will be. It feels endless. I don’t want to wait that long to get married. I’m not sure I really do want to, to be honest.”
“Oh, there is an end, I can assure you of that,”
“Well, of course you’d now, you with your time machine,” laughed Hannah.
“You believe me when I say I’m a time traveller?”
“No, of course not!” said Hannah, “You just said that to annoy my father, didn’t you?”
The Doctor paused for a moment.
“Yes,” he said, with reservation. “I did.”
Hannah smiled at the Doctor for a moment, then said: “Why am I even telling you any of this? For all I know father is right and you’re a German spy!”
“I tend to have that effect on people,” said the Doctor.
“Hannah!” called the Matron from across the room. Hannah gulped.
“Well, I better go…” she said to the Doctor.
“Goodbye!” waved the Doctor. Hannah laughed a little at his goofy demeanor, then with one last look at the Doctor, she turned and went in the direction of the Matron, who was waiting impatiently for her.
Within moments, Hannah noticed, the Doctor was asleep again.
*****
Sneaking out of her quarters, Hannah made her way through the dark passageways of the hospital. The building was actually a church - requisitioned by the Allied Forces, specifically the British Army, as a base of operations and medical area.
She didn’t like hospitals at the best of times. She didn’t particularly like churches either. Combining them both while stranded in the middle of a war zone was pretty much a nightmare.
“Why did I ever come here?” she wondered to herself, not for the first time. She missed her home in London, and the happiness she had there with her mother before she died.
But her mother was gone now, and here she was with her father the General, fighting a miserable war, sneaking out to meet a boy, of all things. She wasn’t exactly excited by the prospect of marrying Hale either (not least because she had never really been interested in marriage, she thought), for she found him repulsive, but it was hard to argue with Father. It was, after all, he who had given Hale his blessing to court her.
She turned a corner and made her way down the corridor that led to her father’s room. Hale had arranged to meet her just outside.
She could hear her father’s distinctive, booming yell from within. Momentarily, she backed off, not wishing to hear her father’s anger once more. But then -
“...a space alien from outer space!?!” came the General’s voice.
Hannah paused. And slowly, she continued towards the door.
*****
“D’ya reckon it’s a space alien then? Certainly looks it.”
“Nah, it can’t be! It’s gotta be a secret weapon.”
“A secret weapon that looks like an alien? Get outta here mate!”
“Space aliens don’t exist, d’ya hear me?”
“I’m telling you, it’s one of those green men from Mars you see in storybooks all the time. I mean, just look at it!”
The two guards stood by the door. Lying directly in the centre of the room was the block of ice that had been found by the trenches, melting slowly, nearly having unveiled the thing within. From what the soldiers could see, it was shaped like a man - a man in a green suit of scaly armour and a helmet with large red eyes. An alien, it seemed.
“Come off it, Jim!”
“I’m serious Percy, it’s an alien, look!” Jim strode forward to touch the creature, but Percy drew him back.
“We’re not supposed to touch it, you know our orders!”
“Seems a silly order to me, it’s harmless right now!”
And he reached out his hand to touch the Ice Warrior’s helmet.
*****
Daleks were advancing on a crowd of innocent Gallifreyans as the planet burned around them. There was no escaping the screams, the flames, the never ending war happening at every time and place in history.
“Exterminate!” monotoned a Dalek, as several more chimed in, chanting their deadly war cry. The crowds of people screamed as they were hit with Dalek rays and killed instantly. Daleks screamed as advancing soldiers blew them sky high. Dead bodies littered the ground.
The Doctor rolled over in his regenerative stupor, his post-traumatic dream still raging.
*****
Hannah leaned against the door, listening carefully.
“Preposterous!” yelled the General, “I’ve never known such incompetence! And all on the same day!”
“The men have been letting their imaginations run away from them, sir,” said Hale in a small voice. “The...Ice Warrior, as the Doctor called it, it’s obviously a new German weapon, quite obviously in fact. And now we’ve captured it!” His voice became more confident and he began to sound triumphant. “We can find out what it is, and use it against them!”
A silence fell, and Hannah heard only the creak of her father’s chair. The General had sat down, and his fury had subsided for now. She could tell he was in deep thought.
“You say the Doctor seems to know the name of this thing?”
“As I said, sir. He called it an ‘Ice Warrior’”
“Interesting. How very interesting.”
The General relapsed into silent thought.
“The more I hear of this Doctor, the more I am convinced he is a German spy of some kind. His stupidity is obviously an act to throw us off!”
“I have to agree there sir!” said Hale.
Hannah sighed. He seemed rather nice, that Doctor, even though she had only had a brief interaction with him. Her father was probably right though, she admitted. But she found herself annoyed at the fact that Hale would agree with him.
“Well! I would ask you to show me this…Ice Warrior, you said?” came the General’s voice, “But it is late, and I best be off to bed.”
