Gallifreyans and Englishmen

Story 6, and by my reckoning that's halfway through series 2 already! This week's tale is by another newcomer to the series, Mr Harry Hayfield, and we've got the Second Doctor now, hot on the heels of last week's (sort of) First. Hope you enjoy:

Gallifreyians and Englishmen

    Materialising in deep space, the Doctor heaved a sigh of relief. "There's a chance we may have given them the slip," said the Doctor as Jamie and Zoe clambered to their feet. However, the sense of relief was only temporary.

    "THERE IS NO ESCAPE DOCTOR. RETURN THE TARDIS IMMEDIATELY TO OUR HOME PLANET," boomed the Time Lords, determined to bring the Doctor to justice following his defeat of the War Lord.

    "WHY CAN'T YOU LEAVE ME ALONE? I HAVEN'T DONE ANY HARM!!" shouted the Doctor.

    "YOU HAVE BROKEN OUR LAWS. YOU MUST FACE YOUR TRIAL," came the response. A response that Jamie was not very keen on. "YOU WILL DO BETTER TO RETURN OF YOUR OWN ACCORD"

    "Oh.oh... Oh very well, if I must..." said the Doctor seemingly admitting defeat. However he dashed to the console and started to run around it pulling switches at random on every panel causing the TARDIS to dematerialise.

    "Doctor, what on Earth are you doing?" asked Zoe, concerned at the Doctor's random actions.

    "I'm trying to make a quick transference jump!" he said, still dashing around the console, "We've got to get away from here to somewhere safe!" As the TARDIS landed, the monitor came to life and showed two alligators slithering through the mud towards the TARDIS. Jamie was less than impressed with the Doctor's choice of location.

    "Is that what you call somewhere safe?" he exclaimed.

    Just then the console room began to shake as the sound of a strained materialisation started up again and the TARDIS crew were thrown about the room causing the Doctor's companions to be extremely alarmed. "Oh! It's shaking itself to pieces!" shouted Zoe.

     Jamie, agreeing, said, "Yeah, we could all be killed!"

    As the crew were thrown to the floor, Zoe had a brainwave and queried, "Can't you induce a power drive?"

    The Doctor tried and used all his effort to move the controller into the on position.

 

Taken from the book of Rassilon, chapter CCVXI, verses I – IV

And lo, Rassilon did see the noble Time Lord known only as the Doctor, and said unto himself, "My dear old friend, in trouble? It shall not be, thus speaks Rassilon!" and with the power of his might rent the time streams asunder and allowed the Doctor and his companions to flee. And lo, Rassilon looked at his works and smiled.

 

    The crater on the moon known as Copernicus exploded as a massive object made out of metal crashed into the centre of the crater sending up a plume of moon dust. As the dust cleared, another object arrived on the moon, this time with a lot more grace and a lot less moon dust. A blue police box, inside of which three people were getting to their feet.

    "Well" said the Doctor getting to his feet, "that was a clever idea of yours Zoe. Looks like you did the right thing by joining us, eh Jamie?"

    "You call that a landing?" groaned Jamie as Zoe helped him to his feet, "Anyway, where are we?"

    The Doctor fiddled with the controls and frowned. "According to this, we are on the moon of Earth in 1883 and…No, that can't be right!" The Doctor fiddled the controls again and exclaimed, "We're not alone!" He switched on the scanner and revealed the object that had landed a few seconds prior to the TARDIS.

    "That's a rocket!" exclaimed Zoe. "But the first manned moon landing wasn't until 1969 wasn't it Doctor?"

    As the Doctor nodded, Jamie pointed to the scanner. "There's a door opening!"

    The Doctor turned back to the console and tapped the various devices and then stopped. "This is very odd indeed. Zoe, look at these measurements and tell me what's wrong?"

    Zoe examined the measurements and looked up. "This is wrong. Gravity is one sixth of Earth as you would expect, but an atmosphere???"

