Children Of The Universe, Chapter 11

The skimmer had barely touched the ground when the Doctor leapt out of it and ran across the sand to the blue shape of the TARDIS.

Haltrix switched the engines off and followed.

The Doctor turned the key, opened the door, let Haltrix run in first and then went inside, closing the door behind him.

In the console room Haltrix stood in awe of the church-like room as the lights grew brighter.

“Impressive, eh?” said the Doctor, darting around the console and turning switches.

“Not bad,” said Haltrix, staring up into the rafters.

“Not bad?” said the Doctor, slightly hurt.

“I’ve seen some fantastic technology in my time,” said Haltrix. “But this ranks as one for the top categories.”

“Lovely,” said the Doctor, pulling the dematerialisation lever. “I think I’m honoured.”

The ship shook and rocked as the central rotor rose and fell. The sound of the engines filled the room, grinding and groaning as the old time ship moved through the span between it’s current location and the Pythagoras.

Finally, the ship came to a halt with a loud, deep thump.

“Stay here,” said the Doctor to Haltrix. “I’ll go get the kids.”

The Doctor stepped outside the TARDIS and smiled, patting the box as he closed the door. He had landed right next to the ship.

He ran into the airlock, through the corridors and skidded into the canteen where the group of children were cowering behind the tables that had been set up to act like a barrier.

One of the older children, Jack, stood up, armed with a wooden stick.

“Easy. Easy,” said the Doctor. “It’s just me.”

“Oh, sir, thank goodness,” said Jack, relaxing. “It’s alright you lot. It’s the Doctor.”

“How do we know we can trust him?” came Marcus’s voice.

“Because,” came an adult, male voice, “he’s the only one who can save us.”

The Doctor looked as a thin, Asian man, covered in bruises and scratches emerged from behind the group of children. He walked with a slight limp and held his blood soaked right arm. His clothing was torn to shreds.

“Hideo!” exclaimed the Doctor. “I thought Doomclaw’s dogs had killed you.”

Hideo smiled wearily. “They almost did, but then you all went off on that mission of theirs. They left me. I managed to escape and got back here. I didn’t think I’d make it.”

“Mr Sanada’s been protecting us,” said Jack.

“So far we’ve not had any problems,” said Hideo, sitting himself down on a chair. “What’s going on?”

“There’s no time for sitting,” said the Doctor, stopping Hideo before he could sit down. “Everything’s about to go…well, GO!”

“What do you mean?”

“No time to explain now. You all need to come with me to my ship. It’s not safe here.”

“But-” started Jack.

“No, Jack. We have to go now. Get what you need and then follow me.”

The kids stood with blank looks on their faces.

“Come on!” said the Doctor, clapping his hands.

What followed was two minutes of frantic scrambling for bags, small items and personal possessions. Finally, when they were all gathered, the Doctor led them towards the airlock.




In the generator room Blackmore and Annie still hadn‘t gotten through the panel.

“You’d have thought the General would have given us some clues as to what the code was for this.”

Annie shook her head. “I don’t think anyone knows the code.”

“So what are we meant to do? He must have had a plan. He must have know that this was going to happen.”

Annie looked at the screen. They could now hear banging as the squad attempted to break down the door.

“We need a miracle here,” said Blackmore.

“Maybe we should blow it open,” suggested Annie.

“And destroy the circuit inside? No. We need that circuit. We can’t risk damaging it.”

“What choice do we have?” the banging was getting louder and more intense.

Blackmore stood looking at the panel for a moment and then he closed his eyes, nodding. “Do it.”

Annie looked at the screen. “Just give it a few more minutes, though.”

“What? Why?”

“The children.”

“Oh, for goodness sake,” snapped Blackmore. “They’re out of time. Maybe they’re already here. We need to get this circuit out now. Once those animals come in they’ll cut us down like we’re the dogs.”

“Magnus, we just need time.”

“Hand me the gun.”

“Not yet, Magnus,” said Annie, holding the large gun tightly.

“I’m not going to tell you again,” said Blackmore, his eyes staring straight into Annie’s. “The Doctor was given a chance. If he didn’t get their in time then it’s his own fault.”

“I can’t let you. Not yet.”

“Give me the sodding gun, Annie!” growled Blackmore.

“No!” shouted Annie.

Blackmore went for her. He pushed her back and pinned her up against the wall.

“You will give me that gun,” he said, wrestling with her arms. Eventually she let out a cry of pain as he twisted her wrist and she released the weapon.

Blackmore turned to fire it, but before he could Annie leapt in front of the panel, arms outstretched and blocking the way.

“Move,” said Blackmore bluntly.

“No. We have to give those kids more time,” she said, desperation on her face and holding her arm in pain.

“We work for the Eyeglass, not some children’s society.”

“We work to better the Human race. How is this bettering the Human race?”

“I’ll give you till the count of three.”

“There are lines we can’t cross.”

“One.”

“The children. They’re precious. They’re our future. We can’t destroy them.”

“Two.”

“Please, Magnus. Nothing is worth this. Nothing.”

“You should have thought about that before getting involved with the General!”

“Then you’re a lost cause.”

“And you’re a dead cause. Three!”

Blackmore pulled the trigger and Annie cried out. A bolt of energy erupted from the barrel, striking Annie full-on in her abdomen. Sparks flew through her and behind her as the young woman was momentarily pinned against the wall by the energy from the gun. Then there was a explosion from behind her and she fell away, her top blackened and charred.

Blackmore stood there for a second, sweat dripping off his face. He felt cold and he felt different. He had gone beyond what he ever thought he was capable of.

He turned and knelt down beside the lifeless body of Annie, her blue eyes looking up blankly.

“Do you know what the Eyeglass are to me, Annie?” he said, crouched over her. “They are all I have ever wanted. Ever since my father failed to live up to what being a father should be. Ever since he made me read those stories. He was thrown out of the Eyeglass for being a bad operative. For being weak, like you. He made me promise to never be like him. Nothing is going to stop me.”

He kissed the palm of his hand and then touched it onto her forehead. He then closed her eyes and reached into the shattered, glass panel. He looked at the chip. It was a little blackened, but mostly intact. He smiled and pulled it from it’s socket.




The children were almost in the TARDIS when there was a huge roar of thunder that seemed to come from everywhere at the same time. The ground started shaking and the Doctor and Hideo fell to the ground.

“What the hell’s that?” asked Hideo, trying to clamber back up.

“They’ve switched the generator’s off,” said the Doctor. “Look!”

He pointed to the landscape around them. It was starting to distort and twist out of shape. The air was shimmering all around them and things were blurring out of focus.

“We’ve gotta go,” said Hideo, helping the Doctor up.

The rest of the children ran into the TARDIS just as the ground gave way. The Doctor fell to his knees just outside the doors of the police box and for a moment he seemed to be in a trance.