“I have a guard on the Warrior for now. We’ll look at it together in the morning.”
Hannah jumped. Hale was making his way towards the door. The door that she happened to be leaning on.
*****
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Why not?” asked Jim, “It’s harmless right now, if it’s even alive at all!”
“Those were orders! We can’t touch it, Private Hale said so!”
“Oh forget Hale, never liked him anyway!”
“I just don’t think you should have touched it.”
“It’s fine, Percy. Honestly, you worry too much!”
Percy said nothing. He just went white as a sheet, staring into the distance behind Jim.
“What, what is it, Perce?” asked Jim, sounding concerned for once.
Percy tried to speak but could only point and stutter, as Jim turned round and looked at the creature.
It was getting up. Jim screamed.
*****
A flood of memories tossed around in the Doctor’s mind. The Time War, Gallifrey, the Time Lords, Daleks, Skaro, the Moment…
They were gone, all gone, and now it was just him, only him. Just the Doctor. Only survivor of the Time War. All those people who burned, who he failed to save…
No more…
No more…
No more…
*****
“HANNAH!” boomed the General. As Hale yanked the door open to leave, Hannah had lost her balance and tumbled into the room. The General’s angry yell reverberated against the walls.
“JUST WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!”
Hannah stuttered, backing against the wall in fear as the General advanced on her, red in the face.
“I - I can explain!” said Hannah fearfully.
“She was coming to see me!” interjected Hale, stepping between the General and his daughter. “It was already arranged!”
“Why was I not informed of this!” said the General, rounding on Hale.
“I didn’t think it was necessary information!”
The General still fumed.
“She could have heard everything!”
“I didn’t hear anything, father, I swear I didn’t -” But the General cut her off.
“Stupid girl,” he said angrily. “I shall be glad to see you married to the Captain! Perhaps he will knock some sense into you!”
“Oh, you’ll be sure of that!” said Hale. Hannah felt repulsed again. “What you’ve done is foolish, Hannah,” he said, “You understand that? Try not to go listening at doors again, it’s bad behaviour.”
Hannah had had enough. She was fuming, desperate to be seen as something other than a silly little girl by both her father and her fiance. She was sure Hale didn’t really love her anyway; he just courted her to make himself look good. The General’s daughter! He was only marrying her for status.
And for once, Hannah was about to snap back. She had opened her mouth. She was going to do it, to hell with the consequences.
And then there was a scream.
*****
There were lots of screams. One more was unlikely to cause any difference. Just another scared Gallifreyan for vicious pepper pots to brutally murder.
It seemed to be a lot louder than the other screams though. He wondered why this was, so he thought about it for a bit.
The scream died away, and the normal landscape of burning Daleks and cities was back. More faraway screams cried out, as Daleks killed the fleeing crowds, crying “Exterminate!” in a faint voice.
Everything was getting quieter suddenly. And then a thought occurred to the Doctor, as a direct result of his previous thinking.
He woke up with a start, dressed in hospital clothes on a strange bed, and his suspicions were confirmed.
The scream was, in fact, real.
*****
“What was that?!” cried the General, dashing from the room with Hale in tow, both momentarily forgetting the existence of Hannah, who followed them out hesitantly, taking the opportunity to get away. Damn it, she thought. She was just about to fight back.
She turned down a corridor to her right, in the opposite direction of Hale and her father.
There were sudden sounds of gunfire as Hannah hurried into a room off the hallway and slammed the door. They were under attack from Germans. This was it, they were all going to be killed.
She crouched in the corner near a clothes rack with her head down, tears forming in her eyes. More shots fired and she could hear yelling, but she couldn’t understand what was being said.
“What do you think, leather or velvet?”
Hannah nearly screamed.
*****
“Sir!” Sir!” called Jim, “It’s alive!”
“What is Private? Speak up!”
“That Ice Warrior thing sir, it’s woken up!”
“Don’t be daft!”
The General’s assertion was suddenly disproven.
“Sir, look!”
Amongst the gunfire of approaching soldiers, a solid green mass was stomping against the shower of bullets. In their direction.
“Dear God,” cried the General, automatically reaching for his pistol. But it had no effect. The bullets ricocheted off the scaly green armour. The creature seemed to hiss as it pushed through the parade of soldiers.
“It’s heading for the sanctuary,” called a soldier.
*****
“DOCTOR!” yelled Hannah, clutching her chest, breathing heavily. The Doctor was holding up two different jackets - both were black, but one was leather and the other was velvet.
The Doctor considered his choices.
“Hmm. I think I’ll go with leather again!” He tossed the other jacket over his shoulder onto a pile of clothes behind him.
“What are you doing here?!” said Hannah, nearly crying.
“Clothes!” beamed the Doctor, seemingly unaware of the current gunfire. He motioned to the pile behind him as he donned the leather jacket, “I need clothes, and I got some!”