    "Indeed, my dear Zoe!" said the Doctor, opening the TARDIS doors and grabbing his umbrella. "Come along Jamie," he said, "the moon's lovely!"

 

    As the doors of the Columbiad opened, Sir Phileas Fogg, the Liberal Member of Parliament for St. Marylebone in London gasped in amazement. His colleagues, his manservant Passepartout, Mr. Barbicane, chairman of the Baltimore Gun Club and his son, William Fogg were also singly impressed with the view.

    "Amazing isn't it? There up in the sky is our home!" he announced as he started to make his way down the ladder. Just as he was about to make his first steps on the moon, Mr. Barbicane stopped him and asked if he had thought of anything to say. He stopped for a moment, pondered and then slid down onto the surface of the moon.

    "That's one small slide for an Englishman, but a giant leap for humankind"

    "That was the corniest thing I have ever heard!" said Mr. Barbicane as he descended the ladder as well. Sir Fogg was not impressed by Barbicane's assessment but was more impressed by the vista he was looking at. He was so taken by it that he failed to notice that what would have been just a few steps on Earth left him a good 400 yards from the Columbiad. As he was pondering the reason for his, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around to see a person dressed in black with an umbrella, a Scotsman and a lady dressed in silver.

    "One sixth the gravity of the Earth!" the man with the umbrella explained and then shook his hand. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm the Doctor, this is Jamie and Zoe, and you are?"

    "Sir Phileas Fogg, sir," replied Sir Fogg bowing, wondering if at the same time he was going mad. As he did, his box of tricks lent to him by Professor Smith of London University started to chirp. He took it out of his pocket and read the message with interest. "Tell me, Doctor," he asked, looking at the strange trio, "do you happen to know what a Selenite is?"

    The Doctor was just about to respond when streams of light missed the party by a matter of inches. Sir Phileas ran back to the Columbiad encouraging his party, now disembarked, to retreat but was felled by a beam of light that struck him in the back. The Doctor, alarmed, chased after him with Jamie and Zoe in hot pursuit but they too were also struck down. When the battle was over, all seven people were lying strewn on the surface of the moon seemingly dead. The box of tricks that Sir Fogg was holding had come to rest lying between Jamie and Sir Fogg's son. It started to display a message on itself as a group of figures came over the crest of the crater.

 

WARNING: NON-TERRAN LIFEFORMS DETECTED. SCANNING LIFEFORMS. MATCH FOUND. LIFEFORMS CONFIRMED AS SELENITE. LIFEFORMS HAVE EXHIBITED HOSTILITY IN PAST. EXECUTING STEALTH MODE. ERROR, STEALTH MODE FIELD WILL ENCAPSULATE WILLIAM FOGG AND UNKNOWN HUMAN. PROGRAMME OVERRIDE, TECHNOLOGY CANNOT FALL INTO SELENITE HANDS. ENTERING STEALTH MODE.

 

STEALTH MODE DISENGAGING

 

    Several moments after the attack on their party, two forms appeared from the moon dust. A small boy, no older than ten or eleven and a man dressed in a kilt. Shortly afterwards, the boy groaned as he came to.

    "Oooooh, my aching head" groaned William, "What happened? I feel like I've gone 15 rounds in a bare knuckle match and won". As he spoke he spluttered. "Urgh, moon dust! Yuck, tastes like grit". He slowly got to his feet and looked around. "What happened?" he asked of no one in particular. "The last thing I remember is about to slide down the Columbiad and imprint my footprints on the moon and the next thing I know I'm lying face down in moon dust. Looks like my entry into the history books will be a little less graceful than yours, eh father?" Expecting an answer, William was concerned where there wasn't one. "Father? Where's he gone? Passepartout? Passepartout? Mr. Barbicane? Where have they gone? If this is some kind of lunar hide and seek I'm not liking it!" he shouted. Just then he spotted the device that his father had held just a few moments ago. "My word, the box of tricks!" he exclaimed, "What's that doing lying on the ground. My father never lets it go. Perhaps it can tell me what happened?"

