Children Of The Universe, Chapter 6

Extract From Medical Indicator Haltrix: Log 2556 - Patient: Doomclaw



“Doomclaw, as he has told us he wishes to be called these days, has now entered the final stage of his illness. As the days go by he becomes more and more aggressive, yet still maintaining his intelligence. Every time he is asked to be rational about how he is behaving, he simply tells us that this is the way of all of us. All Trixatins will be like this. We should all revert to our primary instincts. This, I do not believe.”



Extract From Medical Indicator Haltrix: Log 2789 - Patient: Doomclaw



“Today was Doomclaw’s last day inside the barrier. The wastelands lands are waiting for him and I can only hope that one day he will find peace as he is sent kicking and snarling to the rest of the pack. But I fear that one day we all may become the same as Doomclaw. I fear that one day our once proud race will no longer exist. May the Tri protect us.”


{{{END OF EXTRACT}}}

Blackmore, Caroline, the Doctor and Doomclaw were standing outside the pyramid. Blackmore was pacing up and down, kicking at the sand beneath his feet. It was as if he was waiting for the right moment to speak.

“Get on with it,” said the Doctor.

Blackmore looked at the Doctor and smiled. He then threw his arms into the air, turning on the spot. “All of this is fake,” he said, looking around him. “Everything you see here is a lie. None of this is real.”

“Feels real to me,” said Caroline, her arms folded and shivering slightly in the cool night air.

“It may look and feel real, Miss Parker, but it most certainly isn’t.” He crouched down and ran his hand through the sands. “It’s the product of a higher technology.”

“You’re still not making any sense,” said the Doctor, sighing.

“Stick your tongue out, Doctor,” said Blackmore.

“I beg your pardon,” said the Doctor, frowning.

“Stick your tongue out. Go on, try it.”

The Doctor opened his mouth, still frowning, and slowly stuck out his tongue.

“Can you taste it?”

The Doctor looked down at his tongue, puzzlement on his face.

Caroline copied.

“Can you taste it?” asked Blackmore again.

Something dawned on the Doctor and his put his tongue back in. “There’s a strange, metallic tang to the air.”

“Exactly,” said Blackmore, smiling. “Which is caused by…?”

The Doctor suddenly felt like he was in a school class. “Caused by holographic emitters!”

“That’s right.”

“So this place is a hologram?” asked Caroline, randomly sticking her tongue in and out to try and taste the air.

“Sort of. It’s an advanced form of hologram,” said Blackmore. “One which I am determined to pick apart.”

“Advanced in what way?” asked the Doctor.

Blackmore sat down on the ground. “Right now we are standing in the city of Optrix. Right where I am sat is the Fountain Of the Tri. To my left,” he pointed, “is the government building and over to the far side is the Ministry of Science.”

Caroline frowned. “It’s just desert though. Nothing but a desert.”

“That’s because this planet has two sides to it. There’s this side, the desert, and the other side, the paradise - the truth.”

“I’m still confused,” said Caroline, sitting down beside the Doctor.




Villa led Danny and Alison into the lift and descended down to the ground floor. When they emerged they were in a huge, hotel-like foyer. All around dogs wearing different coloured robes milled around. All of them noticed Danny and Alison and looked at them curiously, but none of them made any aggressive moves towards them.

Villa took them towards the huge, glass front of the building and out of the revolving doors. Danny counted about 100 steps that led them from the front of the building down towards a fountain.

“This is…unbelievable,” said Danny, trying to get his head around the scale of the city surrounding them.

He looked back at the massive sky scraper towering over them, reaching like a silver dart into the night sky.

“It’s just like the pictures,” said Alison, her eyes darting all around.

“Damn guide books,” said Villa under her breath. “All artistic impressions though. No photographs.”

She guided them towards a fountain in the square. All around skyscrapers and buildings towered above them and the blue trees blew gently in the breeze.

“Where’s the desert then?” asked Danny.

“Not here,” smiled Villa.

“Then where?”

“You may have already met some of my people in the wastelands - sorry, the desert.”

“Our teacher was killed by them,” said Alison sadly.

“Yes,” said Villa, “an unfortunate problem that we’re having.”

“An unfortunate problem?!” Danny said, with disdain.

“There’s a sickness running through my people.” She sat down on the wall next to the fountain. “Sit.”

Danny and Alison followed suit. “Who are you people?”

“We’re the Trixatins. We’re the inhabitants of this planet. We’re the ones you will have read about - the private people who never allow visitors to their home world.”

“Why not?”

“Because we’re private people,” said Villa. “People are allowed to be private, you know. There’s nothing sinister about it. We rarely like to mix with other races.”

“That desert looks sinister to me,” said Danny, running his fingers through the cool fountain water.

“Well, that’s only a recent problem. All across out world our inhabitants are starting to change. Thousands and thousands of years ago our race were savages, but over time we learnt to curb our rage and anger. We stopped eating each other and we evolved into intelligent creatures capable of building cities, like this,” she said, indicating with her hands all around her. “And then, a number of years ago, we started noticing some of our kind reverting to their basic, animalistic instincts. There has peace on this planet for thousands of years, but we started to attack and kill each other. And then eat each other again.”