“Great, well, I don’t know if you noticed, but there’s a battle going on. Now is not exactly the time.”
“Oh yes! The shooting! Let’s see what that’s about, shall we?” And the Doctor, still smiling, strode towards the door.
“You can’t!” called Hannah, “It’s too dangerous!”
The Doctor looked even happier.
“Exactly!” he said. Then he walked out.
Against her better nature, Hannah followed.
*****
“Hold your fire!” called the General. The Ice Warrior stood stoically in the centre of the room, troops surrounding the perimeter of the sanctuary with weapons still aimed at him. The Ice Warrior made no indication of concern, turning and staring passively into the General’s eyes.
Was it passive? The General couldn’t tell. Its helmet thing got in the way, and its red eye visors were perpetually emotionless. Pistol aiming, the General got a good look at his new adversary. He could see why some would all it an alien from outer space. It was tall and imposing in its green, scaly armour, and looked nothing like a human being at all.
“You’re surrounded!” boomed the General, “Make one move and we will shoot you dead!”
The Ice Warrior turned and looked at the soldiers, poised to attack, standing alongside the pews.
It turned back to the General.
“Your weapons have no effect on me,” it hissed in a low whisper.
“Well,” said the General, cowering slightly upon hearing the Ice Warrior’s voice, “We shall see about that. Answer me some questions, will you!”
The Ice Warrior hissed.
“Who are you - and what are you? And why are you here?”
“Yes, I’d quite like to know myself!” said a voice. The General looked and saw the Doctor, striding from a door behind the choir loft, his own daughter Hannah following nervously.
“Doctor! And - Hannah?! You have no right to be here!”
“Why not?” questioned the Doctor, staring the General in the eye with a look of contempt.
“I - well…” stuttered the General.
“Fantastic! Now then. Hello! Haven’t met your lot in a while,” said the Doctor to the Ice Warrior. He strode towards it briskly.
“No! Don’t!” said Hannah worriedly.
“Why not? He’s not dangerous. Are you?”
The Ice Warrior said nothing.
The Doctor smiled.
“Good! Now then, first things first - what is your name?”
The Ice Warrior remained unresponsive. An eerie and awkward silence passed, as soldiers continued to aim. The General had lowered his gun.
“Skaarz,” hissed the Ice Warrior.
“Good!” smiled the Doctor, “Very good. I like that name. Suits you! One other thing though - why are you here?”
“Well, that is obvious,” said the General, gaining the use of his voice again, “That thing is a secret German weapon, come to destroy us!”
The Doctor sighed.
“That ‘thing’, as you put it, is an Ice Warrior, and I doubt it would be so hostile if you didn’t keep shooting at it with your puny guns.”
“My pod crashed,” said Skaarz.
“Ah, there we go, we’re getting somewhere! Why did it crash?”
“I was escaping. I was being held prisoner on board a spacecraft.”
“What kind of spacecraft?” asked the Doctor.
“It was an Ice Warrior ship.”
Nothing changed in the faces of the soldiers, nor the General. But Hannah registered a look of confusion on the Doctor’s face, and his tone now turned from cheerful to something far more serious.
“Why were you being kept prisoner on a ship of your own species?” he asked Skaarz.
“I am a prisoner of war,” hissed the Ice Warrior, “My people are in turmoil. We are fighting amongst ourselves. I am War Lord Skarz, one of the leaders of the revolution.”
The Doctor looked grave.
“Ice Warriors, locked in a civil war…” he mumbled. “But why?” he asked.
“The leaders of my race are not true Ice Warriors,” continued Skaarz, “They have reached out to other races with a guarantee of peace. They have become...diplomatic. Ice Warriors have long disdained such practices. We are a warring race, not a peaceful one. We have no allies”
Hannah could tell that the Ice Warrior was passionate about this topic. He spoke with greater anger in his hissing voice than before. The Doctor sighed.
“You lot never were one for globalization, were you,” he quipped. “So that’s it then! Start a revolution! Chuck out the elites who are ruining everything! And then establish your own rule, where you make all the same mistakes as the rulers before you - Oh, I’ve seen it many times. It never works. But I’m not going to meddle in your affairs, Skaarz, nor your revolution’s. Except, I can’t yet you stay here on Earth.”
Skaarz’s hiss became something almost like a laugh.
“They’ll be looking for you, won’t they? The Ice Warrior leaders. And if I know the Ice Warriors well, and I do, they will tear this planet apart to hunt you down - their traitor.”
Skaarz’s cackling laugh continued. Hannah was deeply worried by it.
“Millions will die in the process,” continued the Doctor, “I have a ship - I can take you away, to Mars, or anywhere uninhabited, and leave this world in peace. There are already too many deaths happening in this war here - I don’t need you adding anymore innocent lives to that count.”
