Dr. Who and the Men in the Moon (Chapter 6)

Chapter 6 (Invasion)

Borshack was totally unprepared for what happened next. The planet had manoeuvred itself right next to the moon (he had no idea how it was managing to propel itself across the solar system with those huge clunky engines let alone traverse across the various orbits that the other planets of the solar system were locked into) and had hung there like a ominous, dark globe.

“What’s it doing?” asked Kelly, frowning.

“Nothing. Just nothing,” said Borshack.

“Perhaps you should try communicating again,” said Dr. Who. “Sometimes it’s always best to make the first move – so long as it’s a friendly move.”

“Grandfather’s right,” said Susan, looking up at the commander, “even if they are dangerous at least you can show them that you’re not.”

Borshack nodded. “You’re right of course.”

“But sir,” said Kelly, frustrated, “we still haven’t heard back from Earth. Our communications are being blocked. That can’t be friendly.”

Borshack looked from his officer to the screen showing the planet and then down to the floor. He was considering his options. He’d never had to deal with a situation like this before. Even during the Mars Wars back in 1997 he had been stationed on a base back on Earth monitoring transport from Earth into space – an important job, but hardly on the front lines.

“Commander,” said Dr. Who, “communications.”

Borshack looked at the old man and felt a wave of anger wash over him. Who on Earth did he think he was and why did he think he could stroll into his command hub and dictate how he acted in situations.

“Earth Command are going to -” started Kelly.

“Silence,” said Borshack. “All of you.” He held his arms behind his back, glanced back up at the screen and walked around the central console, purposefully but slowly. “I am commander here. I will consider my options based on what I believe are best for this city.”

Dr. Who opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a single word red warning lights began flashing on the console. The room suddenly sprung into action, confused voices shouting over a loud, blaring siren.

“We’re picking up energy readings,” said Kelly.

“It’s coming from the planet,” came a red-head woman’s voice. “Very powerful as well.”

“What is it?” asked Borshack.

“Open communications now,” said Dr. Who, leaning forward and staring at Borshack across the console, his palms pressed down on the polished glass. “Communications may be blocked with Earth, but not with this planet. Open communications now before it’s too late.”

Borshack frowned. The old man’s blue eyes pierced into his own and he was momentarily lost. He felt confused and at odds.

“INCOMING!” shouted another, gruffer voice from somewhere else.

The impact didn’t actually feel that bad. It was more the commotion that followed it. The room was thrown into darkness with only the blinking coloured lights illuminating the people stood at their stations. The room shook for a moment and then everything fell silent.

Susan backed up to her grandfather and he put his hands on her shoulders. “Stay close to me, child.”

“What was it, grandfather?”

“Lights are out,” said Kelly, as if in answer to Susan, “but it appears to have been some sort of energy weapon.”

“From the planet?” asked Borshack.

“Where else?” said Kelly. He sounded a little more frustrated than he had intended to.

“Watch your tone, Lieutenant,” said Borshack.

“Sorry, sir,” said Kelly, frowning in the near-darkness.

The room shook again. There were concerned shouts from around the room. The sirens were still blurting out as officers scrambled around to try and regain some of the lighting.

“That wasn’t a weapon,” said Dr. Who, stroking his chin. “That felt more like an impact.”

“So did the first one,” said Borshack.

“No,” said Dr. Who. “The first one was designed to knock out your defences. The second one felt like something hitting the surface of the planet; almost like a crash-landing.

“How can you tell?” asked Kelly.

“Look at the screen.”

The screen showed the planet before them. Slowly the lights on the planet’s surface were blinking off one by one as if it was losing power.

“Whatever launched from the planet did so before the power ran out. Perhaps the ship was losing power as well. It probably didn’t have enough left in it to make a proper landing and crashed.”

“Kelly,” Borshack pointed sideways to his lieutenant, “get a team out there now. I want to see if there are any survivors.” Borshack turned to Dr. Who. “So much for your friendly aliens.”

“At least we didn’t make an aggressive move,” he said, his face sad.

“I’ll remember that as we’re being strung up by these invaders.”



“That was definitely a crash-landing,” said the Doctor as he and Holly were escorted along the rocky corridor and back towards a small tunnel that lead from the air vents.

“From the planet? The Cybermen?” asked Holly.

“What are these Cybermen?” asked Rock, scuttling along beside the Doctor and Holly, followed Dome.

“It’s a little difficult to explain, but where I came from there were a race of creatures called the Cybermen. They came from a twin planet to Earth called Mondas. Mondas drifted away to parts of the galaxy that hadn’t been explored. Over time they replaced their body parts with cybernetic limbs and organs. Eventually Mondas returned to the solar system and tried to attack Earth.”

“Their world was dying, wasn’t it?” asked Holly, remembering what the Doctor had told her before.

“That’s right. Eventually it absorbed that much power that it burnt itself out. Some of the Mondasians escaped, but we all know that story.”

“Indeed we do,” said Holly.

“But is this the same thing? Is this Mondas?” asked Dome.

“Quite possibly. Possibly an alternate version. And if it is your world is in danger. No doubt the Moon is just a stop-off before Earth.”

The Doctor and Holly were helped up into the air vent by Rock and Dome. The Doctor looked down from the hole and smiled at the two rocks. “I will argue your case, I promise, but you have to defend yourselves. If the Cybermen are here then they won’t care for your people or your moon. They’ll wipe everyone out just to get what they want.”

“You have to work with the Humans,” said Holly.

“We will do our best,” said Rock. “We will meet again,” said the little rocky creature.

“Come on, Holly.” said the Doctor, “We need to get to the central command centre and speak to the commander.”

After crawling through several feet of air vents Holly had had enough. Her knees were sore and her palms were sweating. Eventually they reached a grill and the Doctor pushed it open, helping Holly out. They were near to the swimming pool and the man and woman – Ian and Barbara – were stood beside the bar. Both were wrapped in towels and were standing with a larger group, all of them looking concerned at the flickering lights.

“Hello again,” said Ian.

“Are you all alright?” asked the Doctor.

“Well the heating went off in the pool,” said Barbara, “but we’re not bad. We thought the lights might have sorted themselves out, but there’s been nothing yet.”

“You must stay here,” said the Doctor, pointing to them, “my friend and I will get help.”

“We’ve got a friend who might be able to help too,” said Ian.

“Yes, my grandfather is an expert at these situations,” said Barbara.

The Doctor paused and then looked more closely at the blonde woman. “Your grandfather? You mean you and I...I mean, you and him.”

“I beg your pardon?” asked Barbara, looking confused.

“Doctor, we need to go,” said Holly, grabbing his hand.

“Doctor?” said Ian and Barbara in unison.

“Later,” said Holly, dragging an astonished Doctor towards the swimming pool exit.

“Fascinating,” said the Doctor, as he finally managed to straighten his head to face the right direction and run beside Holly.

“She’s your alternate self’s granddaughter, yeah?” said Holly, with a smile.

“She must be,” said the Doctor, shaking his head in disbelief. “What a strange, different life we can all lead sometimes.”

“Well if you don’t mind, Doctor,” said Holly, as they ran through an open doorway in the corridor, “I’ll be quite happy to get back to our own lives.”



Kelly had led a small time out of the command centre and they were slowly making their way across the relatively calm lunar surface. He hadn’t been out here very often and always marvelled at how his boot prints remained standing in the dust – sort of like a memory to survive after he had long gone.

