Prisons in the Sky (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3 (Terrorists and Thieves)

Boredom. Boredom. More boredom. I haven’t seen Lilly for a good few hours now. This business with Shrall is worrying me. I mean, he’s a terrorist. I know Lilly has her reasons, but I just don’t get why she’d wanna get involved with that. Does she think he’s gonna break us out or something? None of us are getting out of here. Not for 12 months anyway.

I miss my family. I miss my bed. I miss my bath and I miss work for god sake!




Ziggy and Nao guided the Doctor through the tunnel that led from the entrance to the cave and into a deeper section. The cavern was actually underneath the scrubland he had been on and a small slope led from the hole with the slab over it down into the area he had woken up in.

Eventually they reached a smaller cave with a number of candles burning and two tents set up. Crates and containers were piled up against the curved far wall and on them entering the area a figure emerged from one of the tents.

It was a tall man dressed in black combats and painted head to toe in silver paint. He was completely bald and wore a permanent frown on his face.

“Who is this?” asked the silver man.

“This is the Doctor. I found him up above.”

“Doesn’t he know how dangerous it is?” asked the man.

“Apparently not,” said Nao, putting down her weapon and sitting on a crate to remove her boots. “Jesus, my feet are hurting.”

“And who might you be, friend?” asked the Doctor, extending a hand.

“This is T23,” said Ziggy, nodding towards his silver friend.

T23 took the Doctor’s hand, and to his shock he realised that it wasn’t silver paint at all. It was actually some form of metallic skin. “Please to meet you, T23.”

“It is agreeable to meet you as well, Doctor,” he said politely in a very well spoken voice.

Ziggy sat down next to Nao and opened a bottle of water, drinking nearly half of it in three big gulps. “T23 is sort of like our butler. He takes care of all our needs.”

“You’re an android?” asked the Doctor.

“Indeed I am,” said T23, sitting down on a crate next to Ziggy and Nao, “and I’m happy to serve.”

“That sounds like a tagline,” said the Doctor, raising his eyebrows.

“Don’t start with that, Doctor,” said Ziggy. “T23 is designed to serve and he is quite happy. We treat him with respect and he enjoys what he does.”

“I am always happy to serve, Master Ziggy.”

“Enough of this chit-chat, though,” said the Doctor. “We need to get my friends out of that prison.”

“I agree,” said Ziggy. “But the most important thing is getting my sister out of there.”

“Surely it’s important to get all three of them out.”

“But Zia mainly,” said Ziggy. “She’s just turned 16. She shouldn’t be in that place.”

“What did she do?” asked the Doctor, sitting down on the ground opposite them.

Ziggy finished the rest of his water and threw the bottle to the ground. “We’re from a really poor market town on a planet called Banttii. Zia made a mistake.”

“She stole some bread,” said Nao.

“She’s a teenager. She gets into trouble. She gets into scrapes. I tried to plead with the mayor but he said she needed to be made an example of. She’s been sentenced to two years.”

The Doctor shook his head. “That seems incredibly harsh.”

“Exactly,” said Ziggy. “Too harsh.”

“And what about you two?” said the Doctor, pointing between Ziggy and Nao.

“What about us?” said Nao, frowning. “We’re husband and wife. My sister-in-law’s in trouble so we’re getting her out.”

“My father died when Zia was a baby and my Mum passed away a few months back. I used the money from her will to buy a crate of a shuttle to sneak in down here and break her out.”

“It’s very admirable of you, but surely you could have asked for an appeal.”

“There’s no appeal. The Spire Security Force patrol this section of the galaxy and rule with an iron fist. If you’re in their territory,” continued Nao, “you’re under their rule.”

The Doctor sighed. “Same old corrupt company running unfair operations. I‘ve heard of the Rock before, but never had any desire to visit it for obvious reasons.”

“Exactly,” said Ziggy, “and we need to get Zia out of there quickly. She may have a two year sentence, but that doesn’t mean she’ll make it to two years. There are thieves and killers in that spike, Doctor. She won’t survive two months.”




The bearded man fell to the floor with a grunt as the red-headed girl landed on top of him, her hand around his throat as she squeezed harder.

The man tried to say something, but all he managed was a strangled grunt.

“What?” said the girl, her eyes glittering with rage.

“…please…”

“Do you promise not to come near me again, Fred?” said the girl.

The man tried to nod and the girl let him go. “Get lost you great, fat, bearded freak.”

The man scrambled to his feet as fast as he could and he ran away, followed by a chorus of mocking cheers.

The cell area was a circular walkway that round around the circumference of the spike with the cells against the walls. Through the centre of the spike was a long, drop right down to the bottom.

Holly peered over the barrier and she could see the different levels with various different prisoners going about their long, boring days.

Up above was a ceiling, which Holly presumed held the governors office and the hanger they had arrived in and possibly other officers. A lift in a cage led down to each level and ran through the centre of the spike. There was also a stairwell that led up to each level, but the door was caged off.

“This looks…grim,” said Holly.

“Yep,” said Lilly, sighing. “We’ll be alright though. The Doctor’ll get us out.”

“Are you sure about that?” said Holly.