“I was not aware, Doctor,” cackled Skaarz, using his name for the first time, “That the lives of innocents weighed so heavily on your conscious.”
A dark look fell over the Doctor’s features. For a moment, the warm, funny, and friendly man that Hannah had talked to beside his hospital bed was gone. He looked angry and terrified. And he turned away from Skaarz, as the latter hissed in triumph.
“Doctor?” said Hannah in a quiet voice, moving to him. The Doctor pushed her away.
“Open fire!”, boomed the General. Hannah jumped. She almost forgot that she was standing in a room surrounded by armed soldiers.
Bullets rained through the air as she ducked behind a pew. But the Ice Warrior didn’t flinch. In fact, it’s cackling intensified, as it raised its arm, revealing a miniature gun, aiming it at the soldiers.
Immune to bullets, Skaarz, fired his weapon and sent soldiers flying through the air, screaming at the top of their lungs.
Hannah had to get out of there.
“Doctor?” she called. Suddenly, she realized he was nowhere to be seen. “Doctor!” she yelled.
Crawling close to the ground, she fled to the door as gunfire became sparse and she heard her father’s yell of “Retreat!”, before Skaarz shoved him aside brutally and exited through the far door.
“Draw him out into the open!” he ordered, “We’ll blow the thing up!”
Hannah caught a glimpse of Captain Hale, stumbling after the General, before she decided she’d lingered too long, and ran from the room.
*****
Skaarz stood by his escape pod, fumbling with the mechanical insides of the wreck. Finally, he found the radio mechanism, and tapped the glowing buttons in a specific pattern.
“Calling General Rilk. I am in distress. Help requested.”
He finished his message just as the two guards broke into the room, armed with hand grenades. Skaarz shot them both and they fell dead to the ground. Stepping over their crooked bodies, Skaarz made his way out just before an explosion rocked the room.
He looked back. Part of the building had caved in, and the escape pod’s remains were flaming and in pieces. The bodies of the two soldiers were charred.
No matter, though Skaarz. He had no need for his pod anymore. The message had been sent, and the rebellion was likely on its way.
They would crush the oppressors once and for all.
*****
Aliens. Green, scaly aliens. Green, scaly aliens, with the ability to destroy everything. Hannah didn’t know what to think.
And then there was the Doctor. He had come practically out of nowhere, bursting onto the scene just as this Ice Warrior arrived, seeming to know all about the situation. He confused Hannah even more.
But she was sure he had answers, that he could help. She felt safe in his presence. But right now, Hannah didn’t know where he was.
“Doctor!” she called. Only the sounds of gunfire and bombs answered. There was something else too. A low, mechanical-like hum, coming from behind. She swung round.
It was a blue box, and it said police.
Hannah didn’t recognise it, but she recalled the Doctor’s words to Skaarz. He mentioned being able to take him away in his ‘ship’. And then there was the moment he told her father that he was a time traveller…
It was preposterous. It couldn’t be. He was just joking! But he wasn’t joking when he was talking to that Ice Warrior…
A whirring noise began to fill the air, emanating from the box. It seemed to be - disappearing! Hannah rushed for the door, finding herself able to open it, stepping inside and tumbling into -
A large, spacious, circular room, centred around what appeared to be some kind of control panel with a transparent pillar, which was moving up and down in time with the whirring.
The room was bright, the walls adorned with white, indented roundels, and there the Doctor was, in his new leather jacket, swiping levers and pressing buttons.
“Um…” said Hannah quietly.
The Doctor turned around to look at her, shock registering on his face.
“You?” he said, “What are you doing here?”
“I was...looking for you…” she said.
“Well what do you need me for?”
“You can help!” said Hannah, “Can’t you?”
The Doctor bitterly turned away and focused on the control console.
“Help,” he muttered. “I don’t ‘help’ anymore. I never should have in the first place”
“But you’re the only one who knows anything about these...‘Ice Warriors’”, she pleaded, “They’ll destroy Earth, like you said!”
The Doctor said nothing. He just stood by the controls in silence. Hannah approached cautiously, looking around.
“What is this place, anyway?” she asked him. “And why is it so much bigger on the inside than it is on the outside?”
“It’s called the TARDIS,” he answered, “It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It can go anywhere in time and space.”
“So you really are a time traveller then,” said Hannah, “You weren't just joking.”
“Yep!” said the Doctor sadly. There was pain in his voice. Hannah didn’t dare question why.
“And these aliens - the Ice Warriors - what are they?”
“They’re from the planet Mars. I had no idea they were fighting amongst themselves, but then I didn’t have much opportunity to check…”
Hannah breathed deeply.
“Aliens…” she muttered. “Actual aliens. I always wondered if they existed. And now…” She trailed off.
“Oh there’s lots of us aliens in the universe. Thousands. Millions, even. I’m one of them.”