“Anything, Kelly?” came Borshack’s voice over the intercom in his helmet.

“Nothing yet, sir,” said Kelly. “I’ll radio you if we spot anything.”

“Sir,” came the voice of a young, blonde man – Jericho. He was standing a little way off from the rest of the group and was perched on a small ridge looking across the landscape.

“What is it, Tom?”

“There’s definitely something out there,” said Jericho.

Kelly clambered up the ridge to join the other officer. He scanned across the surface. To his left was the gleaming glass and metal city structure, lights blinking intermittently. Kelly had very rarely seen the city from this angle before. He had been mainly based inside the city and, again, hadn’t ventured out on many occasions. He had no reason to, but looking at it from here....he found his breath was taken away.

His eyes were diverted to where Jericho was pointing. A few metres away from the edge of the city was what looked like a large, metal object partially buried in the ground. He squinted – he should have worn his glasses – and the more it came into focus the more it looked like a flying saucer buried in the ground in its own little impact crater.

“There’s definitely a craft out here, sir,” said Kelly into his communicator.

“Can you get closer?” asked Borshack.

“If that’s an order, sir, then yes, I suppose I can.” Kelly laughed to himself. Borshack was a grumpy old man, but he liked the guy. He always seemed to be exasperated, almost like he didn’t really want to be there, but loved his job too much.

Kelly was about to take the team down the ridge when something shot up from the steep incline of the other side. There were cries for help as he fell back, the black sky occupying his visor.

“Report, Kelly,” yelled Borshack through the intercom.

Kelly found himself falling to the ground and landing with a soft thud. He tried to scramble to get up. He could hear the cries of his men around him on the intercom, and then something that would horrify him for the final ten seconds of his life loomed into view.

The man was huge – probably around seven-foot. Its limbs were stiff and its bones made a metallic crack as it moved towards him. Ragged silver fabric was fastened to its body with what looked like bandages. They were stained red as if cuts had bled a long time ago. But the face was the true horror. From out of the shoulders came an almost metallic-like skull. Piercing blue eyes shone out from the eye sockets of the metal skull and on the top of the head was a metallic cap with a lamp on top with “handle bars” reaching from the lamp and down to where the ears should have been.

The creature opened its mouth – jagged metal teeth occupied its jaw as it pulled back its bony fist and brought it down on Kelly’s glass visor.



The visor cracked and the last thing Kelly saw was Jericho being lifted into the air and torn into two pieces at the waist. He thanked God for a merciful death as the scuffle between the invaders giant boot prints wiped out his own.

To be continued...

Dr. Who and the Men in the Moon (Chapter 5)

Chapter 5 (The Dying Planet)

It was sunny. Holly opened her eyes. White, thin curtains blew gently in the breeze coming from the open window. She had to shield her eyes whilst they got used to the light. She felt relaxed though. Happy and relaxed as she stretched underneath the cotton sheets.

She turned her head to the side. Lilly was sat on the straw armchair beside the bed, reading a book.

“Did I wake you?” asked Lilly, looking up from the pages.

“No,” said Holly. “And you can wake me up any time you want to.”

Lilly smiled at her and closed the book. She was wearing a yellow dress and looked absolutely beautiful. She took off her heels and climbed onto the bed, sitting down next to Holly and looking down at her.

“What?” asked Holly.

“I’m just happy,” said Lilly. She leant in and planted a gentle kiss on Holly’s forehead.

“I’m happy too,” said Holly.

“But it’s not over yet.”

“Sorry?” said Holly.

“There’s something you need to do first. You need to help the Doctor now. It’s the only way you can get back to me.”

The room had grown darker and the sun had disappeared. “This isn’t real, is it?”

“Just a dream, Dangerfield.” Lilly got up off the bed. The room had grown darker and she could now barely make her out. “You need to wake up, Holly.”

“What?”

“Wake up!”

“Lilly?” said Holly, feeling a dull pain in the back of her skull where she’d hit her head.

“What?” said the Doctor. “No, it’s not Lilly. It’s me.”

“Yeah, I know,” said Holly, “just wishful thinking.”

“How are you feeling?”

Holly sat up and swayed slightly. The pain in the back of her head felt worse now. She rubbed the back of her head and there was just enough light for her to check her hand – no blood. That was a good sign. They were sat in a dark cave with rough, grey walls. There was a small opening in the cave which led to a rocky corridor and there were large drag marks from the corridor to where the two of them were sat.

“My head’s hurting,” said Holly. “I must have hit it when I fell.”

“Me too,” said the Doctor. He rubbed the side of his face and winced. “Something took us out with some speed.”

Holly was about to get up and stretch her legs when she realised that they were tied together at the ankles with some crude form of black twine. She looked at the Doctor, a look of worry on her face.

“Yes, I know,” said the Doctor, arching his eyebrows. “Not looking good, is it?”

“Was it that creature from earlier?”

“Highly likely,” said the Doctor. “We seem to be in some sort of cave. Judging by my how my ears have been feeling I’d say we were underground.”

“But how can we breathe?” asked Holly, trying to pick at the tight bindings on her ankles.

“We’re likely still in the confines of the city. I’d expect them to extend the atmospheric bubble down as far as they can go. I don’t really know though. Not my universe, remember?”

Holly was furiously picking away at the twine when a small rock came flying from the corridor and hit her on her knuckles.

“Ow!” she said. “What was that?”

“Someone – or something – throwing stones,” said the Doctor, peering into the darkness. “Come on, show yourself!”

What emerged from the corridor almost made Holly laugh, but she managed to stifle it – the pain in her head made any sudden movements unbearable. A number of what she could only describe as boulders slowly shuffled into the cave. Holly couldn’t really make out what was making them move, but she presumed they had to have had legs. They moved in a strange, shuffling motion. They had strange, spindly, bone-like arms with little, tiny claws and the head was simply another, smaller stone attached to the main body with little red eyes peeking out from between the two.

“Well, hello there,” said the Doctor.

The boulders did not speak. There were four of them and they lined up in front of Holly and the Doctor.

“Do you speak?” asked Holly.

The creatures turned to look at each other and then one of them produced a sharp, flint-like stone and advanced on the two prisoners.



Borshack stood with his hands on his hips, staring at the monitor as the planet came into full view. It looked strangely like Earth – similar placing of continents with only a few differences – but it looked grey. Grey and brown, as if it was dying. On the far side of the planet appeared to be a huge, metallic structure built onto the surface of the planet with giant engines that must have propelled the planet across the solar system.

“Most exciting,” said Dr. Who, his eyes bright.

“Most disturbing,” said Borshack. “Kelly, is that thing giving off any readings?”

“Not many,” said Kelly, checking his console, “but it is similar to Earth in many ways. There seems to be a high level of pollution though – and a large population. Sixty billion life forms on the planet!”

“And this planet just glided into our solar system? Just like that?” asked Borshack, peering closer at the image of the planet.

“It seems that way, sir.”

“Have you tried to open communications with it?” asked Dr. Who.

“Why would we do that?” asked Borshack.

“Good lord, man,” said Dr. Who, shaking his head, “it’s a planet from nowhere. A tenth planet in your nine-planet system. Where is your sense of curiosity?”

“It could be dangerous.”

“It could be, but then we won’t know unless we try and speak.”