    As William sat down on the surface of the moon and examined the box of tricks, his fellow companion in the land of nod started to groan as well. Jamie sat up with a start and shouted "Doctor!" causing William to jump. He turned around and was able to shout at him for making him jump when he realised that he too was in the same position.

    "Here" William said, offering the stranger a hand, "let me help you up. Allow me to introduce myself, William Fogg, and you are?"

    "Jamie," came the reply. "Jamie McCrimmon".

    "Ah, a Scotsman!" replied William, "I'd like your opinion on this idea that Keir Hardie has on the formation of an independent Scotland when I have a spare moment, but in the meantime, I have to investigate what happened to my father." With that he resumed his investigations. As he did, Jamie looked around.

    "Doctor?" he shouted, "Zoe? Where are you?"

    "Oh dear!" said William, bringing Jamie out of his searching. "I think I know what may have happened!"

    Jamie sat down next to William, as he read the entry he had found. "It looks as if we were all attacked by something called a Selenite," he explained. Jamie looked at him with a concerned expression. "Yes, I don't know what one is either, let's see if we can find it here" replied William. As he typed in the word into the box of tricks, a display of animals appeared. "Sea Devil, no, Silurians, no too far the other way," he mumbled. "Ah, here we are, Selenite!"

    As William read, his expression changed. "Listen to this Jamie," he said. "Selenites are native creatures of the moon and were first discovered in 640 AD by the Time Lords". William stopped. "What's a Time Lord?" he asked.

    "Och, the Doctor's one of them," replied Jamie. "In fact we got here as we were trying to escape from them!"

    William looked at Jamie in disbelief, decided he was joking, and carried on reading. "Selenites are theorised to have disappeared in 1350 following the Sontaran Incident. Appearance: Long legged humanoid with ant like features. Abilities: Capable of short-range telepathy. General Assessment: Although considered harmless, past interactions with other species have made them very xenophobic to the point of declaring war. Weaponry: Disruptor that can knock out a human for fifteen minutes."

    Coming to the end of the description, William closed the box of tricks and looked at Jamie. "Well," he said, "that certainly explains one or two things then. Clearly, they must have seen both you and us arrive and feared that we were invading." As he looked at Jamie, Jamie thought he could see a tear welling up in William's eye and asked him if he was all right. William sat down with a thump and started to bawl. "It's all my fault!" he wailed and held his head in his hands. Blubbing he explained that he had stowed away on the Columbiad in order to answer the question "Why did I see three bright lights on the moon during that lunar eclipse?" and the Columbiad's rather poor landing was due to him falling out of his hiding place and disrupting the braking procedure. "And now my father, his manservant, Mr. Barbicane and your friends have been captured and all because of me!"

     Jamie knelt down and gave William a comforting hug. He knew what it was like to be blamed for something, having been accused of letting a Jacobite be captured. "Let's rescue them shall we?" he said. William stopped crying, looked up at Jamie and smiled. "And prove to these Selenites what it means to mess with the Earth!"

    Bounding back to the Columbiad, William was having a good rummage to find suitable clothing as the temperature had fallen quite considerably. He found two pairs of fur-lined boots, two thick duffle coats and a deerstalker for himself. Passing a pair of boots and a duffle coat to Jamie, he noticed a hot water bottle (which he stuffed down the back of his coat) and a container full of hot water (which he placed in the pocket). William asked if Jamie wanted any more warmth but he replied that he felt "as snug as a bug in a Jacobite rug!" which caused William to snigger. Once they were fully clothed, William pointed towards the edge of the crater and shouted "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, and teach these Selenites a lesson!" and with that he jumped right over the top of the crater.

    As Jamie watched, he smiled to himself as he followed William. "And I thought I was the only one who acted rashly!"

