The Vanishing Man, Chapter 10

Caroline and June had been running for what seemed like ages, but every time they stopped to take a breather, they heard the small, globe-like things not far behind them. Finally they had reached the glass doors to the Raddison hotel, situated within the airport complex.

Caroline was about to continue running when June grabbed her arm. Out of breath she said “Wait. We can hide in here.”

“June, we need to get out of the airport and find the Doctor. God knows where he’s gone.”

“No. No. I can’t run anymore.” She pointed towards the darkened hotel foyer. “We’ll be okay in there. There are rooms. We can hide.”

“But they’ll find us.”

“I can’t run anymore,” she said. “If we run, I’ll not make it.”

Caroline looked back down the sky link corridor. She could hear the buzzing sound getting closer.

“Okay, okay,” said Caroline, crossing to the glass doors. “How do we get in?”

“With this.”

Caroline turned to see June hefting a small fire extinguisher from the side wall.

“Wait!” said Caroline, grabbing June. “We can’t just smash our way in.”

“Why not?” asked June.

“Because…”

“Because of the police? I wouldn’t worry about that now, love.” She jabbed her thumb back in the direction she’d came. “This place has already turned into a madhouse. There’s nobody around.”

“Okay,” said Caroline. “But let me do it. You’re not strong enough.”

Caroline took the fire extinguisher from June and began ramming it against one of the glass doors. Eventually, after about fifteen hits, the glass shattered and a hole was left in the doorway, just big enough for the two woman to clamber through.

“Come on,” said Caroline, helping June through the shattered door.

“They’ll see the smashed glass,” said June, “but hopefully we’ll find a decent enough hiding place in here.”




“I don’t understand,” said Matthew with a confused and worried look on his face. “What do you mean? How can I be you?”

The Doctor walked around the console and sat himself next to Matthew on the sofa. “I’m a Time Lord.”

“A Time Lord?” asked Matthew, not quite understanding, but finding something familiar in the name.

“Yes. An alien from another planet.” He leaned back, interlocking his fingers. “When my body is damaged beyond repair I can regenerate it. My whole body changes, including my personality. It’s like I’m the same person, but I’m not.”

“And how many times have you done this now?”

“Oh, so many I’ve lost count,” said the Doctor, raising his eyebrows. “But it’s something that went a little…wrong this time around.”

“In what way?”

“My friend, Aleena, has been helping me, but my memory keeps failing. I wasn’t sure of the significance of this airport when I first arrived here.”

“Aleena?”

“She found me. I’d just regenerated. It turns out I had landed at Manchester airport in the middle of the night. I was dazed and confused. Aleena took me in. She did some tests on me and discovered that I couldn’t regenerate anymore.”

“So if you were badly injured…?”

“I’d die. Finally.” The Doctor looked a little amused by that thought.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Doctor,” said Matthew, still trying to wrap his head around this.

“The problem I have is that all of the regenerative cells inside my body are gone. Not just dead. They’re actually gone. And my body is constantly dying.”

“Constantly?”

“I’m slowly dying. Aleena’s been trying to find ways to help me, and I’ve been fighting it off with medication and tablets, but in the end I will die. It’s just a matter of time.”

“That still doesn’t give me any answers regarding me,” said Matthew, still unable to take any of this in.

The Doctor got up and crossed over to the console, his hands in his deep pockets.

He span around and pointed directly towards Matthew. “You were born from me. I believe it is you who carries my lost regenerative cells.”

“But-”

“Stop,” said the Doctor, interrupting him. “I know you don’t understand this. But try, Matthew, please.”

“Okay, okay,” said Matthew, rubbing the back of his head, “carry on.”

“When there are complications with a regeneration, or there is a sudden, impending regeneration, a creature called a Watcher appears.”

“Watcher’s and Time Lords? This is getting a bit too much for me.”

“What did I say, Matthew? Just listen.”

The Doctor grabbed an apple from a nearby fruit bowl and bit into it. “A Watcher is there as a sort of lifeline. Like a back-up if anything goes wrong. A future echo of the next incarnation.”

“So, if, say, you were unable to regenerate on your own-”

“-the Watcher would be there to jumpstart me.”

“But how does it know? I mean, how can a Watcher know if something’s not going to work?”

“It’s all time related stuff. What I think happen is this: I landed at the airport, my regeneration failed and this body was already on it’s way out. But the cells had died and I couldn’t regenerate, so the Watcher appeared to kick start my next regeneration. Except Aleena arrived and took me away before the Watcher found me. The Watcher was then left stranded here, at Manchester airport.”

“Couldn’t it have, I don’t know, travelled through time to find you?”

The Doctor sat down on the edge of the console and took another bite of the apple. “Watcher’s can usually traverse space and time, but because this incarnation would have been so brief, the Watcher didn’t have time to fully…” he struggled to find the right words, “…complete itself.”

Matthew nodded and then a frightening thought entered in his head.

“You said I’m a Watcher. Your Watcher?”

The Doctor nodded grimly.

“But…how?”

The Doctor sighed. “Normally a Watcher would look like a white figure with an unformed face. No personality, voice or anything. But if it was left alone for so long, who knows what might have happened to it.” The Doctor looked up at Matthew sadly. “It might even evolve into something more…Human.”



Sometime ago…



The white figure - the Watcher - watched as the blue box dematerialised leaving nothing but darkness and silence. He had one purpose - to help regenerate the Doctor. But the Time Lord had been rescued and whisked away by a blue-skinned woman.

And now he was alone. He attempted to use his powers to move through time and space and catch the time machine, but he had been created so suddenly, that those powers were not yet available to him.

Light’s began to switch on in the large hall in which he was stood. He could hear voices.

And so he disappeared into the shadows and waited…

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but it was dark again. “Night time” as someone had called it. He made his way through the hall and into a corridor. It was then that he caught a glimpse of his reflection in a glass pane.

He was pure white and without a face. And somehow this made him feel…sad. An emotion he had never felt before. Indeed, he had never even had emotions before. This was something new and something not quite right.

He continued walking and a strange device whirred over his head. A…camera. That was a word he had heard someone say today. A security camera. He stood for a few minutes watching the camera as it scanned him. And then he moved away.

More time passed…

Everyday people would arrive and pass through. He would hide from them in the shadows, in cupboards, behind doorways. And everyday he felt their influence upon him. He would listen and learn their conversations.

And then the nights would come. One particular night he found himself standing in a bathroom, looking at himself in the mirror. Now he was no longer white. He was a flesh colour. The same colour of the people who passed through the airport. And his clothing was becoming darker. A dark, suit.

More time passed…

He would follow the same procedure each and every day. He would listen and learn, and then check his reflection on the night time. Soon he had forgotten his original purpose. Now all he wanted to do was learn.

Now his reflection was becoming more and more “normal”. He was bald, but he had features on his face. His skin was a full colour and his clothes were complete. Eventually hair appeared. Short, dark hair.

One particular night when he was looking at his reflection, a night cleaner came in and startled him.

“Are you okay?” came the man’s voice. He had an interesting accent.

The Watcher tried to open his mouth, but no words came out.

“Can I help you?” asked the cleaner again.

“…No…” he said. His first ever words, mimicking the man’s accent.

“Are you sure?” asked the cleaner.

“I…am…sure.”

And then he left. What was happening to him? And how much more could he learn?

Over the next few days - at least he thought it was days - he spent his time listening and learning and picking up new things. At one point, he found a suitcase with the name tag “Matthew Cole” on it. He liked that name. And he became Matthew Cole.

But he wanted more answers. As much as he liked soaking up all of this information, Matthew wanted more.

And then he found himself forgetting completely what his previous life had been. He forgot all about being a Watcher. He forgot everything. All he knew was that he was Matthew Cole, had arrived at the airport, and needed to get home. But he couldn’t remember where that home was.

He would wait for hours and hours, just thinking and trying to understand. Soon he would try and leave the airport, to explore the world outside. To try and get home.

He went to Arrivals…and fell asleep…



Now…



The Doctor removed his hands from Matthew’s temples and Matthew sighed.

“Well?”

“I…remember. Sort of.” He rubbed his eyes. “It’s all just a blur.”

“It will be,” said the Doctor, sadly. “It’s only when you awoke in arrivals and tried to leave that yourself as Matthew Cole was completed.”

“But it just sounds so impossible.”

“But it’s true. And the reason you can’t leave is because you are tethered to this place. Your body won’t let you leave, because deep down you know you still have your original job to do.”

“Which is help you to regenerate?”

“Exactly,” said the Doctor, sitting beside him again. “When you grabbed my arm when we first met it was like touching two wires together. The same people touching one another can cause massive disruptions in space and time.”

“And that thing we saw up near the café’s?”

“That was a Dalek. It was something being projected out of your own mind, because I remembered them. And people forget you because as a Watcher you have the ability to alter people’s perceptions. They don’t notice you unless you purposely interact with them. And then they forget. The rest of us - Caroline, me and Blackmore see you because we’ve all travelled through time and space.”

Matthew hung his head and sighed. “I feel so real, though.”

“You are real,” said the Doctor, sadly. “It’s just that you’ve gone on a rather different journey than the rest of us.”

“So what happens now?” said Matthew, a little hopeful that the Doctor wouldn’t ask him to sacrifice himself.

“I’m not sure,” said the Doctor. “We’ll have to take you to Aleena. See if you can still be integrated into me. It might help me grow some new regenerative cells and then kick start my regeneration.”

“Lovely,” said Matthew, sadly.

“But one thing’s for certain,” said the Doctor. “At least I know what I’m going to look like when I do eventually regenerate.”

The Doctor smiled. Matthew didn’t.




Emily and Ethan had gotten out of the car and grabbed Danny. He had been expecting the worst, but instead he was gagged and bundled into the back of their boot.

Now they were driving. He wasn’t sure where they were going and what they were going to do with him when they got to their destination, but he was sure it wasn’t going to be anything very pleasurable.