“Kelly-”

“No need to open communications, sir,” said Kelly, frowning at the console, “it looks like they are opening communications again. I’m afraid it’s still only audio.”

“Let’s hear them.”

There was a blast of static and then the strange, metallic, electronic voice filtered through the speakers once again.

“Can you clear that up?” asked Dr. Who.

“Working on it,” said Kelly.

The static cleared a little more. They could hear the voice now almost as clear as a bell.

“...to all Earthlings. We request immediate assistance from your planet. Our planet is dying. We must receive assistance immediately or we will die. Our systems are failing. We only had enough power to finish this final push into the solar system. Please respond.”

“Sir?” asked Kelly, waiting to for his orders.

“It could be a trap,” said Borshack, stroking his moustache.

“Don’t you think we should give them the benefit of the doubt?” said Dr. Who.

Borshack looked up to his office. I will need to speak to Earth Central first. If these inhabitants pose a threat we have to be ready.

“But they might be dying up there!” said Susan.

“I still have to follow procedures. Kelly, do not respond until I have backing from EC.” He pointed down at Dr. Who and Susan. “And make sure these two do not leave the command centre. I still don’t know where you’ve come from.”

“Grandfather?” said Susan.

“It’ll all be alright, Susie. Don’t worry. I’m sure the people on that planet are quite friendly.”



“But I don’t understand,” said Holly. “This city has been here for over 25 years. Why are you so worried now?”

The Doctor and Holly had been untied and were sat against the wall of the cave. The strange, rock creatures hadn’t made much sense at first, talking in a strange scraping voice that sounded like rock scraping on rock.

Eventually, after an adjustment of the sonic screwdriver, the voices started to make some kind of sense and eventually full-on English words were coming out of the creature’s odd mouths.

The Doctor had said that it was a case of their TARDIS telepathic circuits not quite being in tune with this alternate universe.

“We were content to let the Humankind settle on our world,” said the lead creature, “but on the dark side they have started to construct another city.”

“And it’s disrupting your race?” asked the Doctor.

The creature nodded its domed head. “My kind moved to the dark side, but where does it stop? We move – they build.”

“But they don’t know about you,” said Holly. “I don’t think they mean you any harm.”

“I’m assuming at some point in the past there were the moon landings in this universe.”

“This universe?” The creature seemed confused.

“There were moon landings, yes?”

“Yes. Their craft came to us.”

“Then why didn’t you make yourselves know then?”

“Why should we?” said the lead creature. “This is our planet.”

Holly sighed. “If strangers turned up at my house I wouldn’t just sit back and hide.”

“We are a private race.”

The Doctor leant back and scratched the back of his neck. “Well, we have to come to some kind of agreement here. They aren’t my people so I can be a mediator between your two races.”

“You have to decide what you want though, because attacking them isn’t the best way forward.”

“They must stop building their places on our world. One is enough. The more they build the more unstable our world becomes. We can breathe in these oxygen pockets, but not forever.”

“I will certainly try and get your point across, Mr...what’s your name?”

“Rock.”

“Rock? That’s it,” said Holly, confused, “just Rock?”

“Does this amuse you, Humankind?”

“No, no,” said Holly, looking worried. “Not at all.”

The Doctor nodded. “It’ll be an honour to assist you, Rock.”

There came a scuffle of urgency from near the cave opening and a smaller, paler looking rock creature came scuttling in. It looked worried (if rocks are even capable of having worries expressions) and almost collided with Rock.

“What is it, Dome?”

“There is something going on above.”

“In the city?”

“No,” said Dome. “Something has appeared in the sky. It looks like another planet.”

“What?” said the Doctor, a worrying thought at the back of his mind. “Another planet?”

“Yes,” said Dome. “It has large rocket engines and it is getting closer to us.”

“No,” said the Doctor.

“What is it?” asked Holly.

“Can you remember the Mondasian Cybermen?”

“Yes,” said Holly. She’d never forget her first trip on board the TARDIS and the run-in with the survivors of the planet Mondas.

“Well, this is an alternate world. I have a bad feeling that the planet up there may be the alternate Cyber Mondasians.”

“But they were friendly.”



“The survivors were. The original ones were very, very dangerous. Who even knows how bad these alternate versions may be!”

To be continued...

Dr. Who and the Men in the Moon (Chapter 4)

Chapter 4 (Attack of the Moon Men)

“I don’t understand,” said Holly, as the Doctor sat, looking perplexed, his shoes and socks at the side whilst his feet dangled into the warm swimming pool. The work crew had turned up and were busy trying to filter the grey dust out of the water. “You said we were in an alternate universe.”

“You don’t understand, Holly,” said the Doctor. “I travelled with Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright, but they were different to these two. They looked different.”

“So they’re not alternate versions of your Ian and Barbara?”

“No,” said the Doctor, “which makes it all the more fascinating.” He smiled. “The universe has a funny way of bringing people together. A totally different Ian Chesterton and a totally different Barbara Wright are brought together and end up travelling with an alternate version of me. It’s almost like the universe knows how my mind works.”

“So if they’re here then your alternate self must be around somewhere,” said Holly, glancing around the poolside.

“Not here though,” said the Doctor. “But if I know myself then I’ll be somewhere investigating the same creature we chased.”

The Doctor pulled out a syringe and aimed it towards some of the remains of the creature. He sucked up some of the grey liquid and then looked at it through the glass syringe. “We need to head up to central command and speak to Commander Borshack.”



Borshack was getting on – a man in his late 60’s with thinning white hair and a pencil-thin moustache. His face wore deep lines that looked like they hid away the darkest secrets that came with working for the Earth Space Force. He had done 44 years service and was planning on retiring in the next few years. He liked living and working on the Moon, but he missed his wife, Matilda and his two dogs back at their cottage on Earth. He managed to get back every few weeks, but the more times he went back, the more homesick he became.

He was deep in thought behind his glass desk, staring down at a blank computer monitor when the door opened. A young, Asian man – Lieutenant Kelly – entered with an old man with grey, bouffant hair and wearing the oddest, old fashioned brown jacket and chequered trousers he’d ever seen. He was accompanied by a small, dark-haired girl in a blue dress.

“Sir, this man says he needs to speak to you about the power outages and the problems with the vents.”

“What?” said Borshack, looking at the old man and feeling confused.

“My granddaughter and I were in the market area when we witnessed the power outage.”

“Ah, yes. It’s a mystery I’m afraid,” said Borshack realising what they were talking about.

“And how long has it been going on?” asked the old man, stopping slightly and smiling at Borshack.

Borshack frowned. “Excuse me, but who are you? We don’t usually admit civilians in here.”

“That’s because we’re not civilians,” said the old man. He extended his hand. “My name is Dr. Who, and this is my granddaughter, Susan.”

Borshack shook his hand, but continued to frown. Did the old man think that that was meant to mean something to him?

“We’re travellers,” said the young girl, also reaching up to shake the old commander’s hand.

“We still don’t tend to get travellers in here,” said Borshack.

Dr. Who crossed over to a control panel on the office wall and began tapping away at the touch screen. “Oh, do you mind?”

Borshack felt himself being overwhelmed by these people. He made a mental note to tighten up security in the command centre. “It depends what you’re looking for.”

“A schematic of your pipe works and vents,” said Dr. Who. “Dear me, this is most confusing.”

