The End of Resurrection: (SPOILERS!)

And so three years later Resurrection is over and I have mixed feelings. I'm happy because I feel like I've finally got through the story I wanted to tell. It feels complete (sort of) and it feels like it's finally over. It feels like it's time to start afresh. But I'm also sad because during my time writing I fell in love with the three main characters, and one character in particular.

Resurrection, in some ways, was a much more difficult series to write than Darkpaths. Darkpaths had been gestating in my mind since back to when I was a schoolboy and I had developed those stories over decades. Darkpaths was very much the series of my childhood. Resurrection had to be something different, and in some ways it was a daunting proposition to write it.

Reading back through my blog post I wrote about the end of Darkpaths in 2014, I have a smile on my face. I'd said I'd never revisit Thornsby or Caroline, but a few of those elements did pop up. Of course they had to pop up. Ultimately I've been creating a tapestry of a future world and those elements are all part of an ongoing story. As much as the next series will be a big departure from what's gone before, it ultimately is part of the same world.

Am I happy with how Resurrection turned out? Yes, mostly. It's a different animal to Darkpaths, as I

mentioned above, but not everything was as plain sailing. I set out a clear beginning, middle and end with the mystery surrounding Lilly and her rehabilitation back into the world followed by her departure to fix things with her real family and finally her reunion with the Doctor and Holly.

It wasn't always going to end how it ended though. Originally when Lilly left, Richard Hick was due to continue until the very end. As I continued to write Richard though I felt that, sadly, I had no real love for the character so I decided to give him a short-term run in the TARDIS and give him a happy ending.

Lilly and Holly weren't always going to have a happy end though. Originally Lilly was going to succomb to the infection she was suffering from and would have regenerated at the end into a totally different incarnation. She then would have left with the Doctor and carried on into the next series. But this I didn't feel fitted well with the ongoing story. The story really was about Holly and Lilly and to rip them apart at the end just felt cruel. I have to admit I fell in love with writing for both of them and I couldn't do it to them, so I gave them a happy ending.

Another aspect that I introduced was the UNIT:X team. Although they were guest characters that appeared once or twice I had intended them for something else. In the early days of Resurrection the plan for the next series was to continue with the Doctor stranded on present day Earth (ala the Third Doctor) and becoming UNIT:X's scientific advisor. It was even hinted at back in "Elsewhere" with Faith becoming a companion in the future.

Of course this leaves the UNIT:X team with a few dangling threads, but more on that later...

As for favourite stories: I really enjoyed writing the first five with the middle section slightly weaker after Lilly had left. I went through a huge bout of writers block during the last half of the series and sometimes had to force myself to write. But I think it turned out alright in the end with "Aliens Among Us", "The Edwardian Way" and "Elsewhere" being particular favourites to write.

I do have to confess that I didn't enjoy writing for McAvoy's Doctor as much as I did O'Brien's, but again that's mainly down to the O'Brien Doctor having been gestating for decades in my head. I'll miss McAvoy, but I'm eager to forge ahead with Pertwee's Doctor.

The adventures of the next Doctor, Sean Pertwee, will continue in the follow-up series, Doctor Who: Elysium, which will see the Doctor return to Earth and have a new mystery to solve with his new companions.

If you want to hop on over to Elysium then please follow this link:

https://drwhoelysium.blogspot.co.uk/

It's still the bare bones, but you'll get all the latest info on there.

And now to the future. The Doctor may be heading over to Elysium, but that doesn't mean we won't see some of our Resurrection characters again. In fact if you pop over to the new blog now you'll be able to see exactly where I'm going with it.

I hope there are readers still out there as I continue to build this future Doctor world!

Merry Christmas everyone!

The First Time Lord (Chapter 13: Finale)

Chapter 13 (The Sacrifice)




The Doctor was losing consciousness.

And then he was in the middle of a field. There were three people heading towards a metal fence that surrounded a darkened cemetery. This was where it all started. This was where he first met Holly and the healing of Lilly had begun. He grabbed his torch and was about to head towards the group of people when he felt a hand grab his arm.

He turned and standing there in the darkness was Caleb. He frowned at his nephew. “What are you doing here, Caleb?”

“Don’t lose focus now, uncle,” said Caleb.

“I don’t understand. I’m about to meet Holly. This has happened before.”

“You’re losing consciousness,” said Caleb. “My mother is about to kill you. You need to wake up.”

“But…” he shook his head, trying to clear the fog from his mind. “But Holly…”

“This is not real. This has happened before. You can’t get trapped here now.”

“But I enjoyed my time with her. With the both of them. I don’t want it to end. I’m going to miss them.”

Caleb stepped in front of him and grabbed him by the side of his face and looked into his eyes. “This has all happened before. You need to be in the present, not in the past. Holly and Lilly will be fine. You will be fine. You need to wake up.”

The group of people were frozen in place. The Doctor nodded, accepting what was happening to him. He looked at Caleb. “Thank you.”

Caleb smiled. “See you again, uncle.”



Events happened all at once. In the two TARDIS console rooms the Master and Maxus activate the time rotors. The conjoined TARDISes caused the space/time vortex to open. The vortex opened above the Earth and the two time machines were caught in its aperture. The two ships effectively blocked the end of the vortex and began to absorb the time winds.

Inside the Master shouted through the doorway to Maxus. “Is it holding?”

“Yes!” he shouted back, as the two ships rumbled. “Yes, it’s holding.”

“Good. You stay there as long as you can,” said the Master. “Mrs. Crossland, we’re ready!”



On Earth Faith was watching on a monitor as the Doctor was lifted into the air by the invisible force from Celestia. “Doctor, if you can hear me, get to that staff and activate it!”



But the Doctor couldn’t hear her. At least he couldn’t really comprehend what she was saying. He was too busy trying to breathe as Celestia tightened her grip.

“You really are fools, you Time Lords. I should just destroy you all, but you all need to learn a lesson. You took me from my home – from my family – and used me to your own ends. You will suffer for that.”

“Please…” said the Doctor.



In the TARDISes the Master had tuned in to the TV monitors and was watching the Doctor’s futile attempt to escape. The console sparked and shuddered.

He heard Maxus cry out from next door as hot sparks erupted from the console.

“Keep her steady!” shouted the Master.

“I’m trying,” said Maxus.

“This is a waste of time!” growled the Master. He closed his eyes and then looked down at a green jelly baby in his hand. “Oh, well, I guess I’ll just have to be a hero after all.” He shook his head and swallowed the green jelly baby.

With a flash the master disappeared.

“What!” said Maxus, hardly able to comprehend from the other console room.



In Trafalgar Square the Doctor suddenly felt a rush of energy through his body and he vanished. He felt himself falling and when he opened his eyes he was on the floor of the Masters TARDIS with Maxus looking at him dumbfounded.

“What? What…happened?” he said, clutching at his burning throat.

“He ate a jelly baby and disappeared,” shouted Maxus, as the Doctor’s console exploded in a ball of flames, throwing him halfway across the room.

The Doctor’s hand went to his mouth and he scrambled to his feet. He looked at the open bag of jelly babies and ran his sonic screwdriver over them. He frowned. “He implanted a micro transmatter inside them. When he ate his it caused us to switch places. I don’t believe it.” He ran to the monitor and looked closely at it.



The Master was on the floor with Celestia looking confused at what she had just witnessed. He took that as his opportunity. He dived across the floor and to the gutter, reaching for the staff. Celestia came to her senses and launched herself at him, but it was too late.

The Master got to his feet and held up the staff. He twisted it and the end glowed a bright red.

Up in space the two TARDISes were now glowing white hot. The energy from the vortex shot through the time machines and a beam of time energy zeroed in on the Masters position.

The clouds broke open and the energy zapped down like a bolt of coloured lightning. It struck the staff and then shot out of the end hitting Celestia full on in the chest. The Master screamed as he held onto the staff tightly, smoke rising from his now-glowing body. Celestia was engulfed in time energy as she was lifted into the air.

“No!” she screamed in torment.

“It’s too late, Celestia,” said the Master. “Too late for either of us.”

The energy surged through the Master and the staff and into Celestia. Slowly the regeneration energy began to flicker and pull out of the Time Lady until all that was left was Celestia’s smoking body and the regeneration energy twisting and writhing into a Humanoid shape between her and the Master.

“It ends now,” said the Master.

With one final push of his will he threw his arm forward. The spear pierced the regeneration energy and he fell forward, through the energy, stabbing Celestia through the chest. She screamed. The regeneration energy exploded in bright, white light and Celestia fell to the floor with the Master tumbling down on top of her.



In space the vortex closed, the Master’s TARDIS shook violently and the Doctor ran from the console room to his own where Quinn Maxus was struggling to breath. He closed the doors and broke away from the Master’s TARDIS as his old enemy’s ship was ripped apart from the inside, tumbling towards the Earth as a smoldering, melted box.

The Doctor helped Maxus to his feet and guided him towards the escape pod. The console exploded again and the Doctor and Maxus fell to the floor.

“You need to come too,” said Maxus.

“I need to save the TARDIS if I can,” coughed the Doctor.

And with that he pushed Maxus into the escape pod. He got to his feet and reached whatever controls were left on the console and set the escape pod it flight. He looked up at the time rotor. It was glowing bright white and was threatening to break. The walls began to crumble and huge cracks began to appear in the floor.