 

    After what seemed like several hours of hopping along the lunar surface, both William and Jamie were getting exhausted, which prompted in William's mind a very reasonable question. "Any idea where the brakes are?" he asked Jamie, stifling a giggle. Jamie shrugged his shoulders but William had had an idea. In front of them was a very large rock and as William hopped by it, he grabbed hold. Seeing that William had stopped hopping, Jamie followed suit and the two of them slowly made their way down to the ground where they sat down and got their breath back. William put his hand into the coat pockets he was wearing and finding several ham and cheese sandwiches, offered one to Jamie. As they both tucked into their food, William stopped. "Look at us", he said, "Eating sandwiches on the moon as if we were enjoying the sun in Hyde Park! Whoever would have imagined that eh?"

    Jamie nodded in agreement, but compared to some of the things that he had done in his time with the Doctor this was tame. William asking, "So, what's this Doctor of yours like then?" interrupted his train of thought. Jamie explained how he had met the Doctor during the Jacobite revolution in Scotland and how he had met Daleks, Cybermen, plant-based aliens and all sorts leaving William looking at him in a state of disbelief. Jamie was about to ask him what his father was like, when the box of tricks in William's pocket started to wobble. Taking it out, he opened it and read the message with alarm.

 

WARNING: SELENITE LIFEFORM DETECTED. ENGAGING STEALTH MODE. DO YOU WISH TO BE COVERED BY STEALTH MODE?

    William looked at Jamie who was nodding his head and so William answered "YES" and closed his eyes expecting the world to disappear. A few seconds later he opened them and was extremely disappointed when he could still see Jamie. He then suddenly realised what had happened "Stealth mode means that we can see what's going on but no one can see us!" he explained to Jamie and then tapped the box as if petting a cat. "Who's a clever box of tricks eh?" he said. No sooner had he done so, then a Selenite appeared from behind a rock and walked over to another rock and waving his hands over it changed it to look like a crystal. Jamie and William had to hold their reaction of revulsion towards the creature. As it examined the crystal it started to talk in a series of clicks. Jamie lent over to William asked for a translation. William shrugged, but the box of tricks he was holding started to print words in front of them:

    "Excellent, this power crystal is nearly at full power. By the next solar cycle we shall be in a position to complete our plans. I must report to our leader."

    As the creature walked away and the box of tricks informed them that stealth mode had been disengaged, William and Jamie looked at each other in concern. "They're up to something" said William, "if only we knew what?" Jamie then noted a cable running from the crystal (now disguised as a rock again) leading into the distance. "Let's follow it, shall we?" asked William and allowing Jamie to lead invoked the only bit of Shakespeare he knew "Lead on, McDuff!"

 

    After several hours of walking following the cable, William and Jamie found themselves outside a cave. They peered in and saw an object that neither of them recognised. "Okay, box of tricks you tell me because I haven't got a clue!" William said as he reached for the box of tricks from his pocket and pointed it at the object. "A high gain energy distribution device???" he read unable to understand what was written. "Any chance of having that in plain English, please?" he asked. As if in reply, the words changed "Thank you," replied William and read the amended text. "A device that takes high amounts of energy and is able to fire them into space." William looked at Jamie and Jamie just shook his head. "Why on Earth, sorry, the moon would the Selenites want to do that?" William asked. No sooner had he done so, than the box of tricks alerted them to the presence of a Selenite and soon the two explorers were shrouded from their view.

    The Selenite walked into the cave and examined the device. He clicked as if expressing approval and the box of tricks in William's hand offered a running translation. A short while later a taller and more muscular Selenite marched in and the first Selenite stopped and made a sign that reminded William of a salute.