“Here,” said Borshack, gently shifting Dr. Who out of his way. He was no closer to finding out what was happening and he was open to any help he could get. He tapped in a few commands and an image of the base came up. A few more taps and it zoomed into a schematic of the pipes. They looked like noodles snaking around and around underneath the city.

“They pump the waste water out of people’s homes and recycle it to drinking water. The air vents make sure the oxygen is continually circulated.”

“Hmmm,” said Dr. Who, putting his glasses on and peering up at the plans, “it’s not really the pipes that I’m interested in.”

“Then what are you interested in?” asked Borshack, becoming more and more frustrated.

“I’m interested in what is under the pipes,” said Dr. Who, turning to look at the old man.

Before Borshack was able to reply the comm signal beeped that a call was coming in. Borshack snapped out of his gaze at Dr. Who and hurried over to his desk. He tapped on the “receive” button. “Yes, what is it Kelly?”

“Sir, we’re picking up a strange reading. I think you better come out here and give it a look.”



The command centre was a hustle and bustle of activity. Like most things in Luna City Alpha, it was dome shaped with a walkway around what would be considered as the second level and steps down to the large central area where technicians and officers worked at control panels.

In the centre of the command area was a large control console with a rectangular, glass screen suspended on just slightly above everyone’s heads.

“What kind of signal is it?” asked Borshack as he headed into the lower section, followed by Dr. Who and Susan.

“It’s a bit too faint to make out, but it’s repeating over and over again.”

“So someone in the City is making illegal broadcasts.”

“No, no,” said Kelly, “it’s not coming from the Moon.” He pointed at an image of the solar system on the screen. The furthest planet on the screen was Pluto, and just beyond that was a red, flashing dot. The source of the signal. “This signal is coming from space.”



The Doctor and Holly were almost at the control centre when the lights went out again. The Doctor reached out a hand and stopped Holly from going any further.

“It’s just another power loss, Doctor,” said Holly. “If those creatures are causing it then-”

“Quiet,” said the Doctor.

Holly could just make out the outline of his face. “The power’s not coming back on.”

“No,” said the Doctor. He reached down and took her hand. “Stay close to me.”

“Don’t worry, Doc, I’m not going anywhere.” She laughed nervously.

The corridor was still in darkness, but slowly the Doctor and Holly walked along it. The Doctor went into his pocket and pulled out the sonic screwdriver. The light on it didn’t brighten up everything, but it gave them enough light to be able to see where they were going.

“This reminds me of the time Lilly, Caleb and I were trapped in the Web of Wax,” said the Doctor, speaking in a whisper.

The mention of Lilly made Holly’s heart ache. “Web of Wax?”

“Mmm-hmm,” said the Doctor. “There were these giant, cat-like-spiders-”

“Cat-like-spiders?!” said Holly, horrified.

“The Waxians. Scary creatures. Anyway they tunnelled under the ground and we had to get through one of their wax webs to get back to the TARDIS.”

“Dare I ask how the TARDIS got inside their web in the first place?” asked Holly.

“Mis-adventure,” said the Doctor, sheepishly.

Holly laughed knowingly. “How’d you do it then? Get out of the web?”

“It was Lilly, actually. The creatures were deadly, but they weren’t very good with loud noises. They surrounded us and Lilly started shouting at them.”

“Sounds like our Lilly,” laughed Holly.

The Doctor stopped them in the corridor and turned to face Holly. “Thank you.”

“What for?” asked Holly, getting mental whiplash at the change in discussion.

“For being there for Lilly,” he said. He took her other hand and she could make out the smile on his face. “You brought her further in those last few months than I ever managed. You helped her to heal.”

Holly smiled. “She isn’t healed yet, Doctor.”

“No, but she’s nearly there. The wound is almost healed.”

“She still hasn’t told me everything that happened with Caleb.” Holly felt the Doctor tense up. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not that,” said the Doctor, his voice now barely audible. “Don’t make any sudden moves, but there’s something stood behind you.”

“What!” said Holly, jumping at the thought, doing the exact opposite of what he had said and spinning around to look at what it could be.

“Holly!” yelled the Doctor.

But it was too late. The sonic screwdriver was knocked out of the Doctor’s hand as the rest of the light was extinguished.



“Power’s back on in section 5,” said Lieutenant Kelly.

“And Earth Command are asking for an update on the signal,” said a blonde woman.

“Can we clear up the signal, Johnson?” asked Borshack.

The blonde woman, Johnson, tapped a few buttons on her console. “Not yet, but it is getting closer. It’s a message.”

Dr. Who glanced up at the screen. “It’s passed Neptune now.”

“What do you think it is, grandfather?” asked Susan.

“I don’t know, Susie, I just don’t know.”

“I’ve got something,” said Johnson. She put her hands over her communications headset and strained to listen. “It’s definitely a message.”

“Can you route it through the comm system?” asked Borshack.

“Yes, sir,” said Johnson.

The speakers high up in the ceiling began to broadcast static.

Dr. Who tapped on his chin curiously and looked down at Susan.

“Can you clear it up?” asked Borshack.

“Give me a second, sir,” said Johnson. “There, that should do it.”

From out of the static came a strange, sing-song, metallic-sounding voice. It kept repeating over and over and over again and it caused Borshack’s blood to run cold.

“WE ARE COMING. WE ARE COMING. WE ARE COMING.”

“Grandfather...?” said Susan, looking up at him.

“Sir, we’re getting a few more details about the origin of the signal,” said Lt. Kelly. “It’s not a spaceship.” He paused for dramatic effect.

Borshack sighed and thought of his house in the countryside. “Well get on with it, Kelly.”

“It’s not a spaceship. It’s a planet.”

“I beg your pardon?” said Borshack.

“A planet – a tenth planet – has somehow entered the solar system and is heading straight for us.”

“We are coming,” muttered Dr. Who under his breath.

“Lt. Kelly, put the city on lockdown. Everyone else, get to your battle stations.”

To be continued...

Dr. Who and the Men in the Moon (Chapter 3)

Chapter 3 (Lunar City Alpha)

“Fascinating concoction,” said the Doctor, scooping up some orange, mushy food with a piece of soft, white bread.

“It’s just cheese,” said Holly, sipping on a cool glass of pink lemonade.

“It tastes like oranges,” said the Doctor, licking the ends of his fingers.

“Really?” said Holly, dipping her finger in the mush, licking her finger and then sticking her tongue out. “Blurgghh! How bizarre!”

“Special of the day, sweetheart,” came a metallic, robotic voice.

Standing with a tray in its hand was what Holly could only describe as something that looked like an robot out of a 1950’s sci-fi film. It was hovering a few inches off the ground, had a round, metallic body with an array of multicoloured buttons and clawed hands attached to stretching, pipe-like arms. Its head was a dome, complete with aerial that swivelled on a neck section. There were two, glowing blue eyes at the front and when the robot spoke a row of red lights lit up where its mouth could have been.

“Hello there,” said the Doctor, shaking the robots claws. “You’re the waiter here, are you?”

“Got it in one, pal,” said the robot. It had an Australian accent which Holly found amusing. “And may I welcome you to Cafe Moondust. My name is Colin.”

“Nice to meet you Colin,” smiled Holly.

“Charmed,” said Colin.

“Listen, perhaps you can help us out,” said the Doctor. “On two counts actually.”

“I’ll try if I can, chief,” said Colin, putting his tray down on the table.