He tried to stabalise his ship, but it was no good. This was it. This was the end.



In Trafalgar Square Lilly ran to her mother and fathers side and dropped to her knees. Celestia reached up for her daughter, but she was already nearly gone.

“Regenerate,” said Lilly, under her breath.

“Too late for either of us,” said Celestia.

“I’m sorry,” said the Master. He reached towards Lilly. “I failed you all.”

Lilly didn’t know what to say, but she was taken aback as he reached out to her hand and held it tightly. A very, very low glow came from his finger tips and Lilly felt her wound on her side begin to heal up, the infection finally being eradicated from her body.

“Live your life, Illithia,” he said.

“We love you, sweetheart,” said Celestia. “Remember…remember that.

Lilly nodded as Holly dropped to her side and put her arms around her.

Lilly began to cry as the last of the life-force left her parents. They were dead. The threat was over and Lilly could finally let go of the past.



At the edge of the time vortex, hanging above Earth, the TARDIS was engulfed in flames. The blackened walls gave away to the dimensions inside. The Doctor coughed and spluttered and was thrown off his feet as the console exploded again, showering him in energy from the time rotor.

Then, with a final shudder, the quakes died down. The blackened husk of the TARDIS tumbled into the opening of the vortex, and with one final explosion the vortex closed.



The explosion was so big that Faith could see it from where she was standing in Trafalgar Square. She looked at Maxus as he tried to catch his breath beside the escape pod. That too was already beginning to dissolve into nothing, disconnected from its mother ship.

“Do you think…?” started Faith, her voice trembling.

Maxus shook his head. “The Master’s TARDIS exploded. His was falling to bits. I don’t think there’s any way he could have survived that.”

Faith looked back up at the remains of the explosion as the rainclouds began to part, the sun breaking through them. “Goodbye, Doctor. Safe journey.”



One Year Later

Dear Diary,

It’s Holly. Yes, I know it’s been years and years again, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to update you on all that’s been happening since I’ve been gone.

Life is good.

I met this bloke called the Doctor and he took me away to other planets and other times, but now he’s gone. On that journey I met a woman and I fell in love with her. Her name is Lilly. We moved into a little flat in the north of the town about a year ago and we couldn’t be happier. We’ve even got ourselves a little dog.

Lilly’s parents died a year ago today, which is sad, but I think she finally feels like she can move on from her past. The UNIT troops took their bodies away and we buried them a week later in a quiet little graveyard in a village far from anyone.

We’re going there today to visit the Doctor. To say our goodbyes.

Speak again soon,
Holly



Holly locked her car and her and Lilly made their way down the leafy pathway, up the hill and to underneath the tree. Sat beneath the tree were two white, marble headstones, each baring a name - one – Koschei and the other – Celestia.

Lilly knelt down in front of them and placed lilies at the base of each one.

“Nice flowers,” said Holly, kissing her on the top of the head.

“My father probably would have hated them,” laughed Lilly.

She got to her feet and walked around the tree. On the other side, facing out over a stunning vista of the nearby village was a dark, blue headstone. They had never found the Doctor’s body. They had never found his TARDIS. He was lost somewhere, but UNIT had paid for a memorial to be put up for him.

Lilly ran her hand along the smooth marble and then across the gold letters. It read:

“THE DOCTOR. FATHER. GRANDFATHER. UNCLE. FRIEND.”

“Do you think he survived?” asked Holly, looking at the grey clouds up above.

“I don’t know,” said Lilly. “I like to think he’s out there somewhere. It might not be our Doctor. It might be a past Doctor or a future Doctor. But I like to think he’s still out there somewhere.”

“Do you miss it?” asked Holly, as they got up to leave. “Travelling I mean?”

Lilly smiled. “Travelling in time and space is fun. I miss him more than I could ever tell him myself,” said Lilly, “but I’m right where I want to be right now.” She leaned in and gave Holly a kiss as they made their way towards their future.

Epilogue

The Doctor opened his eyes. He could hardly breathe. The TARDIS was still and silent. All around him he could smell smoke. The console room was blackened and charred and the smoldering remains of the console had finally stopped burning. This old time ship wasn’t going to be going anywhere any time soon.

He sat up. His face was black and burnt from the fire. He wasn’t sure where he was but there was water leaking in through a crack on the outer doors. He got to his feet and then fell back down. His burnt legs could no longer take his weight.

He pulled himself across the floor until his back was against the outer door. He dabbed his finger in the trickle of water and then licked the end of his finger.

“Sea water,” he said. “I’m underwater. Joy.”

He coughed again and felt a searing pain across his forehead. When he opened his eyes he thought he saw a glimpse of Caleb, but no sooner had he appeared he had disappeared again.

And then he felt it - that familiar, burning sensation coming from the centre of his body. He brought his charred hand up to his face. It was glowing orange. He smiled as he waggled his fingers around – the burnt flesh beginning to fall from them.

He closed his eyes as he suddenly found the strength to get to his feet. He looked down at his legs. They too were glowing orange and slowly but surely the energy crept up his body until he was engulfed in the effects of the regeneration.

He thought back to Lilly and Holly and how he missed them, but how happy he was that they were finally together. And he thought of Stark and Faith and Maxus and all the others. He had made friends during this lifetime and hoped he had helped them all.

And then he thought of the Master and his sacrifice. It still surprised him. But that, too, made him happy. He had finally done the right thing for once in his life.

“Goodbye, Uncle,” he heard Caleb whisper from somewhere within the console room.

“Thank you, Caleb,” he said as he threw his arms out, the regeneration energy exploding from his body. As he felt the change take hold, the burnt flesh fell from his body and he made a mental note- it was time for a rest. It was time for a break.

With one final burst he flung his arms out and the Doctor changed.

He fell to the floor. He felt different as he always did. He felt taller. He got to his feet and looked at his hands. They were older, but he felt good. He felt fit. He scrambled around on the floor for anything for him to see his reflection in. He found a bit of fire damaged glass from the time rotor. With his burnt jacket sleeve and a drop of sea water he cleared it up and then stared down at the face that looked up at him.

He had short, grey hair, a deep-lined face and a little stubble. He looked stern, but there was some warmth in those new eyes. But the nose – oh my – he had had a nose like this one before many, many years ago.

He laughed.

“Well, hello Doctor,” he said. “Now, let’s see if we can get out of this wreck, shall we?”

And the adventure continued…

INTRODUCING SEAN PERTWEE AS THE DOCTOR

 

The End

Resurrection has come to an end, but the story of our future Doctor continues in 2018 with Doctor Who: Apocalypse, starring Sean Pertwee as the next Doctor. More information will be coming over the next few weeks.

Merry Christmas everyone!

The First Time Lord (Chapter 12)

Chapter 12 (Ancient Weapons)




President Anastania stood with the Doctor in the darkened hall that housed the Omega Arsenal. He remembered being here many, many years ago when he stole the Moment - the weapon that would bring an end to the Time War.

Those stakes were higher then, but he was willing to make the sacrifice. And he was willing to make the sacrifice now. Back then he had had two other versions of him talk him out of using the Moment to destroy Gallifrey. This time he only had himself. This time the sacrifice would only be to his own life. He couldn’t not make that decision this time.

“Well, here it is,” said Anastania. “To be honest we always thought it was a fake.”

She led the Doctor to a glass case which contained a golden rod, bejeweled with blue diamonds and a ruby-red glass tip.

“Then why did you keep it?” asked the Doctor.

She placed her hand on the top of the glass and it slowly melted away until the cabinet was gone. She grabbed the staff and handed it to him. “It was passed down through the generations. Tests were run on it, but even if it were real we thought it was too dangerous to even try. Sacrificing two TARDISes and a person to just check if an ancient weapon is real…” She shook her head. “Not worth it, Doctor.”

“I have to do this, you know, Madame President?”

She shook her head. “Not you, Doctor. Let the Master do it.”

“I don’t trust him. And I would never sacrifice someone else when I could do it myself.”

She grabbed his hands and looked into his eyes. “The difference is that the universe needs the Doctor. It doesn’t need the Master.”

“But don’t you see? These past few years have all been leading up to this - me finding the Master at Manchester Airport, meeting Lilly and being reunited with Celestia and Caleb. It’s all been leading up to this. Now all the players are in position.”

“He is a criminal.”

“Then let your guards take him prisoner when all this is over.” He took the weapon from Anastania and turned it over in his hands. “It does make me chuckle though?”

“In what way?”

“That once again I have to mop up the mess left by my own people.”

“Doctor, I’ve told you,” said Anastania, “I want to make Gallifrey a better place.”

“Exactly. And it starts with this - the end of the First Time Lord. Our first mistake.” He smiled at her. “You’re the future, Anastania, not me. My days are over.”

And with that he turned and made his way out of the Time Vault and back towards his TARDIS. Back towards destiny.



“Doctor,” said Lilly, “are you sure about this?”

The Doctor looked down at the small, blonde woman and smiled. She had come such a long way since the days of West Pilton. The things she had had to endure had made her the woman she was today.

“Your life is not with me, Lilly,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “You’re life is here with Holly.”

“But-”

He put his finger to her lips. “Don’t try to convince me otherwise, Lilly. I heard you and Holly talking earlier. I know that you’re meant to be together.”