    "Ten HUT, soldier," shouted the second Selenite.
    "Sir, yes, sir!" saluted the first Selenite, clearly caught on the hop.
    "At ease, soldier!" said the second Selenite. "So anything to report?"
    "Sir, no, sir!" saluted the Selenite again much to the bigger Selenite's delight.
    He walked around the device several times, patting it and nodding with approval. As he did the first Selenite raised what could pass for a hand and the second Selenite stopped and stared straight at him.
    "Permission to query, sir?" asked the first Selenite.
    "Permission granted!" replied the second.
    "What precisely is this device, sir?" asked the first, clearly overawed by the second Selenite's presence. No sooner had he asked this question, than the second Selenite's demeanour changed from an overpowering commanding officer to a fellow squaddie. He patted the first Selenite on the back and smiled.
    "Ah, an inquisitive solider," he said. "Just the way I like them! This device is going to ensure that we Selenites will be able to reclaim what is rightfully ours."
    "Ours, sir?" asked the first Selenite.
    "Yes, this may come as a surprise to you but 13 million solar cycles ago we used to live on Earth."
    "No, sir?" exclaimed the first Selenite, clearly shocked by this news.
    "Yes, of course we were much smaller then!" replied the second Selenite and explained, "A comet smashed into Earth and threw several hundred tons of material into orbit. That material settled and formed the Moon, as we know it today. On that material a male and female ant in the act of mating were trapped and due to the cosmic rays that beam down from the sun the offspring born was the first Selenite, since then we've been evolving ever since to the form we are now, and this little device is going to help us claim our home planet back."
    "How, sir?" asked the first Selenite.
    "This device is programmed to fire a beam of energy at the two polar icecaps on Earth. That energy will cause them to melt in the space of seven solar cycles flooding the entire planet. Fourteen solar cycles later, I simply flip this switch and fire again. That will then freeze all the water into two giant icecaps leaving the landmasses free of all of all those humans and allowing us to colonise the planet again." With that the second Selenite beamed and clearly the first Selenite was most impressed.
    "So when does this all start, sir?" he asked.
    "At the start of the next solar cycle," came the reply, "when the Chief Selenite executes those humans on the grounds of being spies. And let me tell you I can't wait to see that gravity gun I invented put to use. Increasing a body's internal gravity by six times so it crushes that body to death. Genius! Who said that Selenites didn't have smarts eh?" and with that he giggled to himself.     "Anyway, come with me, I want to introduce you to your new general," and with that the two Selenites walked away and William and Jamie both reappeared with expressions of shock on their faces.
    "Those Selenites mean not only to destroy Earth but kill my father as well" said William, "not to mention your friends as well!" and noted that Jamie had a steely look on his face. William nodded and declared "Right, sirs! I may only be ten years old, but if it's down to me to save my home planet then that's precisely what I am going to have to do and by the grace of God, my friend here is going to help me as well!" and with that he grabbed Jamie's hand and shook it, before taking out the box of tricks, pressing a button and they both disappeared from sight.

 

    Twenty-four hours later, Sir Phileas Fogg was watching over his son with concern. Neither Mr. Barbicane nor the Doctor would work out what was happening to him and despite Passepartout's and Jamie's best efforts, he was sure that his son was dying. He sat down on a bench in the cell they were all in, held his head in his hands and started to cry. The Doctor noting Sir Fogg's distress asked Zoe to go and sit by him and offer him some solace whilst he, Mr. Barbicane and Jamie examined the readings from the box of tricks.

 

    "What am I going to tell my wife?" Sir Fogg wailed as Zoe patted him on the back and explained that following his trip around the world in 1872 and rescuing Princess Aouda from the act of suttee in India, they had been married on the day before Christmas Eve the same year and that William had been born in Moscow in late August the following year.

    "Just tell her the truth" said Zoe and suggested that Sir Fogg go over the events of the past twenty-four hours to ensure that if the worst did happen, his wife would understand fully what had happened.

    "Well," he said, "as you know we were all knocked unconscious by these disruptors that the Doctor talked about and then wound up here. A few moments later, one of these Selenites came into the cell and dragged me away. I was dragged into a large room, at the head of which was a large crystal object. A few moments later, another Selenite entered the object and looked at me directly and then started to speak and amazingly it was speaking in English. It explained that it was using the crystal as a translation device and asked how I was and what I was doing on the moon. I explained that I was part of an international expedition charged with investigating the moon and the fact we had landed was all rather a big mistake for which I apolgised.