“Firstly I was wondering if you have any kind of chemical stores in the city. Specifically I need mercury.”

“There are three chemical stores on Level 5X,” said Colin, projecting a small, holographic 3D map of Lunar City Alpha. “Your best would be Sonny’s Lab Works.”

“Excellent,” said the Doctor, taking out a notepad and scribbling down the address.

“And your second question?” asked Colin, switching the map off.

“The year is 2006, yes?”

“That’s correct,” said Colin, his dome swivelling slightly.

“Well as far as my history banks are concerned there was never a city on the moon; not in the early 21st century anyway.”

Colin remained silent for a moment and then another image was projected from the vast array of controls on his chest. It showed a holographic video of shuttles travelling to the moon and then scores of people in spacesuits and driving construction vehicles building Lunar City Alpha.

“The City was built 27 years ago.”

“1981?” said Holly. “That’s impossible.”

“I can assure you, lady, that it’s very, very possible. You’re sitting in the possible. Hey, we could rename the cafe! Cafe Possible!”

The Doctor was deep in thought when a sudden realisation hit him and he leaned back in his chair, his hand mock-slapping his forehead.

“Is that a penny is see dropping there, Doctor?” asked Holly.

“We’re in an alternate universe. It’s so obvious.”

“What, like where the Kro’Tenk came from?” asked Holly, remembering all too well her brush with the lizard men of a dark world she visited.

“Sort of,” said the Doctor. “Whatever hit us in the vortex threw us off course. It happens very rarely, but it does occasionally happen.”

“Yeah, but even so,” said Holly, looking around her, “a Moon city built in the 1980’s?”

“Remember though – there are infinite universes out there with infinite possibilities. All it takes is for technology to advance faster than in our universe and voila – Moon City.”

“Have I answered all your questions, chief?” asked Colin.

“Indeed you have, my friend,” said the Doctor, patting him on the dome.

“Then I’ll say g’day,” said Colin, nodding his dome and floating away.

“So all we need is mercury and then we can plot a course home?” asked Holly.

“Should be simple enough,” said the Doctor, taking another bite of his orange-mush-covered bread and grinning. “We just follow the same trajectory that we came in on.”

The Doctor finished off his bread and was about to get up and leave when there was an almighty whoosh from somewhere on the walkway behind them. There were shouts and yells as a metal grill was thrown from over a manhole, landing with a clatter just behind the Doctor and Holly with a grey, plume of powder following it.

“Not again,” said Colin, putting his tray down and floating over to the edge of the cafe boundary.

“Again?” asked Holly.

“This has been happening regularly for the last few weeks - Blasts of moon dust erupting from the vents below.”

“Interesting,” said the Doctor, getting up from the table and running over to the crowd of people gathered around the vent. He knelt down and ran his finger through the grey/silver powdery residue. “Definitely moon dust.”

“But there’s no dust underneath them,” said Holly, kneeling down to join the Doctor. “I mean they’re just vents. Where’s the dust coming from?”

“Nobody knows,” said Colin, sounding fed up with the situation, “but I know that one day one of these vents is going to burst open under our cafe and then we’ll be in trouble.”

By now a work crew had arrived on the scene and were ushering the crowd away so they could fix the grill back down.

“And you say nobody knows? Nobody at all?” asked the Doctor.

“Nobody,” said Colin.

“I can guarantee somebody knows,” said the Doctor, getting to his feet. “Who’s in charge here?”

“That’ll be Commander Borshack.”

“And he can be found...?”

“In Control Centre 1,” said Colin. “Just follow the green arrows to find your way around.”

“Thank you, Colin,” smiled the Doctor.

He and Holly made their way through the masses of people busy going about their daily life until they reached the market area. There were signposts everywhere, but all the directions to the command posts were written on green arrows. They were about to turn and head to an elevator at the side of the domed chamber when Holly grabbed the Doctor’s arm.

“What’s wrong?” asked the Doctor.

“The TARDIS,” said Holly. “Someone’s moved it in here.”

Sure enough the TARDIS was sat in the middle of the market place, people busy milling around it and taking no notice.

“Impossible,” said the Doctor. “I left the gravity clamps on. Nobody should have been able to move it.”

“Well they have,” said Holly.

“I better check she’s in one piece,” said the Doctor. He took out his key and walked over to the TARDIS. He placed the key in the lock. It didn’t turn.

“What’s up?” asked Holly.

The Doctor took his key out of the lock and stroked his unshaven chin, looking the blue box up and down. “I don’t think this is my TARDIS.”

“What?” laughed Holly. “What are you talking about? It’s big, it’s blue, it’s a police box. It’s the TARDIS.”

“No. Remember what I said about us arriving in an alternate universe?”

A look of realisation dawned on the dark-haired woman and her eyes widened. “Like Aldridge in the dark world? You think this TARDIS belongs to another alternate version of you?”

“Indeed I do,” said the Doctor. “How fascinating that we’re both here at the same time.”

Holly smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. “There’re more of you running about than I can count.”

The Doctor gave a weak smile and was about to respond when the entire domed chamber was plunged into darkness. There were cries and shouts from all over and the same whooshing sound that they had heard before.

Red emergency lights came on bathing the chamber and making it look like something out of a horror movie. Holly was about to speak when suddenly something rushed past her and knocked her into the Doctor’s arms.

The two of them looked in the direction the something had run in just in time to see a grey blur disappear out of the chamber and into a corridor.

Now the lights were flickering back on and people were beginning to regain their senses.

“What was that?” asked Holly. “It was bloody hard whatever it was.” She rubbed her shin. “I’ll have a lovely bruise come up there.”

“I don’t know, Miss Dangerfield, but I reckon we should follow it.”

The Doctor took Holly’s hand and they both headed in the direction of the grey blur.



The swimming pool was located in a section off to the furthest edge of the city. It was in a large, glass dome which looked out on the lunar landscape. The pool itself was huge and circular in shape, around the size of two football fields. Dotted around the pool were tables, chairs, sun loungers and at the far wall a bar serving all manner of cocktails, drinks and snacks.

Ian swam over to the edge of the pool where Barbara was laid out on a blanket in a blue, swimming costume. She lowered her sunglasses and peeked over the edge of them.

“Can I help?” she asked, smiling as she sipped on her sparkling, pink coloured lemonade.

“You ought to come into the water,” said Ian. “It’s lovely and warm.”

“I’m quite happy relaxing beside the pool, Mr Chesterton,” smiled Barbara.

“Ah, come on,” said Ian, splashing a little bit of water at his wife.

“Hey,” she said, shielding her face and laughing.

Ian was about to climb out of the pool and join Barbara when a rush and clatter came from the glass double doors at the entrance to the pool area. There was a cry as a woman fell over, a table went flying and a grey blur rushed across the wet tiles, skidded and hit Ian full-on in the chest. The blur – and Ian – fell backwards and went into the depths of the water.

“Ian!” shouted Barbara, getting up from her blanket.

The water was now turning a cloudy grey colour. It looked like someone had just dumped a bag of cement in the warm water, causing it to disperse and discolour the liquid.

“Ian!” she shouted again, on her hands and knees and kneeling over the edge.

By now a crowd had gathered around the pool. The cloud of grey water had now spread out over a few square metres, but all was silent.

“Oh, Ian,” said Barbara, her hand to her mouth.

And then there was a sudden burst from underneath the cloud as Ian popped up, soaking wet and covered head to toe in glittering, grey wet powder.