“You?” asked Hannah, “You’re an alien?”
“Yep!” grinned the Doctor, “Hello!”
“I...but you look...human!”
“There are many aliens who do,” said the Doctor.
Hannah was curious. “What planet are you from, then? Jupiter?”
“I’m from…” The Doctor trailed away, and didn’t finish the answer. “Never mind that. What matters right now is these Ice Warriors!”
“So you’re going to help, then?”
“Why not,” smiled the Doctor, “My treat.”
The TARDIS landed with a thump and the whirring stopped. “Ah! We’ve landed.”
“Landed? Oh, of course,” said Hannah. “Where?”
“The Ice Warrior ship…”
The Doctor creaked open the door of the box and stepped into a dark, metal hallway.
“The Ice Warrior...ship?” said Hannah, following him, “Are we in space?”
“Yep!”
Hannah stood with her back to the TARDIS door, trying to calm down. “I’m...in space. Actually in space.”
“Don’t get too excited, you’re on a spaceship with a horde of angry Martians somewhere nearby.”
“Fair point,” said Hannah. The Doctor made his way down a corridor, away from the TARDIS. Hannah followed after him.
“What are we going to do?” she asked quietly as they peered around a corner. She saw a kind of door at the far end of the hall, and could glimpse the scaly shapes of Ice Warriors just beyond it.
“I’m going to try and get into the control room. If I can destroy their transmat system, they won’t be able to beam down to Earth.”
“Oh,” said Hannah, not quite understanding, “And that will stop them attacking Earth?”
“Probably not,” said the Doctor, “But it will buy us some time to draw them away from the planet.”
“Okay,” was all Hannah could manage in her confusion.
“The control box should be around here somewhere…” muttered the Doctor, fumbling around with strange looking mechanics, attached to the wall of the corridor.
He retrieved a short, silver pen-like object from his jacket, holding it to some wires as its tip glowed red, emitting a rhythmic buzzing.
“Um...Doctor?” said Hannah with concern.
“It’s alright, Hannah,” said the Doctor, “It’s called a sonic screwdriver.”
“No, not that Doctor,” said Hannah from behind him, “It’s…”
“This wire should lead to…”
“Doctor!”
“What?” The Doctor said, turning round.
Hannah was looking at a large, scaly green shape standing right behind them.
“Ah,” said the Doctor.
“Who are you?” hissed the Ice Warrior angrily.
*****
“Sir!”
“Captain Hale! Where has the thing gone?”
“Over the wall. It’s out there in No Man’s Land!”
“Excellent,” said the General with glee, “We can destroy it with our explosives. Fire more shells!”
“Sir!” saluted Hale, and he ran off down the length of the trench.
“Captain Hale!” called a voice.
“Private Douglas!” yelled Hale. “What’s the matter?” Private Douglas caught up, panting. He looked distressed.
“Sir, there’s more of them,” he said.
“More?”
“More of those Ice Warriors, sir!”
“Where?” said Hale in alarm.
“Sir, over the top!” Hale poked his head over the wall and peered out into the chaotic mist of No Man’s Land. All he heard was the sounds of whistling shells and flying bullets. And then…
Shapes were moving out of the fog. They were large, bulky, green...scaly. Their red eyes unfeeling, unemotional. Ice Warriors.
“Soldiers!” yelled Hale. “We are under attack! Man your stations!”
*****
“You have failed to destroy our transmat systems. Already my warriors are beaming down to the planet.”
“You can’t do this,” said the Doctor as an Ice Warrior shoved him and Hannah into a room, “You’ll destroy the human race!”
“If it is necessary,” said the Ice Warrior general.
“I can’t allow it,” said the Doctor. “I’ve already seen two races go extinct because of a large scale war. I don’t wish to see another added to that list.”
“We will do whatever is necessary to crush the Ice Warrior leaders,” said the Warrior.
“Leaders?” asked the Doctor.
“I think they’re the rebels…” said Hannah.
“Skaarz must have sent a distress signal...oh no,” said the Doctor, “That makes everything worse.”
“How?”
“Well, now there’s two warring space fleets orbiting the planet, hell bent on trying to destroy each other!”
“And both are trying to find Skaarz,” said Hannah in horror, “They’ll be beaming down to find him, I suppose…”
“Exactly,” said the Doctor.
“Our soldiers will protect our glorious leader Skaarz,” said the Ice Warrior general, “And crush the oppressive, corrupted traitors to our race in the process!
“General Rilk!” hissed an Ice Warrior entering the room, “The transmat is fully functioning. I am beginning to beam down our soldiers.”
“Excellent,” hissed Rilk. He motioned to Hannah and the Doctor. “Guard them well,” he said, “I will deal with them later!”
“Yes, General,” said the soldier.