    "And who commissioned this investigation?" asked the Selenite. "The President of the United States", I replied, "with backing from the Torchwood Institute." That institute's name seemed to throw the Selenite off his track slightly as he paused, closed his eyes (or what looked like eyes) and then stared right at me and hurled a barrage of questions about the world. How big it was, how many people, most important nations. I answered as best I could but complained after a few minutes of having a headache. As soon as I did, I was dismissed and was brought back here"

    "To which," continued Zoe, "your wife will no doubt ask what happened next?"

    "In simple terms" replied Sir Fogg, "we were all convicted of espionage and were sentenced to death, which is where William came in. He appeared from nowhere along with a friend of the Doctor called Jamie and shouted "I demand an audience under the Shadow Proclamation!" which is an intergalactic organisation akin to the British Empire which all alien intelligences recognise as the ruling body of the universe. Therefore the Selenites had to agree to hear him and he approached handing me back my box of tricks and hugging me. He explained that on Earth, it was usual for a condemned man to be granted a defence and so saying defended us and if I may say so he did a very good job indeed. When it was clear that his defence wasn't working he decided to up the stakes and started talking about something called a high gain energy device and explained about a conversation he had heard detailing a plan to flood the Earth. That's when things started to happen. Another Selenite entered and aimed a gun like object straight at us. Jamie then grabbed a nearby rock and threw it causing the Selenite to drop it and accused him of being the leader of this plan, a plan with the Chief Selenite was not aware of. "That is treason" announced the Chief Selenite, "Execute them!" and the Selenite aimed his weapon at William. Naturally enough Passepartout was all set to attack the Selenite but from out of nowhere several Selenites surrounded us all and we were out numbered. Realising the danger he was in, William shouted for the box of tricks but I couldn't throw it to him and the Selenite fired."

    Sir Fogg looked up with tears in his eyes at the prone figure of his son as the Doctor came over and said down beside him. "I cannot determine what has happened precisely," he said, "but can tell you that his internal gravity is changing by the minute. I can only assume that what he wrote yesterday about that gun is indeed correct and that he is slowly being crushed to death". He then hugged Sir Fogg and said, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

    "Mmmmmmmm!" William grunted as he yawned and then moaned. "Oh, goodness me" he said, as he stretched himself out, "I'm rather stiff this morning!" Continuing to stretch, he opened his eyes, yawned again and suddenly realised where he was. "Father!" he shouted, causing the assembled company of Sir Fogg, Passepartout, Mr. Barbicane, the Doctor, Zoe and Jamie to all wake up with a start.

    "My son?" asked Sir Fogg sleepily.

    William jumped off the bed and ran to his father who picked him up and hugged him as if he had not seen him for a century. "Oh, my son!" he wailed and then stopped. "But hold on, you're supposed to have been crushed by that gun!"

    The Doctor walked over to William and examined the readout from the box of tricks. He asked William to lie down on the bed for a moment and placing the box of tricks on his chest made a thorough examination. "Pulse, normal, breathing, normal, internal gravity…" and then he stopped, "Zoe, my dear" he said, "come and have a look at this".

    Zoe walked over and gasped at the display. "That's impossible!" she said. The Doctor nodded and asked William to do exactly what he had done when he first woke up.

    "Yawned and stretched!" replied William performing the same actions.

    As he did Passepartout suddenly made a statement. "Mon dieu, Holes!" Everyone looked at where William's hands were and were amazed to find two holes in the wall exactly the same shape as William's hands.

    Smiling, the Doctor turned to Passepartout and said, "Fancy showing us how strong you are, Monsieur?" Passepartout instantly adopted a fighting pose and acted on the Doctor's command to punch the wall.

 

    "OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHH, MERDE!" came the shout from the Frenchman's mouth as his hand buckled against the wall.

