Ten minutes later the Doctor was standing face to face with Blackmore beside a riverbank.
“So what are you going to do about it, Doctor?” asked Blackmore. “I’m the one with the gun.”
“Only weak men need guns,” said the Doctor, hands in his pockets.
“Tell that to that squad of filthy dogs that tried to stop me.”
“I’ll stop you,” said the Doctor.
“No you won’t. You’re weak. You have no weapons.”
“I don’t need weapons.”
Blackmore raised the gun and pointed it towards the Doctor’s head. “I’m afraid you’re wrong. People will always need weapons.”
“Hand over the circuit,” said the Doctor, calmly.
Blackmore laughed and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a large, brass and ornately decorated bracelet.
“Where did you get that?” asked the Doctor, recognition on his face.
“From your pocket when I fought you earlier,” smiled Blackmore. “It’s a time ring, isn’t it?”
“How do you know about time rings?”
“We know everything. Don’t forget, we have your records on file.” Blackmore smiled. “Imagine what something like this could do for us.”
“Give it to me.”
“Don’t worry,” he said, throwing it in the air and catching it again, “I’m sure the General isn’t stupid enough to start messing about in time…” He paused. “Or is he?”
The Doctor launched himself at Blackmore who stepped out of the way, laughing.
“You’re insane,” laughed the Doctor, slipping on the muddy riverbank.
“Am I?” asked Blackmore as he slipped the time ring onto his wrist. “I’m just trying to get back home and this little thing can take me to wherever I want to be.”
“Surely you must have had a plan to get back before stealing the time ring?”
“Annie had a plan. The plan died with her. So I have to think on my feet.”
“You don’t even know how to operate it, Blackmore.”
“I’m sure I’ll find out.” He held his wrist up to his face, looking closely at the ring. “There’s no controls.”
“Exactly.”
“So I’d assume that it works on the users brainwaves.” Blackmore looked up and smiled. The Doctor’s look betrayed the truth. “Ah, an ingenious idea. All I have to do is think about where I want to go, and I go, yes?”
“Please, Magnus, just wait. Just give me a moment. I’ll help you. I’ll take you home. But you can’t have that kind of technology.”
There was a growl and Doomclaw leapt out of the trees and threw himself on Blackmore. Blackmore yelled in pain as he fell back, rolled down the river bed and smacked the time ring on a thick, tree log.
Blackmore looked in horror at the ring as it sparked and spluttered, part of it having cracked.
Doomclaw leapt down the bank and slashed three claws across Blackmore’s face. Huge, thick gashes appeared and blood poured from them.
“You animal!” growled Blackmore.
“We were better off before we met you,” growled Doomclaw. “Before we met your General. He came here and promised us a better world. Now we’re just prisoners again!”
Doomclaw was about to attack again when Blackmore raised his gun and shot Doomclaw full-on in the chest.
The dog yelped in pain and fell back into the river.
“Stupid creature,” said Blackmore with a smirk on his face.
The Doctor shook his head at the cold-blooded-killing of Doomclaw. “Blackmore, the ring’s damaged. You can’t use it.”
“Let’s see, shall we?”
“No!” yelled the Doctor.
Blackmore turned the ornate circular design on the top of the ring. There was a loud hum and Blackmore frowned. The ring was starting to glow and he desperately tried to rip it from his wrist.
“I told you!” shouted the Doctor, trying to struggle down the muddy bank towards him.
“Help me!” yelled Blackmore as the ring glowed hot-white.
“Keep calm,” said the Doctor.
But it was too late. Blackmore had already started to disappear and as he faded away he let out an agonising scream. And then all was silent and Blackmore was gone.
Only the sound of the running water, washing over Doomclaw’s corpse, face down in the river, could be heard.
The Doctor returned to the city centre to find all of the children - including Alison who had been hiding on the edge of the forest - gathered around Tointon and Hideo. Caroline and Danny were leaning against the TARDIS and Haltrix was tending to the wounded - the intelligent and the savage of their kind.
Caroline watched the Doctor approaching. “Blackmore’s not there,” she said.
“No,” said Danny distantly.
“Things got a bit bad back then. I feel so…guilty.”
“What for?”
“I wanted to get away from here.”
“You were frightened,” said Danny, smiling at her. “It’s bound to scare anyone.”
“I should have been stronger. How could I have even thought about leaving all of these kids?”