Hideo was knelt down in front of him, half in and half out of the ship.

The Doctor couldn’t quite make out what he was saying, but was aware of a figure on the horizon. A figure dressed in black. It seemed to be floating towards him, it’s arm outstretched. There was a pained cry from the figure and the Doctor felt a twinge of pain in his chest.

And then nothing.

Hideo grabbed him and pulled him inside the ship as the land around them twisted and broke up.

The Pythagoras, unable to survive the phasing of the Shroud exploded, showering the police box with flames and shards of metal.

There was another loud noise and the landscape completely disintegrated into whiteness. Then, slowly the whiteness faded and the police box was now standing in a new environment. Lush blue trees surrounded the box and a lake of silver water ran just by it’s side.

This was the real Trixatin.




Daniel, Tointon and Caroline emerged from the doors of the science building and looked around them. It was raining. Nothing had changed, but the savage dogs had stopped fighting. They had fallen to their knees and were whimpering.

“What’s wrong with them?” asked Danny.

“They’re crying,” said Caroline, crossing over to the one known as Jawlock.

“For heavens sake, woman, be careful,” said Tointon, pulled Danny back slightly.

“Where’s it gone?” came a growl.

Caroline span around to see Doomclaw emerging from an alleyway. She backed away.

“Where’s it gone?” he asked again.

“Where’s what gone?” asked Caroline nervously.

“Our land. Our home,” he whimpered.

“Oh my god,” said Caroline, putting her hand to her mouth. “Blackmore must of shut down the generator.”

“Then where’s the Doctor and the kids?” asked Danny.

Suddenly the air seemed to come alive. A patch of rain suddenly started to fall in a spiralling pattern as the blue coloured TARDIS faded into view.

“Thank god!” said Caroline as the box solidified and Hideo stepped out, followed by the children and lastly, a weary looking Doctor.

“He shut the Shroud down,” said the Doctor. “We were nearly caught in it.”

“How come the TARDIS wasn’t affected?” asked Caroline.

“It’s a tough old thing. This old girl can go through time and space, so a little bit of primitive alien tech isn’t gonna hurt it,” he said, glancing and smiling at Haltrix.

He nodded back sarcastically.

“Where’s it gone?” growled Doomclaw, launching himself at Haltrix.

“Your world has gone,” said Haltrix. “You must learn to live without it.”

“Of course!” said the Doctor. “They had grown attached to the savage lands. Connected to it. Now it’s gone…”

“They’re feeling it,” said Danny. “So what happens now?”

“They have a long way to go,” said the Doctor. “Villa’s a broken woman, there are many people dead and there’s a big hole in your Shroud.”

“What do we do, Doctor?” asked Haltrix.

“You close the rest of the Shroud down. Save the rest of your people and find a way to live in peace.”

“You can help us with that,” said Haltrix optimistically.

“No. That’s something only you can do. I’m happy to have set the wheels in motion, but that’s it for me.”

“But they must answer for their crimes,” said Haltrix, pointing at Doomclaw and Jawlock.

“I think you all can be accused of crimes of some form or other,” said the Doctor darkly. “But I will give you this piece of advice - learn to accept who you are, work through your problems and don’t just lock them away. Oh, and stop being so private all the time. This is a beautiful world. You could benefit from a few visitors.”

Haltrix smiled as he put a claw on Doomclaw’s shoulder.

“This is our planet as well,” whimpered Doomclaw.

Haltrix smiled sadly. “It is.”

Breaking the silence was a huge blast of energy from one of the buildings. Blackmore emerged from the doors holding his gun and blasting at Trixatins as he went. He was covered in blood as he gunned down the last of the squad which had tried to stop him in the corridors

“He’s got the circuit,” said Caroline.

Children Of The Universe, Chapter 10

All that Caroline remembered was the Doctor grabbing her arm and dragging her through the strange hole that had been ripped in the air in front of them. It had reminded her of the crack that had formed outside the church in Thornsby where the Apparites had come from, but this time they were the ones going through it.

She had no idea why the Doctor had chosen to follow the group of dogs led by Doomclaw and Blackmore through the hole, but she just went with it anyway.

Now she was standing in an area surrounded by skyscrapers and blue trees and all around her was chaos. People were screaming and there were growls and shouts and guns being fired around her feet. In the chaos she had lost the Doctor and was now on her own.

She felt herself pushed to the floor as a mass of colours trampled over and around her. She tried to get back to her feet, but she was knocked down again. She felt a bolt of energy whiz past her face and blacken the ground next to her.

She turned just as one of Doomclaw’s dogs dropped down on top of her - dead.

She panicked as she struggled from underneath the heavy corpse, it’s blank, dead eyes still seemingly looking at her.

She knew any minute now she’d burst in to tears. This wasn’t something she’d done for a while. Ever since Steve had left her and her baby had mysteriously disappeared, she had stopped herself from getting emotional. She had made herself strong. Even cold, perhaps.

But this was too much for her. She was a checkout girl from Thornsby, and this wasn’t what life was supposed to be like.

She scrambled to her feet, turned and ran as fast as she could. She didn’t know where she was going. All she knew was that she had to get to safety and to shelter.

She ran past the fountain and across the square, dodging energy bolts fired randomly from dogs dressed in steel armour and growling, savage dogs. She closed her eyes as she saw Jawlock about to rip an arm of one of the blue-robed dogs and just kept running and running.

When she stopped running she found that she was surrounded by low, blue-leaved bushes. She crouched down and drew her knees in tight, keeping as quiet as she could. All she wanted right now was to go home. To go back to her job at Hypersave and to never see that bloody TARDIS ever again.




A little time passed and she was determined not to move from the spot when she suddenly heard footsteps approaching. She was about to get up and run again when someone fell over the bush directly next to her.

She scrambled to her feet and backed away, expecting to see another dogs body lying dead. It wasn’t a dog or a body at all. It was a slightly bewildered and bloody Danny.

“Oh my god!” yelled Caroline in disbelief.

Danny, looking shell-shocked, stared at Caroline. “Caz!”

Caroline smiled, grabbed Danny by his t-shirt and kissed him right on the lips.

Danny, even more shocked, pulled back. “What was that for?”

“Sorry,” said Caroline, trying to re-compose herself, “I just…I thought I’d never see you again.”

Danny smiled, sitting up next to her. “It got a bit crazy out there,” he said.

Caroline smacked him on the arm. “Next time, don’t dive over bushes that I might be sat under.”

“I didn’t even see them,” said Danny, looking around. “I was just running blind.”

“Me too,” said Caroline. All of a sudden she felt much better that Danny was here. She didn’t feel alone anymore. “It was just…madness out there.”

“Where’s the Doctor?”

“I don’t know. He dragged me through the opening and I never saw him again. We got separated.”

“Yeah, same as me and Alison.”

“The kid from the ship?”