“Ian!” said Barbara, reaching out to him as the young man coughed and spluttered out some of the gritty water.

“What on Earth was that?” asked Barbara.

“I don’t know,” said Ian as he was helped out by Barbara and a few of the other spectators.

“I’d quite like to find out myself,” came a voice from behind the crowd. Standing there was a young, Scottish man and a dark-haired, pretty girl. “I’m the Doctor, by the way, and this is Holly Dangerfield.”

“Are you okay?” asked Holly, kneeling down beside the pool and the dripping Ian.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” said Ian, holding out a hand to signal for her to keep calm.

“Did you say your name’s the Doctor?” asked Barbara, patting Ian down with a towel.

“That’s right,” said the Doctor. “And you are?”

“Barbara. Barbara and Ian Chesterton.” She held out her hand.

“What?” said a confused Doctor.

To be continued...

Dr. Who and the Men in the Moon (Chapter 2)

Chapter 2 (Crash Landing on the Moon)

Some say that the moon used to support life millions and millions of years ago. Others say that it used to be part of another planet in the solar system that broke apart with one part becoming the moon and the other Mars. Some say that there’s a man in the moon. Some say that it’s actually an egg.

And some say that it’s just a dead, lifeless rock.

There was nothing on the TARDIS scanner to support any theories other than the last one. The Doctor and Holly stood by the console watching the dull, grey dunes – no life. Nothing.

“How boring,” said the Doctor glumly.

“Boring? It’s the moon, Doctor!” said Holly. “How can it be boring?”

“Holly,” he said, turning to face her, “you’ve visited countless different worlds. Why would the moon excite you?”

“Because,” she said, pointing to the scanner, “that’s my moon. The moon. I’ve never ever been here before.” She walked a little closer to the scanner and gazed up at it. “I used to lie out under the stars with Foxy and Roxy and gaze up at it trying to imagine what it’d be like to actually stand on it; to actually meet the man in the moon.”

“Oh, there’s no man in the moon,” said the Doctor. “In the future there are maybe Humans on the moon, but definitely no men on it now.”

“Well it’s still exciting to me,” said Holly, folding her arms.

A jet of steam erupted from underneath the console. The Doctor howled in pain and dropped to his knees, craning his neck to see under the console. “No!”

“What is it?” asked Holly, dropping to her knees and looking for the source of his worries.

“The fluid link’s gone again!”

“The fluid link?” asked Holly as they both got to their feet again. “Not that old thing again? It’s always on the blink.”

The Doctor flicked a few switches. “I knew it. I knew it!”

“Knew what?” asked Holly. “Calm down for a moment, Doctor.”

“I haven’t restocked the mercury supplies again,” he said, rubbing his forehead in frustration. “And this time I’m not fibbing. Will I never learn?”

“This time?” asked a confused Holly.

“And we’re stuck on the moon with no way of getting to any supplies.”

“Except there,” Holly said, pointing to a 3D map of the Moon. A red dot was flashing amongst a large collection of buildings.

“What in the world...?” said the Doctor, peering at it closely. “The TARDIS must be struggling to pick up the lifesigns.”

“It looks like a city,” said Holly. “On the moon!”

“Impossible,” said the Doctor. “It’s only 2006. There was a moonbase a few decades after, but not a city.”

“Well there it is,” said Holly, pointing to it again. “A full-blown city. Looks about the size of Birmingham.”

“Impossible,” said the Doctor again.

“Well instead of scratching your head and wondering how it’s possible, why don’t we suit up and get over there? We might be able to find some mercury.”

“Good idea,” said the Doctor. “Let’s go and try and work this one out.”



Tom and Louise had said their goodbyes at the party and the rest of the guests were leaving. Barbara and Ian were stood beside the door waving everyone off and Dr. Who and Susan were looking impatient beside the entrance to the study.

When the last guest had finally left Barbara shut the door and then leant against the door. “Goodness me, I’m shattered after that.”

“Well there’s no time to lose,” said Dr. Who, excitedly.

“You’re telling me,” said Ian. “Bed time I think.”

“And I need to get out of this wedding dress.”

“Tell them grandfather,” said Susan.

“You can’t go to bed because you haven’t had your present from myself and Susan yet,” said Dr. Who.

“You bought us that new car, remember?” said Ian, confused.

“Not that, lad,” said Dr. Who. He clapped his hands together gleefully. “I have received a letter from the Time Kings of Gallifrey - a planet in the far reaches of space. They want me to visit them and become one of them.”

“Well that’s great, grandfather,” said Barbara, walking over to him, “but how is that a gift for us?”

“Because I am taking the two of you there for your honeymoon.”

Ian looked a little bit worried. He always looked nervous. Ever since his first encounter with the Daleks. Even a kiss from Barbara back on the day he first set foot in the TARDIS made him nervous.

“Don’t look so worried, lad. It’ll all be okay,” said Dr. Who, as if sensing his worries.

“Grandfather,” said Barbara, “while I’m grateful for this gift from you, we already had a trip planned to Morocco.”

“Come on Barbara,” said Susan, a twinkle in her eye, “why would you go to a place on Earth when you can go to another planet?”

“And end up on a planet like Skaro again?” said Ian, stepping up, “And I do think it’s something we need to discuss.”

“Well don’t take too long,” said Dr. Who, waggling his finger at them, “we don’t have any time to lose.”

“Please say you’ll come,” said Susan.

“Let me get out of this dress and I’ll see.” She looked across to Ian. “We’ll see.”



Only thirty minutes later and they were standing on board the TARDIS. Dr. Who had done a little bit of redecorating, painting the interior a black colour and tidying away some of the loose wires and scattered equipment, but it still looked as crazy as usual.

Barbara walked in holding Ian’s hand. She had changed into a white polo-neck jumper with black leggings, whilst Ian had opted for an open-neck white shirt and suit trousers.

“It doesn’t change much, this place, does it?” said Ian, looking around him nervously.

“It’ll be fine, sweetheart,” said Barbara, tapping him on the arm.

“I’m so very glad you could both make it,” smiled Dr. Who, clapping his hands together. “I promise you we’ll go straight there. No detours.”

“And what exactly is it you have to do when you get there?” asked Ian.

“Well I expect I will have to pass some tests, so you two can enjoy a good few days resting and relaxing whilst I’m put through my paces.”

He activated a few switches and then went to a large, red lever set in the centre of the room. He pushed down on it and the lights dimmed to signify the TARDIS was in flight.

“Here we go again,” said Ian, ominously, remembering the last time he was in the ship and trying to fight off a hoard of Roman centurions.

“Do you know anything about these Time Kings?” asked Barbara, settling herself down on a fold-out chair beside the lever.

“Nothing at all I’m afraid. I’ve heard a few legends, but nothing concrete. They live at the end of time in giant, crystal castles.”

“And they watch over everyone, making sure everyone obeys the laws of time,” said Susan.

“So you do know quite a bit about them then?” laughed Barbara.

“Well, we’ve done our research, haven’t we, Susie?” said Dr. Who giving the girl a little hug.

Ian had his arms folded. “As long as we’re straight there and straight back I -”

As if to stop Ian from saying anymore the TARDIS lurched to the side and the four occupants were thrown in different directions. The lights flickered out and Barbara screamed. Dr. Who dragged himself across the floor and reached out for the red lever. He pulled himself up onto his knees with great difficulty (his legs were definitely failing in his old age) and switched the lever into its former position.

