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...
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