The Doctor and Caroline listened on to what Blackmore told them.

“They tried to cure the ones that had reverted to their savage ways, but they couldn’t. Compared to the millions living all over the planet a few hundred Trixatins going savage was nothing, really. Except that this planet had never known violence. Not for generations.”

“So they were banished out of the cities?”

“Not exactly,” said Blackmore. “The Directors of each city came up with a plan to deal with the savage kind. They couldn’t kill them. That would be wrong, but they couldn’t banish them into space either, and all over their planet were inhabited areas. There was nowhere on the planet to put them and safely contain them.”

Doomclaw looked up at the sky. “None of us could fly a spaceship anyway.”

“So, in their infinite wisdom,” continued Blackmore, “they developed the Shroud.”

“Which is a hologram?” asked Caroline.

“No. Not exactly. It’s a huge device which covers the entire plane. It shrouds it in a holographic cloak. An image to disguise what’s really underneath.”

“So a beautiful planet covered in cities and skyscrapers-”

“Becomes a desert wasteland.”

Caroline frowned. “That doesn’t make any sense though. Surely the rest of the planet would be walking around and we’d see them. There’s nothing. After all, a hologram is just light and illusion, surely.”




Villa sat beside the fountain, running her claws through the cool water. “The beauty of the Shroud is not that it gives you a fake environment. It actually creates a separate dimension.”

“Getting confused,” said Danny. Alison had already lost interest.

“It’s almost like it pushes the real world back. The fake, holographic world becomes a separate dimension. Very powerful technology.”

“So where we landed in our ship -?”

“Is the fake world. You then have to find a window in the barrier to get through to what’s inside.”

“So it’s like a Russian doll?”

“A what?” Villa was confused.

“An item from my planet. Various different wooden dolls sit inside each other. A bigger one goes over a small one and then an even bigger one goes over that.”

“That sounds about right.”

“But how did you even come up with that kind of technology?”

“We may look like animals to your kind,” said Villa, looking him straight in the eyes, “but we have some of the most intelligent beings ever to have lived. It’s a technology that we are very proud of.”

Alison suddenly piped up. “How did you get us through the barrier?”

Villa turned to her a smiled. “All along the barrier are weaker points in the Shroud. Points which we can manipulate and walk through. That’s how we pulled you through.”

“It gave me a hell of a headache,” said Danny, remembering how they were both knocked out.

“Yes, we didn’t know how it would affect other species.”

“But surely there’s a worry that the savage dogs will try and get back in?”

“In the twenty years or so that we’ve been using the Shroud, none of them have worked it out yet. They don’t possess the intelligence to or the technology to.”




The Doctor sat with his fingers interlocked, thinking. “How did you find out about this technology, Blackmore?”

Blackmore smiled, his eyes glittering. “Now that would be telling.”

“You’ve told me everything else,” said the Doctor quickly.

“I’ve told you what you need to know to pull you out of the darkness. I’m not about to reveal everything, am I?”

“No. That’d make you a bad villain,” said the Doctor, smiling sarcastically.

“Believe it or not, I’m not a villain. I’m simply doing my job.”

“As a maths teacher?” asked Caroline. “Doesn’t sound very maths-teacher-like to me.”

Doomclaw suddenly looked up, sniffing at the air.

“What’s wrong?”

“There’s someone coming,” he growled.

The four of them stood up and looked around them. Then, over a dune, two figures appeared. The closer they got the more recognisable they became.

It was Annie and a confused and bewildered Tointon who was holding a large rucksack.

“Perhaps it’d be better if you did know the whole story,” said Blackmore, having a change of heart. “Perhaps you can help Annie and I in our little mission.”

Children Of The Universe, Chapter 5

Danny opened his eyes to a grey blur above him. Soon that blur came into focus. He was lying down on some kind of medical bed and it wasn’t very comfortable. He could hear the beeping of a computer somewhere behind him.

He turned to his left and lying on a bed next to him was Alison.

“Hey,” he said groggily. “Hey, Alison. You okay?”

There was no response. She was still out cold.

He sat himself up and immediately felt dizzy, putting a hand to his head. “Jeez,” was all he could manage. “What the hell happened?”

“How do you feel?” came a voice from the other side of the room.

Danny looked up and standing beside the door was a figure in a white cloak, it’s hands folded. He couldn’t make out the persons face. It was concealed by a hood.

“I’m…I’m fine. Thank you.”

“That’s good to here,” said the person. It’s voice was male and gruff, but well spoken. “We weren’t sure how other races would be affected when coming through the barrier.

“The barrier?” said Danny, looking around. “What’s going on? Where are we?”

“You’re still on Trixatin,” said the person. “Just…not quite where you were.”

“I don’t understand.”

The door behind the figure swished open and another, slightly smaller figure walked in dressed in similar robes, it’s face hidden.

“Is this him?” said the second figure - a female voice.

“It is, Director Villa.”

“Good.” The second figure - Villa - crossed over to Danny. “Now listen to me, young man,” she said, a strictness in her voice, “You know that this planet is out of bounds to outsiders.”

“Yes, we came here by accident,” said Danny, trying to get a glimpse under the hood. “So did the school ship.”