After a while - Danny had lost all sense of time in the dark car boot - the car parked up and the boot opened.

“Come on,” said Ethan, indicating for him to get himself out of the boot.

Danny mumbled beneath the gag.

“You’re not going to cause us any more problems, are you?” Danny heard Emily say.

Danny didn’t respond. He just frowned. He wasn’t going to provoke them, but he had no intention of staying their prisoner.

“Now get out,” said the old man.

Danny clambered out of the boot and looked around. They were at Manchester airport. Fantastic, thought Danny, I might find the Doctor here.

“Get moving,” said Emily.

Danny turned to look at her. She was leaning against the car, filing her nails. He mumbled.

“What’s that?” asked Ethan.

“Remove the gag,” said Emily, crossing over to him.

Ethan pulled the gag down and Danny savoured the air again.

“Have you got something to say to us?” asked Emily.

“Only that the Doctor will stop you.”

Emily and Ethan both looked at each other, fear in their eyes…and then they both burst out laughing.

“What?” asked Danny. “What have you done to him?”

Emily patted Danny on the top of his head and made her way towards the entrance to T2 departures.

“What?” asked Danny again, as he was marched by Ethan behind Emily.

Danny was escorted through the strangely deserted airport and towards an elevator where two strange, robotic devices were hovering.

“What’s been going on here?” said Emily to the drones, almost like a school teacher scolding children for being naughty.

The drones beeped and whirred a response to her.

“And you didn’t think to stop them?” asked Emily, hands on her hips.

The drones beeped again.

“What’s happened?” asked Ethan.

“These useless devices of yours,” said Emily. “Three of the prisoners got down to the main generator.”

“And the drones didn’t follow?”

Emily shook her head. “You made that area out of bounds, remember? In case they malfunctioned and damaged the machinery.”

“But if they went down there-”

The drones beeped again.

“Problems?” chuckled Danny.

Emily frowned. “Apparently the second unit of drones chased them out, but these two didn’t bother to join the chase.”

“Why not?” frowned Ethan.

“Because one of them is still down there.”

The Vanishing Man, Chapter 9

Blackmore had been tinkering with the dome-like machine for a good twenty minutes and everything seemed to be quiet back up above,

Caroline and June were sat with their backs against the wall. Caroline had her knees drawn in to her chest and June was looking more and more calmer with the situation.

“That thing,” Caroline indicated the dome. “It must be what’s causing the strange things around the airport. Like with that Matthew Cole guy.”

“I can’t even remember him,” said June, half-laughing at the absurdity of it all.

“You should have just gone home,” said Caroline. “Then you’d have been none the wiser.”

“I don’t understand why it’s not affected you two though.”

“Probably something to do with us travelling in time.”

“I beg your pardon?” said June, a look of disbelief on her face.

Caroline turned to face the older lady. “I travel in time and space with a man called the Doctor and my old friend, Danny. And this guy…” she looked towards the deep-in-concentration Blackmore, “…this guy is a fugitive. A criminal.”

“I heard that,” called back Blackmore.

“You were supposed to,” said Caroline. “Anyway, I don’t know how, but that machine is having no effect on us.”

“It’s because we’re not fixed to this time zone,” said Blackmore, a screwdriver between his teeth.

“Thought that’d be the case,” said Caroline.

“This is all too much for me,” said June. “I just want to go home. Back to my Sid.”

“Your husband?”

“My cat,” said June with a warm smile. “My husband and I divorced years ago. Best thing I ever did.”

The two woman chuckled.

“Finally!” shouted Blackmore, standing up as the machine’s buzzing sound grew more high-pitched.

“What have you done?” asked Caroline, quickly scrambling to her feet.

“Unlocked it.”

“Come again?”

“It was locked. I couldn’t access it’s main drives.” He flashed her a grin. “But I can now.”

There came the sound of a loud alarm.

“Well done,” said Caroline, looking back the way they had come. “We best get out of here.”

“Wait,” said Blackmore. He was about to turn a dial on the machine when he was suddenly flung back. Sparks of electricity flew from him and he landed with a thud next to Caroline and June.

“We’ve gotta go,” said Caroline.

“But what about him?” asked June.

Caroline knelt down and checked for his pulse. “He’s out cold, but he’ll live.”

“We’ve got to take him with us,” said June.

“No,” said Caroline. “Our best bet is to find the Doctor. We’d never manage to lift him anyway.”

They were about to turn and go when three hatches on the far side of the dark room opened and three small, round, globes emerged and began advancing on Caroline and June.

“Run!” said Caroline.


Danny was out of breath, but he knew he had to keep going. He knew he wasn’t too far away from the station and if he followed the route of the train line, he’d soon get there. He could already see the lights of the airport in the distance.

He was lucky that Emily and Ethan’s house hadn’t been too far from the airport. But why didn’t he just stay with the Doctor and Caroline? They were his friends, after all.

No, he had been foolish. He had wanted nothing to do with them. And he knew without a doubt now that it was the Apparite inside of him, nestled deep within his soul somewhere. It was controlling him. It was the Apparite that had guided him into fixing the generator back at Sherman Prison and it was the Apparite that was causing him to have so many mood swings. So why was he so keen to stay away from the Doctor? Surely the Doctor was the man to help him.

Danny felt his foot hit something and he went face-first down onto the cold, hard ground. The mud beneath the grass was hard and frozen and the grass had frost on it. It was a cold, cold night, but Danny was sweating. For him, it didn’t feel cold enough.

Another symptom of the Apparites possession.

He was about to get up when he felt a searing pain across his forehead. He went blind and then everything went white.

After a few moments his vision began to clear. He was now standing on a cliff top overlooking a dark, black sea. The grass beneath his feet was grey and the sky up above orange. It almost felt like everything was a negative image of itself.

And then he became aware of the presence behind him.

He turned quickly, but there was nothing there.

And then he heard the voice. A familiar voice.

“Danny Lennon,” said the voice. It was the Apparite.

“Where am I?” asked Danny nervously.

“Your dreams,” said the Apparite, with a slight chuckle.

“This feels real.”

“This conversation is real.”

“Why are you still inside my head?”

“The problem doesn’t just lie with me,” said the Apparite. “It lies with you as well.”

“What do you mean?”

“I am the one inside of you.”

“Exactly. So let me go.”

“No, Danny. You don’t understand. I may be able to influence your actions and control your emotions, but I am trapped as well. I’m trapped inside of you, Danny.”

Danny’s heart began racing. “How do I get you out?”

“I don’t know,” said the Apparite. “But you must try.”

“I’ll speak to the Doctor.”

“No!” snapped the voice. “He’ll just want to destroy me. He wouldn’t understand us.”

“Then tell me. I can convince him. Tell me about your people.”

“We were once like you.”

“You seem a little more coherent than the rest of your kind.”

“Our world is so damaged that it has in turn affected us. Being in your mind has healed me, Danny. At least healed my mind, if not my body.”

There was a sudden flash.

“What was that?”

“You are returning to the real world. Your kidnappers are almost upon you.”

“Tell me what I have to do,” pleaded Danny.

“Do not tell the Doctor. When he finds out what we are, he will be furious. He will do everything in his power to destroy us.”

“Then what can I do without him?”

“You’ll find a way. Go back to Thornsby.”

The voice was getting more and more distant.

“Why?”

“Go back to Thornsby and find Jayne.”

There was another flash and Danny was back on his front on the cold, hard ground. He was aware of the sound of a car behind him.

He quickly turned and saw two headlights coming towards him. After a moment of blindness he was able to make out the faces of Ethan and Emily next to him, behind the wheel.

They had followed him in Emily’s car across the fields and had finally caught him.


Matthew was sat silently on the sofa when the Doctor came up him. He looked serious and his eyes were blank. Matthew felt as if he had intruded on the Doctor in some way.

“What is it?” asked the Scotsman.

“The TARDIS has completed it’s tests,” said the Doctor, his lips firmly pierced together.

“And? Is it bad news?”

“No exactly,” said the Doctor. He leant against the TARDIS console, all the time his eyes fixed on Matthew, never blinking or looking away.

“Just tell me.”

“I want you to tell me,” said the Doctor. “Tell me everything you remember.”

“I’ve already told you,” said Matthew. “I got off the plane and then couldn’t leave.”

“Before that,” said the Doctor sharply.

“It’s all just a blur.”

“You said you think you’re from Scotland.”

“I am,” said Matthew quickly. “My accent says I am at least.”

“Accents can be deceiving. Lot’s of planets have a Scotland.”

“What? Lot’s of planets? I’m Human. Your screwdriver told you that much.”

The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver from his pocket. “Ah, this old thing. Well, you see, that’s the problem with screwdrivers. In the end, they are just screwdrivers. The TARDIS was able to go deeper. You’ve been with humans too long. They rubbed off on you. Quite literally in fact.”

“This isn’t making any sense to me,” said Matthew, sounding distraught.

“What do you remember of your life before the plane?”

“It’s-”

“It’s a blur, yes, I know. And do you know why it’s a blur?”

Matthew looked up hopefully.

“It’s because you had no life before the airport.”

“What?”

“You are nothing but a sponge.”

Matthew frowned. “I beg your pardon?”

“A sponge. You’ve soaked up everything around you. Human beings, accents…everything. They’ve made you what you are.”

“I remember…Susan.”

“Oh,” laughed the Doctor. “You remember Susan, do you? Do you want to know why you remember Susan? It’s because I used to know someone called Susan. You got that off me. Because of my granddaughter.”

“And why that, specifically?” asked Matthew, he now felt like he was about to shatter into a million pieces. “Out of all of the memories from the hundreds of people in the airport, why would I remember something like that?”

“Because of where you come from. Because you come from me! Because you are me!”

The Vanishing Man, Chapter 8

Blackmore, Caroline and June had spent the last hour trying to break the security locks on the elevator, but were all out of ideas and were now sat with their backs against the walls.

