Chapter 1 (The Three Strangers)
Holly felt a searing pain across her forehead and fell to her knees. She balled up her fists and screwed her eyes shut tightly.
“What’s happening?” asked Lilly, sitting up and trying to clamber out of the time suit.
“The time line is about to change,” said the Doctor. “We’ve got mere minutes.” He ran towards a large, oak chest in the corner of the console room and opened up the heavy lid. He scrambled around inside, looking for something.
“The pain...” said Holly.
Lilly, unsteadily, scrambled on her hands and knees over to Holly and put her arms around her, trying to look into her eyes. “You’ll be fine. The Doctor will help you, Dangerfield.”
“I know, I know,” said Holly. She looked up at Lilly, tears in her eyes. “I’ve only just got you back.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” said Lilly, smiling at her.
“Shift,” said the Doctor, bustling Lilly out of the way. He grabbed Holly’s wrist and held up a black wrist strap to her face.
“Is that a Fitbit?” asked Holly, frowning at the bracelet.
“It’s a tether.”
“I beg your pardon?” asked Holly.
“Just put it on,” he said, slipping the device over her wrist and then stepping back. “We are in a very dangerous situation here.”
“What’s happening, Doctor?” asked Lilly. “Is she going to be okay?”
“Not exactly,” said the Doctor. “We have very little time before the effects of the timeline’s changes catches up with us.”
“Changes? What changes? I’m still here!” said Holly through the tears of pain.
“The Master must have done something and that has caused the timelines to shift and change. How, we don’t know, but this bracelet will keep you tethered to any possible altered timelines.”
“But I’m still here!” she said again.
“But you won’t be soon. Soon time will change around you and we may not even remember you. If you don’t wear this then the Holly you are now will cease to be, snapping into the new reality.”
“How do we know he’s changed the timeline?” asked Lilly. “He just said he was going to make sure I stayed with him.”
“I can feel the changes, Lilly. I can feel the changes in time coursing through my very body.” The Doctor closed his eyes and then shook his head quickly.
“This can’t be happening. This can’t be happening.”
“What can we do, Doctor?” asked Lilly, edging closer to Holly again and taking her hands.
“Nothing I’m afraid,” said the Doctor.
“You have to be joking?”
“I really wish I were, Lilly.” The Doctor looked directly into Holly’s eyes and took her head by his hands. “Listen to me, Miss Dangerfield, you’re going on a very strange and scary journey. You need to stay focused.”
Holly nodded at him.
“Activate the tether,” said the Doctor.
Holly pressed the small button on the top of the bracelet. Underneath the strap tiny little needles shot out and dug into her wrist. She screamed in pain.
“Doctor!” shouted Lilly.
“She’ll be fine,” said the Doctor. “The tether is now protecting you. You cannot take it off, remember that? The effects of taking it off will be more devastating than anything you can imagine. You are now a ticking time bomb. Literally.”
“Fantastic,” said Holly, wondering how much more pain she could take.
“Now when the timelines change we may not remember you. I may be distrustful of you. Don’t wait to reason with me. This timeline is going to be fake and you need to put it right sooner rather than later.”
“But if it’s an alternate world - ”
“It’s not an alternate world. It’s our timeline changed. Remember that. Once it shifts and changes you have to get to the escape pods three levels down. Just get in one and place your hands on the console. The escape pod will take you to where you need to be.”
“Which is where?” asked Lilly, grabbing Holly’s hands even tighter.
“Zero Point.”
“What the hell’s Zero Point?” asked Holly.
“A place that exists in the centre of reality. It’s not fixed to any time at all. It’s a dangerous place – a dark place. But in the centre is someone who can help you.”
“Who?”
The room shuddered and shimmered. The Doctor looked around the console room. “There’s no time. Stand back, Lilly.”
“But - ”
“Stand back!” shouted the Doctor, dragging Lilly away from her friend.
“Don’t leave me,” said Holly through her tears.
“You’ll be fine, Dangerfield,” said Lilly, getting to her feet unsteadily. “You’re the strongest person I know. You’ll put this right.”
“And what if I don’t?” she asked as the room began to glow white.
