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Adric, Nyssa and Tegan looked down in shock at
the new man staring up at them. His eyes, bright yet confused were not
the eyes of The Doctor. This was a different man, much younger, with
fair long hair, for which the long burgundy scarf and coat swamped his
slim frame. He looked like a child wearing his father’s clothes.
"What’s happened? Where did The Doctor go?!" exclaimed Tegan - her mind had already
witnessed more than it could comprehend. She had started the day looking
forward to a new, exciting life, jet-setting off around the world as an
air stewardess but her life had curtailed into one of danger and loss in
a matter of hours. She had witnessed death, suffered the agony of the
murder of a loved one and found herself on board a spaceship with a man
with curly hair and his younger male assistant.
"Where did that white fella go?" she sighed, her Brisbane accent flowing
in the cool morning breeze. "I’m finding all this a little hard to take
in", she added.
Adric looked hard at Tegan. He knew what they had to do next.
"There’s no time to explain, Tegan, we have to get The Doctor back
to the TARDIS", Adric explained.
"The Doctor! What you mean him?" said Tegan, unmoved at even the remote
possibility that this could be the same man.
"Of course he is" replied Nyssa, ‘Who else could it be? You heard what he
said, “The moment has been prepared for...” The Watcher was
a part of The Doctor and helped him to regenerate"
"Regenerate! What the hell does that mean when it’s at home?"
Tegan’s shoulders slumped, resigned to the madness. "I can’t
believe nobody else is freaked out by this!"
"Come on Tegan", said Adric in an encouraging tone as he got up off his knees and started to help the new
Doctor to his feet.
"Take his other arm. Don’t worry Doctor!" he said,
turning his attention to the Time Lord, who was still silent from shock,
"We’ll get you out of here."
The feisty Australian also got up and brushed her knees with her hands
before taking The Doctor’s right arm and pulling him to his feet. If
this was The Doctor, she thought to herself, he was still a heavy bloke!
"What about The Master?" Nyssa asked, shuddering at the very mention of
his name. The man who had killed her father on Traken was still at
large. "He might still be here" she added, surveying her surroundings.
"Oi, you lot!!!"
The three youngsters turned their heads to face the impromptu bark from
behind them. It was the Head of Security at the Pharos Project. He was
flanked by two further guards who stood either side of him. The Head of
Security had been made aware of intruders on the site and had gone out
to join his patrol party, who had also been gaining fast on the young
trio.
"He isn’t the only problem we have" Adric muttered. "Quick back to the
TARDIS!"
The trio left the shadow of the Pharos Project, the sun glistening
through the metal grills. High above them, a black cable dangled from
the complex satellite dish, swinging slowly in the breeze. Moments
earlier, that same cable was disconnected, stopping the threat of
entropy passing through the CVE. From it, a man clung on for his life,
the same man whose bravery had just saved the universe.
"Right, you two come with me!" the Head of Security snarled as he made
sure his white hat was fastened to his head before setting of at a brisk pace
after the strangers. For a middle aged man he was still in good shape,
his well built frame taught and determined as it tore off after The
Doctor and his friends. His two colleagues were a little slower. "Keep
up will yer!" he hollered behind him.
Nyssa looked behind her, heart pumping like a powerful engine. The
TARDIS was still a good half mile away. In front of her, she could see that her companions were having
trouble keeping the Doctor up right. His long scarf was hanging low and
repeatedly threatened to trip him up. Her eyes grew wide with panic.
"Look, they’re catching up with us" she shouted to her friends.
They were not the only ones. Another troop of security guards, the ones
who the trio had evaded when running to The Doctor’s aid as he clung
onto the cable high above the ground, had also started to catch up. They
were about to be pincered in, with the sanctuary of the TARDIS growing
ever so slightly closer.
"Come on Doc" Tegan urged, finally allowing herself to believe that this man
IS
the Doctor.
The clouds high above began to descend on the Pharos Project. As the
time travellers picked up their speed and moved into the fields past the
project, the TARDIS came into view. They were nearly there but then
again, so were their would-be captors. As The Doctor grew weaker and his
weight began to bog Adric and Tegan down, the guard drew closer, it was
only a matter of time before they were captured.
Meanwhile, safe within his TARDIS, The Master sniggered at the events he
was witnessing on the scanner.
"My dear Doctor... you may live to fight another day but it doesn’t mean
our game is at an end."
Like The Doctor, he too was a
new man, but not through the natural methods of a Time Lord. Flexing his new muscles,
The Master’s plan had
only just begun.
"You’re still my play thing Doctor, you and your
pitiful companions."
Smiling maniacally, The Master zoomed his screen in
on the fleeing time travellers. He laughed at the Doctor’s new face and
then busied himself to his controls. His final trap was set. All he
needed was a mathematical genius to kill The Doctor for good...
© Copyright Hayden Gribble, Niki
Hunter & Doctor Who Online, 2012.
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Written by:
Hayden Gribble
Artwork by:
Niki Hunter
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