Caroline was sipping from a coffee she had gotten from one of the vending machines nearby and in all this time they hadn’t seen a single soul.

“What now?” asked June.

“We need to get out of here,” said Caroline. “We need to go find the Doctor. He’s the only one that can help us get to the bottom of this.”

“The Doctor isn’t all powerful, you know,” scoffed Blackmore.

“And how would you know?” queried Caroline. “It’s not as if you got to know him back on Trixatin.”

June’s eyes narrowed as she listened carefully to the two of them.

“I know of the Doctor,” said Blackmore, picking at the empty coffee cup Caroline had put down next to her. “The Eyeglass knows everything about the Doctor.”

“Your mysterious team,” said Caroline, arching her eyebrows.

“Yes. My mysterious team. I need to get back to them. I need to get out of here.”

“Don’t think the Doctor’s gonna help you.”

“He will.”

“He won’t. You’re a criminal. You were responsible for all those deaths back on Trixatin. The one place you’re going in jail.”

Blackmore threw his head back, laughing. “I may not have enjoyed the killing, but it was for the good of the Human race. It was the General’s wishes.”

Caroline shook her head in disgust. “The Doctor will deal with you and with this General.”

“Oh, I don’t think so,” said Blackmore, turning his head to look at the young woman. “Nothing can defeat the Eyeglass.”

June smiled at the two of them, but they didn’t see.

There was a soft, humming sound coming from nearby which caused the three of them to look.

Caroline got to her feet and helped June up.

Blackmore also got up slowly and made his way towards the end of corridor and peered around the corner.

One of the drones shot towards him, it’s laser gun raised and began firing.

“Run!” said Blackmore to the woman.

“What the hell is it?” asked June.

The drone shot a blast towards Caroline and June and the inside of the elevator exploded.

“That’s our way through!” said Blackmore, running towards the damaged elevator.

“Are you sure this is such a good idea?” asked Caroline as she helped June towards the gap that had been blown in the floor.

“It’s just a short jump down,” said Blackmore, pointing into the darkness. “If you swing your self down, holding onto the edge, you’ll be fine.”

“You better be right about this!” said Caroline.

“We need answers,” said Blackmore. “So we have no choice!”

Blackmore went first. He sat on the edge of the gaping hole in the floor of the lift and then lowered himself down. He waited a few moments and then dropped with a thud.

“I’m okay,” he shouted up. “Now you.”

June and Caroline looked back at the drone floated towards them.

“Here,” said Caroline. “You go first.”

She helped June to the edge and she slowly lowered herself in and then dropped.

“Are you okay?” asked Caroline, hearing a yelp of pain.

“I think I sprained my ankle,” said June. “But I’ll be fine.”

Caroline looked back and lowered herself into the gap just as a laser bolt whizzed past her face.

They waited for the drone to come down after them…but it didn’t. They knew from the gentle humming sound that it was still there, but it wouldn’t follow them.

“What the hell is that thing?” asked Caroline, looking around her.

They were in a narrow, dark room with an open door to the right casting a shaft of green light into the room.

“A guard, perhaps,” said Blackmore.

“Then why isn’t it following us?” asked June, rubbing her sore ankle.

“Perhaps it’s not allowed,” said Blackmore.

“Well let’s get out of here,” said Caroline as they made their way towards the open doorway.

They stepped into a larger room and before them was something the likes of which Catherine had never seen before. It was like a huge, dome-shaped machine covered in dials and switches and flickering screens. It was humming with power and one of it’s pylons reached up through the ceiling into where the supply cupboard was.

“Now this,” said Blackmore, gazing up in awe at the machine, “is definitely not Human technology.”




Matthew Cole stepped into the strange, blue box and a pain flashed across his forehead. It felt like white-hot pokers stabbing him through his temples and into the front of his head.

“Are you okay?” asked the Doctor, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“This is…this is…amazing,” said Matthew, trying to focus again. “There’s something…odd about it.”

“The TARDIS is odd to outsiders,” smiled the Doctor.

Matthew clutched at his chest and fell to his knees.

“Mr Cole. Are you okay?” asked the Doctor again.

“I don’t know,” said Cole, shaking his head.

“Come on, let’s get you over to the sofa and we can start running a few tests.”

The Doctor helped Cole to his feet and they made their way past the little tree’s that lined the walkway to the central console. As they got closer to the console the lights began to flicker.

“She’s had a bad day,” said the Doctor, glancing up at the ceiling worriedly. “She’s had to fight through a time barrier to get here.”

“This is all…all…”

“Relax,” said the Doctor, sitting Cole down on the sofa. “We’ll get to the bottom of this and then we can get you back to your family.”

“Yes,” said Cole, rubbing his forehead. “Back to Susan.”

“Who?” asked the Doctor, looking curiously at Cole as he went through a large, Doctor’s bag underneath the console.

“Susan.”

“Who’s Susan?” asked the Doctor.

“I don’t know. Someone…from my past. I think. It’s all just a blur. She’s family…I think.”

“My grand daughter was called Susan,” said the Doctor, with a sad smile.

“So you have children then?” asked Cole, leaning back on the sofa.

“Used to,” he smiled again, looking past Cole and into the distance. “A long time ago.” He looked back at Cole. “I can’t get back to mine, but I can try and get you back to yours.”

Cole smiled. “Thank you. Thank you for everything that you’re doing.”

“All in a days work,” grinned the Doctor.




Danny opened his eyes. Darkness. He was in a dark room. The only reason he knew he was in a dark room was because he could see the orange, street lights shining through gaps in the curtain. And he was on a bed.

He turned his head to the side. Nothing there.

He sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He must have been knocked out. He then quickly put his hand to his neck. He remembered what Ethan and Emily had said about being time vampires. Luckily there were no holes there. No puncture wounds. So they hadn’t bitten him yet. Was that even how they fed on time energy?

He edged himself off the bed and walked towards the door. He put his ear up against it, but there were no sounds.

He checked his pockets, pulling his phone out. The screen was cracked. He must have broken it when he fell. Or they broke it. At least they had the decency to let him keep it, he thought to himself.

He turned the door handle gently and then pulled. The door was locked.

He silently cursed himself for letting himself get stuck in this situation and then crossed over to the window. The window was also locked, but it was an old window. No double glazing. He would make a lot of noise if he smashed through it, but he had no choice really.

Outside the window was a sloping roof that covered the porch of the front door. He could easily cross to that and jump down and make a run for it. He’d only have a few seconds head start on the two of them, but it was worth the risk.

Grabbing a nearby lamp off the bedside cabinet he swung it towards the window.

Damn! he thought, as the window didn’t break.

He thought he heard a sound from downstairs.

“Nothing for it then,” he said to himself.

With all his might he started whacking the window over and over again until finally it broke.

He climbed onto the window sill as he heard the fumbling of a key in the bedroom door. He was about to jump when the door opened and light from the upstairs landing streamed into the room, Emily silhouetted against it.

“Danny!” she hissed.

He jumped from the window and onto the sloping roof, slipping down it a little and taking two or three tiles with him. He scrambled down to the edge and swung himself off, landing on the gravelled driveway below.

The front door opened and Ethan was standing there, his face pale and his eyes burning bright red. His face was almost grey.

“Dinner’s running away, Emily,” he growled, the corners of his mouth twitching.

“Danny’s off the menu today,” said Danny as he started running towards the road.

“Get him!” screamed Emily from the window above.




Sometime ago…




Aleena stood over the Doctor, her heart was beating fast, but the Doctor was breathing again at least. She had managed to revive him with some form of advanced cardio unit she had found in a cabinet and he was breathing normally again.

“What happened?” he asked, opening his eyes.

“You died,” said Aleena.

“Really?” asked the Doctor, rubbing his head. “I don’t remember anything.”

“You just didn’t regenerate,” she sat down on a chair next to the bed and sniffed. “You can’t regenerate.”

“That’s absurd,” said the Doctor, looking at his hands.

Aleena grabbed a print out and showed the Doctor. “The readings show that your regenerative cells didn’t kick it.”

“So they need a kick start,” suggested the Doctor. “It’s not the first time they’ve need a push.”

“Actually,” said Aleena. “It might be worse than that.” She pointed towards a series of numbers on the sheet of paper. “It looks like you don’t have any regenerative cells. Not anymore.”

“What?” asked the Doctor, grabbing the piece of paper and looking at it closely. “That’s impossible.”

“They’re just gone. Regenerations sometimes go wrong, and-”

“Not to this degree,” said the Doctor, worriedly. “No Time Lord has ever lost the ability to regenerate.”

“Well, you have.”

The Doctor lay still, looking up at the ceiling above him. “So what does this mean?”

“You have to avoid any kind of accidents.”

The Doctor’s head snapped around. “With my life style!?”

Aleena shook her head. “I’m sorry. If you get mortally wounded you won’t regenerate. You’ll die.”

The Doctor closed his eyes and sighed.

“And I’m afraid that’s not all the bad news I have.”

“Tell me,” said the Doctor quietly.

“Your body is actually failing. I’ve given you some tablets to keep you fit and healthy, but it’s only a matter of time before your body shuts down completely.”

“Tablets?”

“They’ll keep you well. Well, for now at least.”

The Doctor sat himself up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. “No, no, no. This isn’t good enough. I can’t just accept that I’m going to die. I need to find out what exactly happened to me.”

“Well we can go back and find out-”

“Where did you find me?” he asked, putting his blazer on. “Where did you find me after I regenerated.”

“The human city. Manchester. At an airport.”

The Vanishing Man, Chapter 7

Caroline, Blackmore and June were almost at the escalator that led to the sky link when they heard a strange, humming of machinery coming from a nearby cupboard.

“What’s in there?” asked Caroline.

“Medical supplies. That’s where I saw the strange device.”

Blackmore crossed over to the door and opened it.

Sure enough inside there were bandages, plasters and first aid kits. And coming through a hole in the floor was a large, pylon-type device.