“Yeah. Once that savage dog came in everybody started panicking. The guards turned up and started shooting at the pack and that’s when we were separated. We’ve gotta find the both of them. We need to get out of here.”

“I agree,” said Caroline, “this planet’s a lost cause.”




The Doctor, meanwhile, had entered one of the buildings surrounding the square. He had attempted to go back and find Caroline, but in the nightmare outside she had disappeared. He had chosen his least favourite option - not go back for Caroline, but try and find the source of the Shroud and destroy the technology before Blackmore got a hold of it.

He had found the science building and once inside the deserted building had located the Shroud generators. They were underneath the square. Except there was a huge problem. This was one of many generators. The information screen he had located had told him that there were many more generators in different cities around the planet. Even if he disabled this one the others would still keep running and Blackmore would be able to simply travel to another city and take the technology from there.

The other problem was that if he shut all of the generators down whilst there were people still in the wastelands, they’d all be killed. There were the children in the Pythagoras ship and there were other dogs around the planet and no matter how savage and dangerous they were, they didn’t deserve to die.

He was out of options. And then he heard footsteps behind him.

“You work quickly,” came Blackmore’s voice from behind him.

“I can’t let you take this technology,” said the Doctor.

“You can’t stop me.”

“Why do you need it anyway?”

“To better-”

“Yes, to better Humanity. I’ve heard that one before.”

“The Eyeglass need it because they need it. That’s all we need to know.”

“No,” said the Doctor, shaking his head. “It’ll be used for all the wrong things. It’ll be used to hide armies while you invade planets. It’ll make the Human race a dangerous force.”

“So be it,” said Blackmore with a smirk.

“The Human race is just one race in the universe. What gives you the right to believe you should be better than”

“Surely it’s the duty of all races to better themselves?”

“Not by threatening others!” said the Doctor, rounding on Blackmore.

“And that’s why no other race has ever bettered us.”

The Doctor closed his eyes and laughed. “I love the Human race. I’ve made Earth my second home, but I’ve also seen it’s downfall. I’ve seen aliens invade and destroy your kind and I’ve seen the end of your planet.”

“All the more reason why we should fight for ourselves.”

“It’s not about fighting for yourselves. Throughout history you’ve fought and survived, and that’s absolutely brilliant. The difference here is that you’re actively looking to turn the Human race into an army. You’re actively looking to go out there and cause war.”

“Eliminate the threat before it strikes,” said Blackmore calmly.

“No. No. You need to stop this, Magnus.”

Blackmore calmly walked over to the Doctor. “All I need is one of the generators and I’ll be on my way.”

“If you disconnect this, part of the Shroud will start to collapse. You’ll be hurting those children in the Pythagoras.”

Blackmore stopped for a moment. His eyes flicked from side to side and then he looked straight at the Doctor. “Then you better go and save them.”

He made a move to get past the Doctor, but he stood firmly in his way.

“I advise you to move,” said Blackmore calmly.

“No. Not a chance.”

Blackmore grabbed the Doctor and pushed him to the side. The Doctor staggered and then threw himself forward. Blackmore grabbed him around the throat and forced him up against the wall.

“You’re weak. You don’t think I noticed that about you,” snarled Blackmore. “You can’t fight me.”

“I can’t let you do this.”

“Go and save the children!” he growled and threw the gasping Doctor to the floor.

The Doctor looked up, clutching at his throat, but Blackmore had gone through a door to the lower levels, locking it behind him.

Scrambling to his feet he made his way towards the main reception area of the building. He knew he couldn’t stop Blackmore on his own, and he needed to save those children.




Danny and Caroline popped their heads up from behind the bushes that had proven useful as a makeshift cover. The sound of fighting had faded a little. The battle was spreading through the streets, moving away from the main city centre.

“What do we do now?” asked Caroline.

“Go and find the Doctor, Alison and get out of here.”

They were about to move when they heard running coming towards them and a man, panting and out of breath. A rotund figure was emerging out of the shadows. It was Tointon. He stopped to catch his breath, bending over slightly and wheezing.

“Tointon,” hissed Caroline. “Arthur!”

Tointon looked up, fear in his eyes. “Who’s there?”

“It’s us,” said Caroline, rising slightly from the behind the bush. “Caroline and Danny.”

“Oh, thank goodness,” said the old man as he stumbled over to them.

“Get down!” said Danny as more footsteps could be heard in the distance.

Tointon quickly scrambled behind the bushes and they waited for the running to pass them.

“They’re everywhere. There’s more of that Doomclaw’s minions than I thought,” said Tointon, mopping his brow with a handkerchief.

“Did you see any sign of the Doctor or the little girl, Alison?” asked Caroline.

“No. I’m afraid I got caught up in the chaos. I couldn’t make out anything or anyone. I just kept my head down and ran.”

“Same here,” said Caroline glumly.

“We need to find the Doctor,” said Danny. “My bet is he’s still in the central area.”

“Yes, probably looking for a way to stop this horror,” said Tointon. “I’m still not sure what’s going on here. Where’s Hideo?”

“Dead,” said Caroline glumly. “Those things ate him.”

“Oh, goodness me,” said Tointon, mopping his brow again. “What a nightmare this is turning out to be. And those poor children on the ship. All alone.”

“We need to keep calm,” said Danny. “We’ll find the Doctor and get off this planet with the rest of the kids.” Danny looked over the bushes again. “It looks calmer out there now. Come on, we’ve got to go.”

The three of them scrambled to their feet and made their way down one of the side streets.

When they eventually reached the square they found themselves standing amongst bodies. Some of them were Doomclaw’s, armour-clad followers, but most of them were the peaceful, colourful-robed Trixatins and the metallic-armour wearing security forces.

Sitting, cowering beside the fountain was the white-cloaked Director Villa. Her robes were splattered with blood and she was trying desperately to wash the blood from her hands.

“Villa,” said Danny, crossing over to her. “Where’s Haltrix?”

“Keep clean. Keep clean,” she rambled, keeping her face turned away from the other three.

“Villa, we need to find the Doctor or Haltrix. Or somebody!”

“They made me. They made me. They made me. Keep clean.”

“They made you what?” asked Caroline, crouching down next to the quivering Villa.

“They made me eat.”

“Oh no,” said Danny, pulling Caroline back.

“They made me eat.” Villa turned and snarled at them. Her snout was covered in blood and she was holding a leg bone. “They made me eat them.”

“We need to get out of here,” said Tointon. “Come on. She’s a lost cause.”

The three of them backed away as Villa returned to the fountain, still rambling.

They were about to turn and head across the square when they spotted the Doctor stumbling out of a large building. He was clutching his chest and looked to be in pain.

“Doctor! Are you okay?” asked Caroline, running over to him.

“I’m fine,” he said, managing a weak smile. “I just had a run in with Mr Blackmore.”

