UNIT:X (Chapter 7)

Chapter 7 (Spitting Out the Poison)

Stark and the Doctor were standing in the darkened bathroom. Robinson was looking past them at the blood-stained bath, knife in his hands, face splattered with spots of blood. It was almost as if he couldn’t see the two Time Lords.

“Robinson,” said the Doctor, “can you hear me?”

Robinson didn’t hear them. He didn’t even flinch.

“This is in your mind,” said the Doctor. “This isn’t real.”

Robinson’s eyes flicked up to the Doctor. “Memories,” he smiled.

“Wonderful memories, old boy,” said Stark sarcastically.

Robinson walked towards them and they parted to let him past. He stood beside the bath, looking down at the body inside – a young man in his early 20’s with dark, blonde hair and brown eyes. A look of fear was etched onto his now-dead face, his mouth twisted into a look of horror.

“Who was he?” asked the Doctor.

“Just another nobody,” said Robinson. He knelt down beside the bath and peered over the edge, looking down at the person.

“The victim was David Webster – an estate agent from Ipswich.” Stark knelt down beside Robinson. “Robinson was seen in a bar having a drink with him. The two left separately. Webster went missing. Robinson was investigated but they found nothing at all.”

“And this is a memory, yes?” said the Doctor, looking down at the body in disgust.

“A mixture of memories and dreams.”

“Interesting,” said the Doctor, scratching his chin.

“Who are you?” asked Robinson, suddenly noticing the Doctor and Stark.

“Now listen, old boy -” began Stark.

“Who are you?” asked Robinson again, raising the bloody knife towards the pair of them. “What are you doing in my flat?”

“We need to leave,” said the Doctor.

“Agreed,” said Stark.

The two Time Lords closed their eyes. When they opened them Robinson was still standing in front of them, the knife pointing menacingly between them. Robinson’s eyes flicked from left to right, unsure of which one to go for first.

“We shouldn’t still be here,” said the Doctor through gritted teeth.

“I know that,” said Stark. He backed up a little bit. “When I say run...”

“RUN!” shouted the Doctor as the two men turned and barrelled through the door.

Robinson was taken by surprise and stumbled back a little, and then a dark looked played across his eyes as he started after them.

They crossed through the sparsely decorated living room and through a door that led down some stairs to the front door.

“It’s locked!” yelled Stark, looking for the keys.

“Smash the window,” said the Doctor, backing up to Stark as Robinson slowly advanced down the stairs towards them.

“It’s double glazing,” growled Stark, hammering on the glass.

“This can’t be happening. It can’t be real,” said the Doctor, repeatedly closing his eyes and opening them again, hoping for a change. “We can’t be trapped here.”



Benton’s computer screen was flickering wildly. The three lines where waving and bouncing off each other as he frantically ran around the room, checking different readings and figures.

“What’s going on, Alistair?” asked Faith.

The three prone men were unmoving, but their eyes were flickering behind their lids rapidly.

“It’s hard to tell,” said Benton, scratching at his hair and leaving it stuck up at odd angles. “We need to stop these lines from mingling though.”

“We need to get them out of there is what we need to do,” said Faith.

“Easier said than done,” said Benton, tapping in on his keyboard. “They’re trapped. Somehow Robinson’s mind – or his memories – are so powerful that he’s trapped them in there.”

“You mean to say there’s nothing you can do?” asked Faith, looking exasperated.

“I don’t think so.”

Faith pulled out a revolver and aimed it at Robinson’s head. She stared right at him, her arm was shaking. She’d never killed anyone in cold blood before.

“What are you doing, ma’am?”

“Alistair, tell me there’s something else we can do,” she said, cool, calm, but her voice cracking with worry.

“I don’t know, Faith.”

Faith closed her eyes and squeezed the trigger.

“WAIT!” said Benton.

Faith opened her eyes and looked at Benton. He was back at the computer, frowning at the screen. Faith looked back at the three men, both the Doctor and Stark were beginning to stir, opening their eyes.

“Mrs Crossland,” said the Doctor, looking up at the revolver, still pointed towards Robinson’s head. “What in the fifty rings of Krakra are you doing?”

“He’s dead,” said Benton, shaking his head at the laptop. “Robinson’s dead.”

“And just in time,” said Stark, sitting himself up. “The memory – the dream – whatever you want to call it...it was so intense. We couldn’t get out.”

“The trauma of having both of us there must have caused him to die,” said the Doctor, sitting up and rubbing his head.

“But what does this mean?” asked Faith, slowly lowering her revolver.

“I don’t know,” said the Doctor, “but we need to regroup. I have a few theories.”



Holly was sat behind the counter in the darkened undertakers looking at some of the display gravestones in the window. She felt sad. She felt sadder than she had felt in some time and she felt uneasy about being back here. She had accompanied her parents when they had made the funeral arrangements and being back here wasn’t helping her mood.

She felt so alone. She had the Doctor and she had Richard, but she felt so disconnected from everything it was unreal. She wanted to see her again, to see Lilly again. To just look at her grumpy face again. She was scared she’d forget what she looked like.

She sighed and closed her eyes thinking back to that day they were caught in the rain and they almost kissed for the first time.

When she opened her eyes that’s when she saw it – when she saw her. Standing in the orange glow of the street light across the road was a darkened figure. A silhouette of a young woman with long, blonde hair.

“No,” came Taggart’s voice.

“What?” said Holly, shaking her head and blinking a few times.

“I saw you drifting off there,” said Taggart, sitting down on the chair next to her. “No matter what you saw it’s not real. If you interact, if you spend too long even contemplating it then we’ve already lost you.”

“I know, I know,” said Holly. “It’s just difficult.”

“Was it someone you lost?”