“Told you,” said June. “We need to get out of here.”

“But what’s that sound?” said Caroline. “Listen, can’t you hear it?”

Blackmore tilted his headed. “It seems to be some sort of machinery coming from underneath the floor. This thing goes right down.” Blackmore started tapping his foot on the ground.

“What are you doing?” asked Caroline, walking over to the cupboard.

“Looking for…” he stopped tapping his feet and smiled. “Found it!”

“Found what?”

“The ground. It’s hollow right underneath us.”

“Is there a basement under there?” asked Caroline to June.

“I’m not sure. There are lower levels of the airport though. Storage areas and places like that.”

“Whatever’s making the sound must be directly beneath this floor.” Blackmore got up and looked over the shelves. “What we need is a pick axe or something.”

“Or we could just use the lift,” said Caroline.

“I’m sure they’ll have security locks on them though, to prevent us going down there.”

“Who?” asked June. “Airport security?”

“Are you really as stupid as you sound?” said Blackmore, giving her a withering look.

“Well it’s worth a shot,” said Caroline, “cos I’m all out of pick axes.”

They shut the door and made their way towards the elevators, but none of them happened to notice another one of the drones floating above the escalator, watching quietly.




Finally Emily and Danny had arrived. The red sports car had entered one of the suburbs outside Manchester and the car pulled into the drive of a large, detached house which was sat in darkness apart from a blue light coming from behind the front room curtains.

“So who’s this guy?” asked Danny, getting out of the car and following Emily up the drive to the front door.

“He’s my brother,” she smiled back at him.

“And he knows about time and space?” asked Danny, looking a little doubtful.

“He’s one of the best,” she said, getting a key out of her small handbag and unlocking the door.

They stepped inside and Emily hung her jacket up on the coat peg at the bottom of the staircase.

Danny could hear the sound of a TV coming from the room to the left.

“I’m home,” shouted Emily, taking her shoes off and opening the door. “And I’ve brought a friend.”

“Another one?” came an older man’s voice from behind the door.

“He needs some help,” said Emily as she walked into the room.

Danny suddenly felt a little nervous as he stepped through the doorway. The lights were out in the room, but the TV screen was casting a blue hue all around and illuminating everything. He made sure his back was to the wall as he stepped inside.

Emily had sat herself down on a black leather sofa, and, sat in an arm chair, watching the TV, was a very, very old man. He looked to be in his late eighties, had wispy strands of white hair and small, almost John Lennon-like glasses.

He turned to look at Danny as he entered the room. “And who might you be?”

“Danny. Danny Lennon,” said Danny nervously. “And you are?”

“Ethan Reed.” The old man got up from his chair and extended a hand. “A pleasure to meet you, Mr Lennon.”

Danny shook his clammy hand. “And you’re…Emily’s father?”

“My brother,” said Emily, smiling brightly at Danny.

“But you’re…”

“Yes?” said Ethan, looking down his nose at the young man.

“You’re surely too old to be her brother.”

“In human terms,” said Emily, getting up and standing beside her brother. “But then we’re not human.”

“Ah,” said Danny, trying to back up but realising he was already flat against the wall. “So you’re not human?”

“Not at all,” said Ethan, who was now smiling, his crooked teeth yellow and his eyes dark behind his glasses.

Ethan stepped menacingly towards Danny who reached for the door frame.

Emily was there in a shot; faster than lightning. She had hold of his arm and was stopping him from moving any further.

“Let go,” said Danny. “Who the hell are you?”

“Hmmm,” said Ethan, putting a finger to his lips in thought. “Let’s see…You Human beings have something which I believe you call…Vampires.”

“Yeah,” said Danny, feeling his heart rate increase, “but you’re not Vampires, are you? They don’t exist.”

“Not exactly,” grinned Emily, her eyes wild and her tongue licking her lips. “We don’t drink blood.”

“Then what..?”

“We drink time,” said Ethan, pressing his face close to Danny.

“What?”

“Time. Time energy. Chronological, temporal, vortex energy. We trap time travellers and then drink them dry.”

Emily chuckled as Ethan grabbed Danny around the neck and pinned him up against the wall.

The last thing Danny saw was the room blur out of focus.




It had taken almost an hour and the Doctor had been driving at speeds he hadn’t driven at for some time, but he had finally arrived at Sheffield station. He skidded into the car park and ran for the station entrance. He made his way up the escalators and to the platform where the familiar blue of the TARDIS greeted him.

He smiled and patted the side of the wooden box. “Good to see you, old girl. Now you’ve got work to do.”

He unlocked the door and went inside.

The lights gradually grew brighter as the Doctor made his way past the little trees that lined the walkway towards the console room.

The TARDIS seemed to hum when the Doctor touched the console.

“Now,” said the Doctor, flicking a number of switches on the nearest panel, “I know we had a few disagreements about landing last time, but we have to get to the airport. So no messing about.”

He entered the space co-ordinates on the console and pulled the dematerialisation lever.

The TARDIS groaned and wheezed into life as the engines began their start-up.

“That’s it,” said the Doctor, looking at a small monitor which showed various equations and readings on it. “Nice and easy.”

The central column began to rise and fall, the green rods moving up and down in the glass column.

The Doctor was growing confident. Everything seemed okay, and then the engines began to let out a faltering sound. The TARDIS began to shake and rattle and the Doctor skipped around to the other side of the console, frantically flicking switches.

“Come on,” he said through gritted teeth. “Don’t let me down now. You can do it!”

He switched on the scanner. The TARDIS was hovering nearby to the airport, but he wasn’t able to take her in any further.

“What is this?” he asked. “Some sort of bubble. Some kind of protective dome around the area?”

A high-pitched whine came from somewhere in the bowls of the time machine and the Doctor quickly returned to the controls.

“This is silly. I’m not going to let this beat me,” he said, turning more dials, all the time the pressure building in the TARDIS engines.

But still the TARDIS stuck firm.

“Perhaps there’s only one other way,” said the Doctor, closing his eyes. He pulled open a panel on the console and pulled out a mess of wires from underneath. “Disengaging your safeties could kill me, but it’s the only option.”

The Doctor finally reached a small, box-like circuit. He took one last look at it, closed his eyes and pulled it from it’s connection to the wires.

The TARDIS groaned and shook violently as the Doctor returned to the console. Sparks flew from the console as he ramped up the engines. The rods in the central column were glowing white-hot green and the engines were going faster than they had ever gone.

And then…there was a huge explosion and all the lights went out. The Doctor wasn’t sure, but it felt like the TARDIS was falling.




Meanwhile, Cole was still speeding around the airport with the drone hot on his tail. The car he was in had a number of scorch marks on it’s side, but he had managed to outwit it so far. The drone wasn’t a very good shot, but it definitely wasn’t about to give up.

Cole was taking another turn when the ground rumbled violently and there was a flash of lightning. He looked out of the windscreen and saw a small, blue box tumbling towards the ground. It disappeared behind a building and hit the ground with a loud thud.

Cole quickly turned the car and headed towards the crash site.

There was something…familiar about the blue box.




Sometime ago…




It had been a few days since the Doctor had arrived at the Lighthouse, and although he still wasn’t feeling exactly fantastic, he was at least up on his feet. But he felt so ill. He felt weak and drained of energy. Regeneration was always a dodgy procedure, but his ill effects had never gone on this long before.

And he felt like something was missing.

Once he had been able to walk Aleena had taken his hand and took him on a tour around the complex. It was built inside an old lighthouse on a red moon somewhere in deep space. Inside was old Dalek technology and Aleena watched the universe go by. All by herself.

Every time the Doctor had asked her why she was on her own she would go quiet. She wasn’t bothered in talking about herself, only in him.

And she had been making him take tests every day. Every day she would hook him up to machines and monitor his brainwaves and life signs and every day she would draw a blank.

Now he was sat on the same bed again, getting ready to be tested.

“How you feeling today?” she would ask cheerily.

“The same,” he replied. It was the same reply ever day.

She smiled, but it was a sad smile. “You’re lucky I found you.”

“So you were just up here watching me?”

“I’m always watching you,” she said, with a shy look on her face. “I love watching you. You and your companions and your adventures.”

“I don’t understand,” said the Doctor, lying down on the bed and resting his head on the soft pillow.

“I like to watch your adventures. I always have done. Since I was a little girl.”

“So you’re a fan?” asked the Doctor.

Aleena sighed and flicked her blonde hair out of her eyes. “Doctor, we had this conversation yesterday.”

“Did we?” asked the confused Doctor. “I don’t remember.”

“No. And that worries me,” said Aleena. She took out a syringe and checked the liquid inside. “I want to try a new solution today. I think this one might ease your headaches.”

“Good luck,” said the Doctor doubtfully.

Aleena felt for a vein and then put the needle in. She injected the medicine into his arm and then stood back.

“Feel anything?” she asked.

“Nothing,” said the Doctor, a blank look on his face.

And then the monitor next to him began to beep.

“Oh no,” said Aleena, quickly crossing the bed to the other side and checking the readings.

“What…?” The Doctor froze and his eyelids began to flicker.

“You’re going into shock!” said Aleena, trying to hold the Doctor down as he shook violently.

The Doctor tried to say something but he couldn’t. All he could do was stutter and shake.

Before Aleena could do anymore the monitor beeped a long, drawn-out beep. The Doctor’s body was failing.

“I’m so sorry,” said Aleena, putting her hand to her mouth. “Regenerate,” she whispered under her breath.

Nothing. The Doctor continued to shake and then stopped dead. There were no life signs coming from him.

“Regenerate,” said Aleena again. “Please, regenerate!”

But the Doctor didn’t regenerate. The Doctor was dead.

The Vanishing Man, Chapter 6

The Doctor was running. He had managed to break free from Cole’s grip and headed back towards the escalators. He had gone down and headed towards the sky link. He kept looking back, but he saw no sign of the strange man who had attacked him.