“Caroline told me all about it,” said Danny. “We need to find Alison. The young girl.”

“We need to get to the rest of the children. Blackmore’s going to shut down the generator. Part of the Shroud will collapse and destroy anything living in that area.”

“How do we do it?”

There came a cough and a clearing of the throat. Standing behind them was Haltrix, looking a little battered and tired.

“Haltrix,” said Danny, smiling.

“I believe I can help you,” said Haltrix. “We’re not a lost cause just yet,” he said, looking towards Villa, who was now a gibbering wreck, scratching at her own fur and skin beneath.

“We need to get there now,” said the Doctor, dabbing a cut on his cheek.

“We have skimmers.”

“Skimmers?” asked Caroline.

“Vehicles that can hover off the ground. We can take them through the barrier and get the children.”

“There’s no time for that,” said the Doctor. “It’ll take far too long.”

“Do you have any other ideas?” asked Haltrix.

“And where exactly do we take them?” asked Tointon. “This city is far too dangerous.”

“The headmaster’s right,” said Danny. “There’s no point in bringing them here.”

“We’re wasting time here, boys,” said Caroline, exasperated. “Let’s just get them out of the wastelands, yeah?”

They nodded in agreement. The Doctor and Haltrix headed for the skimmer depot whilst Caroline, Danny and Tointon sheltered in the foyer of the science building.




Ten minutes later the sleek, metallic craft they had called a skimmer was speeding across the desert at a tremendous rate, passing mountains and soaring over high dunes and narrowly missing rocks and boulders.

The Doctor was standing in the skimmer, letting the wind blow in his face. He looked like he was trying to hold back his joy at the rush. It was like being on a rollercoaster, but he knew that this was no time to be enjoying himself.

“Please, sit down, Doctor,” said Haltrix, hands firmly on the steering controls and looking grim.

“I can see better like this,” said the Doctor.

“What are you looking for?” asked Haltrix. “Surely we won’t miss a huge spaceship?”

“I’m not looking for the Pythagoras,” said the Doctor, shielding his eyes against the rising sun. “I’m looking for my own ship.”

“What? How’s that going to help us?”

“I don’t know if you’ve realised this, Haltrix, but we can almost definitely make the trip to the Pythagoras before Blackmore shuts down the generator.”

“Exactly. So what’s the problem?”

“Do we have enough time to get back to the city?”

A look of realisation dawned on Haltrix and he put his foot down on the pedal.

“Exactly,” smiled the Doctor, nervously. “We’ll never make it back in the skimmer. And how many children can this thing take? Not many I’d expect. If we get to my TARDIS - my ship - we can move instantaneously from the wastelands, to the ship and then back to the city in no time at all.”

Haltrix nodded in agreement. “This has definitely been an interesting day.”




Blackmore had reached the main generators located underground. This was the main hub were all the power came from and this was the equipment that he needed. Banks and banks of electronic panels and lights hummed with life. All sorts of colours illuminated Blackmore’s sweat-stained face.

Looking around him, he pulled out a piece of paper with a hand-drawn diagram on it. He then ducked down to a panel under one of the bigger banks. Inside was a large circuit board, but a glass panel prevented anyone from touching it.

Blackmore sighed and returned to the computer bank. He started typing in various numbers on a keypad, but a screen kept flashing the words “PASSKEY NOT ACCEPTED”.

With a furious growl he punched at the keypad.

“Problems?” came Annie’s voice.

“I didn’t see you,” said Blackmore. “Where’ve you been?”

“Here and there. Good job I had the codes from the General to get into this area. Thanks for locking the door!”

“You’re welcome.”

Annie shook her head. “It’s a nightmare out there.”

“A nightmare we created,” said Blackmore, his eyes fixed on her.

“A nightmare that was necessary. Let’s face it, these creatures had this boiling over for years. We just made them face up to what was needed to be done.”

“Maybe,” said Blackmore, “but that still doesn’t help us get this panel open.”

“I know,” said Annie, looking a little distant.

“What’s up now?”

“It’s the children.”

“Jesus Christ,” said Blackmore, exasperated. “For a ruthless killer, you certainly have your odd, caring moments.”

“I’m not a killer,” spat Annie. “I do what I have to do for the job. I don’t want those kids dead.”

“Well you’ll be happy to know that the Doctor’s on his way to save them.”

“He’ll never get back in time,” said Annie. “Not if we get through this panel.”

“We can wait a bit.”

“No we can’t,” said Annie, pointing to a monitor on the wall behind them.

The grey, flickering screen showed a squad of armed Trixatins, weapons at the ready, heading through the corridors to their position.

“I locked the door again,” said Annie, “but it won’t hold them for long.”

“Then we have to crack this thing now,” said Blackmore, a stern look on his face. “And let’s just hope the Doctor gets to the kids in time.”

Children Of The Universe, Chapter 9

The Doctor, Blackmore, Annie, Tointon and Caroline were standing outside Doomclaw’s camp. Doomclaw and Jawlock stood opposite them. None of them spoke. Tointon looked a little bemused and the Doctor and Caroline looked at Annie and Blackmore in disgust.

“If you cared about the children that much,” said Caroline, breaking the silence, “you wouldn’t have done this.”

Annie looked at Caroline and smiled. “Have any of the children been killed? Have any of them died?”

Caroline’s eyes narrowed. “That’s not the point.”

“No, it’s not,” said the Doctor quickly. He took a few steps towards Annie and Blackmore. “You don’t play with people’s lives. What about Hideo? What about Tointon? What are you going to do with him?”

“It’s necessary to complete the mission,” said Annie coldly. “In return for not harming the children, Doomclaw and the rest of them get the adults.”

“Including you?” asked the Doctor, looking down his nose at her.

“No, not including us,” said Blackmore. “We provide food for Doomclaw, they get us through the barrier and as a final payment from us they get back to their own world.”

“We don’t like living in this fake world,” growled Doomclaw. “We want to be in the cities again. Where we can live and feed.”

“Feed on your own kind?” said the Doctor darkly. “Because let’s face facts, you’re not going to be chomping on apples and oranges, are you?”

Blackmore rounded on the Doctor. “Surely you, of all people, wouldn’t want to deprive these creatures of their right to live in their own, real world? And, yes, before you say it, I do know about you. The man who travels through space and time putting right all the wrongs in the universe. Surely this is right up your street?”

The Doctor narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. “I agree that Doomclaw and his followers shouldn’t have been made to live separated from their own kind, but I also believe that the Trixatins needed to save themselves.”

“This is just natural progression. This is just the way of things.”

“Before long,” said Doomclaw, “they will all be like us. They will all want meat. It is the way of our kind.”

“Doomclaw,” said the Doctor, crossing over to the towering hound, “surely you must understand why I can’t support you in this?”