    "Language Passepartout!" warned Sir Fogg. "

    "Sorry, Monsieur" said Passepartout, shaking his hand in order to regain the feeling in it.

    "It is my belief," said the Doctor, "that due to that gun being dropped, instead of increasing William's internal gravity, it has in fact been reduced!"

    "Reduced?" asked William, sitting up, "how does that help us?"

    "In laymen's terms, Master Fogg," smiled the Doctor, helping him to the ground, "you are now the strongest man on the moon!"

    "Not to mention, the Earth!" smiled Zoe

    As William looked at his hands unable to comprehend what he was being told, there was the sound of a door being unlocked and footsteps approaching their cell. Everyone feigned being asleep and were amazed when the cell door was opened. Opening one eye, William found himself looking at a person not that much older than his father dressed in a tweed jacket. "Right, come on you lot!" he said, "I'm breaking you out of here!"

    "Allow me to introduce myself," he said, turning around and then he stopped and stared at the Doctor. "What are you doing here?" he asked and then he put his hand up, "No, don't tell me!" he said and then started rubbing his head. "You've got Zoe and Jamie with you, so it's before that incident with the Autons and yet you are still together so that puts you before the War Lord!"

    "We've dealt with him!" said Jamie

    "Ah!" exclaimed the stranger, "but hold on then, if you've escaped the War Lord then why are you here, shouldn't you be…" and then he paused and started to chuckle. "This is the CIA's work isn't it? Oh, you've got to love them. Celestial Intervention Agency…my foot!" he shouted causing everyone to jump. "No" he continued in a more serious tone, "this is wrong, this is just wrong, this is wronger than Mr. Wrong entering a Miss Right bikini contest being held in Wrongtown, Wrongshire, Wrongland!" The stranger turned to the Doctor and smiled, "You've escaped them haven't you?"

    The Doctor nodded and shrugged his shoulders. "And now I suppose you've come to take us back to the Time Lords!" he sighed.

    "Why should I?" said the stranger, "after all I did for them, they decide to throw it all back at me. No, as far as I am concerned they can all stay dead!" and then he stopped. "Whoops, let the cat out of the bag there then!"

    "You look strangely familiar, sir" said Sir Fogg, approaching the stranger, "tell me have we met before?"    

    "Sir Phileas!" said the stranger, shaking his hand firmly. "And Passepartout as well. Tell me how's Princess Aouda these days?"

    Sir Fogg was about to answer in the affirmative when William let out a shout. A Selenite had entered the corridor and was heading for a button. "Oh no you don't!" he said and jumped from the bed and flew at the Selenite foot first. He landed squarely on the Selenite's chest who then stumbled backwards, hit the button and then simply exploded in a cloud of dust. As he did, a siren started to sound.

    "Uh oh!" said the Doctor, "that doesn't sound promising!"

    "Indeed not," said the stranger, "come on, everybody out!" and with that the stranger led the party out of the cell and back onto the lunar surface heading in the direction of the Columbiad.

    

    If there had been a telescope powerful to see in detail the surface of the moon and anyone had been observing, they would have seen eight figures bound across the surface of the moon. The Doctor, Jamie, Zoe, Sir Fogg, Passepartout, Mr. Barbicane, William Fogg and the stranger. After only a few moments, they all reached the Columbiad and the stranger beckoned the Earthmen to get back into the Columbiad and escape whilst they had the chance.

    "Ah!" said Mr. Barbicane, "we might have a small problem there!" and explained that the Columbiad wasn't designed to land on the moon, it was designed purely for an orbital journey. The stranger mused for a few moments, during which time the Doctor was pulled aside by Jamie who demanded to know who the stranger was.

    "If I didn't know any better!" said the Doctor, "I would be convinced he was another member of my people and yet something doesn't quite chime."

    Just then the stranger declared "EUREKA!" and ordered that the Columbiad be emptied of everything that was quite unnecessary. As the stranger's order was implemented, the stranger sauntered over to the Doctor, looked him up and down and put his hands on his shoulders.