He had slowed down to walking pace and once he had reached the end of the sky link he stopped and turned back to face the way he had come. Nothing.

Then he turned forward again and standing there in front of him was Cole.

The Doctor jumped back.

“How did you do that?”

“Help me,” said Cole, regaining some of his original look and calming slightly. There were tears in his eyes. “I don’t know what’s happening to me.”

“Come here,” said the Doctor, taking out his screwdriver again. “You need to tell me all that you remember about where you come from.”

“I don’t remember anything,” said Cole, sitting himself on the floor and leaning against the curved glass of the sky link.

“Nothing at all? You’ve got a Scottish accent, so you may be from Scotland. That’s a start,” said the Doctor, sitting down beside him.

“But I don’t remember anything about it.” Cole ran his hand through his hair and then glanced sideways to the Doctor. “Did I have a daughter?”

“No idea,” said the Doctor, drawing his knees up to his chest.

“No, wait. Not a daughter. A grand daughter.”

The Doctor’s head snapped around. “I beg your pardon? Surely you’re not old enough. You’re in your late 30’s? Yes?”

“I think so,” said Cole. He shook his head. “I just don’t know anymore.”

Suddenly, without warning, a small hole appeared in the glass behind them causing both men to jump up. Soon cracks began to form from the hole.

“What’s happening?” asked Cole.

“I have no idea,” said the Doctor, edging closer to the glass. “The whole pane’s going to go.”

And with that the glass shattered leaving a large hole where the pane should have been.

And then another pane shattered. And another. And another.

Soon there were huge gaps between the metal frame work of the sky link leading out into the cold night air.

“What’s doing this?” said the Doctor, quietly, peering outside and seeing nothing.

“It’s me,” said Cole, looking down at his hands which had turned white again. “Somehow this place has got me.”

The Doctor looked back at Cole. “You’re not Human, are you?”

“I don’t know.”

“You registered Human, but then…maybe that’s what your body was trying to tell me. Maybe it was trying to trick me.”

“Not on purpose,” said Cole, the panic beginning to rise in him again.

“No not on purpose,” said the Doctor.

Then there came the sound of creaking metal. Sparks flew from the conveyer belt along the sky link and more windows cracked and shattered.

“The whole walkway’s going to go,” said the Doctor.

He grabbed Cole by his hand and pulled him along the sky link as the tube-like structure began to twist and turn and bend out of shape.

And then the two men felt themselves falling down towards the ground below.




Sometime ago…




The Doctor had drifted again, but now he was waking up his vision was starting to clear. He was on a bed with a very, very soft mattress. The room was dark, but there were little glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling, each one perfectly arranged to the correct pattern of each constellation.

He sat up and felt his head start to throb.

He looked to his side and saw a bedside table and a glass of water. He quickly took a sip of the water and lay back down.

A door clicked open in the darkness and a pale, blue light slowly came on.

“How you feeling, sweetheart?” asked the blue-skinned woman called Aleena.

“Better. A lot better. Apart from the headache.”

She sat on the edge of the bed and smiled down at him, brushing her long, blonde hair out of her face. “I’ve got some good hangover cures,” she said. “I’ll bring you one up.”

“Wait,” said the Doctor, grabbing her arm and stopping her from getting up. “Can you just…stay. Just for a few minutes.”

“Of course I can,” she smiled.

“It’s just that…well, I just need to rest. I feel so ill. I can’t be dealing with all the rushing around.”

“I completely understand,” said Aleena, putting her hand on his. “We need to get you better.”

The Doctor smiled at the young woman. She had a trusting face and an even more trusting smile. Whether this was to her advantage or disadvantage would remain to be seen.




Now…




Blackmore and Caroline were oblivious to the chaos in the sky link and were just about to reach it when June, the nurse, came running across the T3 departure hall. She looked flustered and her cheeks were red.

She slowed when she saw Blackmore and Caroline and stopped in front of them.

“What’s wrong?” asked Blackmore.

“Keep calm,” said Caroline, putting a hand on the small woman’s shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“Something’s not right here,” she said, out of breath.

“What do you mean?” asked Caroline.

June turned to look back where she’d come from. “I just popped to get some supplies from the cupboard and there’s….well, there’s something in there.”

“What sort of something?” asked Blackmore, frowning.

“I don’t know. Some kind of machinery. It’s just coming out of the ground.” She started scratching her hand. “I reached out to touch it. It was humming. It was like electricity running through my hand.”

“Think we should check it?” asked Caroline, hands on her hips and a stern look on her face.

“It might help answer a few questions about what’s going here.”

“We might find Cole and the Doctor on the way.”

“There was a noise from the sky link,” said June, sitting herself down on a chair. “Like metal twisting. Glass breaking.”

“We’ll go check it,” said Caroline. “You stay here.”

“No,” said Blackmore quickly. “We need her to stay with us. If she leaves she might forget us.”

“Forget you?” said June. “I just want to go home. I’ve never seen this place so quiet.”

Caroline looked around her. It was true. Although it was the middle of the night, this place should have had more people in it. All she see was dimly lit areas of the departure hall and in the background she could hear a strange, droning sound. Like an air conditioning unit. It was eerie and sent a shiver up her spine. It felt like they were the only people left alive.

“You need to come with us,” said Caroline to June. “We’ll get you home, don’t worry.”




The Doctor opened his eyes. He was lying flat on his back on top of a heap of twisted metal. Lying a few feet away from him was Matthew Cole who had begun to stir. They were lucky they had survived the fall.

The Doctor sat up and looked around. They had landed on a large cluster of bushes that ran under the sky link.

“Ouch,” said Cole, rubbing his head and looking across to the Doctor. “What the hell is going on?”

The Doctor looked at him for a moment and then slowly clambered to his feet. “We need to get you to the TARDIS.”

“The TARDIS? What the hell’s a TARDIS?” asked Cole as the Doctor dragged him to his feet.

“It’s my time machine,” said the Doctor, striding towards the car park.

Cole stood stock still and shook his head in disbelief. “Can this day get on weirder?”

“C’mon,” shouted the Doctor.

“Wait!” said Cole, looking up at the broken sky link above them. “There’s something up there.”

“I don’t see anything,” said the Doctor, walking back to Cole and looking up at the gap where the walkway used to be.

“There!” said Cole.

There was a faint, buzzing sound and then a shape, about half the size of a person, floated into view. It was gun-metal grey, cylindrical and had a large, ball-like head on top. On top of the head was an antenna and a row of lights circling the head, almost like a crown. Either side of the things cylindrical body was what looked like arms, except instead of hands there were various scientific implements.

The robot floated over the gap and the buzzing became more high-pitched when it noticed the Doctor and Cole.

“What is it?” asked Cole, edging away from the rubble under the sky link.

“Some sort of drone,” said the Doctor. “And I believe we’re it’s targets. Run!”

The Doctor and Cole span around and ran towards the car park as the drone switched an implement on it’s right arm from a syringe to what looked like a gun.

“Why are we targets?” asked Cole as they scooted around the corner of a building,

“No idea,” said the Doctor, “but my main concern is to get some answers about you. Then maybe we’ll find out what’s going on here.”

The drone swooped down and whizzed around the corner, just a few metres behind the men. It raised it’s gun appendage and shot a few bolts of white-hot energy from it.

“It’s trying to kill us!” yelled Cole, leaping as a bolt hit the ground just by his feet.

“Or trying to stun us,” said the Doctor. “It might want us alive.”

They rounded another building and arrived at the car park. The Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the two nearest cars. Their doors unlocked.

“Get in the red one,” said the Doctor, as he headed towards a black car.

“What? Why? It’s not like I can escape here,” said Cole, glancing back at the drone which was almost on top of them.

“I know,” said the Doctor, opening the black cars door and clambering inside. “But whilst I drive to Sheffield and get the TARDIS, you can keep driving around the airport.”

“What?” asked a confused Cole.

“It’s quicker than running! You’ll be safe in the car,” shouted the Doctor as a bolt of energy whizzed past his head. He slammed the door shut and wound down the window. “Just keep driving. Keep trying to outrun it. I’ll be back!”

Cole jumped in the red car. The Doctor aimed his strange device at the dashboard of he and Cole’s cars and the vehicles whirred into life.

“Keep driving!” repeated the Doctor as his put his foot on the accelerator and sped towards the exit, screeching as he turned the corner.

Cole sat at the steering wheel, put his foot down and hoped for the best.

The Vanishing Man, Chapter 5

The Doctor motioned for Cole and Caroline to get behind him as he backed away from the large, black shape lurking in the shadows.

“What is it?” asked Caroline.

“Something you don’t want to meet,” said the Doctor.

“That doesn’t really answer the question,” she said, trying to peer into the darkness.

“It’s a Dalek,” said the Doctor.

“A what-lek?” asked Cole.

“A creature from the planet Skaro.”

“A creature from another planet? Lovely,” said Cole. “And why’s it hanging around Manchester airport?”

“Someone needs to tell it that there aren’t any aeroplanes into outer space,” said Caroline.

The Doctor, who had been slowly backing up, suddenly stopped. “Something’s not right.”

“I was gonna ask why everything had gone quiet,” said Caroline.

“Stay here,” said the Doctor, turning to them and holding up a finger.

He slowly walked towards Starbucks and into the darkness, towards the shape.

“Be careful,” shouted Caroline.

“Very strange,” called back the Doctor. “It’s gone.”

“But there’s no way through there,” said Cole. “No back door or anything.”

“Exactly,” said the Doctor. “It’s almost as if it was never there.”

Cole was about to say something else when he felt a searing pain in his head. He gasped and fell to his knees.

“Matthew!” shouted Caroline as she knelt down beside him. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” said Cole, clutching his chest. “My whole body feels like it’s on fire. And my heart. It feels like it’s trying to…burst out!”

The Doctor ran over. “Get him into a chair.”

