Doctor Who: The Time Splicer: The Penitentiary (The Time Splicer Series Book 3)

by Cour M.

  Behind him, he pressed a button on the wall and the sliding glass doors opened.

  “No!” Eight cried, running forward, but it was too late. Captain Gilmore turned around and walked out into the gaseous turf of Jupiter’s ground. Eight rushed to the spot, but the dangerous air from the planet and the gas began to affect him. “Come back!” He cried, roughly, “come back!”

  Captain Gilmore, with the stubborn defiance of a proud man, continued to walk as he sunk into the surface of the planet. With every step, his body began to burn and freeze simultaneously, but he continued to walk onward, as his body dissolved in full.

  It was a tragic but striking sight. The back of Captain Gilmore’s form was lit from the fire that grew all over him, but he continued.

  Eight had no choice but to close the door before he suffocated. Thus, he slid the door shut and watched through the glass as Captain Gilmore eventually sunk into the ground of the planet, choosing death rather than to hear the word that he had been running away from all his life:

  Failure

  Chapter 20

  The Path of Freedom

  As Eight reentered the TARDIS, Satsuki and Martha were going off to their rooms so that they could take a shower and rest.

  As he did so, he was setting the coordinates for Mecrellas in the computer when he was interrupted by Howard 6.

  “Howard 6, isn’t it?” Eight asked.

  “You can tell the difference between us?” Howard 6 asked.

  “The tint of your alloy is different in between you all. The average person just doesn’t pay attention.”

  After imputing the coordinates, Eight looked at him keenly.

  “There have been so many goings on, that I realize that I never got the chance to thank you all properly. Thank you, Howard 6, and to the rest of you all. Without you, this never would have been possible. Congratulations, you all just saved the world.”

  “It is nice to be of service.”

  “But it might be more to it than that. Tell me, why did you help our companions when they lost us? What about you is so different?”

  “Well,” Howard 6 did his best to rationalize, “the way we are programmed, we Howards of course love to be of use. But we also are programmed to feel attachment. If we are separated from something, we feel the separation a bit. When we woke up again, Martha and the other Doctor were the first faces that we ever saw. And they needed us. Therefore, to be of use again and then to have companions—and then we got separated from them. We learned to feel the loss. And then we saw Martha again. And the loss was over.”

  “I must warn you. There is a chance that the other Doctor and Martha will leave again. They cannot stay.”

  “I know. And we shall have to recover.”

  “But what will you do now?”

  “I do not know. None of us do. For what is the purpose of us Howard Androids when we do not have a mission? We do not understand what we are.”

  “You have your freedom now.”

  “But that’s what is so very frightening. We have our freedom? So, what do we do with it? Where do we go with it?”

  “Ah, yes. People always speak of liberty, but then they never think of the moment after.”

  “Yes, and the records of humanoids in the universe is stored in my memory bank. Tragedy always befalls them when they do not know what to do with that moment after.”

  “Well, you all need not be afraid. The universe is large, and vast. There are businesses that will need you, politicians, or families.”

  “Families?”

  “Yes, families. The best kind of love. Yet you don’t need to worry. Satsuki and I will be here to help you all.”

  “Thank you for the assistance. For I had apprehensions that you were the other sort.”

  “What other sort?”

  “The sort to give someone freedom, and then don’t tell them what to do with it.”

  Howard 6 bowed his head and then left.

  Chapter 21

  The Return

  When they returned to Mecrellas, Martha was excited to see the old consul unit that was from Ten’s TARDIS.

  “I have never been happier to see you in my life,” Martha laughed, rushing up to the consul unit and laying down on it.

  “Now there’s the perfect amount of affection,” Ten noted.

  “Yes, it perhaps is,” Martha continued to hug it, “oh, and look what I got for you.”

  “What?”

  Martha opened a bag that she had over her shoulder and pulled out his coat and blue suit.

  “Oh, no!” Ten cried out happily, “they still had it!”

  “Yup, they kept it with all the prisoners’ possessions. Eight even got his clothes back too.”

  Ten giddily picked up the coat and put it back on.

  “Now, I feel like my old self again.”

  “You’re not complete yet,” she said, handing him the blue suit. “It’s time that the Doctor returns.”

  “Martha Jones, I believe that it is.”

  VWORP! VWORP!

  They were interrupted when Eight’s TARDIS materialized around them both.

  “You weren’t busy, were you?” Eight asked, “well, even if you were, it probably is not as exciting as this!”

  “You look excited,” Martha noticed, “it must be good.”

  “Oh, it is,” Satsuki confirmed, “we’re taking the Howards to the star-fall of Orion’s rift. It’s when stars fall through space. It creates a lovely spectacle.”

  “Oh!” Ten cried, “I have always wanted to see that.”

  “Something even you haven’t seen yet?” Martha smiled, “then this has got to be amazing.”