“I don’t care whether you support us or not, little man,” grinned Doomclaw. “It’s the way it is.”

The Doctor shook his head. “How do you hope to even get through that barrier?”

Annie walked back towards a bemused Tointon. “Pass me the device.”

Tointon opened up the large rucksack he had been holding and took out what looked like a gun. “I still don’t know how this can help anything, Miss Phipps.”

“Because,” said Annie, turning the barrel of the gun and adjusting a few small dials on the side, “this is going to blow a hole in their barrier.”

“A gun?” scoffed Caroline. “How can a gun help?”

“It’s not a gun,” sighed Blackmore. “It’s a focus ray for our deflector shields.”

“From the Pythagoras?”

“Yes. It generates the beam that projects the shields around the ship.” He turned and smiled at Caroline. “Just in case we were attacked…from the outside.”

Caroline looked at him with contempt.

“The Doctor knows how this will help,” said Blackmore as he removed a small tripod from Tointon’s rucksack.

The Doctor was looking glumly at the device. “If focused correctly and on the right frequency, the focus ray can rip a hole in their barrier. If focused enough it could completely destroy this environment.” The Doctor looked back at Blackmore. “But I really wouldn’t risk that.”

“Of course not,” said Annie. “We’re not about to risk our own necks. If we destroy this environment whilst we’re still in it, we’ll be torn to shreds.”

“This is madness,” said the Doctor. “Why would you even bother to do this?”

“To better the Human race,” said Blackmore. “For too long we’ve allowed ourselves to be invaded or enslaved or taken advantage of by alien forces. Well not any longer. That’s what the Eyeglass is there for. To make the Human race into something to be feared. I‘ve got nothing against aliens, but the Human race has weakened itself against them.”

The Doctor’s eyes darkened. “I’ve fought establishments like you before and I’ve always won. Look up Torchwood in your history books. They thought they could cut themselves off from the universe and take whatever they found as their own, but it backfired and they were taken down. By me.”

Blackmore laughed. “Don’t try and play games with me, Doctor. I know of Torchwood. We all know they didn’t completely fall. They survived in some form or another. And the Eyeglass, believe it or not, is just one of those forms. Torchwood living on through us.”

“But you’ve already made a number of flawed plans so far.”

“Oh,” said Blackmore, crossing over to the Doctor. “What flawed plans?”

“Like not getting rid of the Pythagoras’s hand weapons. If you’d have done that then you and Doomclaw could have overrun the ship and taken what you needed.”

“How many times do I have to tell you,” said Annie. “We don’t want to children harmed.”

Blackmore laughed. “And we’re certainly not going to let Doomclaw’s grunts in the ship.”

Doomclaw growled threateningly.

“There are lines that you have to draw. You have to take these things very delicately. If I had let the dogs onto the ship they would have taken and eaten everybody. Then where would my bargaining chips be?”

“But they wouldn’t have gotten in the barrier. So then what?”

“When faced with food these guys revert to their basic instincts. They wouldn’t have even cared about getting back to their proper world.”

Before the Doctor could say anything more Blackmore crossed over to the focus ray.

“Now, let’s blow a hole in this thing.”




Director Villa walked into the control room and found Haltrix hunched over a few computer monitors. They showed various energy waves and blurred images.

“What is it?” asked Villa. “You said it was urgent.”

“It is,” said Haltrix quietly. “There seems to be unusual energy readings in the wastelands.”

“The crashed ship, of course,” smiled Villa. “We’ll soon have the humans off the planet and away.”

“It’s not their ship,” he continued, flicking a few switches and looking at data readouts. “I’ve been monitoring their signals for days, now, and it’s not them. This is something different.”

Villa sighed and lowered her head. “We can’t risk opening the barrier again. Bringing those two in was foolish-”

“It was a necessity,” interrupted Haltrix. “They would have been killed out there. Maybe not the older man, but the female is just a child.”

“I know that,” hissed Villa, “but we only open up to put things out. Not to bring things in!”

“We need to send a team to investigate.”

“Absolutely not. Out of the question.”

“We don’t know what they’re doing out there.”

“They’re too stupid to do anything that could threaten us.”

“Are they?” asked Haltrix, turning to face Villa. “Are they really that stupid? Don’t mistake their savage ways for stupidity.”

Villa jabbed a finger towards her scientist. “You’re the one who did the research.”

“Yes, I was,” he replied, “but in our later cases I noticed that things weren’t always so clear cut. The patients craved meat. They were angry and vicious…but at the same time they seemed…I don’t know…intelligent.”

Villa laughed.

“It’s true. Even though they were trying to break free from their bonds. Even though they wanted to rip me to shreds and eat me…there was something clever and calculating about them. They always waited for the right moment to strike. I’m wondering if things are coming full circle with this disease.”

“What do you mean? That they’re becoming normal?”

“No,” said Haltrix sombrely. “I mean that maybe it’s possible for us to be cannibals and live how we are living now.”

Villa shook her head, half in disbelief.

“Director, this morning, whilst I was eating my fruit salad…I suddenly had a craving for meat.”

Villa simply stared at him.

“Of course, the feeling passed. But it was there none the less.”

“So you’re saying we should just give in to these thoughts?”

“No. I’m saying that if we don’t allow a team to go out there and deal with Doomclaw’s gang, we may find ourselves being overrun and every single one of us may become just like them. Masses can influence other masses.”

“I see.”

“But the real question is this: do we keep fighting against what could possible be our destiny, or do we give in and allow it to happen?”




The focus generator was now on full power. A beam of bright, white light was streaming from the device to an area which was now shimmering with light.

“How long before they know what we’re doing?” asked Doomclaw.

Blackmore was shielding his eyes from the light. “I suspect they already know we’re up to something.”

Caroline and the Doctor were at the back of the group being closely guarded by Jawlock.

Caroline leaned in to the Doctor. “Where’s Danny? They haven’t mentioned him.”

“I don’t know,” said the Doctor worriedly. “Perhaps he’s still at the ship with the children. Perhaps he’s escaped.”

“Should we ask?”

“No. We can’t risk drawing attention to him. If I know Danny, he’ll be keeping out of the way.”

Caroline looked up at the Doctor. “Why do you say that?”

The Doctor was about to speak but Caroline spoke again.

“Do you think he’s a coward? Just because of what happened with the Apparites?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then what? Because I’ve known him since I was a little girl and if there’s anyone out there I can trust, it’s Danny Lennon.”

The Doctor looked down at her sadly. “I’m sorry, Caroline. I just get so used to people wanting to come away on adventures with me.”

“But Danny chose to come with us. I came because I wanted answers. If there’s anyone who is a coward, it’s me.”

“Don’t be silly.”

“It’s true. I don’t want to be here. If I’m being honest, I’m scared out of my mind.”

The Doctor looked concerned.

“Danny was the one who wanted to come for the adventure. Just because he chose not to trek across the desert it doesn’t mean that he’s a coward.”