“Doctor, I’m sorry,” she said, putting her head on his chest.

“Don’t be sorry. This is what I like to think I do. I take broken and lost people and help them find a purpose. I’m happy.”

“I’m just…I’m sorry for everything.”

“No,” said the Doctor. “We’ve had this discussion. The past is the past. We can’t change it, but we can repair it. That’s what I’m doing now.” He looked across at Holly who was standing by the TARDIS, tears in her eyes. “And you, Miss Dangerfield.”

“I’ll look after her, Doctor, I promise.”

“I know you will. She needs you. She’ll always need you.” He leant forward and kissed her on her forehead. “You were there for her in a way I could never have been.”

“I’m gonna miss you,” said Holly.

“You’re gonna carry on, Holly,” said the Doctor. “And I’m fairly certain that when you two decide to get married that you’ll have the best wedding anyone has ever had.”

“Doctor,” said Holly, blushing.

“We’ll send you an invite,” said Lilly. “I want you to be my best man.”

“My only regret is that I won’t be there to give you away,” said the Doctor. “At least not in body.”

Lilly looked sad. The Doctor walked away from Holly and the dark-haired girl went to stand next to her girlfriend. The Doctor stood next to the TARDIS doors and surveyed the room of people before him. There was Benton and Bethany standing side by side, a burgeoning love developing between them. Osborne was looking as cool as ever as he kept hold of his plasma rifle firmly…and then there was Faith. Faith was someone who he dearly wanted to take away and show her the wonders of the universe. But that wasn’t going to happen now. She had to repair her life with her ex husband and daughter.

Maxus walked in with the Master. “We’re just about ready. We’ve got five minutes, but I don’t think she suspects anything.”

“Do we know the plan?” said the Doctor. “Let’s go over it again.”

“Myself and Maxus will be piloting mine and your TARDIS respectively, whilst you are in Trafalgar Square with the Staff,” said the Master.

“You’re gonna have to get out of my TARDIS pretty sharpish, Quinn,” said the Doctor.

“Escape pod on standby, Doc,” said Maxus, clapping him on the shoulder.

“You’re a good man, Quinn,” said the Doctor, shaking his hand.

“And am I not a good man?” said the Master.

“You were a good friend once,” said the Doctor, nodding to his old enemy. “Thank you for helping with this.”

“Not to get everyone in a tizz,” said Faith, “but we need to get moving on this.”

The Doctor nodded as he grabbed the Staff. The Master grabbed his arm and held out a paper bag. “Jelly baby?”

The Doctor smiled and picked out a green one. “Thank you, Koschei.”

The Master winked and nodded. “Don’t mention it, old man.”

“Okay then, folks,” said the Doctor, as Maxus and the Master entered the two TARDISes, “let’s get this show on the road.”



Faith and Osborne had driven the Doctor, along with Holly and Lilly, to the perimeter line. Celestia was standing beside one of the stone lions and she raised her head as the Doctor emerged from around the corner.

“Where is Koschei?” she asked, her hair blowing in the wind. It had started to rain and it was getting colder.

“He declined your offer,” said the Doctor, slowing climbing the steps to her.

“And you agreed?”

“Gallifrey needs stability,” said the Doctor. “The High Council have lost their way. Ever since the Time War they’ve been floundering making mistake after mistake. I believe you’re the only one who can put this right.”

Celestia smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. “You have faith in me?”

“I do,” said the Doctor.



Across the street Faith spoke into her walkie-talkie. “Okay, fellas, what’s the situation?”



Above the planet the Doctor’s TARDIS and the Masters TARDIS had connected themselves to each other and both were glowing with crackling, yellow energy.

Inside the joined console rooms the Master was busy surveying the readings on his console. “Are we reading full link-up, Maxus?” he asked.

Maxus checked the readings on his console against a scrap of paper the Doctor had scribbled on. “Jesus, his hand writing’s terrible.”

“Just answer the question,” said the Master, looking frustrated.

“Yeah, yeah, I think we’re alright.”

“Mrs. Crossland,” said the Master, speaking into the speaking grill on his console, “we are ready to go.”



Down in Trafalgar Square the Doctor could hear Faith’s voice through a micro-earphone in his ear. “Good to go, Doctor. I’ll signal you when you can make your move.”

Celestia frowned at the Doctor. “Is there something wrong?”

“No,” said the Doctor. “Absolutely nothing at all.” He grinned. “Tip-top.”

Her eyes shifted from side to side. “No, I sense something.”

“I don’t,” said the Doctor. “It is a little bit chilly though. Would you like to borrow my jacket?”

“You forget that I sense disturbances in time,” she said. She grinned. “Oh, you’ve done your best to shield it from me, but I can tell there’s something going on.”

“You must be imagining things,” said the Doctor. “Now, let’s make some plans. Let’s kick some Time Lord backside, eh?”

“You’re the Doctor,” said Celestia, shaking her head. “You don’t succumb to anyone that easily. What are you planning?”

“Absolutely nothing,” said the Doctor, staring right at her.

“Tell me,” said Celestia. She flung out her hand and the Doctor was thrown backwards, rolling down the steps and landing at the bottom.

He put his hand to his ear and spoke. “Faith, tell those two to hurry up! She’s rumbled me!”

Celestia began descending the steps, her arm still reaching out towards the Doctor as he backed away across the flagstones. “You must know now that you can’t defeat me. Not without significant loss to yourselves.”

The Doctor went inside his blazer jacket and pulled out a small, compact version of the Staff of Roth. He flicked his wrist and the Staff extended to his full size.

Celestia laughed. “Oh, I’ve seen this before. It didn’t stop me then and it won’t stop me now.” She reached out her hand and the Doctor was flung into the air. He dropped the Staff and it rolled across the flagstones and into the gutter.

The Doctor couldn’t breath as he felt an invisible force crushing his windpipe. He could hear Faith’s voice in his ear shouting out orders to Maxus and the Master high up above.

“And now, my dear Doctor, you will die.” Celestia gripped tighter.


To be concluded...

The First Time Lord (Chapter 11)

Chapter 11 (Born to Rule)



The Doctor and the Master had retreated to the surrounding perimeter. The Master sat on the bonnet of an abandoned car and stroked his chin.

“Well?” said Faith, “what did she say?”

“She doesn’t want to destroy the Time Lords,” said the Doctor, taking a yellow boiled sweet from his trouser pocket and popping it into his mouth.

“That’s good, isn’t it?” said Maxus.

“In some respects,” said the Doctor. “Unfortunately she does want to rule the Time Lords.”

“Right,” said Faith, nodding. “So how do we stop her? I mean she’s surely not going to stay sat around the lions, is she?”

“She’s let us go to make our decision,” said the Master.

“Decision on what?” said Maxus.

“She told us that we could join her or be destroyed.”

“And you have come away to make your decision?” said Faith, looking a little frustrated and worried.

“Don’t be so naive, Faith,” said the Doctor. “We’re not going to join her, but we need to find time to find something that can defeat her.”

“And if we don’t?” said Maxus. “She doesn’t have an army behind her. What’s she going to do?”

“That’s the problem,” said the Doctor. “Celestia is tuned into time so to speak. She’s able to manipulate anyone who is a time sensitive.”

“Someone who has travelled in time?” said Maxus.

“Exactly. Well, those that are not able to block her out. So that includes you, Mr. Maxus, Holly, Lilly…anyone I’ve ever travelled with not to mention the various time sensitive creatures dotted around the planet. She could enslave their minds and bring an army together in no time at all. They’d be powerless to stop them.”

“Then we need to come up with a plan ASAP,” said Maxus, the urgency on his face.

The Doctor nodded, crunching down on his sweet. “I think I may have a plan, but it’s at a great cost.”

“How great?”

The Doctor looked at the Master. “It’d mean one of us would have to die.”



Holly was idly stirring a cold cup of coffee with a plastic teaspoon when Lilly trotted in and sat down opposite her. She smiled and then touched her arm. “You okay, Dangerfield?”

Holly sighed. “Just wondering how we get out of this thing.” She took a sip of the tepid coffee and grimaced.

“We’ve been in sticky spots before,” said Lilly.

“I know, but this time…look at all its cost.”

Lilly looked sad. “You know all that time I spent in Jacarthia I never suspected my mother could be something else.” She leant back in her chair, thinking back. “But there was always something a little distant about her. She clearly cared for me and wanted to get to know me, but she almost seemed a little reluctant. I put it down to her being off with me because of Caleb.”

“I didn’t know her well enough.” Holly took Lilly’s hands. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” said Lilly, smiling sadly. “I’ve come to expect it now.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

“No,” said Lilly, smiling, “I don’t mean that. I mean that I’ve come to expect it travelling with the Doctor, which is why I’m going to stop.”

“What? Seriously? Stop travelling with the Doctor.”

“Wherever we’ve gone I’ve had nothing but problems. I killed Caleb, my father was a psychopath and now I’ve lost my mother. The Doctor has become distracted as well trying to take care of me all the time.”

“But he wants to.”

“I know he does,” said Lilly, “but I don’t think he should anymore. He needs to break free and go on his own way again.”

“So you’re going to leave us again? Where will you go?”