“We understand that,” said Villa, “but why has none of your own kind even attempted to come back for you?”

“The communications are down. They’ve been trapped on the planet.” Danny looked around him and noticed all the computer banks lining the walls. “What happened here? The data banks say this planet is a paradise.”

“It is,” said the woman. “We will help you get off our world, if you promise never to return. We are very private people.”

“Funny paradise,” said Danny.

“Do you promise?” asked the woman, getting a little closer to Danny.

“Yeah, yeah. We promise. Are you not gonna tell me what’s happened here then?” asked Danny.

“No. It’s none of your business.” She turned and walked towards the door, spoke quietly to the male figure before she left, and then disappeared through the sliding doors.

“I’ll bring you some food,” said the man, “and then I’ll take you back to the wastelands and help you find your friends.”

He left through the same exit that Villa had.

“Wastelands?” said Danny to himself. Funny name to give your planet, he thought to himself as Alison began to stir next to him.




Meanwhile the Doctor, Caroline and Hideo had been escorted into the large brown structure. The inside was hollow and a number of tents were dotted around. Caroline looked up to the top of the pyramid-like roof which disappeared into the darkness. Around the walls were burning torches and as they were led to the centre of the structure, which still had a floor of sand, many of the dogs returned to sitting outside their tents.

“What is this place?” asked the Doctor, gazing up at the roof.

“A wing of a starship,” said Magnus Blackmore. “A huge starship. It crashed here and Doomclaw and his group ripped out the circuitry from inside and made it their home.”

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” said Hideo. “Magnus, you’re meant to be dead.”

“Sit,” said Blackmore, indicating for them to sit around a small fire.

The three of them sat followed by Blackmore and a suspicious looking Doomclaw.

“Are you going to explain then?” asked the Doctor. “Like Mr Sanada said, you’re meant to be dead.”

“It’s a long story,” said Blackmore, with a smirk on his face.

“We have time,” said Caroline.

Blackmore tilted his head and pointed to the Doctor and Caroline. “You two weren’t on the Pythagoras. You came in the blue box.”

“Yes, we did. But that’s beside the point,” said the Doctor. “You’re supposed to be dead,” he said again, looking Blackmore in the eyes.

“Yes, I am, aren’t I?” he smiled.

“Just tell them,” growled Doomclaw. “I get fed up of hearing your voice.”

Another dog came running up. The one who had taken them prisoner at the top of the dune. “Sir, we are running out of food.”

“By food, you mean Reynolds,” said the Doctor, looking disgusted.

Doomclaw narrowed his eyes and growled at the Doctor.

“How did you make him last?” he asked.

“When you live out here, it starts to become easy,” said the second dog.

“Easy to ration out,” said Doomclaw, “but not easy to stop yourself from eating it all at once, eh, Jawlock,” said Doomclaw to the second dog.

“No, sir,” said Jawlock.

“You are animals!” spat Hideo. “Dirty, disgusting, evil animals.”

“Well of course they are!” laughed Blackmore. “They need to survive.”

“But eating people….eating innocent people…”

“Oh, put your morals back in your box,” said Blackmore. “It’s the way it is. You can’t stop it.”

Caroline piped up. “All of this isn’t explaining what’s going on here.”

“Exactly,” said the Doctor.

Blackmore turned to Doomclaw. “Which one do you want?”

“What do you mean?” asked Caroline.

“We need to eat,” said Doomclaw. “We need to eat soon.”

“You can’t mean to eat one of us?” asked Caroline, fearfully.

“Of course,” smiled Blackmore, “why do you think we brought you here?”




Back at the Pythagoras Tointon had been informed by one of the students about Danny and Alison’s disappearance. He had searched the ship from top to bottom and back again, but without any luck. He was about to go and see Annie, when he heard a crackling of a radio static from a side room. He was about to go in and investigate when he heard Annie speaking from behind the door. He stopped himself going in and put his ear to the wall. He couldn’t quite make out what she was saying but she was talking quietly and quickly.




Back in the pyramid the group were interrupted when Blackmore’s radio activated. Annie’s voice came over the speaker.

“Magnus, are you there? Are you there?”

“That’s Annie,” said Hideo, a look of realisation dawning on him. “You were both in on this?”

“Oh, shut up!” spat Blackmore. He put the radio to his mouth and spoke into it. “Yes, I’m here. What do you want?”

“Did you get the three of them?”

The Doctor shook his head and closed his eyes.

Blackmore stayed looking at the Doctor. “Yes, I have the three of them.”

“Brilliant,” said Annie. “Have they given you anymore information yet?”

“No,” said Blackmore. “I don’t think they will until they have Tointon here as well.”

“No,” said Annie, “it stops now. Reynolds was enough and with Hideo and the other two they have enough.”

Doomclaw growled by the side of Blackmore.

Blackmore looked across to him and back to the radio. “We need this technology. Bring me Tointon.”

“And where does it stop, Magnus,” she said. “Do we start offering up the kids as well? That Danny lad and Alison have already disappeared. Tointon’s been all over the ship looking for them.”

“They disappeared?” asked Blackmore, concern in his voice.

“Yeah. Did Doomclaw get them too?”