“Then I’ll find you. Somehow I’ll find you.”
“I’m sorry,” whispered the Doctor, barely audible. “To both of you.”
The room flared bright white again and Holly got to her feet, clutching at the bracelet on her wrist – the only thing that may save her. She stared right at Lilly. She didn’t even notice the Doctor.
“I love you,” was all she could manage.
“Love you too, Danger - ”
The room flared bright white again and Holly shielded her eyes. There was a large crack of what sounded like thunder and Holly felt the room vibrate. Then there was a final jolt and Holly fell to the floor. The sound of silence was replaced by the familiar humming of the TARDIS console room. Holly dared to open her eyes. It was dark, but she could make out three people stood around the console.
“Hello,” she said, getting to her feet and checking the bracelet was undamaged.
The three people turned from the console and moved into the light so she could see them. One was the Doctor, his beard full-length and his hair longer, tied back into a ponytail. He had a scar on the right side of his face, but still wore the same suit.
The second person was Lilly, her blonde hair had been cut short and her face was grubby and dirty. In fact the entire console room looked unclean.
The third person was a petite red-head in her early twenties. She had bright green eyes and looked like she used to smile a lot but hadn’t for a long time.
“Who are you?” asked the girl – she had an American accent.
“She just appeared from nowhere,” said Lilly. “He sent you, didn’t he? My father?”
“No,” said Holly, shaking her head at them. “No, he didn’t.”
“It’s a classic Master move,” said the Doctor, looking at her with disdain, “send in what looks like a perfectly innocent girl to infiltrate us.”
“I’m not here to hurt any of you,” said Holly. “You have to believe me.”
“He’s been attacking us for months now,” said the girl. “You can go back and tell him to give in. He’s not taking Lilly.”
“Taking her?” said Holly, looking back at Lilly.
Lilly laughed wryly. “India, sweetheart, you know you can’t stop my father. He will keep coming for me and coming for me. And you, my dear Doctor, will never change me.” She folded her hands and narrowed her eyes at the frustrated Doctor.
“You did change though, Lilly,” said Holly. “We both changed.”
“Never met you before in my life,” said Lilly.
“I will not fail you, Lilly,” said the Doctor. “I promise you.”
“You already have,” said Lilly. “He’ll get me eventually and then maybe he’ll let you both live.”
Holly wasn’t exactly sure what was going on here, but she suspected that whatever change had happened to the timeline had caused Lilly to spiral out of control – was this just a natural progression for her? She killed Caleb after all. Was this normal?
Regardless, she remembered what her Doctor had told her. He knew something wouldn’t be right. He told her not to try and reason with his replacement. He looked like her Doctor, but it wasn’t her Doctor. The only one she had faith in right now was the one that no longer existed. And Lilly. Her Lilly. She had to follow his instructions and get to Zero Point.
She waited until the three strangers were deep into their squabbling before she turned and bolted towards the door into the interior.
“She’s running!” shouted the American girl, India.
“After her,” shouted the Doctor. “We can’t let one of the Master’s agents lose in the TARDIS.”
Holly made her way down corridors of varying shapes and sizes, descended spiral staircases and went through numerous revolving doors before finally reaching a rocky cavern with a soft-green-sandy beach.
Against the wall were four, large rocks. The escape pod room had changed since she had seen it last – or maybe it was just the changes to the timeline – but the rocks looked roughly big enough to be the pods.
She could hear the Doctor, Lilly and India getting closer. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and entered the nearest pod.
Inside was a basic set-up. A round, mini-control room with a circular console sat in the middle, the glass time rotor rising high up to the ceiling. There weren’t any interior doors, but there was a bed against one of the curved walls.
She shut the doors and then put her hand on the console, closing her eyes.
“Take me to Zero Point,” said Holly.
The pod was about to depart when the door burst open and the redhead burst in. “She’s in here, Doctor!” she shouted.
But it was too late for the other two. The pod dematerialised, the doors closed, trapping India inside, and the journey to Zero Point began.
“Take me back,” said India.
“I can’t,” said Holly. “I have to put this right. I have to fix time.”
To be continued...
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