“Well,” said Lilly, smiling at Holly, “I’ve found a nice little apartment for two in a town called Huxley.”

“What?” said Holly, not quite understanding what she was saying.

“Holly, I’ve done my adventuring through time and space now. If you’re willing to leave the Doctor too then so am I. I don’t just want to be with you. I want to be with you all of the time. Together.”

Holly was taken aback and laughed, putting her hand to her mouth. “You’re serious?”

“Dangerfield,” said Lilly, leaning in, “I’m in love with you and want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Holly smiled and leaned in closer. “Well then, how can I resist, Miss Galloway?” And then they kissed.

What they didn’t see was the Doctor the other side of the door, his back to the wall and looking sad. Things were changing and this particular chapter of his life was coming to an end. He shook his head, smiling at the conversation between Holly and Lilly and then made his way down the corridor towards the lab.

Inside the lab the Master was hunched over the monitors watching the newsfeed of Celestia, biding her time sat on the steps near Nelson’s Column.

“Where’ve you been?” he asked.

“I was going to ask the girls to join us, but they’ve got other things on their minds.”

“Forget them;” said the Master, “we have twenty five minutes to stop her before she begins her attack on this miserable planet.”

“I know that,” said the Doctor.

Faith entered the room with Maxus. “Well, so far she’s not done anything else so I think we’re okay for now, but you fellas need to come up with something ASAP.”

“We have a plan, but first we need to look at how she was defeated in the first place,” said the Master

“The Time Moons and the Staff of Roth.”

“I beg your pardon?” said Maxus.

“That’s how they did it. When she was born the staff was used to channel the space/time vortex through the time moons, into the machines and into the female Gallifreyan. The storybooks say that she was defeated at the Battle of Spire Peak. The Gallifreyans aligned the moons and channeled the energy through the moons via the staff. Roth, the scientist, was killed, but the energy was extracted from the host body.”

“The Gallifreyans then sealed the energy into the casket and cast it out into the Void. The host body – Celestia – fell through time with no knowledge of the person she used to be.”

“Celestia once said to me that she was a young lady living rough in the streets of Antihope when she met Reikon. She was always a little fuzzy on her past.”

“Now we know why,” said the Master.

“Okay,” said Maxus, trying to get his head around this information, “so we need to find the Staff of Goth.”

“Roth,” said the Master and the Doctor together.

“And two time moons?” said Faith, looking bewildered.

“Well the time moons are going to be the problem,” said the Doctor. “They were naturally occurring aberrations from the time vortex. Since the vortex was tamed they don’t appear anymore.”

“And the Staff?”

“Would you believe,” said the Doctor, “that it’s housed in the Omega Arsenal on Gallifrey. It’s just been sat there for millennia like some old, forgotten relic.”

“Fantastic!” said Faith. “But what do we do about the time moons?”

The Doctor looked at the Master. “That’s where our real problems begin. We can use our two TARDISes to channel the power, but the energy would almost certainly destroy one or even both of them. They’d certainly be badly damaged.”

“Okay, but the Time Lords can help you there, can’t they?” said Faith. “They could give you new TARDISes if need be.”

“Well, apart from the sentimental value of my ship, yes they could do, but we have another problem.”

“Oh, what a surprise!” said Faith.

“Tell them, Doctor,” said the Master.

“Someone needs to be holding the staff to channel the power. That person will almost certainly be killed.”

“Oh,” said Faith, looking worried.

“But that’s how the custard cream crumbles,” said the Doctor. “Sacrifices have to be made.”

“As soon as the energy is extracted we have to seal it back in the casket, yeah?”

“No,” said the Master. “The energy survived last time because the host body – Celestia – was allowed to live. This time, as soon as the energy is released, we have to kill Celestia.” The Master looked at the Doctor who looked upset. “He doesn’t like that part.”

“I don’t like any part,” growled the Doctor.

“The energy should then evaporate without its link to its corporeal form.”

“Okay,” said Maxus. “Well we need to get out skates on. We’ve only got twenty minutes before she makes her move.”

“Agreed, Mr. Maxus,” said the Master.

As the Master began making calculations with Maxus by his side Faith walked over to the subdued looking Doctor. She put a hand on his chest. “Please don’t get yourself killed.”

He looked at her and smiled sadly. “I think you already know my answer to that.”

“Let him do it,” she said, nodding towards the Master. “He’s expendable. You’re not.”

“He’s also untrustworthy,” said the Doctor. “I don’t trust anyone to hold that staff other than myself. I need to make sure I get the job done.”

“But you’ll die.”

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders. “Like I said, sacrifices need to be made.”

The Master turned and looked over his shoulder at the Doctor and Faith. He then looked back at the monitor, stared down at the black and white news footage of Celestia and made his decision. Sacrifices would be made.



To be continued...

The First Time Lord (Chapter 10)

Chapter 10 (What Happens at the Institute Stays at the Institute)



The Aldridge Institute, The Other Earth, Some Time Ago



“Doctor,” said Mary, “are you okay?”

The Doctor didn’t respond. He simply stood with his arms folded in the middle of the lab, staring at the casket. It was only when Mary put a hand on his shoulder that he became aware of her.

“Oh, Mary, I’m sorry,” he said. He was lost in thought.

“Still staring at it?”

“My dear, I’ve been staring at it for five years.” He shook his head. “We’re still no closer to getting inside.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing,” said Mary. “Something’s shouldn’t be opened, remember?”

The Doctor nodded and then went to sit at a stool beside the lab table. He continued to stare at the box. It was a puzzle for sure. Five years ago he had been travelling with Lethbridge-Stewart when they had crossed over the dimensions. The TARDIS had malfunctioned and they had picked up a signal coming from the deep, dark nothingness of the Void. They had discovered the container floating aimlessly and brought it onboard.

Eventually they had found their way into this universe but the TARDIS was still severely damaged so they had landed on this version of Earth and the Doctor had befriended Paul Aldridge, CEO of the Aldridge Institute, a scientific organization that dealt with the development of technology.

“Do you think that’s why Lethbridge-Stewart left?” asked the Doctor, his mind wandering back to his old friend who had left a few years ago.

“Doctor, don’t start thinking like that,” said Mary, sitting down next to him. “You know why Alistair left. He wasn’t getting any younger, remember?”

The Doctor nodded. Lethbridge-Stewart had soon realized that they weren’t returning to his world any time soon. Paul Aldridge had died and in the intervening years his wife, Katy, had grown closer to Alistair and they had decided to move to Paris to enjoy the rest of their lives leaving the Doctor and Mary to run things at the institute.

“He did write me a letter the other day,” said the Doctor, smiling warmly. “Good old Lethbridge-Stewart. He was never one for keeping up to date with technology.”

“Mum’s the same,” said Mary. She sighed. “At least she’s happy.”

The Doctor looked across at Mary. She was a very pretty young woman. She had long dark hair, pale blue eyes and a collection of freckles around her nose. Her mother was more or less her double, although 30 years older. Whilst he missed travelling the universe, he had come to feel at home with the Aldridge’s. He was happy.

“One day I’ll walk away from this thing,” said Aldridge.

“Well you’re going to have to make that today,” said Mary, getting off the stool and going to her handbag.

“What do you mean?”

She pulled out a newspaper and showed it to him. “Something that happened in the town centre.”

The Doctor looked down at the local newspaper and frowned at the headline. “Man’s Dead Wife Returns to Life”

“Right up our street, yeah, and on your doorstep?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” he said, folding the paper up.

“Look,” said Mary, taking the paper from him, “you can spend the next five years staring at this metal coffin or you can come with me to investigate this zombie thing.”

“I highly doubt it’s a zombie,” said the Doctor, smiling at her.

“You won’t know that unless you come with me to find out.” She smiled playfully at him.

“Oh, very well,” he said, sighing, “you’ve convinced me. It might do me some good to get out anyway.”



Six Months Later 


“Doctor, we need to go!” said Mary, tears in her eyes as the lights flickered and dust fell from the ceiling above.

He was hunched over a computer monitor studying the readings the casket was giving off. “But the energy from the portal into that other world is having some kind of effect on the container.”

“Listen,” said Mary, “I thought you’d made a breakthrough in Paris. I thought you’d left this bloody thing behind.”

“Don’t talk to me about Paris.”

“She was my mother, remember?” said Mary, the tears flowing freely now.

The Doctor looked away from the monitor. “I remember how haunted Alistair looked. The skies just opened up and they came through. They just…vaporised her. Right in front of us.”

“I know,” said Mary. “I was there, remember?”

“The Time Lords told me to leave, you know?” said the Doctor, looking at Mary. “They told me to get off this planet. That there’s nothing we can do.”

“Then maybe we should go. Maybe we should get Alistair and get in the TARDIS and get out of here.”

“The TARDIS is still not fixed, remember?” said the Doctor, trying to bite his tongue.

“Maybe you should have spent the last five years trying to repair it rather than trying to get into this thing.”

“I tried,” said the Doctor, walking to the casket, “but when they came through and we got a spike in the signals….” He shook his head. “You know what might be in here?”

“Yes, you’ve told me all the theories. The First Time Lord. The Time Lord Slayer. Do you really want to get in there?”

“The only way to deal with the Slayer, if it is indeed the Slayer, is to make sure it’s neutralized for good.”