“Caroline-”

“I just want answers, Doctor. When we finally get off this god-awful planet, I want some answers.”

The Doctor put his hand on her shoulder. “Okay. I promise. We’ll find out all we can.”

There was a burst of energy from the shimmer and the dogs moved excitedly on the spot.

“Be warned,” said Doomclaw, “our cousins will be armed with weapons.”

“We’re not stupid,” said Blackmore. “We’re armed with you.”

Doomclaw smiled at Blackmore.

“We’re almost there,” said Annie.




Down at the fountain Danny, Alison and a group of Trixatins were looking across the square to the patch of air shimmering a few feet in the air.

“What is it?” asked Alison.

“It looks like what we came through,” said Danny. “That shimmer thing. Through the barrier.”

“Are they sending us out then?”

“I think it’s more likely that something’s trying to get in.”

Director Villa and Haltrix came running from the building, down the steps and to the front of the crowd that was gathering in the square.

“I told you they were up to something,” said Haltrix, his eyes transfixed on the shimmering air.

“Is there nothing we can do?”

“I’ve got engineers working on it now. It seems they’re using a deflector from the humans ship.”

Villa turned angrily on Danny. “Your kind are trying to break through with their technology.”

“Don’t be stupid,” snapped Danny. “Why would the teachers from the Pythagoras try and get through?”

“The savage ones don’t poses that kind of technology.”

“Clearly they do now,” said Haltrix quickly. “Perhaps they stole it from the crashed ship.”

“Not possible. If they did then they must have someone helping them,” said Villa, crossing towards the shimmering.

Now many of the other Trixatins were beginning to get restless.

Villa turned to face them. “Please, my friends, don’t concern yourselves with this. We have our best people working on the matter as we speak. It is merely a damage to the Shroud. It will be rectified.”

“They’re coming through, aren’t they?” asked one of the dogs in a red robe.

“Our lost cousins have no way of coming back,” smiled Villa.

“They’re coming back to punish us for banishing them,” said another dog.

“That is just pure silliness,” laughed Villa.

“Director, I really think we should get the security forces here,” said Haltrix nervously.

“Silence, Haltrix, I’m trying to ease our peoples concerns.”

“Those concerns are well founded,” said Haltrix in a hushed voice. “I’ve just received word from the engineers that they can’t stop it. It’s an outside force. We can only control what is done on the inside.”

Villa looked around nervously and then back to the shimmer.

“We need to defend ourselves if they come through. Doomclaw will attack and kill without mercy.”

Villa stood silent for a few seconds and then nodded at Haltrix. “Order the security forces to-”

There was a huge explosion from behind her and Villa was thrown forward into the crowd. There were screams all around and people began to run. Villa was bleeding from the side of her head, but she managed to turn herself onto her back and prop herself up her elbows. Haltrix, Danny and Alison were crouching down around her, checking to see if she was okay.

She waved them away and looked towards were the shimmer was. Now there was simply a large hole looking out to a desert landscape, and standing in the hole, making his way through, was the snarling, towering figure of Doomclaw.

“We’re through,” he growled as chaos erupted.

Children Of The Universe, Chapter 8

The screen flickered into life and the image of the General appeared. He smiled and nodded.

“Good day to you, Mr Blackmore,” came the voice from the recording. “I regret that it has taken us this long to get in contact with you, and I regret that Miss Phipps was unable to reveal her true identity before today,”

Annie turned and smiled at Blackmore.

“but we have been finalising the plan to minimise casualties.”

“Causalities?!” said Blackmore, shocked. He wasn’t expecting casualties.

“Just listen!” hissed Annie.

The General continued. “In 14 months this colony will pass through the Tain system. In particular it will pass by a planet called Trixatin. This is a paradise world, but the people are very private. They like to hide themselves away and don’t share their technology. Unfortunately they have technology that the Eyeglass want. Technology that will better the Human race.”

Blackmore nodded in agreement. This was the way that they worked.

“Sadly the Trixatins have used their technology to hide their world away. It has been masked by a device called the Shroud. A device that creates a fake - albeit extremely real - landscape or world around the one already there. We need this technology. This is where you come in, Blackmore.”

Blackmore straightened himself up, ready to hear about his mission.




Some time later Blackmore and Annie were sat in the canteen. Annie wasn’t eating, but Blackmore was busy going through a bowl of rice.

“We need to get a move on,” said Annie.

“I’m hungry,” said Blackmore. “It’ll all be alright. I’ve already erased the database. None of the colony know about the planet being restricted.”

“Then we need to convince the colony to allow us to separate from the others.”

“I know that as well. That’s already been dealt with,” he said, shovelling more rice into his mouth. “Tointon’s been convinced. We’re just waiting for clearance from the colony commander.”

Annie sighed and got up. She crossed over to the porthole and looked out across the star field. “This had better work.”

“Relax,” smiled Blackmore. “You heard the general. It’ll go without a hitch.”

“Just as long as the kids are safe,” said Annie. “I don’t really give a toss about the rest of the staff on here. I just want to make sure the children aren’t hurt.”

Blackmore looked at her curiously and put his spoon down. He leaned back in the chair and folded his arms. “What made you join up?”

Annie looked back at him and smiled sadly. “My parents died when I was a kid. I was left alone on one of the Mars colonies. I had to grow up with this young couple who were desperate for kids. Called themselves the Farrington’s.”

“I take it you didn’t like them?”

“No. They always seemed…distant. Like they didn’t really have any interest in me.” She crossed back to the table and sat down. “So when I turned 15 I ran away back to Earth. Hitched a ride on a supply ship. That’s when I met the General. He took me in and taught me all about the Eyeglass.”

“Conditioned from being young, then?” smiled Blackmore.

“It’s not like that,” said Annie. “He just opened my eyes to the rest of the universe. Made me realise that we had to look after our own kind.”

Blackmore nodded as he finished the last of his rice. “I always loved to read about them. Working for the better of the Human race. They were like intergalactic heroes to me. They got in touch with me a few years ago. My father was always very keen on me joining up too.”

“How come? I mean, how come they came after you?”

“I guess they knew I’d shown an interest in them. If you do too much reading up on them then you’re bound to get noticed.” Blackmore took a sip of his water. “They didn’t take me on board permanently, though. Just got me to do a few little jobs. This is the first time I’ve actually joined them.”

Annie sighed. “And this is it now, Magnus. Get used to it. You’ll go from job to job, picking up the wages and bettering our race. Enjoy it.”

Blackmore smiled, but she could tell that Annie wasn’t entirely convinced about what she was saying. She almost certainly wasn’t as confident as she had been an hour or so ago.




Blackmore stood in the engine room. He could feel beads of sweat running down his face. The ship had been diverted to allow the kids some fresh air on Trixatin and they were in low orbit. He knew the next step in the plan and this was going to be the hard part.