They hoisted Cole to his feet and pulled out a chair and Cole sat there for a few seconds, panting.

When he had calmed a little the Doctor pulled up a chair and sat in front of him. “Right, Mr Cole. I want answers about you. Now.”

“I don’t understand. What answers?”

“I want to know where you’re from and how you got here. You seem to be meandering around this place without a care in the world.”

“Be fair,” said Caroline, “the guy told us all he could remember. He’s scared as it is.”

“Not as scared as he should be,” said the Doctor.

“I really don’t know what you want me to say,” said Cole, rubbing his chest.

“I want you to tell me who you are and where you come from?”

“Take it easy, Doctor,” said Caroline.

“Stay out of this, Miss Parker,” snapped the Doctor.

“Fine!” said Caroline, turning around and storming off towards T3 departures. “I’ll go find Blackmore while you interrogate an innocent man.”

“Caroline, come back!” yelled the Doctor.

“Forget it, Doctor!” came her voice as she disappeared around the corner.

Cole gasped again and his body convulsed.

“Tell me what’s going on here,” said the Doctor. “I’m not leaving until I have answers.”

“No!” yelled Cole, and he suddenly lurched forward and grabbed the Doctor around his throat. His face was white and his eyes pale. The inside of his mouth was black and his hands felt icy cold.

“Cole!” gasped the Doctor as he was forced up against the wall.

“You left me!” growled Cole. “You left me in the darkness. Why did you leave me?”




Some time ago…




“How do you operate this thing then?” asked the female voice.

The Doctor’s vision cleared and he was lying on the floor of his TARDIS, the high ceiling seemed higher than normal.

He turned his head and standing over the main console was a slender, blue-skinned woman with long, blonde hair. She wore a khaki green sleeveless top, skirt and a leather belt holding all manner of instruments, devices and weaponry.

She turned to the Doctor and when she realised the Doctor was looking at her, she smiled. She had a beautiful smile and ice-blue eyes.

“Hello,” said the Doctor, weakly.

“Hi,” she smiled.

“Who-?” He sat up, groaned, winced and fell back down. “Who are you?”

“My name’s Aleena,” said the woman, crossing over to him and kneeling beside him. “And you’re a Time Lord, yeah?”

“Yes,” said the Doctor, rubbing his forehead. “Yes, I’m the Doctor.”

“Oh, that’s just brilliant,” she said with glee. “I had a feeling you might be. I’ve watched you for a long, long time.”

“Watched me?”

“Yeah,” she said, loosening his collar. “Watched you from the Lighthouse. It’s where I watch everything. I’m a big fan.”

“Of what?” asked the Doctor, struggling up again.

“Of you,” Aleena replied, looking a little hurt. “A huge fan. I’ve been watching you right from the start.”

“That’s nice to know,” said the Doctor, finally getting himself into a sitting position. “And what exactly is the Lighthouse?”

“It’s my home. I built it using Dalek time travel tech.”

“That’s pretty bold of you. The Daleks are still about, you know?”

“I know that,” she said, getting up and crossing to the console. “But they’ve never been able to catch me so far. Now, how do you work this thing?”

“Where do you want us to go?”

“Up to the Lighthouse. I used the vortex manipulator inside it to beam me here. Pretty cool, yeah?”

“Why do you call it a lighthouse?”

“Cos that’s what it is. Literally. Built onto a small moon with a red sky and red sea. It’s really, really pretty. You’re gonna like it. Lot’s of planets of lighthouses.”

The Doctor winched and grabbed his chest, feeling himself failing again.

“You’re not well, are you, sweetheart?”

“No,” said the Doctor. “I think this regeneration’s failing.”

“Then tell me how to make this thing move,” said Aleena, getting more and more impatient.

“Help me to my feet and I’ll show you.”




Now…




The Doctor forced Cole off him and the young, Scottish man fell backwards onto a table. He took a moment to compose himself and then launched himself back at the Doctor.

“Stay down!” yelled the Doctor, pushing the rabid man off him again.

“You left me!” growled Cole again, barring his teeth.

“I’ve never met you before in my life,” said the Doctor, trying to place his face from some time in his past.

Cole laughed as he took a swing at the Doctor.




Caroline, meanwhile, was oblivious to the goings on back in the café area. She made her way towards T3 departures. The place was almost in darkness save for the monitor screens above illuminating the huge hall.

“This is just too weird,” she said.

“It is,” came Blackmore’s voice from behind her.

She span around on her heel. He stood there, with a frown on his bruised face.

“What do you want, Blackmore? What are you doing here?”

“You tell me,” said Blackmore. “I just wanted to get back to the Eyeglass.”

“And you ended up here?” said Caroline, backing away slightly.

“Yep. It was like I was pulled here.”

“How do I know we can trust you? How do I know that you’re not behind all of this?”

“Behind what? It all just seems like a lot of bizarre nonsense to me.”

Caroline managed a weak smile. “That much is right.”

“Look,” said Blackmore, stepping out of the shadows. “I just want to get home. I don’t need all of this.”

“That we can agree on,” said Caroline, relaxing a little.

“Then we should help each other,” said Blackmore. “You have to trust me.”

“I wouldn’t say I’d trust you,” said Caroline, “but if it helps me and the Doctor, then I’m willing to listen to any suggestions. Just keep your distance and no funny business.”

Blackmore smiled and nodded. “Yes boss.” He walked towards Caroline who stepped back a little. “We need to find out how to get out of here.”

“Use that time ring you stole.”

“It burnt out,” said Cole, tapping the bronze ring. “On my first go as well.”

“It serve’s you right for meddling in things you don’t understand.”

“Maybe,” said Blackmore, “but your Doctor friend can take me back.”

“He’ll take you back to Trixatin to stand trial.”

“We’ll see,” said Blackmore, walking around to one of the information screens. “We need to get out of this place. What are those things you travel on?” he asked, pressing a few buttons.

Caroline noticed he was looking at a timetable.

“Trains?” she said.

“That’s it,” said Blackmore, selecting the ‘trains’ menu. “We need to get out of here. This place doesn’t feel right.”

“I know what you mean,” said Caroline, looking around her. “It’s like some sort of limbo.”

“It‘s like the whole place has been cut off from the outside world. Where is everyone? It doesn’t make sense.”

“Then that would mean someone has done this on purpose. And why gather us all here?”

“I don’t know. It might have something to do with the fact that we’ve all travelled through time.”

“Except for Matthew Cole,” said Caroline.

“Yeah,” said Blackmore. “Now he is a mystery.”




Emily led Danny across the car park, took the keys out of her incredibly small handbag and unlocked the small, red sports card parked on it’s own in the ever-increasing fog.

“Nice motor,” said Danny, as she opened the door and climbed into the drivers seat.

“Thank you,” she smiled.

“Look, are you sure about this?” he asked, hesitating opening the passenger door.

“Absolutely.” She patted the seat next to her. “Hop in.”

Danny sighed, looked around, opened the door and got inside.

“It’s a little chilly,” she said, turning on the heating and revving up the engine.

“I feel fine,” said Danny, buckling up his seat belt. “You’re taking this very easily.”

“Well how else should I take it?”

“Emily, I’ve just told you I’m from the future and that I travel in time and space in a 1950’s police box. I’d expect you to be a little sceptical.”

Emily laughed as she put her foot down on the peddle and the car slowly moved forward.

“And now you’re just willing to drive me to Manchester airport? Just like that?”

“Darling,” said Emily, as she turned out of the car park and onto the main road, “you’re so quick to judge.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not as closed-minded as some people.” Her eyes flashed to look at him briefly. “I know there are things out there that are unexplained and one day they’re going to come here. They’re already here.”

“Here?”

“Earth.”

Danny chuckled to himself and then looked back at Emily. “You really believe?”

“I really believe,” she smiled.

Danny had reeled off everything that had happened to him in the last few weeks whilst travelling with the Doctor and Caroline, and Emily had listened intently. Never laughing, never stopping him and never doubting him. And in that time he had forgotten about his quest to track down Adrian and try and save him.

By the time he had finished he felt quite exhausted.

And Emily simply sat there in silence.

“Crazy, huh?” said Danny with a nervous laugh.

“Insane,” said Emily, her eyes fixed on the road ahead.

“But you believe me?”

“I’ve got to,” she said, as they turned onto the motorway. “Either I believe you, or I’m stuck with a lunatic in my car.”

Danny laughed. “No lunatics here.”

“I can see that,” she said, as the car’s speed increased. “Do you not miss home?”

“Sometimes. I miss…people. People more than anything.”

“You mentioned your brother,” she said, as they turned onto the motorway. “What happened to him?”

“No idea,” said Danny quietly. “It happens one morning next year. We wake up and he’s not there. He doesn’t come home from college and, well, that’s that.”

“Did you call the police?”

“Yeah,” said Danny, laughing to himself, “but you know what they’re like. They never found any trace of him. After a while you just end up getting on with your life.”

“But you never forget, do you?”

“No,” said Danny, turning to look at Emily. “No, you never forget.”

The car shot along the empty road, the car headlights illuminating the way. A few gentle snow flakes were beginning to fall.

Danny frowned. “More snow.”

“You could visit him,” said Emily. “Visit Adrian. See if you can find out what’s going to happen to him.”

“I could,” said Danny sadly, “and I still might. But not yet. I need to see the Doctor first. I can’t interfere with time.”

“Why not?” laughed Emily. “As far as I’m concerned this is the present. Shape your destiny, even if it is your past.”

Danny laughed as he rolled down the window.

“It’s freezing,” said Emily with a shudder.

“Not cold enough,” said Danny, feeling the cold night air blow through the window and onto his face.

“Look, I’ve got somewhere I can take you. There’s someone there that can help you.”

“Help me? With what?” Danny was curious.

“With your problem.” Emily turned to look at him. “I have a friend who is quite the expert in time travel theories. He may be able to help you.”