“Well, they’re coming. The Kro’Tenk are coming. They’re going to level this building.”

By now a group of scientists were busy loading equipment into trucks outside the building, trying to clear the area to get all essential items away from here. The Kro’Tenk had been here for just a week and were systematically taking out any potential threats to their invasion plans.

The room shook violently. There were screams from the outside corridors followed by the sound of gunfire, laser fire and the clanging of swords.

“They’re here!” said Mary.

The room shook again and the casket jolted.

“Did you see that?” said the Doctor. “It must have something to do with the dimensional energy.”

He ran around to the control panel and adjusted a few settings. There was a buildup of energy; the cables connected from the console were humming with power. They had set up a rig outside to channel any of the energy from the portals that were opening up, and it seemed to be working.

“Just leave it, Doctor!” said Mary.

With a huge pulse of power the casket opened ever so slightly. Mary was taken aback as tendrils of energy snaked out from underneath the lid of the container and slithered towards the scientists and Mary.

“Shut it down!” said Mary, as she backed up against the lab table.

The Doctor ran around the back of the container and launched himself at the control panel. Almost in reaction the tendrils lashed out at the Mary and the scientists. Mary was flung across the room, shaking like a rag doll, before landing with a crash against the TARDIS.

“NO!” yelled the Doctor as he cut the power. The lid slammed shut and the tendrils were extinguished.

The Doctor rushed to Mary’s side, but he could already tell what was wrong with her before he even reached her. Her head was bent at an odd angle and her eyes were still and lifeless. He dropped to his knees and held her head in his hands, closing his eyes tightly shut and cursing himself inside.

There was another crash from outside. They were getting nearer. Survival instincts took over as he let go of Mary and bolted towards the casket. No matter what this thing had done he wasn’t going to let it fall into the hands of those creatures.

He pushed the gurney that the casket was resting on across the floor and through the open TARDIS doors. He ran into the console room and one for brief moment he considered if he would have left this world had his TARDIS been working, but dismissed that instantly. He had to try and save this world from the Kro’Tenk. He owed it to Paul, Lucy and Mary Aldridge. He would find Lethbridge-Stewart and they would plan together.

He flicked a switch on the console and a camera flipped up and swiveled towards him. He straightened himself up.

“This is a message for whoever has broken into my TARDIS. We are in the middle of a warzone. The Kro’Tenk are attempting to enslave this world and I have done the only thing I can do to keep this thing locked away – I’ve put my TARDIS into siege mode. If you are hearing this message then you have been stupid enough to break inside. During my travels I’ve encountered a great many things, but I know, from my own races past, that this thing,” he indicated the coffin, “is one of the most dangerous of them all. I first discovered it when I was passing through the dimensions. My TARDIS had become trapped outside of space and time when Lethbridge-Stewart and I discovered a signal coming from deep in the nothingness. On further investigation we discovered this item. We took it on board and brought it back into our universe. Before the war against the Kro’Tenk I managed to get some assistance from a science institute on Earth. I was unable to open the container and my curiosity had gotten the better of me. I was assisted by my friend, Mary, daughter of the CEO of the Aldridge Institute. I spent five years there before the Kro’Tenk arrived, but before the creatures came we managed to momentarily open the casket. The power unleashed killed Mary and a dozen other scientists at the lab. We had no choice but to lock it away again. But not before we discovered exactly what it was.” He turned to the console and inserted a USB drive. “I’m transmitting the data readings to any device you may have that is monitoring the inside of this craft. This will enable you to study the container without fear of opening it.” He straightened himself up. “You may wonder what it is. Perhaps curiosity is not such a good thing, but as you’re listening to this I have to assume that you want answers.” He breathed a heavy sigh. “In the legends of our people there are stories of the First Time Lord. The first Gallifreyan to be imbued with the power of regeneration. Legends say that the First Time Lord went crazy and waged a war on those Gallifreyans. It is just a legend, but in legends and myths there is always a degree of truth.” He sighed as he heard another explosion from outside followed by more screams. “I suppose what I’m trying to say is don’t make the same mistake I did. Do not open the container because what is inside could have terrible consequences for everyone. I know without any shadow of a doubt that it is the First Time Lord. The Time Lord Slayer. Goodbye.”

There came the crashing of metal and the smashing of glass from the lab. He had no choice. He opened up a panel underneath the console and pulled out a control box. He connected a few cables from underneath a grill on the floor to the box and then closed his eyes. He said a little prayer and then pressed down on the control unit. The console began to hum with power as the lights flicked to blue, casting everything around in an eerie darkness.

He grabbed his coat and took one last look at the casket. “I hope for all our sakes you stay hidden in here.”

He exited the TARDIS just as the Kro’Tenk burst into the room. The lead creature, a red-scaled lizard-man with gun-metal grey armour licked its scaly lips and aimed it’s canon at the Doctor. The TARDIS began to glow and shimmer. The Kro’Tenk was distracted and instead shifted its focus to the police box. It panicked and took aim at the box, firing a huge green blast of energy. At that moment the box shrunk into siege mode.

There came another explosion from the far wall and the Kro’Tenk soldier was knocked unconscious. Standing there amongst the rubble and smoke was a middle-aged man with jet black hair, black moustache and wearing a shirt and tie.

The Doctor coughed and spluttered and then looked up at the figure. “Lethbridge-Stewart! Alistair!” he beamed.

Lethbridge-Stewart looked across from the small, metal box and then to Mary. “What on Earth has happened here, Doctor?” “All in good time, Brigadier,” said the Doctor, getting to his feet and crossing over to Mary. He hefted her up into his arms and then indicated for his friend to pick up the box. “We have a world to save.”



To be continued...

The First Time Lord (Chapter 9)

Chapter 9 (Broken Hearts and Broken Souls)



She felt like her body was on fire. She was on top of the highest tower at the Deadfort. The sky above glittered with silver stars and her eyes were drawn towards what was above her. She couldn’t move. She felt frozen in place. Against the night sky was two moons. They were glowing with a golden/orange hue and between them the space/time vortex was open.

Standing on a mountain, higher than anything else on the planet, was a figure. A beam of coloured light was being channeled from the vortex, through the figure on the mountain and towards her.

They had done it. They had found a way to defeat her.

She tried to scream but she couldn’t as she felt herself splitting in two, but not physically. This was different. She felt like something was being pulled out of her. The channeled energy was ripping her very soul from her body.



Celestia frowned to herself and then shook her head. Those memories were still there and were beginning to come to the surface, but she couldn’t let her past defeats control her now. She had to move on. She had to plan anew.

She was sat on a bench in what these Earth creatures had called Trafalgar Square. In front of her was Nelson’s Column, the lions either side as children tried to climb on them to have their photos taken. She could take this world without a problem. There were time sensitive’s across the globe that she could bring to her cause, and even if they didn’t join her she could make them join her. There would be no resistance, and then she could plan her revenge against the Gallifreyans.

She could hear a strange, cooing sound below her. A child was feeding the pigeons some scraps of a sandwich he didn’t want.

She looked at the child. The child didn’t seem particularly happy that he was feeding them his sandwich, he just seemed to be mesmorised by their scavenging for the dry scraps.

“Don’t feed them, Billy,” said his mother, as she took his hand and led him away, “they’re just rats with wings.”

Celestia looked back down at the pigeons and then narrowed her eyes. She breathed in and then held up her hand. A bolt of energy shot out from her finger tips, hitting a small collection of the birds in front of her, killing them instantly. She smiled as people cried in shock and began walking away from her. She still had that power. It was still there. She looked up at Nelson’s Column and smiled. This would be where she would make her plans.

This planet would fall.



“Tea? Seriously?” said Maxus.

“The world can’t function without a cup of tea,” said the Doctor, furiously clicking through data on a computer monitor. He had downloaded the relevant files and information on the First Time Lord to the lab computers and so far had made no headway.

“Tea it is then, Doc,” said Maxus, shaking his head.

“Humour him,” said Faith, smiling as Maxus went off to make the tea.

“Oh, I’m used to him Sentinel,” said Maxus.

Faith waited for Maxus to leave and then slowly approached the Doctor. She put a hand on his shoulder and sat down next to him. He eventually looked up from the monitor and then noticed her arm on his shoulder.

“How are you, Doctor?” she asked.

“I’m fine,” he said, smiling and returning to the screen.

“No, really, how are you?”

He didn’t look at her as the data flashed across his eyes. “I feel a sense of déjà vu.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I’ve lost Reikon before, a long, long time ago, except he returned from the dead. That won’t be happening this time.” He looked down from the monitor and then to Faith. “I’ve always been disconnected from my family, but with Celestia and Reikon and Caleb I had something there. I was forging a bond.”

“You have Lilly though.”

The Doctor nodded, but there was sadness in his eyes. “Lilly doesn’t belong with me though. She belongs with Holly.”

“Can’t they both belong with you?”

He got up from the monitor and made his way across the room, staring at the empty, open casket. “Holly can’t stay with me forever. Nobody can. I thought that Caleb maybe could and when he died…well, I thought that maybe Lilly could. But I couldn’t heal her.”

“She seems pretty much fixed to me, Doctor,” said Faith.