Doomclaw shook his head. “You’d have known about it, Blackmore.”

“He didn’t,” said Blackmore. “You need to find them. If they’ve gone through the barrier, all of this may have been for nothing.”

“They don’t know about the mission,” said Annie. “Even if they have gone through, they can’t ruin the plan.”

“Just get Tointon here. I don’t care how you do it. Just get him.”

Blackmore switched off the radio and then turned to smile at the Doctor.

“I’ll ask you again, Mr Blackmore,” said the Doctor, interlocking his fingers, his face straight. “Explain what‘s going on here.”

Blackmore got to his feet and started pacing up and down. “Do you really think I’m so foolish, Doctor, that I’d go and reveal my plans to you like some pantomime villain of the old days?”

“I’ve always hoped for that to work one day. Clearly not.”

“Clearly not,” repeated Blackmore.

He pointed to Hideo. “Take him if you want, Doomclaw.”

“No!” shouted Caroline as Jawlock grabbed a shaking Hideo. “You can’t do this!”

“Don’t worry,” said Hideo, trying to hold back his fear, “It’ll all work out in the end. We’ll be alright.”

Hideo was dragged back by Jawlock and two other dogs to a bigger tent on the far side of the pyramid.

“You have to stop this, Blackmore! What could be worth butchering people and letting these dogs eat them?” said the Doctor, getting up and crossing over to Blackmore.

Doomclaw jumped to his feet and grabbed the Doctor. “Sit down, ape. You’re next.”

“Blackmore motioned for Doomclaw to ease his grip on the Doctor. “It’s alright. Maybe I should tell you a little of what’s going on here. You’re an intelligent man. I can see that. Perhaps you can help us.”

“I’ll never help you,” said the Doctor.

“Maybe you will when you know what’s going on here,” smiled Blackmore.




In the medical bay, the male figure, who had introduced himself as Haltrix, had returned with a plate full of fruit and drinks for Alison and Danny.

Danny had helped to wake Alison up and they were now happily eating the fruit.

“This is good,” said Alison, her mouth full of apple.

“It’s brilliant,” said Danny, popping a slice of orange into his mouth. “I’ve never tasted such good oranges.”

“And we still don’t know where we are.”

“What do you mean?” asked Danny, taking a pip out of his mouth.

“Well…where are we? We went through that shimmering thing and then here we are.”

Danny smiled at the young girl. She clearly had a bit of intelligence in that young head. “You’re right. While we’re sat here stuffing our faces with fruit, our friends are out there somewhere possibly in danger.” He extended a hand to her. “Come on!”

“Let me finish my apple first,” said Alison, frowning.

Danny laughed, waited for her to finish and then they both took each others hands and headed towards the door.

The door led to a cream coloured corridor with metal panelling along the walls. At various intervals there were columns of light running from the ceiling to the floor, and the air, Danny noted, smelt of lemon.

They turned the corner and were in a wider corridor with doors leading off. It reminded Danny of an expensive hotel back on Earth which he had stayed in a few years back. Towards the end of the corridor, either side of some lift doors, were large windows.

The two of them looked about to check that they weren’t being watched and then crossed the floor towards one of the windows. Alison had to stand on her tip-toes to see, but Danny was able to take in the full view.

Outside the building they were in where gleaming, metal and glass skyscrapers of all different shapes and sizes. Some curved, some narrow, some rising higher than the clouds. Above the skyscrapers the sky was clear and the stars shone down, glittering like pins that had been pushed into a black, velvet cloth. On the ground the buildings were surrounded by blue coloured trees and lakes of silver water. In the distance there were rolling, desert hills with more trees and buildings on top of them and all along the streets and paths they could see figures milling about and going about their daily life. This was the Trixatin that the Doctor had told them about.

There was a voice from behind them. “Enjoying ourselves, are we?”

Danny and Alison span round to see the female called Director Villa standing a few metres away. Next to her was, Danny assumed, Haltrix.

“We just wanted to look,” said Alison quickly.

“You would have been shown in all good time,” said Villa sternly.

“I don’t quite understand what’s happening here,” said Danny. He pointed towards the window. “Is that really out there?”

“It is indeed, young man,” she replied.

“Then where have we just come from?”

Villa stepped closer and reached her white gloved hands up to her hood. She pulled it back slowly to reveal a snout and a smiling dogs face.

“Oh no,” said Danny, as Alison cowered behind him.

Children Of The Universe, Chapter 4

It had been over an hour and the Doctor, Hideo and Caroline had made good progress. They’d stopped over at the TARDIS to pick up a few food supplies and were now a good stretch away from the Pythagoras. Hideo had ridiculed the outer shell of the TARDIS and was yet to be convinced it could carry everyone out into space.

“So tell me about yourself,” said Caroline to Hideo.

“There’s not much to tell really,” he said. “I come from a poor family and I’ve made my way through the education sector. It’s probably the best thing anyone in the family’s ever done. What about you?”

“Ah, I’m just plain and dull,” she laughed. “Nothing exciting about me at all.”

“Oh come on, don’t put yourself down.”

“Seriously. I work in a shop. That’s it. I only came on this trip with the Doctor to try and find myself.”

“How do you mean?” enquired Hideo.