The Vanishing Man, Chapter 4

Some time ago…




All the Doctor could feel was burning. Burning all over his body. He wasn’t even sure how he’d gotten into this state, but he felt like his entire head was on fire. And it all felt so familiar.

He tried to look around, but nothing really stood out. Nothing recognisable. It was dark and he was aware that he was in a large, building, but there was nobody about. He was on his own.

He looked at his hands. They were burning orange. Energy whipping up from them. This had happened so many times before that he had lost count.

He turned to his side and there was the TARDIS in the darkness, it’s blue paintwork illuminated and slightly off-coloured by the orange glow from his body.

He winced in pain and keeled over onto the floor.

“No!” he cried.

Something wasn’t right this time. Something felt different. He knew he was regenerating. It was a natural thing for a Time Lord, but this time it felt different. This time things weren’t going quite so smoothly. That was always the trouble with regeneration. You could never be quite sure what you were going to get.

He clambered up to his feet and leant against his time machine. He tried to focus all of his will power onto just helping him get through this regeneration.

He could feel his face burning.

“Concentrate,” he said through gritted teeth. “Concentrate!”

Finally, with a burst of energy, he flung his arms out to his side and his face exploded in orange light. Finally. It was working.

He could feel himself physically changing. Not just his face, but all over. His clothes were becoming ever so tighter on him and he felt himself grow ever so slightly.

Then, finally, with a scream and a final blast of energy, the orange light dissipated.

And he felt different. Very different.

He grabbed his face and felt around. No hair. He was bald.

And he was aware that something was standing just behind him. He tried to turn, but there was nothing there.

He was about to speak when…

He noticed somebody else standing in the darkness. It was the silhouette of a woman, monitor screens flickering behind her head. He reached out to her and then felt a twinge in his chest.

He fell to the floor, gasping for air.

The woman ran over to him.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “Are you okay? What happened? I tracked your ship. It was on fire. I thought you were going to burn up in the atmosphere.” The woman stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

The Doctor looked up, but she was still in shadow. “My hearts…”

“You’re a Time Lord, aren’t you?” she asked. “I could tell from the specs of your ship. You’re a Time Lord. That’s just brilliant,” she said with a little laugh at the end.

“Please, my hearts…” gasped the Doctor again.

“Okay, sweetheart, hold on. Give me your hand. We’ll get you back to the Lighthouse.”

“Where?” asked the Doctor, taking her cool, thin hand.

“The Lighthouse. It’s my home. It’s pretty cool actually. I can see everything.”

The Doctor could just make out her smiling in the darkness. He was about to say something when he flaked out.

“It really is you!” he heard her say as he lost consciousness.




Now…




The Doctor opened his eyes and Caroline was standing over him. Lying on the floor next to him with an overturned chair by his side was the stranger who Blackmore had been talking to. He was out cold and Blackmore was nowhere to be seen.

“What happened?” asked the Doctor, sitting up and shaking his head.

“There was some kind of flash,” said Caroline. “You and him were both knocked out. It blinded me for a second and when I looked Blackmore was gone.”

The Doctor groaned and rubbed his forehead. “There was a flash from just touching him?”

“Yep.” Caroline walked over to the smartly dressed man. “So far I haven’t been able to wake him up.”

The Doctor crossed over to Cole and opened an eyelid. No response. He took out his screwdriver and ran it over his face.

“Anything?” asked Caroline.

“No. He’s reading as Human. He’s perfectly normal. Except…those strange temporal readings are coming from him.”

“Is that possible?”

“Anything’s possible,”

“We need to get him some help,” said Caroline, looking around. The whole place was deserted. Not a soul in site. “Something doesn’t feel right.”

“How do you mean?” asked the Doctor, clambering to his feet.

“It’s way too deserted here.”

“It is January. And it’s gone midnight.”

“I suppose,” said Caroline, “but surely someone would have noticed us lying about on the floor by now.”

Cole began to stir on the floor.

“Are you alright?” asked the Doctor, crouching over him.

“Was there a bomb?” he groaned, rubbing his head.

“Not exactly.” The Doctor helped him to sit up. “Take it easy.” He sat, crossed-legged in front of him. “You’re bristling with temporal energy. When you touched me, it ignited.”

“I beg your pardon? Temporal energy?”

“Do you have any idea how you could have been infected by it?”

“Infected? What? No. I don’t even know what you mean.”

The Doctor moved away and rubbed his chin. “This is very odd.”

Caroline knelt down beside him. “Hi. My name’s Caroline. What’s your name?”

Cole looked up at Caroline. “Matthew. Matthew Cole.”

“And what are you doing here at this time of night?”

“In the airport?”

“Yeah,” said Caroline, realising that a less confusing tact would work better with the man. “It’s late. Don’t you have a plane to catch?”

“I caught my plane,” said Cole. “I landed a few hours ago. But I can’t leave.”

“Can’t leave?”

There was a sound from the top of the escalators towards the main café area towards T3 departures. It sounded like the scraping of metal.

“Come on,” said the Doctor. “We need to find Blackmore. I’m sure he’s involved in this somehow.”

They helped Cole to his feet and made their way up the escalator. Huge glass windows overlooked the runway. In front of the windows were seating areas and to the left a collection of café’s, fast food restaurants and shops.

“This is spooky,” said Caroline. “Why is it so quiet everywhere?”

“It’s late night,” said the Doctor. “Even airports have to shut down at some point.”

“Yeah, but we’re running around. Why aren’t there any security guards. Surely we look a bit suspicious, lying around on floors and darting up escalators.”

Cole chuckled as they walked slowly past the darkened café’s. “I’ve been here for hours now, and if there’s anything you can be sure of, it’s that nobody seems bothered about what you’re up to.”

“And you,” said the Doctor, spinning around to face Cole, “need to tell me exactly what’s wrong with you.”

“What do you mean?” asked Cole, looking confused but wary at the same time.

“You’re giving off strange readings. You don’t seem quite…right.”

Cole looked at the ground and sighed. “I feel like I’m trapped in a nightmare.”

“What do you mean?” asked Caroline.

“I can’t leave the airport.”

“Why not? What have you done?” asked the Doctor, grabbing a chair from a nearby table and sitting down.

“It’s not anything I’ve done. I arrived, walked through arrivals, got on the train and then appeared back in arrivals. Tried to walk out, get a taxi. No use. And every time I speak to anyone - barring you two, Magnus and a nurse called June - they seem to forget about me. And then there was the earthquake-”

“That must have been when the TARDIS tried to land,” said the Doctor, rubbing his chin in thought.

“The what?”

“And you don’t have any idea how this happened?”

“No idea at all,” said Cole, shaking his head and looking more and more frustrated with the situation.

“And Blackmore? The man you were with?”

“I found him near the sky link. I took him to the medical room. The nurse checked him over. Reckoned he had concussion. Then I bought him a coffee. He said some strange things about the future and asking about whether he was on Earth.”

“That’s because Mr Blackmore - Magnus - is from the future.”

Cole burst out laughing.

“It’s true,” said Caroline. “We met him a while back. He was up to no good on another planet.”

Cole continued to chuckle at the absurdity of it all. “Another planet? Come on!”

“Now listen to me, Mr Cole,” said the Doctor, getting up and staring down at the Scotsman. “Something very peculiar is going on here and I am determined to get to the bottom of it.”

“Okay, okay,” said Cole, holding out his hands, motioning for the Doctor to back down. “I guess after all that’s happened to me today, I can begin to accept that there’s life on Mars.”

“It wasn’t Mars,” said the Doctor, sitting back down and staring blankly out of the huge windows.

And then the metal sound came again. This time from the shadows near to Starbucks.

“What is it?” asked Caroline in a hushed whisper.

“Hello?” shouted the Doctor. “Who’s there?”

“Who are you?” came a metallic, grating reply.

The Doctor swallowed hard. “Show yourself!” he said, getting up.

“Exterminate!” came the metallic voice.




Danny was now down in the bar drinking a vodka and coke. It went down well. He hadn’t had alcohol since the night the ghosts had invaded Thornsby. It seemed like such a long time ago as well.

And now, instead of sitting with Caroline - his friend - he was alone in a boring, plain looking hotel bar with no friends or company.

“That glass isn’t gonna refill itself,” came a female voice from down the bar.

Danny looked up from his glass to his left.

Sitting on a bar stool was a woman in a red dress and black jacket. She had a pale white face, short, dark hair tied back and full red lips. Her eyes were green, and they looked sad.

“Are you going to buy me a drink?” asked Danny, arching his eyebrows.

“Actually, I was hoping you’d buy me one,” she said, moving over to the stool next to him.

“What the hell,” said Danny, motioning for the barman to get them two more vodka and cokes.

“Just a water for me,” said the woman.

Danny frowned. “The water’s free.”

“Exactly,” said the woman. “I’d never expect a complete stranger to buy me a drink. Not until we’d gotten to know each other better.”

Danny smiled as he took a sip from his second glass.

“So, what are you doing here all on your own?”

“I had a falling out with some friends,” said Danny, smiling. “Stupid reasons, of course.”

“Oh, of course. It always is.”

“What about you?”

The woman took a sip of her water, swirling the liquid around in her glass and then looked back at Danny. “I’m on a business trip. Up from Southampton.”

“I thought I recognised the accent,” smiled Danny. “I’ve got an uncle from down there.”

“What’s your name?” she asked, leaning on her elbow.

“Danny Lennon.”

“Emily Reed,” said the woman, extending her hand.

“Nice to meet you, Emily,” said Danny.

“Now, are you going to tell me what’s on your mind?” said Emily.

“I told you,” said Danny. “I had a falling out with my friends.”

“It’s more than that,” said Emily. “Something’s on your mind.”

Danny sighed and drained his glass. “It’s nothing.”

“It’s something.”

Danny looked at her. Her eyes were burrowing deep into his soul. He felt like he couldn’t lie to her anymore. “It’s my brother.”

“Your brother?”