“He’s always got me out of scrapes before.”

“Was there anyone else ever travelling with you and the Doctor before you met me?” said Holly. Even though she was faced with the harsh reality of being in a space prison, she still intended to probe further, especially after reading the diary extract.

“Nope,” said Lilly dismissively. “Just me and him.”

“Hey,” said the red-head, walking up to them and extending her hand. “Welcome to Theta-Spike.”

Holly shook her hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“What they get you for?” said the girl.

“Just being here,” said Holly.

“Madness, isn’t it?”

“What did you do?” asked Holly.

“Stole some bread. Stupid, I know, but I was starving. Never expected to end up here.” The girl backtracked. “What are your names by the way?”

“I’m Holly and this here is Lilly.”

“I’m Zia. Zia Smith.”

“Good to meet you, Zia,” smiled Holly.

“Yep,” said Lilly, not wanting to get into another conversation. “Where are the empty cells?”

“Yours should be just around the bend,” said Zia with a smile.

“Cheers,” said Holly, giving her a polite smile and following Lilly.

They arrived at a cell door. The bars were rusty but it at least looked habitable. Inside were two beds with dirty looking mattresses and very flat pillows.

Holly sighed and wandered into the cell, sitting on one of the beds.

Lilly followed her in, and sat on the bed opposite Holly.

Holly looked worried. Sad and worried.

“You alright, Dangerfield?” said Lilly, leaning forward.

“Yeah,” said Holly. “I’m just…scared.”

“Of this place?” said Lilly looking around her.

“Well aren’t you?”

“I’m used to getting into scrapes with the Doctor,” said Lilly with a little smile. “I understand it must be tough for you.”

Holly nodded. “I didn’t expect this when I came travelling.”

“Hey,” said Lilly, leaning a little closer, “no matter how bad the situation gets, he will get us out of here.”

Holly looked doubtful.

“I mean it, Dangerfield. The Doctor will get us out.”

Holly managed a weak smile and was about to reply when they heard some commotion outside. A crowd rushed past the cell door and Lilly and Holly got up to see what was going on.

A crowd had gathered on the walkway but the two girls were having trouble seeing.

“It’s Shrall,” said Zia, who was stood further back, her arms folded. “He got into an argument with the bearded guy, Fred. He’ll never learn.”

“Who’s Shrall?” said Holly.

Suddenly the crowd parted, like Moses parting the Red Sea, and from behind the crowd came a huge, seven-foot walking toad coloured yellow with dark, black eyes. He was grinning as he held up Fred to the crowd, his huge hand around his neck.

“That’s Shrall,” said Zia, wearily.

“Fred here,” said Shrall, in a deep, gravelling voice, “believes I should be locked away in isolation. Kept away from you lot.”

The crowd were silent.

“Fred, is a danger to himself.”

Fred tried to speak, but the hand was clamped too tightly around his throat, his face a bright purple colour.

“Shall I tell Fred what happens to people who go up against me?” said Shrall.

“Yeah!” came a chorus of shouts from the crowd.

Shrall turned and held Fred over the barriers. Beyond was the long, long drop to the bottom. “He was always talking about wanting to break out of here.”

There were laughs and murmurs of approval from the crowd.

Fred looked at Shrall, tears in his eyes as he tried to shake his head.

“Well, let me give him his wish.”

Holly looked away as Shrall let go of Fred and he fell like a boulder - a screaming boulder - all the way down the shaft and hit the bottom with a thunderous splatter.

There was a huge cheer of approval from the crowd as Shrall flexed his muscles, laughed, took a swig of his drink, and then sauntered off back to his cell.

“That was awful,” said Holly, not daring to look over the barrier to see Fred’s broken and battered body.

“Yeah,” said Lilly with a cheeky grin. “We need that guy on our side.”




Wainwright sat in his office at the top of the spike, scratching his chin and watching the monitor showing the guards taking away Fred Barcombe’s broken body. He shook his head and then chuckled to himself. If the prisoners wanted to destroy each other then so be it. It made his job more easier.

The communications console beeped and Wainwright turned to the large screen that adorned one wall in his sparsely decorated, grey-walled office.

He flicked on the screen and a man in a suit with a slightly receding hairline and high forehead appeared, looking stern.

“Agent Matthews, how may I help?”

Matthews didn’t smile. He didn’t blink. “I understand that you have two new prisoners - a blonde girl and a dark-haired girl.”

“Indeed I do,” said Wainwright. “The both of them were caught trespassing near to Theta-Spike.”

“Did you capture them with anyone else? A man, perhaps?”

Wainwright frowned. “No. They were the only ones there. There’s a curious blue box parked on the cliffs, but so far my guards have been unable to break into it.”

“And there definitely wasn’t a man with them?”

“Absolutely not.”

Matthews sighed and rubbed his eyes.

“Why? What’s the problem?”

“I have reason to believe that you have a Time Lord loose on your planet.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Wainwright with a nervous chuckle. “They don’t involve themselves in the affairs of the others. Even less so now.”

“This one does,” said Matthews. “I will be there very soon. In the meantime, if you find the man, make sure he doesn’t escape. I want him alive.”

To be continued...