“There’s just a few things I’d like to clear up about my past. That’s why I’m here.”

The two of them were distracted when the Doctor, quite far ahead of them, suddenly fell to the ground, clutching at his chest.

They ran as quickly as the could over to him. He was gasping for air and on his hands and knees.

“Doctor!” yelled Caroline. “Are you alright?”

The Doctor held his arm out and motioned for them to stay back. “I’m fine. Just a twinge of cosmic angst,” he said, wincing in pain.

He struggled in his pocket and pulled out a bottle of pills. He sat back in the sand, took two pills and then washed them down with a few sips from his water bottle. After a few moments his rapid breathing slowed down and he relaxed.

“What are those things?” asked Caroline.

“Nothing important,” he said, smiling. “Excuse me.”

They watched him struggle to his feet and unsteadily walk a few metres away. He then pulled out a the Dictaphone from his pocket, pressed the “record” button and spoke into it.

“Aleena,” they heard him say. “It’s not good. Relatively speaking it’s only been a day or two now since the last attack. And it was worse this time.” The Doctor looked back at them. “We’re going to have to look into it again.”

Caroline watched as he switched the Dictaphone off and put it in his pocket. He stood for a few seconds, hands on his hips, eyes closed and looking out to the distance. Then, composing himself, he went back to them.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” asked Hideo.

“Who’s Aleena?” asked Caroline.

“A friend,” said the Doctor quickly. “A very dear friend.” He seemed distant for a moment. “She helped me when I was very, very lost.”

“Look,” said Hideo, “we need to go. If we want to get one over these dog things then we need to get there before they notice we’ve left.” Hideo thought for a moment. “Come to think about it, we don’t even know where we’re going.”

“No,” said Caroline, looking around her. “We’re just wandering aimlessly.”

The Doctor was standing, looking up at a nearby ridge. “Oh, they already know that we’re coming.”

Hideo and Caroline followed his gaze up to the ridge. A small figure was crouched and soon disappeared when it realised it had been noticed.

“This is insane!” said Hideo, starting to panic.

“Then why did you come?” asked the Doctor, starting to walk towards the ridge.

“To get answers,” said Hideo, following him.

“Then buckle up and get ready for the ride,” said the Doctor, making big strides up the hill.

Caroline held back for a moment. She was sure she could hear a sound coming from behind her. It sounded like running water, but when she turned to look there was nothing there. Just rolling dunes of sand.

She shook her head and continued to follow Hideo and the Doctor.

They were about to reach the top when they stopped in their tracks. Emerging from the other side of the ridge were three creatures. They looked exactly like Hideo had said earlier on. Huge, Alsatian-like dogs. They were about seven feet tall and wore ripped fabric which reminded Caroline of old cavemen skins. Their heads were huge and the eyes were black. Their mouths were wide open, their tongues hanging out, saliva dripping from them.

Over the central dog’s shoulder was a diagonal belt with brightly coloured teeth attached to it. He also held a huge, curved knife, a little like a cutlass.

“Hello!” said the Doctor, cheerily. “How are you today?”

The three dogs growled and the central dogs eyes narrowed. One of them licked it’s lips.

“Doctor,” said Hideo, slowly backing up, “we need to get away from here.”

“Careful,” hissed Caroline as he almost backed into her.

“Nonsense, Mr Sanada,” said the Doctor, staring the central dog right in it’s eyes. “This is why we came out here. We’re not about to turn around now.”

Caroline noticed that the fur of all three dogs was matted with what looked like dry blood. Their snouts were a dark, red colour.

“Move,” growled the central dog, indicating for them to come over the ridge.

“Fascinating!” said the Doctor, glee in his eyes. “You can speak. So there is some intelligence in there.”

“MOVE!” it growled again and reached out a claw.

“Take it easy,” said Caroline as they made their way over the ridge.

When they reached the top they could see a large, brown pyramid-type building in the sand. Standing next to it was a large group of dogs…and a human figure.




Danny was walking through the corridors of the ship. He had gotten bored at exploring as he had found absolutely nothing of any interest on board the Pythagoras. He had even contemplated taking a walk around the outside of the ship when he had heard his stomach rumble and had decided to head to the canteen.

When he got there he found Alison busy tucking into a bowl of noodles. He crossed over to what looked like a food machine and eyed it up. It looked almost like a vending machine with buttons indicating various different foods.

“It doesn’t cost anything,” said Alison, her mouth full of noodles. “And we can eat whatever we want at meal times. One meal a day. The rest of the day it’s rations.”

His eyes stopped on tomato soup and he pressed the relevant button to select it. A bowl slowly materialised onto a waiting shelf. The red, tomato soup was already in the bowl and Danny could see steam coming from the piping hot sauce.

He went over to the table and sat down opposite Alison.

She smiled at him. “You’re late. You missed everyone else.”

“But you’re still here,” said Danny, taking a sip of from a large spoon.

“Having seconds,” she said, smiling.

“You’ll get fat,” said Danny.

“So what?”

Danny chuckled. “How can you be a space adventurer if you’re trudging around out of breath?”

“Who says I want to be a space adventurer?” she frowned.

“Well you’re travelling around in space, aren’t you?”

