Death of the Doctor (4 page)

Chapter Seven

Sorry, Clyde

Whether it was that the music had stopped, the soporific candles had gone out, or some sixth sense said that her friends were in trouble, Sarah Jane awoke with a start. And something of a headache.

But she had been in enough tight spots in her time to know that two people who were talking one minute don’t wake up flopped on the floor the next for no reason.That was something she’d picked up from the Doctor and could bet Jo would say the same.

She gently shook her new friend. ‘Jo, wake up.’

Jo’s eyes flickered open, focused on Sarah Jane, and then she sat bolt upright. ‘What did we do?’

Sarah Jane shrugged. ‘I don’t know, but something seems weird.’

Jo looked at her watch. ‘Santiago and the others should have been back ages ago.’

Sarah Jane nodded. ‘I think something’s definitely wrong.’

Jo smiled grimly. ‘We always know when it is, don’t we? Even after all these years.’

They crossed to the door and looked out into the empty corridor, ‘Where is everyone?’

Jo joined her. ‘Big base like this? This can’t be right.’

‘Trouble?’ suggested Sarah Jane..

‘D’you mean “trouble” as in a just-like-the-old-days sort of “trouble”?’

Sarah Jane laughed. ‘Exactly like the old days.’

Jo grabbed Sarah Jane’s hand. ‘Groovy.’ They both ran away down the corridor.

Rani and Santiago were back out in the corridor where they’d first gone into the ventilation shaft. Rani had her hand around the top of Clyde’s trousers and was all but dragging him out.

‘But what were they saying?’ Santiago was asking.

Clyde was out. ‘Later,’ he said. ‘First we need to get to Sarah Jane!’

He and the other two pelted down the corridors, turning left, then right.

‘Where’s everyone gone?’ Rani yelled as they ran. ‘We need to find Colonel Karim and tell her about the Shansheeth!’

‘This way,’ Santiago said. ‘I remember coming through that door!’

Rani stared at the key coder. ‘We need a code.’

Clyde stepped forward. ‘Watch and learn,’ he said. He tapped in 231163 and with a clunk, the door opened.

They were back in the vast car park area, but it was empty of vehicles, apart from the space shuttle-y things, and they’d be no use to them.

‘Perhaps they’re on a training exercise,’ Santiago muttered.

‘Yeah, but this is no use to us,’ Rani said. ‘We need to get back to the bedrooms and –’

But she never finished because Sarah Jane and Jo came full pelt down the corridor towards them and through the door.

‘There you are,’ Sarah Jane said, relieved.

And Clyde told them all what he’d seen and heard.

‘Knew it!’ said Sarah Jane.

‘And if they were lying all along,’ Jo added, ‘that means the Doctor’s still alive, right?’

‘Of course I’m still alive, Jo. I’d have thought that was obvious. Keep up.’

They all turned and stared at Clyde, whose mouth was moving, but the voice he’d spoken with wasn’t his. He looked as shocked as they did.

‘I beg your pardon?’ said Jo.

‘Clyde?’ Sarah Jane was piecing this together. ‘That’s not you, is it?’

Clyde’s mouth moved again, but still it wasn’t his voice. It was an older man’s voice, a bit posher than Clyde’s and very authoritative. ‘Course it’s not him, it’s me! I’m using Clyde as a receiver – I’ve been keying into his residual Artron energy so I can organise a very complicated biological swap across ten thousand light years. Hold on –’

At which point the blue energy crackled not just on Clyde’s hand but halfway up his arm now. ‘That wasn’t me speaking,’ he said in his own voice. ‘I’m getting all – whoa!’ Clyde was staring at his hand that the energy had been around.

And everyone else was staring too – because it was a much larger hand than Clyde’s. And white… ‘This is so not good…’ he started to say, but in a blue flash, he vanished.

And in his place was a man who seemed to be about ten years older than Clyde, a lot taller, in a tweed jacket, tight black trousers, boots and a bow tie over his white shirt. His hair was brown and untidy but his eyes…his eyes burned blue with piercing intelligence.

And he smiled. ‘Sorry, Clyde –’

There was another blue electrical flash, and Clyde was back.

‘Waaaah!’ Clyde was yelling, before he vanished again and was replaced by the older man.

‘This –’ and he was gone.

‘Ouch,’ said Clyde as he reappeared, shook himself and vanished again.

‘Space –’ said the man. And then he was gone. Again.

This happened a couple more times. First Clyde appeared, then the man, then Clyde, all occupying the same space in the corridor.

Finally the man settled. ‘This space is taken.’

And he stayed.

And Clyde didn’t come back.