He looked at the control panel in front of him and frowned. He was sure he’d learnt the correct procedure, but he wasn’t entirely sure now he was faced with the task.

A crackle came over the intercom.

“What are you doing, Magnus?” came Annie’s whispered voice.

“I’m, erm, I’m just making sure I get it right.”

“Well hurry up. We need to make sure this crate crashes on time. We have a date with this Doomclaw, remember?”

“I remember,” said Blackmore, remembering back to the video message from the General.

He flicked a few switches on the control panel and the hum of the engines died down. He then opened a panel below the main console and went inside.

It was a mess of wires and circuits. Blackmore consulted a schematic he had with him and then returned to the wires. He used a small, pen-like device to sever them and switch over a few circuit boards.

After a few minutes he stood up and closed the panel below the console. Now the engines were completely silent and a voice came over the intercom.

“We’ve got a fault in the main engine room. Our engines are down,” came Hideo Sanada’s voice. “can someone go check it out?”

Blackmore pressed the talk-back button and spoke. “I’m already down here. I was doing a bit of maintenance. Looks like it’s a fault with the portside engine. It’s knocked the other out as well. I’m going to have to get inside the engine and find out what’s happened.”

“Then please take care,” came Tointon’s voice. “I’ll radio the rest of the fleet. Maybe they can send a tug to pull us back in.”

“No,” said Blackmore quickly, “the children need this trip. I’ll get it fixed in no time. No need to bother the rest of the fleet. They‘ll only demand we return to the rest of the group.”

“Okay, but if you haven’t got it fixed in twenty minutes, I’m calling it in. You know if they get too far away they won’t come back for us if we have any problems.”

“I know,” said Blackmore as he made his way towards the back of the engine room.

He opened a panel near the floor which led to a small, ventilation duct. He crawled into it and made his way through the narrow passage on his belly.

This passage led through the structure that was connected to the portside engine. After a few more metres he emerged into a large, tubular section. This was where the core of the engine was. Normally it would have been suicide to have come in here, but now the normal, glowing red core of the engine was dark and cold.

Part of the way down the engine tubes sat Blackmore’s lifeline - the blast suit. It resembled a normal spacesuit, but the General had told them that this suit would protect him from explosions. Annie had smuggled it on board and transmatted it in here. He had told him that there was always a small risk that it wouldn’t work, but that Annie would be there to continue the mission should he fail.

That didn’t really comfort Blackmore, though, and this was the part of the mission that was really worrying him.

“Anything, Blackmore?” came Tointon’s voice over the intercom again.

“Not yet,” said Blackmore, as he scrambled into the suit.

“Well hurry, man!” said Tointon urgently.

“Will do,” said Blackmore as he sealed up the suit.

Next to where the suit had been was a small, dome-shaped device with a single button on top. It was an explosive. The General had told him where to put it and that he would have thirty seconds.

Now the glass on the helmet’s visor was steaming up as he began to sweat. Blackmore sighed, gathered himself together and placed the explosive beside the engine core.

He was now starting to have doubts. This was crazy. What if it didn’t work? He had been told that the ship would remain relatively undamaged and would begin a spiral descent towards Trixatin, being dragged into the atmosphere and crash land softly. He also knew that he would be blasted out of the engine remains and also be pulled into the atmosphere.

But it didn’t help how he was feeling right now. He was scared. Terrified. But it had to be done.

He pressed the button on top the explosive and a digital readout started counting down from thirty. He ran as fast as he could away from the explosive’s location and then crouched down against the curved wall of the engine housing. He watched as the small readout counted down, but was unable to make out the numbers in the distance.

It felt like 30 minutes instead of 30 seconds. For a moment he wondered if it had failed, and then….




There was a huge sound and a blinding light. Magnus Blackmore felt himself be blown away from the explosion and through shards of fractured metal. He was then aware that he could no longer feel anything. He was floating.

He started to panic when he realised that he had not closed his eyes to shield them from the explosion. All he could see was a white blur with blotches of darkness flickering around.

Eventually his vision started to clear. All around him was blackness and glittering stars. He started to panic again. He’d never done any kind of space walk before, let alone be blasted out into space.

He tried to get his bearings and slowly turned himself. Below him was the light, brown surface of Trixatin and he could see the Pythagoras slowly spirally down towards the surface, it’s portside engine splintered and trailing smoke and fuel.

He remembered what the General had said and activated the small rockets on his back. They propelled him towards the planet. At this moment in time Tointon would have been trying to communicate the colony fleet, but he had rigged the circuits so that the explosion would have knocked out communications as well.

The planet grew closer and closer as he watched the Pythagoras enter the atmosphere and disappear through the grey clouds.

He followed and when he hit the atmosphere he soon became aware that the rockets were starting to die. Blast suits are designed to protect you from explosions, but they can also become damaged. Obviously the rockets had taken a pretty bad hit.

Soon he found himself soaring towards the planets surface. He tried to get himself upright, but it was no use. He was falling faster and faster. He had already passed the spiralling Pythagoras.

There was nothing for it. He had to activate the emergency parachute. He pressed a button on his arm and a large, silver parachute emerged from the back of the suit. Blackmore was pulled back as the parachute unfurled and his speed was abruptly stopped.

He started to relax as he slowly floated down to the surface.

Finally he hit the rocky ground and rolled onto his back, the silver material of the parachute slowly falling and covering him. He pulled it away and watched as the Pythagoras disappeared behind some sand dunes.

There was a huge thud that echoed for miles around as the ship hit the ground.

He lay there for a long time, looking up at the grey sky. He couldn’t believe he’d actually survived that.

He was about to get up when a shadow loomed over him. It was the shadow of a huge, seven foot dog.

“You must be Doomclaw,” said Blackmore.

“And you must be Blackmore,” growled the animal. “The General said you’d be coming.”

Children Of The Universe, Chapter 7

Sixteen Months Ago




Magnus Blackmore sat behind his desk at the Pythagoras Academy and looked out at all of the little faces staring up at him. He had been in this job - as a maths teacher - for almost a year and no matter how he tried, he could never really get the children to get too excited about mathematics.

And their lack of enthusiasm had an affect on him.

He had always been keen on Maths from an early age, but after he had taken it up as a career, it had started to bore him going over the same things over and over again. He wanted a more exciting life and maths just wasn’t that exciting.

He was about to set the class another task to perform when the school bell rang and the children burst into life, clamouring for their bags and putting their learning pads into their rucksacks. It was the end of the days lessons and they were all eager to get out.

“No running, thank you,” said Blackmore, knowing full well that nobody could hear him.

He sighed and slumped back into his chair. He waited until the last of the children had left the classroom and then went over to close the door.

He closed his eyes for a moment and listened to the silence, his forehead resting on the glass in the door. Bliss.