“Kind of,” said Holly. “Well, she’s not lost. She’s just out there somewhere. I’ll get back to her though. I’ve promised myself that.”

Taggart smiled and looked across the room and smiled. “As aliens go it’s not the worst way to go. They show you something you love and then...poof...you’re gone.”

“Gone where though?” Holly frowned and angled her head, looking curiously at the red-head. “Did it show you something?”

She smiled sadly. “No. I wouldn’t let it. It tried to show me my family.”

“Haven’t you seen them for a while?”

She shook her head. “They died a while ago now. Remember the day those pepper pot things made all the planets appear in the sky?”

Holly nodded. She remembered it well. She’d been at school at the time and they’d been sent home early. Everyone was terrified, but Holly thought it was cool. That was until she realised what was happening to everyone around the world.

“They were called Daleks.” She screwed her face up at the name. “They killed them. The Daleks killed my brother, father and sister.”

“I’m...I’m sorry,” said Holly feeling even more guilty for thinking it was cool at the time.

“It’s dangerous,” said Osborne, appearing from an interior room. “It doesn’t matter what it tries to show us. Those things aren’t real. As long as you remember that then you’re safe.”

Holly nodded.

Taggart just continued to stare ahead. There were no tears. No emotions betrayed. Holly found that odd.

“As unreal as they are, that thing could make my family come back. It’s a nice thought, isn’t it?”

Holly frowned at her.



“I simply can’t leave now, Brigadier!” said the Doctor.

Bambera was standing in front of him in full uniform. A helicopter had carried her from London to Huxley at the request of Reikon, but the Doctor was in the middle of his meeting regarding what he and Stark had witnessed. Stark, Beth, Faith and Benton were watching on, eager to get on with the briefing.

“Your brother has requested you, Doctor,” she said.

“I don’t care,” said the Doctor. “I’m in the middle of this operation.”

“And he understands that, but -”

“Then tell him no,” said the Doctor returning to the desk.

“He’s made progress with the box,” said Bambera, getting frustrated. “He thinks he may have a way to see into it.”

The Doctor frowned and looked at her. “How?”

“There were sparks. A blue light. It’s reacting to things at last.”

“You can’t leave us, man,” said Stark.

“Hush, Roger,” said the Doctor. He turned back to Bambera. “If I come with you -”

“Doctor!”

“I said be quiet!”

“You have to finish this meeting,” said Stark. “This is a major operation and we’re blind here.”

“Yes, I know,” said the Doctor, closing his eyes and balling his fists up. He looked back at the onlookers. “Okay, I think I know what this thing is. You call it a Dream Catcher – I’ve identified it as a Jenkath.”

“How could you possibly know that?” laughed Stark. “And what’s a Jenkath?”

“Do you think me an idiot, Roger?” said the Doctor.

“Oh, please stop bickering you two,” said Bambera, rolling her eyes.

“Doctor,” said Faith softly. “How do you know all of this info?”

“I got the sonic screwdriver to analyse the slime from the streets. It’s coming from the rain – the smell of eggs. The creature is in the air and the atmosphere. That’s how it’s catching everyone.”

“I’ve never heard of the Jenkath,” said Stark, shaking his head.

“They’re almost extinct,” said the Doctor. “Billions of years ago they had a mighty empire on the other side of the galaxy. Their planet was a barren wasteland so they lived in their own dreams. They dreamt of better places and better worlds whilst their bodies just slept.”

“Let me guess,” said Beth, looking sad, “they spent so long in their dreams that their race died out.”

“Eventually, yes,” said the Doctor, nodding sadly. “Some of them escaped the home world though. Legend has it that they landed on planets and then fed off the dreams of that particular worlds inhabitants. They thrive on beautiful and good vibes.”

“How do they do it though?” asked Benton. He shook his head, his arms folded. “The smell of eggs? What’s that all about?”

“It’s just atmospheric conditions.” The Doctor sat on the edge of the table. “They arrive and secrete themselves somewhere dark and out of the way and then they essentially release gas into the air. The rain comes down – very fine rain and mist – and it causes people to hallucinate things.”

“The slime is congealed bits of this mist then?” said Faith, screwing up her face.

“That’s right,” said the Doctor, nodding.

“But that still doesn’t explain where the people go. The ones who disappear. There are no bodies,” said Stark.

“That’s because the Jenkath have a little trick. They are able to manipulate space and time. It’s how they travel from world to world.”

“What a load of rot!” laughed Stark.

“It’s true. If you’d spent more time reading up on our own people’s history you may have seen them there in the very early days alongside the Pythia, the First Time Lord and the Mighty Stormwardens.”

Stark rolled his eyes. “Fairytales! They’re not from Gallifrey.”

“No, they’re not from Gallifrey, but that’s beside the point,” said the Doctor, raising his voice.

“Gentlemen, please,” said Bambera. “We need to get going.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, calming himself. “As I was saying, they manipulate space and time. As soon as someone allows themselves to succumb to their visions they are essentially transported to their own, private little pocket universe.”

“This gets weirder,” said Benton. “A pocket universe?”

“That’s right,” said the Doctor. “Poof. They disappear from this universe and the Jenkath pops them in their own little paradise world feeding off their emotions until they die of natural causes. It’s quite a pleasant way to die really.”

“That’ll explain Robinson,” said Faith. “His dreams were so twisted and deranged that the alien spat him back out.”

“Got it in one, Mrs Crossland. That seat on the TARDIS is already warm for you.” The Doctor winked at her.

“And what happens to their pocket world when they die?” asked Beth.



“Their little pocket world dies and the Jenkath laps up the remains.” The Doctor suddenly stopped smiling and looked serious again. “And unfortunately I don’t know of any way of getting to these little pocket universes, which possibly means that Richard is lost to us forever.”

To be continued...