He still had his back to her. “And that was all Holly’s doing. I stabalised her. Holly was the one who fixed her.” He placed his hands on the edge of the casket and hung his head. “But then I thought that I had Reikon and Celestia and maybe I could try and enjoy some kind of family life. And now both of them are gone as well.”

Faith frowned and thought back to her daughter and estranged husband back in Australia. It made her wonder if she should go back to them and leave this life behind. Permanently.

As if he was almost reading her thoughts the Doctor turned to face her. “What was your daughter’s name, Faith?”

“Ruby,” she smiled.

“Hold on to her tightly,” he said, smiling sadly at her. “You never know how much longer you have left.”

The relative quiet of the lab was broken with a communication signal from elsewhere in the building. Benton’s voice came over the intercom. “Sentinel, this is Obsidian, I think we have something.”

“We’re on our way, Obsidian.”

“And Mr. Benton?” said the Doctor, looking up to the ceiling.

“Yes, sir?”

“Call Quinn and ask him to bring the tea upstairs.”





The sun was setting when the Master and the Doctor arrived on the outskirts of Trafalgar Square. It had turned decidedly chillier and the pair of them had opted to wearing scarves to keep themselves warm. The area surrounding Nelson’s Column had been evacuated and numerous armed vehicles surrounded all exits from the area.

The Master looked up as a news helicopter hovered overhead. “You can always rely on the media of this planet to be right in the centre of things.”

Celestia was stood at the top of the steps, her dress billowing in the wind. When she saw the Doctor and Master approaching she made her way down the steps. “So you came?”

“We saw you on the TV,” said the Doctor. All around her were dead pigeons. “What have you done?”

“It’s my understanding that the people of this planet despise these creatures. I have helped them.”

“You’ve frightened the people of this planet,” said the Doctor.

“They are only frightened because they do not understand,” she said. “But then they are so simple. They just need somebody to guide them.”

“Guide them to what? The people of this planet aren’t so stupid to fall under your control.”

The Master nodded knowingly. “I tried a number of times to take control of them but I always failed. That’s why I decided to tackle a few more personal issues. Like our daughter.”

“Where is our daughter?” said Celestia.

“Safe and away from you,” said the Doctor.

“Oh come now, Doctor,” said Celestia, “I would not harm her. The three of us – and her – are all outcasts from our people. Surely you can see that.”

“What I see,” said the Doctor, “is a bitter, ancient woman who wants to get her revenge on a people that are so far removed from what created her that they can’t even be considered the same anymore.”

The Master nodded. “He’s right, you know. The Gallifreyans have become weak and so entrenched in politics and boredom that I doubt you’d recognise them.”

“Then we must return them to their former glory,” said Celestia.

The Doctor frowned. “What do you mean? You went to war with them.”

“I did,” said Celestia, “and that was partly because of what they did to me, but that is not the complete story.”

“Well you’ll forgive us for being a little bit dumb,” said the Doctor, “but your history is shrouded in myth and legend.”

“Yes, did you ever own a unicorn?” said the Master.

“Be quiet.”

“You refer to the horse I used to ride. The horse with the speared forehead - Avagar. How I miss him.” She looked distant for a moment before the whirl of the helicopter blades above brought her back to reality. “But as I said – you don’t know everything.”

“Then tell us,” said the Doctor. She smiled. “I didn’t want to destroy the Gallifrayens – at least not to extinction – I wanted to control them. I wanted to elevate them into beings like myself. I was the First of their kind. I was born to rule them.”



To be continued...

The First Time Lord (Chapter 8)

Chapter 8 (Rebirth)



The memory vision had ended. The Doctor was stood over the console with his hands spread out in front of him. Lilly was sat cross-legged on the floor looking at the rocky wall in front of her whilst Holly sat beside her, her hand rubbing her shoulders to comfort her.

“This just can’t be happening,” said Lilly, shaking her head. “It just can’t be.”

The Doctor glanced down at her and then back to the console. “I’m sorry, Lilly. I didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what? That my mother’s a psychopathic killer from times long gone?” She glared up at him. “I figure you would have told me about that one.”

“Was there ever any sign?” said Holly, trying to work it out for herself. She had only met Celestia briefly, but she had always seemed like a stable, friendly woman.

“Of course there wasn’t, Holly,” said the Doctor, shaking his head and closing his eyes. “But then there wouldn’t be.”

“But what do you know about Celestia?” asked Holly.

“I’ve known her for centuries,” said the Doctor, turning around to face Holly. “Reikon was abandoned as a baby – no idea of where he had come from – and my family took him in. We remained as close as brothers could be. When we were older her met Celestia and the two fell in love. That was the end of that. They had Caleb and then Reikon and Caleb disappeared. Your mother and father had a brief romance which produced you, Lilly.”

“Yay,” she said dead-pan.

“But what about Celestia? What do you know about her?” said Holly.

The Doctor held out his hands. “Nothing. Nothing at all really. Just the basics. She was a quiet young woman who lived in a small village. She met Reikon when he was working in Zeeka City at the TARDIS construction yards.”

“So it’s entirely possible that all this is true then?”

“Well of course it’s true!” snapped the Doctor. “We’ve just seen it.”

“Hey!” said Lilly. “Leave her alone!”

“Look,” said the Doctor crouching down to them, “I’m sorry, Holly, but this is as much a shock to me as it is to Lilly. Celestia was – is – like a sister to me.” He rubbed his forehead and sighed. “What on Earth are we going to do?”

“Are you okay, Lilly?” asked Holly.

“I’m fine, Dangerfield,” said Lilly, laughing. “Not only is my adopted family a bunch of murders and abusers, my real father a psychopathic villain intent or world domination, but now my mother’s a deranged killer from the dawn of time! Is there any wonder I’m so messed up?”

“You’re not messed up, Lilly,” said Holly, hugging her. “You know that.”

“How am I meant to feel?” asked Lilly.

“Celestia is not a deranged killer,” said the Doctor, taking Lilly’s face and looking into her eyes. “The Slayer is. Celestia isn’t. Remember that.”

“She’s a real person, Lilly,” said Holly.

“Yeah, Doctor, a real person who you’ve just sent to Earth where that regeneration energy is,” said Lilly.

The Doctor’s eyes widened and he got to his feet. “We need to get to UNIT:X HQ now!”



Celestia’s fingers were tingling with power. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was feeling, but the casket was drawing her closer and closer to it. It was like she wasn’t in control of her own actions. As her hand neared the lid she felt like a veil was beginning to lift and for a moment she felt as if nothing around her or even inside herself was real.

“What’s she doing?” she heard the man they had called Osborne say from the doorway.

“Celestia?” said Reikon.

Celestia turned to face her husband, a smile playing across her face. “Oh, my dear Reikon, it all makes sense now.”

“What makes sense?” asked Reikon, his brain trying to piece together a few things that he was trying to hope weren’t true.

Celestia froze for a moment and then brought her hands down on the casket.

“No!” said Faith.

The lights went out and the lid of the casket sprang open, reacting to Celestia’s touch. Inside the glowing cloud of orange and yellow light glowed bright – almost white – and rose up out of its confinement. The room shook as everyone backed up against the walls, shielding their eyes against the blinding light.

Tendrils of the cloud had already wrapped themselves around Celestia’s wrists. She closed her eyes as the light engulfed her, her body sparkling with pinpricks of light. Slowly but surely her body absorbed the light.

Celestia gave out a final cry and threw her arms to the side as the regeneration energy and Time Lady were reunited once more.

A huge shockwave exploded from underneath Celestia knocking the empty casket flying, scattering stools, tables and equipment around the room and causing everyone to press themselves up against the walls.

And then the lights went out.

When they flicked back on Celestia was standing in the centre of the room staring at her hands curiously.

Reikon got to his feet. “Celestia, please tell me this isn’t true.” His voice was broken in emotion.

Her green eyes flicked back up to him and she smiled. “Celestia is gone. She was just a creation.”

“I don’t believe that,” said Reikon.

“What you choose to believe is your choice of course,” she said, walking towards him, “but I wouldn’t hold onto any kind of hope.”

“But you were on Gallifrey when Stark was killed,” said Faith, getting to her feet.

Celestia smiled at the blonde woman and looked at Reikon. “You and I have a psychic connection.” She tapped on her right temple. “It wouldn’t have taken much for the raw energy to control you without you knowing.”

“I didn’t kill Stark,” said Reikon.

“Are you sure about that?”

Reikon looked down at the floor where the two poisoned daggers that had killed Stark were lying, still coated in dry blood. He knelt over them and picked them up, turning them over in his hands. He didn’t believe it, but somehow it felt true.

“You didn’t do it, Reikon,” said Maxus. “She just controlled you.”

“He’s broken,” said Celestia, turning to Maxus, “you won’t be able to bring him out of this.”

“It can’t be,” said Reikon.

Celestia slowly walked over to her husband. She looked completely different. She hadn’t regenerated, but her mannerisms were completely different. She was much colder looking. Although she was smiling there wasn’t any warmth there.

“Surely you must be in there somewhere,” said Reikon.

“Oh, my dear,” said Celestia, stretching out her arms and reaching for him, “I promise you that she did have feelings for you, but that woman wasn’t me. I’ve just woken up at last.”

Reikon couldn’t contain his emotions anymore and fell into her arms.

“Reikon, no,” said Faith from the back of the room.