Rilk exited the room, leaving Hannah and the Doctor alone with an Ice Warrior at the door.
“What now?” whispered Hannah, cautious of the fact that the guard was intently watching their movements around the room.
“If I can get to the control room,” said the Doctor at the same volume, “I may be able to…”
“Stop!” hissed the guard.
“Why?” said the Doctor, smiling sarcastically.
“You are not allowed to speak!” said the Ice Warrior.
“We weren’t speaking about anything important!” said the Doctor, “Were we Hannah?”
Hannah didn’t speak. The Doctor nudged her.
“Oh! Um, no, nothing important, we’re not planning to escape or anything!” she laughed nervously.
“Nope! No escape! You have successfully defeated us and we have no desire to resist!”
“You are planning something!” hissed the guard violently.
“Now where did you get that idea!” said the Doctor.
“You will stay quiet!” said the guard, rounding on the Doctor. Hannah slipped out its eyesight, creeping behind the guard. She caught the Doctor’s eye. He nodded.
“Oh well!” said the Doctor to the Warrior, “I will obey whatever you command, for you are our benevolent overlords!”
The guard hissed in anger, reaching out to strike the Doctor, with its clawed hand - then it spluttered and became disoriented, and fell over. Hannah was standing behind it holding a piece of loose pipe.
“How did you do that?” asked the Doctor.
“Got him in the back of the neck,” said Hannah.
“Right,” said the Doctor, “Where did you get the pipe?”
“We’re in a storage hold.”
The Doctor looked around. It was indeed a storage hold. A container box to his right contained bits of metal.
“Oh,” he said.
“Did you not notice we were in a storage hold?” asked Hannah with some considerable sass.
“I was busy,” said the Doctor, “Come on, let’s go.”
He dashed out of the room, leaving the guard unconscious on the ground. Hannah followed.
******
“FIRE!”
A shell rocketed off into the chaotic fog, whistling. It exploded in the distance, killing several. Hale couldn’t tell who had died. There were human and Ice Warrior shapes slumping dead all around him.
He couldn’t tell, but it seemed as though there were more than just one army of scaly invaders. A corpse of an Ice Warrior flew past him, crunching into the trench, as another Martian emerged from the fog, gun raised.
Hale ducked, dislogding a hand grenade, which exploded and killed the incoming Ice Warrior.
“Sir!” came a voice.
“Private Douglas!”, said Hale, “What is it?”
“The Ice Warrior from base, sir,” he panted, “It’s coming this -”
Douglas screamed in pain as he fell to the trench floor, dead. Hale backed away from the Ice Warrior approaching, gun arm raised.
“No!” he said helplessly, “You can’t kill me!”
“You will give me access to your explosives!” screamed Skaarz.
“No!” said Hale, “I won’t do it!” He hastily drew his revolver, aiming for Skaarz, but his cold, shivering hands meant he missed.
“Those bullets wouldn’t have killed me anyway,” laughed Skaarz, moving closer to Hale. Hale backed further away, trying to scream for help, but Skaarz had already fired his laser.
Hale screamed as the shot ripped through his flesh, burning endlessly. His last thought was jumbled as extreme pain took over his mind, and he screamed and screamed and screamed until he could no longer think.
He landed in the mud that layered the trench floor with a splat, unmoving and lifeless.
Skaarz took no notice. It was merely another necessary death in order to defeat the merciless traitors to his race. He could not tell how the battle was progressing; he saw Ice Warriors fighting Ice Warriors, but did not know which side they were on. But he was sure his side was winning. After all, they had to. They were the stronger side.
Finally, the war would be over. They would win.
“War Lord Skaarz,” hissed a voice with delight. Skaarz turned around, looking upon the new Ice Warrior, Grand Marshall Silz. Leader of the traitors.
“Silz,” hissed Skaarz.
“You will address me as Grand Marshall,” spat Silz.
“You have no right to be Grand Marshall, traitor,” replied Skaarz. Silz hissed in anger.
“You will die, Skaarz,” he gurgled. “Already our side is winning!”
“No,” said Skaarz, “Our side is stronger. It is us who will win!”
“Then I shall take pleasure,” hissed Silz with delight, “In killing you here and now!” He raised his gun arm. Skaarz laughed, raising his own.
“Shoot me and I shall do the same to you!” he cackled.
“It’s over, Skaarz,” hissed Silz. Two Warriors crept up behind Skaarz, lasers aimed.
Skaarz hissed in anger, trapped.
*****
General Rilk paused as he entered the control bridge of the ship. “What is the state of the battle,” he hissed to a guard.
“Unknown,” came the hissing reply.
“Thank you,” he said, “Join the soldiers on the battlefield and report back to me at once.”
“Yes, General,” said the guard, blundering through the door immediately without noticing the Doctor and Hannah hiding behind a wall.
Rilk operated the ship’s controls.