“You’ve really never been to space have you? You don’t have to go into space just to have adventures.”

Danny thought about it for a moment before returning to soup. He supposed it was just a way of life for the people of the future.

“Maybe you could stay with us for a while.”

“I doubt it,” smiled Danny, “I’m all for adventure. Well, sort of. As long as I know there’s a life waiting for me back home.”

Alison smiled. “Danny The Space Adventurer.”

Danny laughed and they both finished off their food.

They were clearing away their bowls when Danny saw something in the corner of his eye rush past the window.

“Did you see that?” he asked Alison.

“What?” she asked.

He looked down at her, she looked frightened again. “Stay here,” he said, moving over to the window.

“What was it?” asked Alison, rushing over and standing on her tippy-toes to see outside. “What did you see?”

“There’s something out there,” said Danny. “Stay here,” he said again, pointing a finger down to her.

He went through the corridor and towards the airlock. The control panel had been repaired and the door was locked again.

Alison came running up.

“I told you to stay,” said Danny.

“You need someone to protect you,” she said, grabbing his hand. “Plus, I know the code to open it.”

Danny arched his eyebrows. “Really? Why would a kid know the code?”

“We’re told it in case of emergency and need to get out.”

She reached up and tapped the six digit code into the panel. The door silently opened.

Danny braced himself for the sound of alarms, but they never came.

“You’re gonna get into trouble for helping me,” said Danny.

“You’re gonna get into trouble for going out there,” said Alison.

Danny and Alison walked out of the airlock into the desert sand. They looked around, a wind was whipping up, but there was nothing else to be seen.

“There was definitely something here,” said Danny.

“What’s that?” asked Alison, pointing towards a space just in front of them.

Danny looked closer and the air seemed to be shimmering. The closer they got the more it shimmered.

“What the hell is that?” he said, narrowing his eyes and leaning in closer.

“I think we should go back in,” said Alison.

“Good idea,” said Danny. “Go and get the headmaster.”

Alison was about to turn when the air in front of them rippled and two arms, covered in coarse hair emerged from the shimmering air and two claws grabbed the both of their arms.

Alison screamed and she and Danny was pulled into the shimmer.




The Doctor, Caroline and Hideo were led towards the huge structure and the group of vicious looking dogs. They all looked just as vicious as each other and each had various different coloured fabrics on with each having a varied amount of teeth attached to their shoulder belts.

A larger, black dog pushed it’s way through the crowd towards the Doctor and stood, looking down at him.

The Doctor looked up, his eyes fixed on the dogs. “Good morning,” he said, “I’m the Doctor. Who are you?”

The huge, black dog looked down and grinned, saliva dripping from it’s teeth.

Caroline and Hideo stayed back, flanked by the three dogs who had taken them there.

“It’d be nice for us to enter some kind of negotiations,” said the Doctor, with a smile.

The big dog threw his head back and laughed. The other dogs all howled together in unison.

It then crouched a little and lowered it’s face to look at the Doctor. “Good morning,” it growled.

The other dogs let out cries and howls of laughter.

“So you can speak English, just like your friend?” said the Doctor.

“Of course we can,” it said in a deep, rumbling voice.

“Then surely there’s enough intelligence in that head of yours to tell you that fighting these humans from the space ship is pointless.”

“Is it?” came a voice from behind the group of dogs.

The circle parted and a man dressed in black with short blonde hair stepped up beside the lead dog. “Back down Doomclaw, I can deal with this,” he said.

The lead dog, Doomclaw, growled. “Watch your tongue.”

A look of realisation came across Hideo’s face.

“And who might you be?” asked the Doctor.

The man smiled, his blue eyes looking tired. “The only thing that’s keeping you alive.”

“It can’t be,” said Hideo. “You died in the explosion. You died when the engines blew up.”

“Ahhh,” said the Doctor, remembering what he had been told before.

“Good to see you again, Hideo,” he said, giving a little wave. He turned back to the Doctor. “I’m Magnus Blackmore, maths teacher of the Pythagoras, and if you’re not careful, you’re going to end up as Doomclaw’s breakfast.”

Children Of The Universe, Chapter 3

The children had all been gathered in the main canteen area and had been told that their teacher, William Reynolds, had been killed in an accident. The whole truth hadn’t been revealed, however, and the children had been sent to their rooms. The majority of them were in shock and a few had cried. A lot of the kids liked Mr Reynolds. He had been their art teacher and he always treated the children like adults. He never mothered them and spoke down to them. He always believed that everyone was equal to each other. The kids liked that.

They had moved his skeletal remains to the medical bay and had locked the door.

Now the Headmaster, Arthur Tointon and Annie and Hideo were sat down at a table with the Doctor, Caroline and Danny opposite them.

“So you’re a school then?” asked the Doctor, looking around him. “And this is where you eat?”

“I told you not to ask questions,” said Tointon.

“Oh, come on,” said the Doctor, leaning back in his chair. “Surely you know that we weren’t responsible for what happened to that poor fellow?”

Hideo looked across at Tointon. “Sir, it does seem unlikely.”

“Yeah, we don’t eat people,” said Caroline sarcastically.

Tointon sighed. “I suppose it couldn’t have been you.”