In one quick move Celestia grabbed Reikon, twisted him around so his back was to her front, grabbed the daggers out of his hands and then stabbed into his chest. Reikon cried out in shock as he fell to his knees.

A shot rang out from Osborne’s plasma rifle as a bolt of energy hit Celestia in the centre of her back.

“That won’t work,” said the Master, his eyes dark as he watched on. “She’s the First Time Lord, remember?”

Celestia turned to the group of worried onlookers. A flare of golden light rippled up through her body, repairing any damage to herself before she advanced towards the group.

“Let her pass!” said the Master. “She can’t be beaten, believe me.”

“A wise move,” said Celestia. She turned to the Master as the group parted. “It goes some way as to explain our daughter’s psychopathic tendencies now, doesn’t it?” She smiled.

“Where are you going?”

“To plan,” she said, pushing the lab doors open and heading into the corridor.

“Sentinel?” said Osborne, eager to go after her.

“No,” said Faith, “we can’t lose anymore.” She brought a radio up to her mouth. “All units this is Sentinel. A hostile is going to attempt to leave the building.” She took a deep breath. “This hostile cannot be killed my normal means. Allow her to leave and do not engage. We’ll get our chance soon.”

Maxus shook his head, disappointed.

Reikon was lying on the floor, blood pouring from the two puncture wounds. Faith ran to his side and dropped to her knees.

“Can’t you regenerate?”

Reikon shook his head. “I said before – the poison on the daggers kills…regeneration process.” He closed his eyes, a tear falling from the corner of his eyes. “Perhaps it’s…time.”

Faith shook her head, feeling helpless. “Is there anything I can do?”

“Just…tell the Doctor that…that I’m sorry,” said Reikon. He winced in pain and then his eyes flicked open again. He gazed up at the ceiling. “Caleb….”

And then he was gone.



Reikon’s body was laid in the morgue underneath UNIT:X HQ. The Doctor was stood over his adopted brother. He held his hand and looked down at him. There was sadness in there, but there was also anger. Anger at what had happened.

Celestia had been his friend in those early years on Gallifrey and nobody had ever suspected it. How could they? To everyone – even to herself – she was just an ordinary Time Lady. Nobody could have known truth.

He shook his head as Holly walked into the morgue, her arms folded as she leaned on the door frame. “What now, Doctor?” The Doctor looked at Holly, a look of determination on his face. “Somehow we have to stop her before she kills again.”



To be continued...

The First Time Lord (Chapter 7)

Chapter 7 (Things Ain't What You Thought They Were)



Faith led Celestia and the Master down into the basement where Reikon and Maxus were still busy pouring over the readings from the casket. Reikon turned as his wife entered the room. He looked momentarily surprised and then broke out into a huge grin.

“Celestia!” he beamed.

“Reikon,” said Celestia, throwing her arms around her husband and holding him tight. “It’s been so long.”

“Not as long as it was last time,” laughed Reikon.

“Rassilon save us,” said the Master, rolling his eyes.

“What’s he doing here?” asked Reikon, breaking away from his wife and pointing towards the man that had caused him so many problems.

“Relax, Reikon,” said Celestia, “he’s under my control.”

“Control!?” spluttered the Master.

“You should be locked away for life,” said Reikon, his face getting redder and redder.

“Reikon,” said Celestia, trying to calm him down, “its fine. Really it is. He doesn’t have a hold on me anymore. Lilly is back with the Doctor.”

“That’s not the point, Celestia,” he said. “He continually gets away with things and there are never any repercussions.”

“As touching as this reunion is,” said Maxus, his arms folded, “we need to focus on this thing here,” he said pointing to the container. “Did you say the Doctor sent you?”

“That’s right,” said Celestia.

“And you must by another of his cast-offs,” said the Master, stepping forward to look at the casket. He ran his fingers along the top of it. “Can you feel the power?”

“I think we all can,” said Celestia.

“What we need to know,” said Faith, walking forward to stand beside the master (she still didn’t trust him), “is how Roger Stark died.”

“Did you ask Mr. Osborne?” said Reikon.

“Yeah, and it wasn’t me, mate,” said Osborne, looking frustrated from the doorway.

“No,” said Reikon, shaking his head, “I don’t think it was.”

“But then you were the only Time Lord here,” said Faith.

“Are we sure about that?” said Osborne. “I mean what if it was someone else. Who knows how many rogue Time Lords are out there?”

“Surely your alarm systems would have been alerted like they were when myself and the Master arrived.”

“Alarm systems can be disabled,” said the Master, peering at the readings on the monitor.

“Okay, then, so what if we say it was another Time Lord. They obviously didn’t open the casket or merge with it. So what’s that all about?” said Faith.

“If we presume that this is all real,” said the Master, turning to face the blonde woman, “then the real host of this energy will have a psychic link to it. It’s possible that the energy could have controlled the host body without manifesting itself fully.”

“And we are still left with the frightening possibility that it could be any of us,” said Faith. “If the host has converted himself into Human form.”

Maxus sighed and sat down on a stool rubbing his eyes. “It’s been a long day.”

“There’s only one way of finding out who it is,” said Reikon, “and that’s by opening the casket.”

“Don’t be so absurd!” spat the Master.

“I hate to say it, but he’s right,” said Faith. “Surely the best course of action would be to send it back to where it came from.”

“Yes, I agree, Mrs. Crossland that the Void would be the best place for it.” Reikon looked down at the container. “But that’s not going to solve anything. One of us in this building is a killer.”

“You seem very eager to get it open,” said Osborne, gripping his plasma rifle a little tighter.

“Yes and obviously that means I’m the killer, doesn’t it?” said Reikon sarcastically.

“Well you’re not doing anything to make us trust you anymore,” said Osborne.

“Reikon, you’ve got to see how this looks,” said Faith.

Reikon laughed. “Unbelievable. You’re all so close-minded.”

“Well if you had told the Doctor that you had the damn casket in the first place then Roger Stark might still be alive,” said Celestia.

Reikon looked genuinely hurt by his wife’s comment. He walked over to her. “We all have made mistakes, Celestia. It was mistakes and misfortune that led to Caleb being killed.”

“By my daughter?” said Celestia. Her eyes filled with tears. “Do you not think I don’t think about him every single day?”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it. All I’m saying is that we all make mistakes.”

“Oh for goodness sake,” said the Master, stepping nearly between them. “We need to make a decision on what we do with this thing.”

Celestia and Reikon stood staring at each other for a good few seconds before the both of them broke away from each other.

“Do we open it or not?” asked the Master.



The memories were becoming blurred as the female was strapped down to the table in the laboratory. She didn’t seem to be making any kind of movement. She wasn’t putting up any form of resistance either. Her face was shrouded in darkness as the surgeons fixed a number of tubes to her body.

“This is horrible,” said Holly.

“Indeed it is,” said the Doctor.

“Can’t we stop it?”

“It’s a memory. We can’t do anything. It’s already happened,” he sighed.

“So let’s take a moment here,” said Lilly. “The Slayer – the First Time Lord – is actually a female. A woman, yeah?”

“At the moment, yes,” said the Doctor.

“At the moment?”

“Well just because she’s a female now it doesn’t mean that she remained a female. Time Lord and Time Lady genders are occasionally interchangeable.”

“What?!” spluttered Holly.

“I’ve been female before,” said the Doctor.

Holly and Lilly looked at each other wide-eyed.

“You learn something new every day,” said Lilly.

“So just because the Slayer is a female here it doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s someone we know as female now.”

“Nope,” said the Doctor, shaking his head with his arms folded.

The image in front of them was starting to fade as the surgeons finished fixing the wires, cables and pipes to the woman’s body.

“Is it complete?” asked the lead surgeon.

The other two bowed their heads.

“Excellent. Then we shall begin.”

He walked over to a console and began tapping in keys on a pad. The machinery surrounding the lab began to hum with power, the room began to vibrate and the image in front of the Doctor, Holly and Lilly started rippling.

The surgeon leant towards a microphone. “This is Roth. Are we ready?”

“All is ready,” came a voice through a speaker.

“Then detonate.”

“What’s happening, Doctor?” asked Holly.

“The legends say that the Gallifreyans used blew up two time moons to open an aperture into the vortex. The vortex broke through and they drew the time energy via a staff – which they eventually named the Staff of Roth – cute, eh? – and channeled it into what I presume is this lab.”

There was a great surge of energy. The room was bathed in a blue light as electricity coursed through the pipes and wires. The woman on the table screamed in agony and writhed around as the power of the vortex hit her.

“Of course this was just the first experiment - the mistake.”

The woman broke free of her restraints and was lifted into the air by the power channeling through her. The surgeons backed away from her.

“SWITCH IT OFF!” screamed Roth.

“Later experiments,” said the Doctor, “would see the Gallifreyans take things slowly. As legend has taught us – you can’t just make a Time Lord.”

The vision was beginning to flicker and change. The woman’s face was shrouded in blue light, her hair flailing around wildly.

One of the surgeons ran forward and tried to hit the woman with a medical implement, but a blast of energy sent him flying back across the room.

“You have made a mistake,” came the voice of the woman from within the haze of blue light.

“I recognise that voice,” said the Doctor, his blood running cold.

The energy began to subside as the woman floated down towards the ground. The image was flickering and changing and growing darker and darker.