He was snapped out of his daydreaming when the communications console started beeping. He quickly crossed to the far side of his desk and pressed a button on the monitor.

A face appeared and Blackmore felt the colour drain from his face.

It was a face he knew well. An old-ish man with long, grey hair tied behind his back, dressed in a black suit with a white tie. He had a grey goa-tee beard and his eyes were dark and sunken in.

“Good afternoon, Magnus,” said the man, his voice cheery but with dangerous undertones.

“Good afternoon, General,” said Blackmore, sitting back down in his chair, all the time keeping his eyes transfixed on the mans face.

“It’s been a long time,” he purred. “Too long. I see you have yourself a new job.”

“Teaching at the academy, sir,” said Blackmore with a little smile. “It pays the bills.”

“And it’s exactly where we want you,” smiled the man. “We have another little job for you.”

Magnus wasn’t exactly sure what to say. He’d done these little jobs before and they always paid well, but they were questionable to say the least.

“A job?”

“Yes. The Eyeglass has been keeping a close eye on you since that job on Neptune.”

“That was a few years ago now,” said Magnus, laughing nervously.

“And we’ve been watching you all that time,” smiled the man who Blackmore had called the General.

“How much?”

The General smiled. “Nothing.”

“Well then -”

“Nothing but admission into the Eyeglass itself.”

Magnus stopped mid-sentence. He had always been fascinated by the Eyeglass as a boy and when he had been approached to work for them as a freelance seven years ago, it had been almost a dream come true. Again, many of the jobs were questionable, but it was something he had always wanted to do. A boyhood dream.

“The pay would be continual. You’d work undercover for us. And you’d be protected,” he added at the end.

“Of course, it’d be an honour. The work that Eyeglass do-”

“- is to benefit the Human race,” said the General, finishing Blackmore’s sentence for him.

Blackmore stroked his chin and smiled. “I’d have to leave this job, yes?”

“Yes. Well, eventually.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your Academy are planning to join up with colony fleet Apax next month.”

“Yes,” said Blackmore, remembering the selection of teachers who had signed up to go. He had declined, instead deciding to remain with the rest of the Academy back on Earth. “The Headmaster - Tinton - is going as well. We’ve got a handful of families signed up and ready. There’s a few good teachers going. We’ll miss them.”

“You’re going to join them as well. As Mathematician.”

“I can’t,” laughed Blackmore. “Graham Svendsen’s already on the list. He’s head of Maths.”

“He’s not on the list anymore,” said the General calmly. “He’s come down with an unfortunate bout of Attasian flu.”

Blackmore frowned. Attasian flue was only found on the outer reaches of the solar system. “But, sir-?”

“Don’t ask questions,” said the General calmly. “You’ll put yourself forward to join the Apax fleet and then we’ll be in contact as soon as you’ve boarded.”

“It’ll take three and a half years to get to Apax, though. I don’t fancy hanging around for that long.”

“You won’t be there for three and a half years,” said the General. “Remember, we’ll be in contact. The Eyeglass are watching. Always.”

The screen faded to black as the General cut transmissions. He sat there for a moment, his fingers interlocked on his chest. He had no intention of leaving Earth and his job here, but this was the Eyeglass. The biggest and most intelligent network of undercover ops in the galaxy. He couldn’t turn this one down. It was his childhood dream!




Two Months Later




Blackmore had been on the Pythagoras for almost a month and he still hadn’t received any contact from the Eyeglass.

And he was getting bored.

He had always been interested in space travel, but had never wanted to be stuck on a colony fleet. It depressed him. He wanted to see worlds and visit planets. Ever since the Neptune job where he had stolen detailed scientific records on a particular weapon for the Eyeglass.

Some would call their actions criminal, but he truly believed that it was all being done for the good of the Human race, despite how dodgy some of their dealings were.

He crossed over to the small window in his incredibly small quarters and looked out. Nothing but a blanket of stars glittering on what looked like black satin. All around there were ships of all shapes and sizes dotted about. Cargo ships carrying all the materials they needed for colonisation, fuel ships and hundreds and hundreds of ships full of families and ministers and other important people.

And it was very rare that he had any contact with those people, however. Occasionally they would speak over the communications network to each other, but to save on energy and fuel most of the ships would only communicate in emergencies, and anyone found to be in danger would most likely be left behind. It was cruel, but it was space travel. The one important thing was to get the fleet to Apax.

In the month he had spent on the ship he had gotten to know the rest of the team. There was the art teacher, William Reynolds, Hideo Sanada - science, Annie Phipps - English language and literature and himself. Their headmaster, Arthur Tointon, would also teach alien cultures once a week.

They were a decent bunch - he had barely spoken to them at the Academy back on Earth - but none of them seemed to be on the same wavelength as him. They were happy to keep quiet, teach their lessons and wait to arrive on Apax.

There was a knock on the door and Reynolds stepped in, his grey hair swept back, but his fringe always threatening to flop forward over his face.

“Hey, Will,” said Blackmore, turning from the window.

“How are you?” asked Reynolds. “You’ve been keeping yourself to yourself since you got here.”

“I’m just eager to get to Apax,” said Blackmore. He was lying, of course.

“Well you’ve got a long wait,” chuckled Reynolds. “Three and a half years, my boy.”

Blackmore smiled. “I’d just prefer to keep myself to myself.”

“Suit yourself,” said Reynolds, arching his eyebrows. “But space is very lonely. Don‘t lock yourself away in here.”

He turned and walked out of the door.

“Dinner is served in thirty minutes,” came his voice as he disappeared down the corridor.

Blackmore sighed and sat on the end of his bed. Had the Eyeglass forgotten about him? Surely not. The General had told him he’d be in touch. He was about to lie down and get a bit of sleep when their came another knock at the door.

“Come in,” he sighed.

The door opened and Annie Phipps walked in. At the site of her, Blackmore wanted to groan. She was a very pretty woman, but she was so bloody nervous all the time. She was too timid and didn’t seem to be able to make decisions for herself.

But right now, standing in the doorway, she looked different. She looked confident, and her mouth was curled into a slight smile.

“What can I do for you, Annie?” asked Blackmore.

“Never mind what you can do for me. The real question is: what you can do for the General?”

He voice was even different. No nervousness, no worry and apprehension. Now she sounded confident, edgier and slightly dangerous.

“You work for the Eyeglass?” asked Blackmore, not quite believing what she had just said.

“Have done for a good few years now,” she smiled, slinking into the room and closing the door. “Since I left school actually.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” asked Blackmore, getting up off the bed. “I’ve been here for a whole month. Never mind the amount of time at the Academy. You could have said something!”

“Undercover, sweetheart,” smiled Annie. “Undercover.”

Blackmore swallowed. “So what does the General want?”

“He wants you to crash the ship,” smiled Annie, a twinkle in her eyes.