“What’s he doing?” asked Hannah quietly.
“Trying to fly the ship, I expect,” said the Doctor, “They’ll be looking for the “traitor” ship, the current leaders of their race, to destroy it.”
“Are we going to let them?”
The Doctor looked grave.
“No, I don’t think so.”
“So we’re on the leader's’ side then?”
“We’re on no-one’s side,” said the Doctor, “We have no part in their squabbles. We just need to drive them away from Earth. Convince them to never bring their battles here again…”
“But how?” asked Hannah, concerned.
“Give them a chance. Talk to them. Try to make them see some sense.”
“And if that doesn’t work?”
The Doctor looked Hannah in the eye.
“When I say run, we run.”
Hannah didn’t question any further.
*****
Rilk surveyed the scanner.
“General,” said an Ice Warrior entering, “Is there any sign of the traitor ship?”
“Yes,” said Rilk, “I have located them in the orbital path. Prepare to launch a missile,”
“Yes, General,” obeyed the Ice Warrior, striding over to the controls.
“I doubt that will be such a good idea,” came a voice. Rilk turned around.
“You!” hissed the general.
“Yes, me. Hello!” said the Doctor, entering the room.
“Who are you?” hissed Rilk.
“A very good question! You see, I don’t really know myself! Ooh, look, flashing lights!” The Doctor stepped towards a panel of controls, pressing buttons at random with a childlike glee.
“Stop!” hissed Rilk.
“Oh, it’s okay, I’m very stupid you see, I don’t know what any of that does!” He backed away from the controls nonetheless.
“You have caused us too much trouble already!” hissed Rilz, “Now you will die!”
The Doctor stepped closer to Rilz. “Before you do that, perhaps you could listen to what I have to say,” he said.
Rilz had raised his gun arm, pointed at the Doctor. He relented. “What is it, then. Speak! It better not be playing for time!”
“I assure you it’s not. You see, those people down there - those humans - they’re fighting a war too. They already have seen thousands of deaths happen as a result.”
“What is your point!” hissed Rilz in anger.
“That you have no right to be here!” shouted the Doctor, “Those humans, they are capable of so much more! Don’t intrude with your petty little squabbles. Leave this planet’s vicinity and go have your war in peace!”
Rilz laughed horrifically, calling two guards into the room. They restrained the Doctor immediately.
“I’m begging you, Rilz!” he said desperately. “Just go!”
Rilz continued his laugh.
“We have no desire to leave when we are so close to finally destroying the traitors!”
Hannah had watched this scene from behind a corner, horrified at what was happening.
“Then I’m sorry,” said the Doctor, “But then I’ll have to destroy you.”
“How can you destroy us when you are about to be killed?” laughed Rilz, prompting other Ice Warriors to hiss in delight.
Hannah jumped out from her hiding place.
“He has me!” she proclaimed.
“Hannah, no!” said the Doctor. Rilz laughed even more as another Ice Warrior tried to restrain Hannah, as she attempted to free the Doctor with the pipe she was still holding from her last attack.
It didn’t last long. Eventually she was caught.
“Well how are we going to get out of this?” she whispered to the Doctor as an Ice Warrior
“I’ve already thought of something,” he replied.
“What is it?!” she asked desperately.
“Kill them!” hissed Rilk.
Hannah closed her eyes, anticipating her own death.
“You know, I really think you’ll regret this,” said the Doctor suddenly.
“Killing you,” cackled the Ice Warrior, “Will be an honour!”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it. But before we say our last goodbyes, you may want to check your engine status…”
“You are playing for time!”
“I really think you ought to check.”
“General!” hissed a nearby Warrior, “The engines are critical!”
General Rilk looked from the Doctor to the Ice Warrior in alarm.
“What is the meaning of this!?” it screamed.
“It means,” said the Doctor, grasping Hannah’s hand. Hannah held tightly, anticipating what came next, “That you really shouldn't have let me near your controls.”
Rilk hissed violently.
“I’ve lowered your power levels to below normal. The engines are heating up, ready to explode!”
“You imbecile!” screamed Rilk, “Kill them!”
But the soldiers stumbled, the heat becoming too much for them. One fired off a shot, but it hit the controls instead, and it burst into flame.
“Aaaaaaaaaaargh,” yelled Rilk, as he fell to the ground.
“Well, we’ll be going now!” said the Doctor, “Run!” he said Hannah.
Rilk gurgled. “Who...are you?” he shouted with anger.
The Doctor turned at the door, facing back and addressing the dying Ice Warrior.
“For the longest time I called myself ‘The Doctor’. I rejected that name for a while; I failed to live up to the promise I made when I chose it. But that part of my life is over - I am the Doctor again! And if you have any common sense in that reptilian bucket head of yours, then you’ll know to be very, very afraid. Bye!”