“Stay back, creature!” said Roth.

“You will pay for what you have done,” said the woman.

Holly and Lilly gasped as the woman’s face came into focus. She didn’t look much different, maybe a little younger and her hair a different colour, but there was no mistaking who it was.

“I don’t believe it,” said Lilly, her eyes filling with tears.

“I’m so sorry, Lilly, but the First Time Lord – or rather the First Time Lady – is your mother, Celestia.”

On earth Celestia could feel the power. She wasn’t quite sure what she was feeling, but something was drawing her towards the container. She was feeling confused. She held up her hand and reached towards the top of the casket.



To be continued...

The First Time Lord (Chapter 6)

Chapter 6 (Treacherous Times)



“Don’t be so bloody stupid,” said Osborne, as he stuffed the last of his over-burnt bacon sandwich into his mouth.

“We’re not accusing you of anything, Oliver,” said Faith, “but I do need to ask you why you were here in the early hours.”

“I was working on the new plasma rifles,” said Osborne. “You know that, Faith.”

“I know you wanted to improve them, but-”

“But nothing,” said Osborne, shaking his head. “Why would I want to kill Stark? He was a pain in the arse, but he was our pain in the arse.”

“Oliver’s right, Faith.” said Benton, who was sat at his console with Beth. “We couldn’t be that unlucky.”

“What do you mean?” asked Faith.

“To have two traitors in the group in the space of a year.”

“Alistair,” said Beth, hitting him on his arm and frowning at him.

Faith shook her head.

“I’m sorry,” said Benton, realizing the nerve was still raw over what their old friend and colleague, Claire Taggart, had done, “but I seriously doubt Oliver was the one to blame. I trust him.”

“Cheers, mate,” said Oliver, clapping him on the back.

“Maxus is my suspect,” said Beth.

“Why?” asked Faith.

“Well he’s new,” said Beth. “We don’t know much about him.”

“Maxus is trustworthy. He used to travel with the Doctor,” said Faith.

“Where I heard he used to work for a dodgy group called the Eyeglass. A group that hated anything alien.”

“He lost his wife. He turned his life around,” said Faith.

“Look, this is stupid,” said Osborne. Leaning back in his chair and looking at his new commanding officer, “we’re all forgetting one thing here.”

“Which is what?” asked Beth.

“That neither I nor Maxus or any of us are actually Time Lords.”

“He’s got a point,” said Benton, doing his white lab coat up.

“That doesn’t mean we can’t be Time Lords,” said Faith. “The Doctor became Human once or twice. Lilly grew up as a Human.”

“I still don’t buy that it’s one of us,” said Beth.

“So the only other person it can be is Reikon,” said Osborne. “Face it, Faith; he’s trying to deflect any blame from himself onto us. He knows that it can’t be anyone other than him.”

“I just…I don’t know,” said Faith, looking frustrated. “He’s the Doctor’s brother.”

“Adopted brother,” corrected Osborne. “Where is he now?”

Faith looked a little uncomfortable. “He’s with Maxus in the lab. They’re examining the container and making sure it’s secure. Reikon even agreed he was the most likely suspect.”

“He’s playing us, Faith,” said Osborne, grabbing the prototype plasma rifle. “He’s trying to turn our attention away from him by admitting he is the most likely suspect. He’s playing with you.”

Faith looked uncomfortable. She always considered herself to be a good judge of character. She had only known Reikon briefly, but she had trusted him. She wondered if she should have though. He had already lied to the Doctor about keeping the container.

Could he really be trusted?

Her thoughts were interrupted when the intruder alarm went off. Red lights began flashing in the control centre as Osborne went for his plasma rifle.

“What is it?” said Faith.

Beth looked to her control station. “We have intruders in the front lobby.” She frowned at the readings and then looked back at Faith. “It’s a TARDIS. And it’s not the Doctors.”



“Greetings!” said the Master as he and Celestia stood with their hands held up. “We come in peace. At least this time we do.”

“Be quiet, Koschei,” said Celestia as a group of armed guards aimed their rifles at them.

The TARDIS had landed in the wood-paneled lobby and had changed its appearance into a large, oak cupboard. The glass double doors that exited the lobby had automatically sealed themselves when the alarms went off and the soldiers had formed a tight circle around the intruders.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” asked Faith as she briskly walked down the stairs with Osborne in tow.

“You don’t know us,” said Celestia, “but we’ve been sent by the Doctor.”

“And who exactly are you and why should we trust you?”

“Well I’m Reikon’s wife,” said Celestia, “and this is Lilly’s father. His name is Koschei.”

“Oh, you might as well tell them the name they all know me by,” said the Master, shaking his head and leaning against the cupboard, his arms folded.

“You may know him as the Master,” said Celestia.

As if on instinct all the UNIT troops raised their rifles and aimed them directly at the Master.

“Okay, relax everyone,” said Faith, moving down the staircase and towards Celestia and the Master. “You’re a wanted man, you know?”

“I’m wanted everywhere,” said the Master, dismissively. “But on this occasion you need to let me do what I need to do.”

“Which is what?” asked Osborne, his plasma rifle still trained on the Time Lord. “Because if I’m not mistaken, mate, you just became our prime suspect.”

“In what?” he asked, frowning.

“In being the real owner of that casket down in our labs.”

The Master frowned and then burst into a laugh. “Me? You think I’m the First Time Lord?” He shook his head and looked at Celestia. “And the Doctor expects these morons to protect this planet.”

“UNIT:X didn’t do a bad job of it against you before,” said Faith.

“Look,” said Celestia, stepping forward with her hands held up, “Koschei – the Master – is not the First Time Lord. I’d have known it if he was.”

“And trust me, my dears; if I was the First Time Lord I certainly wouldn’t have bothered with all of those plans to conquer this pathetic little planet.” He stared directly at Faith. “I’d have just slaughtered the lot of you.”

“Don’t let him wind you up, Double Zero,” said Faith, noticing the tension and anger building on Osborne’s face.

“What a double zero you are, Osborne,” laughed the Master.

“Enough!” said Celestia, her voice echoing around the lobby. “We need to see the container.”

Faith motioned for the UNIT troops to lower their weapons, which they did before disbanding but maintaining a close proximity to the two Time Lords.

“And you say the Doctor sent you?” asked Faith. “Why didn’t he just come himself?”

“He’s busy investigating the First Time Lord’s base of operations,” said Celestia.

“Out having adventures with my daughter,” said the Master, shaking his head.

“I only briefly met your daughter,” said Faith, glaring at the Master, “but I’m pleased she’s not a disappointment like her father.”

Celestia smiled at the Australian. “Bravo, Mrs. Crossland.”

“If you’ll follow me,” said Faith, “but stay close.”

“Don’t worry; we won’t do anything to endanger anybody else. I’m quite looking forward to seeing my husband,” said Celestia as Faith and Osborne led them away.



“Where are we, Doctor?” asked Holly.

They were standing in mostly darkness save for an illuminated area a few metres away. There was no colour to their surroundings, just darkness and black and white. The illuminated area was almost separate from where they were standing.

“We’re on the edge of a memory,” said the Doctor. “We can’t pass into it or interact with it. We can only observe.”

“Whose memory is it?” asked Lilly.

“The First Time Lord’s,” said the Doctor, his voice low. “We’re witnessing his memories. We’re the first people to ever have seen this outside of the Ancient Times.”

The three of them watched on as a metal chair came into focus. The room they were in looked like a lab with antiquated computer banks, wires, cables and all manner of surgical instruments.

Two men in white coats with fixed hoods and black visors stood either side of the chair. Another man – this time wearing a grey coat – stood in front of the chair holding a syringe. From somewhere around the darkness came the sound of chains and the dragging of bare feet against marble floor.

“Information,” said the lead surgeon.

One of the men in white coats pulled out a stone tablet. He pressed his hand to it and then looked across to the lead surgeon. “The patient is an unknown. It was taken from one of the outer towns. It won’t be missed.”

“Good,” said the surgeon. “Is all prepared?”

“Yes,” said the two white-coated surgeons in unison.

The lead surgeon cracked his knuckles as the figure was dragged into the room. It wore a long, grey hospital gown. Its feet and hands were chained together and a bag covered its head.

The Doctor frowned as the figure was dragged past them.

“Is that him?” asked Holly. “Is that the Slayer? The First Time Lord?”

The Doctor nodded slowly. “It would appears so.”

The surgeon stood in front of the patient and nodded. The three of them weren’t sure, but they had a feeling he was smiling in his mask.

“Remove the robes,” said the surgeon.

The two guards who had dragged the patient in grabbed and removed both the hood and the robes to reveal a naked body underneath.

The Doctor stepped back, gasping at what stood in front of him. Holly and Lilly looked confused. They looked to each other and then at the Doctor and then back to the scene in front of them.

Locks of long blonde hair fell out from under the hood. Although the Doctor could only see the back of the person there was no mistaking the shape of the body underneath the robes.

“Doctor,” said Lilly, frowning and pointing towards the figure, “am I right in putting this all together?”

The Doctor nodded slowly. “Indeed you are, Lilly.” He took a deep breath. “The legends got it wrong. The First Time Lord wasn’t a man at all. The First Time Lord was a woman.”

“But who?” said Holly.


To be continued...