“What do you want to do now, then?”
“I don’t know. I still need answers about myself.” She turned and put her forehead against the cool, wooden exterior of the police box. “Why do I get the feeling that we’re going to keep going from planet to planet, never finding out any answers?”
“You can tell him straight,” said Danny, “or I can.”
“We’ll see. Let’s just get out of here first.”
The Doctor walked up and Tointon, Haltrix and Hideo followed.
“Where’s Magnus?” asked Hideo.
“He got away. He used some kind of teleportation device. But it was malfunctioning. I have no idea if he survived the trip or not.”
“So we failed,” said Haltrix.
“No.” said the Doctor, turning to the scientist. “We didn’t fail. If anything, through all of this carnage, you’ve managed to reunite the two halves of your race.”
“But they’re all gibbering wrecks,” said Haltrix, looking at the whimpering dogs sat around the square.
“But Doomclaw managed to find his strength again. He died trying to stop Blackmore. If anyone failed, it’s me.”
“Then the aggressive tendencies are going to rise up again?”
“Look,” said the Doctor, putting an arm around Haltrix’s shoulders, “I’m not here to tell you what to do next, but I will tell you this; contact the other cities around the planet and get the rest of the Shroud shut down. Now. Find a different way to help the savage dogs. Not everything is lost, but it will be if you switch the Shroud back on again.”
“But we ran through all of the possibilities before creating the Shroud and nothing would have worked.”
“Then go through them again. You have no other choice. And stop living in the dark. There’s a whole universe out there. Go and explore it!”
“And what about us, Doctor?” asked Tointon. “We need to get back to the colony fleet.”
“I’ll take you in my TARDIS,” smiled the Doctor. “It’ll be a short hop from here.”
The kids, Tointon and Hideo began filing into the TARDIS. As the Doctor reached the doors Director Villa grabbed his arm.
“Villa!” said Haltrix, trying to restrain her.
“Let her speak,” said the Doctor, motioning for Haltrix to stay back. “What is it?”
“You have to help yourself.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I can see it in your eyes,” she whimpered. “You’re dying.”
“That’s enough, Villa,” said Haltrix, trying to pull her away.
The Doctor simply stood and watched as the tearful Villa was dragged away from him. Then, refusing to take another look at the battle torn city, he stepped into the TARDIS.
Alison looked up at Danny, smiled and gave him a hug.
It had taken only a few minutes for the TARDIS to catch up with the colony fleet. They had located the main government ship and had landed in the cargo hold. Tointon and Hideo had gone off to see the authorities and explain the situation and the children had, one by one, been tearfully collected by their parents.
Only Alison was left.
“Where’s your parents?” asked Caroline.
“They’ll be along soon,” she smiled. “I’m okay. I’m almost nine now. I can fend for myself.”
The three time travellers laughed.
“You take care, won’t you?” said Danny.
“I will. Danny the Space Adventure,” she giggled.
“We really must be going,” said the Doctor.
“Take care,” said Caroline as they boarded the TARDIS.
Alison stood back as the engines wheezed into life and the TARDIS, with a great gust of wind, dematerialised.
She stood there for a moment, smiling as the box vanished in front of her - like magic. And then it was gone.
And she felt a little sad.
She turned to go just as the cargo bay doors opened and a young couple came running in.
“Mum! Dad!” yelled Alison as she ran to greet them.
“Oh my god!” cried her mother as the three of them embraced. “We thought we’d never see you again.”
“I’m okay,” laughed Alison. “I’m absolutely okay.”
She turned to look back at were the TARDIS had been standing, hoping a little that it would come back. But it didn’t.
Her dad picked her up, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and they headed out of the cargo hold.
In the TARDIS Caroline and Danny were sat in silence. The Doctor was hunched over the controls.
“Well,” said Danny after a few minutes, “that was interesting.”
“Is it always like this?” asked Caroline, no emotion in her voice.
The Doctor looked up at the two of them and walked over. “Look, I’m sorry. I can’t promise that it’s always going to be fun. It’s dangerous out there.”
“There was a time, back in the city, where I just wanted to run. I didn’t care about the rest of the people out there,” said Caroline.
“That’s understandable. Fear can affect us all in different ways.”
“Do you know the one thing that kept me clinging on, though?”
The Doctor simply looked down at her, waiting for a reply.