“So tell us about yourselves. Maybe we can help,” said Danny.

Tointon stood up and crossed over to one of the small windows that looked out across the desert. The same cloudy sky seemed to hang ominously over the desert.

“You’re right, Doctor, this is a school. It’s a school on a spaceship. We’re assigned to the colony fleet Apax.”

“Apax? I’ve never heard of them,” said the Doctor.

“There are lot’s colony fleet’s out there,” said Tointon, taking a sip from his now-tepid water.

“What’s a colony fleet?” asked Caroline.

“A fleet of ships that set out from Earth. They have one planet as their destination and they aim to colonise it. Some of the journey’s take months, maybe years.”

“We’ve been on ours for 15 months,” said Hideo. “Set out from Earth last January. We’re en route to Apax. It’s going to take - well, it would have taken - another 2 years to get there.”

Annie piped up. “In the colony everything is catered for. Government, schools, everything. When we arrive on the planet we’ve already got the civilisation set-up ready and all it takes is for us to build up the area we land in.”

“So, do the kids live on the ship?” asked Danny.

“Yes,” said Tointon, returning to his seat. “They stay with us in the week and return to their parents at the weekend.”

“Like a boarding school,” said Caroline.

“But what are you doing here, away from the colony?” asked the Doctor, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head.

“We asked the governor of the colony if we could break away from the fleet and investigate this planet. Like a field trip. The kids hadn’t set foot on a planet in 15 months. We thought it’d be good for them,” said Annie sadly. “This planet was meant to be a paradise.”

“Yes, we were told that too,” said Danny, giving an accusing glance at the Doctor.

“But surely you know it’s restricted,” said the Doctor. “Nobody’s meant to be here.”

“That wasn’t in our data base. There was nothing about it being restricted,” said Tointon, concern in his voice. “What are you doing here?”

“I like breaking the rules,” smiled the Doctor.

“Still, it’s concerning that the restricted information wasn’t on the data banks.”

“So something happened here,” said the Doctor quickly. “Obviously neither of our data banks were up to date about the situation.”

“It’s a small school,” said Caroline, remembering the kids she’d seen.

“Yes. But there were more teachers,” said Annie. “Hideo, here, is science. Reynolds was art, I’m English language and lit and Blackmore - he was killed in the crash - was maths.”

“Sorry to hear that,” said Caroline.

“Were you shot down?” asked Danny.

“By who?” asked Tointon, looking a little confused. “There’s nothing here. If there were inhabitants on this planet they‘ve all long gone.”

“Well that’s a lie for a start,” said the Doctor, jumping up and crossing the window near Tointon.

“I beg your pardon, sir?”

“It’s a lie. There’s something out there,” he said, peering across the desert, “and you refuse to accept it. Whether it‘s the inhabitants or not. There‘s definitely something out there.”

“That’s preposterous,” said Tointon, chuckling nervously.

“Arthur…” said Hideo, hands folded and looking across at his headmaster.

“Oh, very well,” said Tointon, shaking his head, his chubby cheeks wobbling. “Yes, there is something out there. Something vicious.”

“Thought so,” said the Doctor, still looking out of the window with his hands behind his back. “Most people blame me when something bad happens - like the death of Mr Reynolds - but you trusted us too easily. You also didn’t seem surprised that something out there had killed him.”

“They’re…animals,” said Annie, struggling to find the right words.

“In the literal sense?” asked Caroline.

“Yes,” said Annie. “They’re…some kind of dog.”

“How do you know?” asked the Doctor, turning his head back slightly.

“We’ve heard them,” said Hideo. “The first night we were here we heard them howling out in the desert. It was terrifying.”

“We locked the airlocks, the doors. Everything,” added Annie.

“And then?”

“Nothing,” said Hideo.

“Then how do you know they’re dogs?” asked Caroline.

“After a few days we decided to venture outside. The kids needed fresh air. Then Alison, one of the girls, thought that she saw something. She said it was like an Alsatian dog, but that it was walking on it’s back legs. Walking upright.”

“I still don’t know about that part,” said Tointon. “Animals, yes. Very large, yes. But walking on their back legs? I’m sure it’s just the wild imagination of a child,” he said, chuckling to himself.

“Whether they are walking on their back legs or not, doesn’t matter, does it headmaster? The point is they’re dangerous.”

“Then why did your art teacher go out there?” asked Danny.

“We needed help. We were desperate for help. The explosion in our engine knocked out communications as well. I tried to fix it,” said Hideo, looking frustrated, “but the whole thing was fried.”

“Our only choice was for one of us to go out searching. William nominated himself and off he went,” said Annie. “We never heard from him again.”

“Until now,” said Caroline darkly.

“Yes,” said Annie sadly. “They must have eaten him. Poor William.”

“That was two weeks ago,” said Hideo. “Why bring his body back now? And if they could get in the damaged airlock, why not bother to attack?”

“They’re trying to draw you out,” said the Doctor, sitting on a table. “They’d know you have weapons. They’ve probably been watching you. If they broke in here they’d know that you’d corner them and you’d probably win. They want you out there,” he said, nodding towards the window. “In their own terrain.”

“So why wait so long with that guys body?” asked Caroline.