With a thud the TARDIS came to a stop and the lights slowly flickered back on.

“Is everybody alright?” asked Dr. Who.

“Fine, grandfather,” said Susan.

“Alright over here,” came Ian’s voice. “Barbara too.”

“What happened?” asked Barbara.

“I’m afraid I have no idea. It’s as if we were dragged off course,” said Dr. Who getting to his feet and checking the readings. “Most exciting!”

“What is it?” asked Susan. “Are we on Gallifrey?”

“No,” said Dr. Who, a twinkle in his eye.

“Why am I not surprised?” said Ian, leaning against the doors and giving a knowing smile.

“We’re in the year 2006.”

“The future!” said Barbara.

“More precisely – the moon!”

“Lunar City Alpha,” said Susan, looking at the readings. “It looks like a giant, man-made city for Humans to live on.”

“Can we go and have a look around?” asked Barbara.

With that the doors swung open and Ian, his back still against them, fell backwards out of the TARDIS.

“Ian!” said Barbara, rushing to his side.

The TARDIS was sat in the centre of a large area. Crowds of people hustled and bustled past it. It was a huge, open-area in a dome-like room with beams and arches stretching up to the domed roof. Large, curved windows occupied intermittent panels along the walls looking out on the lunar landscape. Spiral staircases and glass lifts led up from the perimeter of the area giving access to other floors, gantries and doorways to other sections of the city.

Dotted around the area were various market stalls and booths. To all intents and purposes this was a market place.

Barbara helped Ian to his feet as they were joined by Dr. Who and Susan, who looked around in wonder.

“Well,” said Barbara, “it’s not the planet of the Time Kings, but it’ll do,” she smiled, giving her grandfather a hug.



Somewhere, not far away, an object had entered the solar system. A large, blue, white and green planet moving, inexplicably, towards Earth. And on the planet cold, dead eyes watched for signs of life. Signs of technology.



They were coming.

To be continued...

Dr. Who and the Men in the Moon (Chapter 1)

Chapter 1 (A Letter from the Time Kings)

November 23rd, 1966

Dr. Who settled down into his favourite armchair and eyed up the cream cake in his hand. He smiled at it and savoured the strawberries and cream aroma that was coming from it. He closed his eyes, opened his mouth and prepared to take a bite.

“Grandfather,” came the young girl’s voice.

Dr. Who opened his eyes, the cream cake in mid air. Standing in front of him was a young, dark-haired girl, probably around 12 years old and wearing a white and grey chequered dress. She was frowning at him.

“Ah, Susie,” he said, looking sheepish. “I just needed five minutes away from all of the hustle and bustle.”

“But Grandfather, its Ian and Barbara’s wedding day. You were supposed to make speeches.”

“And I still will,” he said, smiling at her frustrated face, “but we still have to wait for Tom and Louise to arrive as well.”

“I know you,” said Susan, coming over to him and sitting down on his lap, “you’ll be in here for two minutes and then you’ll fall fast asleep.”

“Oh, Susan, my child,” he laughed, “I’m not getting any younger, you know?” He tapped the end of her nose and she looked sad. “I’m an old man. I need my rest.”

“I know,” she replied, looking sad, “I just want you to have fun.”

“And I am having fun,” he smiled. “Never think that I’m not having fun, but time is moving on for me. I won’t be here forever, you know? It’ll be up to Ian and Barbara to take care of you when I’m gone.”

“But Grandfather-!” she said, concerned.

“Ah, hush now,” he said, putting a finger to her lips. “There’s still a lot to do before then, my dear.”

“Excuse me, Doctor?” came a voice.

Ian Chesterton was quite a short man with short-cut brown hair, brown eyes and a kindly face. Barbara had fallen in love with him the day she met him. He was funny and clumsy, but he was also very brave when he had to be. It had only been a few months since he had been introduced to Susan and her grandfather, but they had all become close on their trip in TARDIS to the planet Skaro.

Ian had proposed to Barbara when Susan and Dr. Who had been far in the future – 2150AD.

“Run out of cakes already, lad?” asked Dr. Who. “I only took the one.”

“No,” Ian laughed nervously, his face peering around the door. “Barbara says Tom and Louise are just pulling up into the drive.”

“Oh, excellent,” he said. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing young Tom again after nasty business in the future.”

Dr. Who took Susan’s hand and followed Ian out of the drawing room and into the large living room. There was quite a sizable crowd attending the wedding reception. Barbara was stood talking to a friend.

Dr. Who stood back for a moment and smiled at her. She was truly beautiful. He was so proud of her and was pleased she had met a decent man like Ian. Almost as though she sensed his eyes on her she turned to face him. She was wearing her blonde hair a little longer these days and brushed it out of her eyes. She put down her wine glass and hitched up her wedding dress, crossing over to her grandfather.

“You still look beautiful, my dear,” he said.

“Thank you again, grandfather, for letting us use the house for the reception,” she kissed him on the cheek.

“Nonsense,” he said, with a wave of his hand, “this place is your home as much as it is mine. It always has been.”

There was a knock on the door and Ian went over to answer it. Standing in the doorway was a woman with long, dark hair wearing a black dress and clutching a white envelope. She was strikingly beautiful with dark eyes and high cheek bones. Standing just behind her was a kind looking young man with short-cropped curly brown hair and rather sad looking eyes.

“Louise!” beamed Dr. Who, throwing his arms around his niece. “And PC Campbell,” he said, shaking the man’s hand.

“DI now,” said Tom Campbell, rather sheepishly. “That business with the robbers, you know...”

“I knew you’d make it,” smiled Susan.

“Hey, how you doing kid?” he said, picking up Susan and giving her a hug. “Still looking after the old man?”

“That she is,” said Dr. Who.

“Louise,” smiled Barbara, walking over, “I’m glad you could make it.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” said Louise, hugging her. “I’m just sorry we missed the wedding.”

“Your father still giving you mountains of work?” asked Ian, shaking Tom’s hand and handing both of them drinks.

“You know what things are like at the research centre,” said Louise, rolling her eyes. “He’s always got his head buried in books.”

“Yes,” said Dr. Who, looking frustrated and sad at the same time. “I would have thought my own brother would have at least come along to the reception though.”

“Well, I asked him,” said Louise as she and Tom stepped through the doorway and into the hallway, “but all he did was put his pen down, take off his glasses and tell me that sometimes science outweighs everything.”

“He’s just mean,” said Susan.

“Now, now, Susie, dear,” said Dr. Who, “we may not understand it ourselves, but Magistrates Inc do some very important work for this planet. We must try and respect his decisions.”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll pop down eventually,” said Barbara, realising she didn’t want a family argument erupting in the middle of her wedding reception. “Come through to the living room, you two. There’s plenty of food.”

“Oh, excellent,” said Tom, removing his overcoat, “I’m starving.”

“Oh, before I forget, uncle,” said Louise. “I found this fixed to the front gate.”

She handed him the letter. It was pure white with gold, embossed letters. On it the words simply read:

“FOR THE ATTENTION OF DR. WHO. FOR HIS EYES ONLY.”

“Thank you, my dear,” he said, taking the letter from her.

“What could it be?” asked Susan.

Dr. Who looked towards the room filled with guests and then across to the drawing room. He crouched down, a cheeky smile playing across his face. “Let’s find out, shall we?”