Hannah had dashed to the TARDIS door as Ice Warriors fell screaming around her. The ship was rattling, breaking apart.
“Doctor!” she called.
“Coming!” came the Doctor’s voice, and he turned a corner, key in hand, as they both stumbled through the blue doors.
A whirring sound filled the air as the TARDIS dematerialized out of the collapsing ship. Before long, it erupted, breaking apart completely with an almighty explosion, sending space debris flying into the black depths of space.
*****
As the rebel ship broke up, the fighting down below had ceased. Ice Warriors fighting on the side of Rilz had realized there was no means of escape, and with Grand Marshall Silz having captured Skaarz, there was nothing else they could do. They surrendered themselves.
Grand Marshall Silz trod through the muddy depths of No Man’s Land, Skaarz following him flanked by two guards restraining him. There were bodies everywhere, human and Ice Warrior alike.
Silz thought he could hear a wheezing noise. He looked around to see where it was coming from as it grew louder and londer, wheezing and groaning metallically as a blue box materialized out of thin air on the foggy battlefield.
A man stepped out, with large ears and a black leather jacket, followed by a girl dressed in nurse’s clothes.
“You,” said Silz, “Are you the one who the rebels we captured have spoken of? The one who has destroyed their ship?”
“Yes,” said the man, “I’m the Doctor.”
“Grand Marshall Silz,” said the Ice Warrior, introducing himself. “I am glad to have you on our side, Doctor. You would make a most useful ally in this war.”
“I’m not your ally,” said the Doctor, “And never will be. If I had, by chance, landed on your ship, it would have likely been yours destroyed instead. I did what I had to to stop your race from destroying the life on this planet.”
He continued, “I’m done with wars. It’s a terrible thing for everyone involved. They achieve absolutely nothing in the long run. You can’t count on my help, Silz. Go, and leave this planet, and remember this: so long as I’m around - it is protected.”
Silz hissed angrily, but said nothing. Then suddenly he disappeared, beaming up to his spaceship in orbit. Skaarz and his guards followed him, Skaarz leering at the Doctor as he went. The Doctor sighed.
“Well, that’s it then,” said Hannah, “They’re gone.”
“Yep,” said the Doctor. He stood in silence, looking around at the hellish landscape surrounding them. Hannah thought he looked sad.
“Are you okay?” she asked. It took a while for him to respond.
“Yeah,” he said to her, smiling. But it wasn’t his goofy smile this time. It was a sad smile.
“Well, I better get you back to the hospital then, shouldn’t I?” said the Doctor. Hannah’s heart sank.
There, sitting peacefully against a horrid background of war, was a blue box with a whole other world inside it. Hannah had long wanted to escape the war, and this was her chance, to travel with the Doctor and leave it all behind.
But perhaps the Doctor didn’t take guests. He seemed very lonely aboard his spacecraft. Hannah wondered when the last time someone hugged him was. Or shown him any sort of kindness. She sighed.
“Yeah,” she said sadly, “I guess.”
“Great. Come on then!”
The Doctor strode toward the TARDIS, Hannah following. She heard a faint whistle above her. It didn’t register what it was until much too late.
The Doctor heard it too.
“Hannah! Run!”
The bombs had resumed falling. An explosion rocked the ground as the TARDIS door slammed shut and it began to materialize, fading in and out of reality as a shell fell into the side panel.
The ship rocked back and forth, falling into the vortex of time and space.
*****
“He was a good man, the Captain,” said the General, surveying Hale’s dead body. He still had a pained expression on his muddy face from the laser shot that ripped through his abdomen.
“I guess I ought to see Hannah,” he continued, “Oh, she’ll be devastated I suppose. I do feel bad about yelling at her like that earlier. Perhaps I should apologize…”
“Sir?” said the soldier.
“Yes?” The General looked up, having lost himself in a rare moment of introspection.
“I hate to tell you this sir, but...Hannah’s gone missing.”
“What?!”
“The Matron can’t find her anywhere. She wasn’t seen after the Ice Warrior left the building. Neither was the Doctor too, come to think of it…”
The General found himself devastated.
“Hannah…” he muttered helplessly.
“I’m sorry sir.”
The General said nothing.
He just wiped his eyes.
He wished this war would end.
|
|
NEXT TIME -KRAKATOA
Hannah Gray was just a simple English nurse working for the British Army. But now she’s been whisked away from her own time, and been trapped in the heart of a volcano with strange, fire breathing aliens threatening her.
And it’s not just any volcano. It’s Krakatoa, and she’s arrived on the night of it’s famous 1883 eruption.
Can she get out alive before the explosion occurs? And where has the mysterious Doctor gone?
And it’s not just any volcano. It’s Krakatoa, and she’s arrived on the night of it’s famous 1883 eruption.
Can she get out alive before the explosion occurs? And where has the mysterious Doctor gone?