    "I never realised how young I looked!" he smiled, before patting the Doctor on the head. The Doctor was about to explode with rage demanding that he explain himself when something suddenly clicked. He stood up to his full height (bringing himself level with the stranger's chest) and declared "Doctor!" a statement that caused Jamie and Zoe to look at each other in amazement.

    "That's right!" said the stranger, "nine times regenerated since your good self and that is why I want you to listen to what I have to say" and with that led the Doctor away and engaged him in conversation. Jamie and Zoe wanted to listen but a "Come on you two, give us a hand!" from Mr. Barbicane prevented it.

    Just as the last piece of cargo had been emptied, William spied some dust in the distance. "Selenites," he called, causing panic to set in. A blast from one of their disruptors landed a short distance from where the Doctors were talking and a split second later they were both running towards the Columbiad, the stranger shouting, "Get in, everyone bar William!" and the Doctor shouting, "Back to the TARDIS!"

    Amid hastened goodbyes, Jamie and Zoe caught up with the Doctor and they piled into the TARDIS. The Doctor activated the shield and tuned in the scanner to where the stranger was standing with William hidden behind him and the Columbiad behind them.

 

    "Ah, now you're Selenites aren't you?" said the stranger, "I've heard a lot about you, all less than complimentary of course!" he added. As he spoke a very tall and broad Selenite stepped forward and started to click. "Just a second," said the stranger and shook his head. "I'm sorry, you were saying?"

    "You are an enemy of the Selenites," it repeated in perfect English, "and you will be destroyed," and with that he pressed a button.

    In the distance a glow appeared and William gasped, "The energy device!"

    The stranger smiled and patted William on the head and whispered "Show them how strong you are, believe in yourself and send your father and his friends home!" as the stranger engaged the Selenites in conversation.

    William looked at the Columbiad, and then looked at his hands. Taking a deep breath, he squatted down, placed his hands underneath the ship, took a deep breath and lifted. As he did the stranger said, "See this chap here! He's only ten you know!" The Selenites took a step back as William lifted the Columbiad above his head. The Doctor nodded and William jumped into the air throwing the Columbiad at the same time. As he landed back on the moon, the stranger turned to the Selenites. "If he can do that, imagine what a full grown Earthman can do!"

    The lead Selenite was not impressed and as William stepped to the stranger's side, he took a button out of his pocket. "This button," he announced, "will when released, set off an explosive charge that will destroy the oxygen generation unit providing the moon with an atmosphere. I am giving you a chance to switch off that energy drain device and I should remind you I am the person who destroyed the Daleks even though I didn't want to".

    The Selenites looked concerned but the lead stood his ground. The stranger let go of the button and on the western side of the moon there was a massive explosion and that was followed a few seconds later by another explosion at the site of the energy drain device. As the stranger gestured for William to follow him he said to the lead Selenite, "You have 24 hours to leave this moon or suffocate."

    The stranger led William towards a large rock. He took out another button and pressed it. The rock disappeared and was replaced by a large blue box that was very familiar to Jamie and Zoe. As the stranger and William entered, the stranger turned around, smiled and then closed the doors as the box disappeared.

 

    "But, that means he was…" said Jamie.

    The Doctor nodded. "Yes, that was me, in about nine regenerations time". As he spoke there was a sense of sadness in his voice. "And that means that I have to give myself up."

    "But Doctor?" said Zoe, but the Doctor raised his hand and set the TARDIS on its way.

    A few moments later Jamie made an observation. "So where are we now then?" Zoe activated the scanner and could see nothing bar whiteness. "Oh it's broken," stated Jamie, but Zoe was less than convinced. As the scanner resolved, they began to see a space aged corridor lined with row after row of green machines identical to the ones the War Chief used with their doors all open. As they stared at the image, a voice sounded in the TARDIS.

    "YOU HAVE RETURNED TO US DOCTOR. YOUR TRAVELS ARE OVER!"