“Because they know we’re scared,” said Hideo, looking worried. “They know we won’t venture outside. They’re getting tired of waiting.”

“They’re getting hungry,” said the Doctor darkly. “How did this explosion happen? Where?”

“There was a fault in the engine,” said Hideo. “Magnus-”

“Who?” asked Danny.

“Sorry,” continued Hideo. “Magnus Blackmore, went down to the engine to check it out. It exploded with him in the engine room. There was nothing left in the room. Just a huge, gaping hole where the engine room used to be.”

“And then the communications went down,” said Tointon.

“Will the rest of the fleet send a search ship out?” asked Caroline.

“Doubtful,” said Tointon, bluntly. “It’d be a huge waste of resources.”

“But there are children here,” said Caroline, horrified. “Surely the parents wouldn’t-”

“The one aim of the fleet,” said Tointon quickly, “is to get safely to Apax. That’s it. Accidents occur every single day. We’re just one of those accidents.”

“I can’t believe you’ve given up,” said Danny.

“We’ve not given up,” said Annie. “We keep hoping for a passing trade ship or a freighter to notice us. We’ve not given up just yet.”

“And another thing,” said the Doctor, his arms folded, one hand scratching his chin, “what has happened to this planet? It should be a paradise.”

“Now that, we have no idea. No idea at all,” said Hideo. “We’re as much in the dark about that as you are.”

“Well, we have no other option,” said the Doctor, heading towards the door that led out of the canteen. “We’re going to have to confront these creatures head on.”

“You can’t be serious!” exclaimed Tointon. “You’ll die, just like Reynolds, if you go out there.”

“Perhaps,” said the Doctor, turning back to them. “But we can’t sit in this ship waiting to be forced outside like lambs to the slaughter.”

“The Doctor’s right,” said Hideo. “We need to get out there and grab the bull by the horns.”

“Not only that,” said the Doctor, “but I can get you all out of here in my ship.”

Tointon thought for a moment and then nodded. “Okay, but on your own head be it.”

“I’m going with him, headmaster,” said Hideo, grabbing his black jacket off the back of a chair.

“Hideo-”

“I have to. I can’t wait around here any longer.”

“I’m going too,” said Caroline, getting out of the chair she’d been sitting on.

“No,” said the Doctor, “I want you to stay here and hold the fort in case they come back.”

“Not a chance,” said Caroline, walking towards the door. “Danny can stay and defend the ship.”

“Cheers!” said Danny sarcastically. “The Doctor’s right, you know?”

“Perhaps, but I didn’t come all this way to sit in a dark, gloomy, crashed spaceship. Come on, Doc, off we go.”




It had been an hour since the Doctor, Caroline and Hideo had left to go investigating and Danny was finding himself getting fed up. He had eaten a number of dull, tasteless food rations, drank numerous amounts of black coffee and played ping-pong with one of the kids.

Now he was lying on a bed in a room Tointon had taken him to. He lay there with his hands behind his head, looking up at the grey ceiling.

There came a knock at the door. It was the blonde girl, Alison. Her eyes were puffy and she was clutching a teddy bear.

“What can I do for you, love?” asked Danny, sitting up.

Alison didn’t say anything. She just stood there, looking nervous.

“It’s alright. Everything’s gonna be alright,” said Danny, smiling at her. He wasn’t sure if he was the right person to comfort a child, but he thought he’d give it a go.

Alison sniffed and she rubbed her eyes.

“Why don’t you come in?” he said, getting off the bed and sitting on a chair.

Alison hesitated for a moment and then walked into the room, sitting on the side of the bed. “Thank you,” she said.

“You’re welcome.” He smiled. Now she was there, he didn’t quite know what to say to her. Before he could say anything, she spoke.

“Where are you from on Earth?”

“Well, originally from a town called Thornsby, but I moved to Manchester.”

“I know Manchester,” smiled Alison. “Mummy and Daddy took me there to watch the football before we left with the fleet.”

“It must be exciting,” said Danny, “travelling in space to a new planet.”

“It can be exciting. Scary as well though.”

“This is my first time into space,” said Danny.

“Really? Wow! We were always going to the Moon market every other week.”

“They have a market on the Moon?” asked Danny, realising that he didn’t even know what year it was.

“Yeah,” said Alison. “You’re silly for not knowing that.”

“Oh well,” said Danny. “I guess I hadn’t gotten out enough before today.”

“Everything okay?” came a voice.

Danny and Alison looked to the doorway. It was Annie.

“Fine, thanks,” said Danny. “I’m just getting to know Alison a bit.”

“Be careful of her tall tales,” said Annie, smiling and arcing her eyebrows.

“I’ll be sure to remember that,” said Danny with a laugh.

“Hey!” was all Alison could say.

“We’ll be eating in a bit. See you later.”

Annie made her way down the corridor and went into a room. In it was a bed, bedside cabinet and a small mirror on the wall. She sat down on bed and pulled out what looked like an advanced form of radio and switched it on. It crackled for a bit and she pressed a button on the side of it.

“This is Annie,” she said into the microphone. “Three of them have headed out. Finish them off if you want. I’ll get the rest out as soon as I can. Hope they enjoy their food.”