“But it says for your eyes only.”

“I won’t tell if you won’t,” he said with a chuckle.

Susan smiled as they both led each other into the drawing room.



Susan settled herself down into her grandfather’s favourite armchair, whilst Dr. Who grabbed a letter opener from a side cabinet. He fiddled with the opening for a moment and then slid the opener under the envelope flap. It opened with a satisfying slice and he glanced at Susan who was looking excitedly at him.

He pulled out a folded up letter on what looked like very thick and expensive paper. He unfolded it. It was blank.

“What does it say?” asked Susan.

He frowned. “Nothing. There’s nothing on it.”

Susan looked dejected, but then to both of their surprise the letter began to glow gold. Dr. Who threw it to the ground immediately. It gently floated to the floor and landed in front of the fireplace, and then, from within the letter, a glowing, golden image of a man in a hood and robes appeared in the living room.

Susan gasped and jumped up to stand beside her grandfather.

“This is a message for the man known as Dr. Who,” came the booming, god-like voice from the golden man. “For many years we have watched your progress with the mechanics of time and have seen your invention, TARDIS. This invention and your dealings with the Daleks has piqued the curiosity of my people, the Time Kings.”

“They’ve been spying on us,” hissed Susan.

“Hush, Susie,” said Dr. Who.

The figure continued. “My name is Rassilon. I am the Emperor of the Time Kings. I hereby invite you and your family to visit our planet, Gallifrey. Should you pass our tests you will be granted the full power and knowledge of time travel and will become one of the Time Kings.”

“How exciting,” said Dr. Who, looking very happy with the message.

“Should you decide to take us up on our offer then simply insert this device into the control mechanism of your time ship.” A small, golden rod appeared from thin air and floated towards Dr. Who, who took it without hesitation. “Within it are coordinates that will lead you to Gallifrey.”

“Thank you very much,” he said, knowing full well that this was just a recording and that Rassilon couldn’t hear him.

“I bid you farewell, Dr. Who, and hope to be seeing you very soon.”

The golden man faded and the letter crumpled up and burnt away to nothing. Dr. Who looked down at Susan who was looking surprised.

“Wasn’t that fascinating, Susan?”

“Are you going to go?”

“Hmm,” he said, turning the golden rod over in his hand. “I think we should exercise caution, but I see no reason why we shouldn’t at least go and investigate.”

Susan’s face broke out into a beaming smile. “I’ll go and pack the bags.”

He watched her go and then looked back at the golden rod. “And maybe Ian and Barbara can have their honeymoon as well.”

To be continued....

Dr. Who and the Men in the Moon (Prologue)

Prologue

Holly leant back on the sofa and stared up at the time rotor as it gently rose and fell signalling the TARDIS was in flight. She looked across the console where the Doctor was busy examining their flight plan and making the occasional adjustment. She was missing Lilly, but now they were heading back to Gallifrey to see her she wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to react.

Lilly had left on her own accord, but with a promise that they’d be reunited one day. She was worried that Lilly would be angry if they returned before she was ready. Then again Lilly had spent most of their early days being angry, so there wouldn’t be much change there.

“Won’t be long now,” said the Doctor, looking up from the console.

“I hope Emily and Eve are going to be okay,” said Holly, thinking back to the mother and daughter they’d just left in the 1980’s.

“They’ll be fine,” said the Doctor. “They said they were heading into town to visit an estate agent.”

“Good,” said Holly. “That house was always going to be full of bad memories.”

“Well, we put it right; or rather Eve put it right. All is sorted now.” He smiled at her. “Time to sort you out.”





“Are you sure you don’t want to wait until first light?” asked Alice as she helped Lilly back into her strange suit.

Lilly shook her head. “I’m fed up of waiting. Plus the longer I’m gone the more chance there is that my father will know I’ve left.”

“But this is time travel we’re talking about,” said Alice, frowning.

“Yeah, well, it all gets a little bit screwed up sometimes. I only borrowed this suit. I fully intend to take it back. That’s if it stays intact.”

“Say hi to him when you see him, won’t you?” said Alice. Although she was happy to be making a future for herself, her future husband and her baby, she still missed the Doctor.

“Will do and thanks for the tea. I needed it.” She pulled on the gloves and then finally the helmet. She looked down at the device on her wrist and smiled. It was beeping.

“Got a fix?”

“Yep. He’s in the vortex. Oh, Jesus, the silly idiot’s heading for Gallifrey! I’ve gotta stop him before he ruins everything.”

“Take care, won’t you?”

“I always do,” said Lilly, as Alice opened the door and let her out into the garden. “Wish me luck!”

“Good luck.”

Lilly pressed a button on her wrist device. The suit started to glow orange. Lilly turned around and ran at the garden fence. Then, when the power in the suit had reached the highest point she jumped in the air. There was a flash and she disappeared leaving nothing but the faint smell of burning.

Alice shook her head as she shut the door. “It’s never a dull moment with the Doctor.”



“Not long now,” said the Doctor, as he smiled, flicking a switch and then taking a seat in an armchair he had dragged through the corridors to sit beside the console.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” said Holly, laughing at him as he opened a crumpled old newspaper. “Anything interesting?”

“Not really. December 1986. The Snow Cap Base had some trouble.” He looked closer at a picture of a grainy black and white image of a figure in a particularly strong blizzard. “Goodness me, I think I was there.”

The TARDIS shook ever so slightly.

“What was that?” said Holly.

“Turbulence I suspect,” he said, glancing up from his paper.

“Turbulence? Last time we had turbulence we were hitting those time speed bumps and landed in Edwardian times.”

“This is nothing to worry about,” said the Doctor, disappearing behind his paper and giving a dismissive wave of his hand.

“As long as you’re sure,” said Holly. He ignored her. She picked up a green jelly baby from a sweet tub beside the sofa. “Hey!” she said, throwing it as his paper.

The jelly baby hit the paper with a papery thud and fell to the ground. “Not the green ones, Miss Dangerfield,” he said, looking at the jelly baby on the floor. “They’re my favourite.”

“Oh, there’s plenty more where-”

Holly didn’t get to finish her sentence. The TARDIS lurched forward and threw her from the sofa. The console room momentarily went dark and then emergency lights flicked on as the TARDIS rattled and hummed.

“What the hell...?” she said.

The Doctor was already at the console, darting around and checking readings. “Something hit us.”

“In the vortex? Was it another time machine?”

“I don’t know,” he said, running his hand through his hair in frustration. “Some kind of object. It must have been travelling at some rate to knock us off course.”

“Knock us off course?” said Holly, disappointed.

“It’s shunted us elsewhere. Actually through the walls of the vortex.”

“The vortex has walls?” said Holly. “I thought it was just a big cloud of colours.”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, checking some more readings. “If you want to be literal we’ve just been pushed through the walls. I’m surprised we’re not as damaged as we could have been.”

“So we need to put down for repairs?”

“I’m afraid so, at least just to check we’re okay. But unfortunately I don’t know exactly where we are.”

“I don’t understand,” said Holly, scratching the back of her head.

“Neither do I,” said the Doctor, “but we’ll soon have the answers we need.” The time rotor was slowing down. “We’re about to land.”



In the vortex the unconscious Lilly floated aimlessly through the time tunnel in her specially designed suit. No life. No movement.

To be continued....