‘Oooh,’ he said, running his hands through his mass of hair. ‘So. Gosh. That was different.’ And he grinned widely at the others, who all stared at him in shock. ‘Hullo everyone.’

‘Who are you?’ yelled Rani. ‘What have you done with Clyde?’

‘Come on, Rani,’ he said. ‘Use your brain. Clyde and I swapped places, yes? You saw that. I’m where he was and he’s where I was…oh. Oh. Oh, that means he’s in a lot of trouble right now…’

Ten thousand light years away, on an empty, dull rocky planet, covered in cold, damp mists and not a lot else, Clyde stood shivering. ‘Oi!’ he yelled. ‘Someone? Anyone?’

Back on Earth, inside the UNIT base in Mount Snowdon, Sarah Jane was staring at the man who stood in Clyde’s place.

Rani was yelling at him to bring Clyde back, but Sarah Jane held up a hand to hush her. ‘Don’t you see, Rani?’

Rani just stared at her and shrugged in dismay.

Sarah Jane reached out and put her hand to the side of the newcomer’s face and smiled, so, so happily. ‘You’ve done it again, haven’t you? Doctor?’

And the Doctor took her hand. ‘Hullo, Sarah Jane.’

‘That’s the Doctor?’ said Rani incredulously.

‘What Doctor?’ asked Jo. ‘
The
Doctor?
My
Doctor?’

‘He can change his face,’ Sarah Jane said quietly. ‘His whole physical form.’

Jo nodded. ‘Oh, I know about regeneration,’ she said. ‘But into a baby?’

The Doctor laughed. The last time Jo had seen him, he’d been in his…what would it have been? Oh yes. His third body. Tall, grey-haired, dynamic and bright, like a light bulb that never turned off. He’d always quite liked that body.

‘Imagine it from my point of view,’ he said to Jo. ‘Last time I saw you, you were what? Twenty-one? Twenty-two?’ He took her hand, too. ‘What a marvellous life you must have led! Look at you – older, wiser and been out in the sun a lot. Looks like someone’s baked you!’

Jo stared in mock shock at him, and then gave him a huge hug.

After a few seconds, the Doctor unwrapped her from him. ‘So, what’s going on exactly?’ he asked.

‘Umm…ask them?’ Santiago suggested.

And the Doctor turned to see that behind him, the three Shansheeth were entering the huge empty car park.

He adjusted his bow tie and stepped towards them. ‘Yes, right. The Claw Shansheeth of the Fifteenth Funeral Fleet.’

Azure stepped ahead of the other two. ‘I am Azure of the Claw Shansheeth. I’m sorry for your loss.’

‘Blimey,’ the Doctor muttered. ‘It’s like hearing Eeyore on a bad day. When he’s got toothache. Cheerful lot, aren’t you? Now then, I’ve been looking for you. Have you been telling my friends that I’m dead?’

Azure bowed his long neck slightly. ‘I apologise. The Death Notice was released a little too early.’

Amaranth stepped forward. ‘Though we can rectify this.’

Aureolin stepped forward too. ‘Immediately.’

And all three Shansheeth unfurled their wings and rose slowly, almost majestically, into the air and circled the group below.

And all three pointed forwards and down at the Doctor with their twisted clawed hands.

‘We are so sorry for your loss,’ they said in unison and a blast of savage red energy erupted from their combined talons and hit the Doctor squarely in the chest, sending him crashing to the floor and across the ground.

He tried to get up, but a second blast floored him. Sarah Jane and the others could only gasp in horror as he tried to stagger away, but he could only get onto one knee before a third blast floored him completely.

Azure flew down so low his talons almost shredded the back of the Doctor’s jacket.

‘Rest. In. Peace!’ he screeched at the fallen Time Lord.

Chapter Eight

Come along, Smith

Clyde was standing alone. Lost. And it was really quite cold and getting dark. He looked into the alien sky, trying to see where the stars were, but the mist was so low, so thick, that he couldn’t see more than about thirty feet in the air.

After a few moments, the mist parted and Clyde could see part of the night sky. The moon, he could see the moon! He felt a brief feeling of joy as the light moved across the landscape. Then he saw something astonishing – there was a second moon. Slightly bigger than the first.

He wasn’t on Earth, because Earth certainly didn’t have two moons.

‘Thanks, Doctor,’ he muttered. ‘My first alien planet, and no one around to share it with. ’

He shivered.

He listened to see if he could hear anyone or anything else in the area. Something, anything, that would give him someone to talk to, to maybe find out where he was.

But there was nothing except a slight electrical chime coming from back where he’d first arrived. ‘Should’ve stayed put,’ he said out loud. Anything to break the silence.