“It’s that I want answers about myself. But I’m not going to get them, am I?”
“Of course you will.”
“When? How long are we going to keep bouncing from planet to planet before I get answers? Is this what you do? Promise people things and then fail to deliver on them?”
“Caroline-”
“I was pregnant. I had a baby inside me. Then it was gone and so was my boyfriend. The man I loved more than anything in the entire world. He just upped and left in the middle of the night with no reason.”
Danny looked down.
“There were no answers that time, either. Now, you tell me this; are you going to give me answers?”
The Doctor’s eyes narrowed, his hands in his coat’s deep pockets. “I don’t think you’re ready for the answers.”
“What?!” spat Caroline. “Not ready for them? How do you know what I’m ready for?”
“I’ve been scanning you,” said the Doctor. “Or rather the TARDIS has been scanning you. You’re not…normal.”
“What does that mean?”
“I don’t know. The TARDIS can’t make head nor tail of it. When we left Thornsby I tried to take us to my friend, Aleena. She can help. She’s helped me before, but the TARDIS wouldn’t have it. No matter what I tried to do, I couldn’t take us there.”
“Okay. So why didn’t you tell me that?”
“Because I don’t think you’re ready for what you’ll find out about yourself.” The Doctor sat down opposite Caroline and Danny. “You are, to all intents and purposes, an ordinary woman. Except that you’re not. Deep inside your not. Any revelations you find out about yourself may just blow your world apart.”
“Take her to Thornsby then. Let her get some answers from her parents,” said Danny.
“I’ve tried that as well. The TARDIS just refuses to go anywhere where we could find out some information about you. It‘s almost like it’s frightened for you to find out.”
“Then what do we do?” asked Caroline, quieter now.
“We keep on going. We keep on travelling. And maybe, eventually, we’ll find a way through this. Aleena can help, but she’s not answering me at the minute. Not only that but I have my own little problems as well.”
“This is scaring me.”
“I know.” The Doctor leaned in closer to her. “I really am trying to help you, Caroline. You must believe me.”
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
“I promise we’ll find out. Eventually. We’ll find out what’s really going on with you. And then you’ll have all the answers you need.”
Ten Years Later
Alison Greggs smiled as she looked down at the grave. Her college books were clutched under one arm and her rucksack was hung on her shoulders.
She crouched down at the grave and touched the headstone. The wind gently blew through her blonde hair.
“Hey, Mr Tointon, I just thought I’d come say hi,” she said to the grave. “It’s been ten years, you know? And everything’s just fine.”
“Alison?” came a man’s voice.
Alison turned and Jack was sat on his bike, a guitar strapped over his shoulders. “You coming down to the park? We’re having a bit of a get together to celebrate Colony day.”
“Yeah, I’ll be there soon,” she said. “Just gotta pay my respects to the headmaster,” she smiled.
She stayed for a few more moments and then looked up at the sky. She wondered if the Doctor was still out there somewhere. The Doctor and Danny and Caroline, travelling space and time and having adventures.
And she wondered what had happened to the planet Trixatin.
She turned and ran up to Jack and they walked along the tree-line avenue towards the park to celebrate ten years of the founding of Colony Apax.
Across the vast expanse of space, Trixatin gleamed like a blue and green beacon in the darkness.
In the city of Optrix, Haltrix sat with Jawlock in the square.
Jawlock was happily munching on what looked like meat.
“It still doesn’t quite taste right,” said Jawlock, disdain on his face. “Even after ten years.”
“But it’s better than eating each other,” smiled Haltrix. “It’s close enough to the real thing.”
“But it’s not real,” moaned Jawlock. “It’s just fake meat grown in a lab.”
“Again. Better than the real thing.”
Jawlock shook his head. “I guess it’s worth it for peace.” Jawlock was silent for a moment and then spoke up again. “Any improvement with-?”
“No,” said Haltrix quickly. “And I am doubting that there ever will be.”
“But Villa-”
“Villa is best left in the clinic. It’s the best place for her.”
In the clinic, Villa was curled into a foetal position on a bad. She was shaking and shivering and gibbering nonsense.
An orderly came in, checked her and was about to turn to go when Villa’s claw lashed out and grabbed his leg. He screamed as her claw dug in.
“Feed!” was all she could manage to say as she sunk her teeth into the orderly and began to chew.
THE END
Next time: Eye Of The Jungle
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