“Yeah. Adrian. He went missing. Or he’s going to go missing.”

“He’s either gone missing or he will go missing. Which one is it?”

Danny closed his eyes. “Emily, would you believe me if I told you that I’m from the future?”

Emily smiled, her full lips ruby-red and glistening. “Tell me more.”

The Vanishing Man, Chapter 3

Matthew Cole and the stranger made their way through the corridor and found the first aid room. It was gone 11pm now and the airport seemed completely deserted. They knocked on the medical room door and a female voice asked them to enter.

When they got inside an middle-aged woman with her hair tied up into a bun got up from behind a desk and crossed over to Cole and the man.

“What happened?” asked the nurse, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the stranger.

“I think it was the earthquake,” said Cole, helping him onto the bed.

“What earthquake?” scoffed the woman.

“Oh, of course,” said Cole. “You’re not going to remember it, are you?”

The woman laughed. “Come on, now. Seriously, please.”

“I think he fell and bumped his head.”

“Do you know him?” asked the woman, who’s name badge revealed was called June.

“Never met him before in my life,” said Cole. “I was just wandering through when I found him crouched on the floor.”

June put her hands either side of the strangers face and looked into his eyes. “How do you feel? What’s your name?”

“My name…? I feel…I feel like I’ve just gone ten rounds with Heaton McBride.”

“Who?” asked Cole.

“He’s a boxer,” said the stranger. “Surely you’ve heard of him.”

“Never,” said Cole.

“What’s your name?” asked June again. “I can’t help you unless you tell me what your name is.”

The stranger winced and screwed his eyes together tightly. He rubbed his forehead and then opened his eyes again, looking at June. “My name? My name’s Magnus. Magnus Blackmore.”




Danny had made his way out of the station and down the road. He then crossed over to a cash machine, took his card out and thought.

Will this card work?

He still had the same account in 2011 that he had back in 2003.

Oh well, he thought, might as well try it. If it eats the card then it eats the card.

He slotted the card into the machine, typed in his pin-code and then pressed to withdraw £100. The machine took a long, long time to respond and then, to his amazement, it worked. His mind started racing as he took the money and placed it in his wallet. He was sure there was something at the back of his mind. A memory of his younger self, back in 2003, complaining to the bank that some money had gone missing and it wasn’t him that had withdrawn it.

He chuckled to himself as he crossed over the road and hailed a cab.

The taxi took him to a nearby Travelodge. As he crossed over to the double doors and towards reception, he caught a glimpse of himself in the glass. He was looking tired and unshaven. What he needed was a good nights sleep and a hot bath.

As he turned to continue heading to reception he thought he caught a glimpse of something else in the glass. Something shadowy. But he dismissed the thought and went to book his room.




Thirty minutes later Danny was lowering himself into a warm, hot bubble bath. It felt good and he felt all of his muscles relaxing. He closed his eyes and let the water surround him until only his face was submerged.

He started thinking back to his life in 2003. It hadn’t been a bad year, really. It was the year that followed that had been difficult. It was then that he had the thought. Surely, if it was 2003, Adrian would still be there. Maybe he could call him. Maybe he could warn him…




Cole watched on as June finished patching Blackmore up. She had put plasters on some of his cuts and had bandaged up his wrist which had been burnt. He had refused to remove an ornate bracelet from the same wrist, however, and had instead moved it up his arm to just below his elbow.

Matthew wasn’t sure who this Blackmore was, but he was pleased that so far he hadn’t forgotten him. And neither had June. That made him feel better. But he still wasn’t sure how to go about explaining to these people that he had turned into some kind of rubber band invisible man, constantly snapping back to arrivals if he tried to leave the airport complex.

“There you are,” said June. “All patched up. Now, where were you headed?”

“I have no idea,” said Blackmore, rubbing a bruise on his cheek.

“You must have some idea,” said Cole.

“I was trying to get back to Earth,” said Blackmore.

Cole looked bemused.

“Earth?” said June. “Oh, my poor love. You must have concussion. Perhaps I should get you an ambulance.”

“No!” snapped Blackmore quickly. “No ambulances. I’m fine. I just need to get out of here and get my bearings.”

“Okay, okay, calm down,” said June.

Cole could sense something wasn’t quite right with this man and crossed over to Blackmore. “Okay, nurse, I’ll see to him. I’ll see if I can get him to a hospital.”

“But he just said-”

“He’s obviously had some kind of trauma,” said Cole, laughing nervously and helping Blackmore off the bed. “I’ll take care of him.”

Cole helped Blackmore out of the room and down the corridor.

“I said I don’t want an ambulance. I don’t need a hospital,” growled Blackmore.

“Don’t worry,” said Cole, “I’m not taking you to hospital. I’m taking you down for a coffee.”

They made their way along the corridor and down the escalator towards T3. All of the café area was closed so they ordered a black coffee from the vending machine and sat down at a small table in the corner.

Blackmore was still looking a little dazed and confused, and then they noticed June walk down to grab a coffee as well. She didn’t bat an eyelid at the two of them.

“Has she forgotten you as well?” asked Cole.

“What do you mean?”

Cole looked at Blackmore. He looked tired and confused and in need of a good sleep. “Nothing.”

“So where am I?”

“Manchester airport.”

“Don’t be stupid. An airport? They haven’t had an airport in centuries.”

“What do you mean?” Cole was getting more and more confused.

“It’s spaceport,” said Blackmore, looking around him.

Cole didn’t know why, but he felt like he could trust this man, despite all the crazy things he had come out with. After all, he was currently stuck in a nightmare of his own.

“Where are you from?” asked Cole.

“Originally? Cambridge.”

“I’m from…somewhere in Scotland…I think,” said Cole, noticing his accent and finding himself slightly confused by it.

“You don’t know where in Scotland?”

“Not exactly. It’s all a bit of a blur.” Cole sipped from his coffee and leaned back in his chair. He gazed into the distance. “I remember arriving at the airport and since then everything’s been a little bit…confusing.”

“In what way?” asked Blackmore.

Cole sighed and leaned forward. “This is going to sound bizarre.”




Some time had passed and Danny was now lying on the bed, in a dressing gown with the TV on which was showing an old comedy show from back in the 1970’s.

He turned his iPhone over and over in his hand, contemplating calling Adrian. It scared him. It had been so long, and he wasn’t really sure what he would even say to him if he did answer.

Finally, stealing his nerve, he dialled the number. His phone had been configured to work wherever and whenever he was by the Doctor.

It rang for a few seconds and then…

“Hello?” came the voice.

It was a familiar voice. A voice he had not heard for seven years. A warm, happy voice. The voice of Adrian.

Danny opened his mouth to speak, closed it, opened it again and then-

“Hello?” came Adrian’s voice again. “Who’s there?”

Danny pulled his phone away from his ear, looked at the touch pad and then pressed the call end button.

He lay there for a long time, contemplating what he had just done and who he had just heard. If he was able to speak to Adrian, perhaps he would be able to go and see him.

And then he thought about what the Doctor had said about interfering in one’s own time stream.

But this was Adrian. He was alive and well and living his life.

“Screw the web of time,” he said to himself.




The train door swished open and the Doctor and Caroline stepped off. It was cold and the platform was deserted.

“Last time I was here,” said Caroline, “was when I was catching a plane to Cologne. Me and Kate went for a weekend at Christmas back in 2005.”

“Charming city,” said the Doctor, as they made their way towards the escalator. “I spent some time there back in the 1800’s. Helped run a medicinal stall with a lovely little old man called Corrinas. Tobias Corrinas. Nice man.”

“I wish we were catching a plane somewhere now,” said Caroline as they stepped onto the escalator.

When they reached the top the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver and began taking readings from around them.

“Anything?” asked Caroline hopefully.

“Hmmm,” said the Doctor, turning on the spot. “There appears to be some kind of temporal field somewhere nearby.”

“Temporal?”

“Time stuff.”

“I know what temporal means,” said Caroline. “But why should it be here?”

“Well that’s why we’re here. To find out.”

“Lead the way,” said Caroline as the Doctor headed towards the sky link.

They strode along the moving conveyor belt towards the other end, the light casting a purple tint to their clothes.

When they reached the end they found themselves at the escalator that led down to T3. They made their way down and walked across the hall, the Doctor occasionally checking his sonic screwdriver and the readings it was gathering.

It was when they passed nearby to the café that the device started making a high-pitched whine.

The Doctor turned around until he reached the spot where the whine was the most high-pitched. Sitting at a table were two men. One he didn’t recognise, and one that he did.

“Oh no,” said Caroline, also noticing who the Doctor had seen. “How did he get here?”

“Mr Blackmore has a time ring, remember. I can only assume that he made his way here via that.”

“I thought he might have been dead,” said Caroline, glumly.

“Steady on, Miss Parker, we can’t wish all the bad guys dead.”

“You know what I mean,” she replied.

“Come on, let’s get this over with.”

They headed over to the table where the stranger and Blackmore were deep in conversation.

The Doctor cleared his throat.

The stranger, Cole, turned around and Blackmore looked up, rolling his eyes.

“Can we help you?” asked Cole.

“No,” said the Doctor, “but we may need to help you if you continue your association with this man.”

“Do you know him?”

“No,” snapped Blackmore. “He doesn’t know me. He’s met me once, very briefly. You can’t know or judge a person on that.”

“Ooh, a little defensive there, Magnus,” said Caroline.

“This man is a killer,” said the Doctor. “A cold, blooded killer, and I have a feeling the Trixatins would like you back on their planet.”

June looked up at the two group of people at the table and then returned back to her coffee.

“What?” asked a confused Cole.

“Don’t start preaching to me, you stupid buffoon,” said Blackmore.

“Give me that time ring,” snapped the Doctor.

“No.”

The Doctor moved forward to grab Blackmore’s arm.

“Now hang on a minute,” said Cole, grabbing the Doctor’s hand, and….

BOOM!

There was a blinding white light…and then darkness…