Moving back to where he’d first appeared, he realised the mist had lifted slightly and now he could see a tall, thin device, shaped like a small, skinny missile.

A missile?

Clyde held his breath. Was it a bomb about to go off?

Veep. Veep. Veep.

A small blue light was flashing up and down the device in time with the “veeping” sound.

Was this a countdown?

‘Doctor…what have you got me into?’

At which moment, Clyde found himself back in the UNIT car park, on the floor.

He looked up – the Shansheeth were flying! Above him!

He looked across, and saw the astonished Sarah Jane, Rani and the others.

‘But I was on a planet...’ he said.

‘Never mind that,’ Sarah Jane yelled, ‘Get up and run!’

Clyde didn’t need telling twice and he followed the rest of the gang back into the thin corridor.

‘They can’t fly down after us!’ Santiago yelled.

But he was wrong – the Shansheeth were now on their sides, their wing tips just missing the floor and ceilings of the UNIT corridor as they expertly glided down it, screeching their awful noise as they pursued them.

Sarah Jane pushed open the door to her bedroom. ‘In, in, in!’ she yelled.

And then stopped. Instead of Clyde, she was again facing the Doctor.

‘Come along, Smith,’ he smiled and pulled her into the room.

‘Sarah Jane, Jo, Rani, pretty boy whose name I don’t know, all here, marvellous!’ The Doctor was counting them off as they went into the room.

He went to slam the door shut, but a female UNIT officer was suddenly standing there.

‘I’m sorry,’ she was saying, ‘is there a problem?’

The Doctor slammed the door in her face. Then he reopened it just a crack. ‘Sorry,’ he said quietly, ‘that was rude of me. Nevertheless…’ and he slammed the door again.

He turned to face the others. ‘Need to lock the door.’

‘Sonic screwdriver?’ suggested Jo, relishing saying the words again.

‘Don’t have it on me,’ he said. Then looked at Sarah Jane. ‘Sonic lipstick?’

Sarah Jane got it out of her pocket and zapped the door.

‘They do sonic lipsticks now?’ asked an incredulous Jo.

‘We’re running out of time,’ the Doctor said. ‘Clyde and I keep swapping places.’

‘We noticed,’ Rani said.

‘I need you, Sarah Jane. And you, Jo.’ And he grabbed both their hands.

‘What do you need me for?’ Jo asked him.

‘Remember the days when we’d go zooming off to faraway worlds?’

Jo nodded.

And they all vanished in a blue flash.

Rani and Santiago found themselves facing an astonished Clyde again.

‘I feel space-sick,’ Clyde said.

Rani reached forward to steady him. ‘Where were you?’

Clyde took a deep breath. ‘I was on another planet.’ And he grinned. ‘Another planet! Wow! That’s just sunk in!’

Santiago crossed to the door. ‘Someone’s outside,’ he whispered. ‘I think it’s that Colonel woman.’

There was a tap on the door, and then Colonel Karim’s voice came from outside.

‘I’m sorry? Can I help you in there? Is something wrong?’

Santiago went to open the door but Rani pulled him away, shaking her head.

‘But she’s on our side, isn’t she?’

‘Think about it,’ said Rani. ‘The Doctor avoided her, but why? Because someone inside UNIT had to fake the DNA results – Colonel Karim! She must be in league with the Shansheeth!’

At which point there was a crash as the ventilation grille in the corner of the room fell to the floor, and the little blue Groske was there.

‘Hurry, hurry,’ he said urgently. ‘Follow me!’

And once again, the three teens found themselves following the diminutive alien into the maze of metallic ducting.

Outside in the corridor, Colonel Karim had her ear pressed to the door, and then she moved back and faced the three Shansheeth, now with wings folded, looking malevolently at the door, as if wishing their stares could burn through it to the people within.

‘They have powers unforeseen,’ Azure said.

Karim nodded. ‘Not as daft as they look, for two batty pensioners and a bunch of ASBO kids.’

‘How did they summon the Doctor?’ was Amaranth’s question, but Karim had no answer. ‘Good thing I had the base cleared, sent everyone away on manoeuvres, otherwise half this base would be asking the same question! And you lot flying around, screaming your heads off, aren’t helping. Now, all I can do is shut the place off completely, activate all the internal security measures for a few hours and keep this lot trapped. And while I’m doing that, you should go and get everything prepared in the Funeral Chamber.’

The Shansheeth looked at one another and then with a defiant sweep of his cloak, Azure led them away.

Shaking her head and then throwing a last angry look towards the door, Colonel Karim headed after the aliens.