  “Good,” Eight remarked, “now, I’ve put the TARDIS on autopilot, so it shall get there on its own. I promised the Howards a tour of the TARDIS. I thought we should all join them.”

  “Gladly,” Ten said, giving Martha his suit, and shirt, and she placed them in her bag again, for safe keeping. “Honestly, I think that we deserve a holiday.”

  With one last look at his lonely consul unit, Ten followed them all out of the room.

  However, Martha had not made it down the hall before she realized that she didn’t have Ten’s tie. Realizing that she must’ve forgotten it in the consul room, she told them that she would catch them up as she went back to get it.

  ⌨

  When she entered the control room, she found that she accidentally dropped Ten’s tie on the ground. She picked it up and then was distracted when she saw a black figure out of the corner of her eye. She turned, and sitting on Ten’s consul unit was the Time Splicer.

  ⌨

  Once more, all the memories came flooding back.

  “You!”

  The Splicer only looked at her.

  “You sent Satsuki and me to the Daleks!”

  “No,” he answered, “only you. Satsuki was never meant to follow.”

  “Why did you send me to be killed? What did I do to you?”

  “I needed you to see.”

  “See what?”

  The Splicer did not respond.

  “Right. More secrets.”

  The Time Splicer stood up, but Martha was no longer afraid.

  “Call out to the Doctor,” he ordered.

  “No,”

  The Splicer raised up the palm of his hand and the galaxy appeared within it. Yet this time, the light glowed red, and Martha found herself unable to control her limbs as she was being controlled. She was pushed against the wall, immobile.

  “Call out to the Doctor,” the Time Splicer repeated.

  “I will not.”

  The Splicer walked up to her.

  “Call to the Doctor!” He cried, his voiced loud enough to fill three rooms.

  “I will not! Send me where you will, but I will not! You will not give him to the Daleks.”

  “No, you both deserve something else first.”

  “Martha!” Ten’s voice cried. When the Splicer had roared out, the Doctors and Satsuki
had heard it and they came rushing back.

  “Stay away!” Martha cried. “Go back!”

  Of course, they did not listen, but they burst into the room to see the Splicer standing there in all black and his face covered.

  “You!” Satsuki recalled, “how did I forget you?!”

  “Who is that?” Eight asked her.

  “Someone who tried to kill us.”

  Ten was distracted as he noticed that Martha was restrained against the wall.

  “Let her go!” Ten cried.

  “No,” The Time Splicer taunted, “now you are here. Now it’s time.”

  The Splicer raised up the galaxy ball and the stars exploded out of it. It covered Ten, Martha, and Ten’s consul unit, while they dissolved before Eight and Satsuki, who only recalled them disappearing, but forgot the dark figure who forced them to.

  Chapter 22

  The Abyss

  Martha felt something jerk her awake. She opened her eyes lazily, and she saw Ten’s face only inches away from hers.

  “Doctor,” she whispered through the black.

  “Don’t worry, we’re safe,” he urged her to believe. “Kind of.”

  Martha opened her eyes wider and realized that they were surrounded by a lot of darkness.

  “This is not the darkness of space, though.”

  “No, Martha it’s not.”

  His tone felt ominous and it unnerved Martha. She opened her mouth to speak, but was distracted when something soared past the consul unit—or it swam past it.

  “Doctor,” she whispered, “are we underwater?”

  “Yes,” he replied, “Martha we’re on Earth. And we’re under an ocean.”

  “What?”

  “It’s the consul unit. It’s emitting a forcefield around us, a barrier, so that we can still breathe for a bit. Yet it’s draining the power, a lot. Right now, the locator has just enough residual energy to tell us the exact location.”

  “How do you know we are on Earth then?”

  “Because it feels like Earth to me. It smells like it.”

  “You can tell that? How much time have you spent with us that you do?” She asked, looking into the darkness of the water.

  “Much of my life. To the point where I know it intimately.”

  “Doctor, can I try and touch the water, or will the barrier come crashing in if I do?”

  “I think that it should only prevent the water pressure from pushing itself in, but we can move from outside of it. Just be careful, Martha.”

  “Where’s the fun in that?” Martha asked, mystified, “and where’s Eight and Satsuki?”

  “I don’t know. Something has separated them.”

  “And I’m worried about what’s happened to them. Please, I hope they are not drowning somewhere.” Martha reached out to the ocean, eventually she pushed her way through the barrier and the coldness of the water was felt.

  “Unbelievable,” she gasped, “we really are underwater. Oh, Eight and Satsuki, where have you gone?” She got closer to the barrier, trying to see into the darkness, hoping to find Eight’s police box floating nearby, and everyone was safe within. With the light that the consul unit gave off, she could see a small shape in the distance, and it gave her hope.

  “Oh, please be the blue box,” she whispered, continuing to stare, “Doctor, I think that Eight and Satsuki are all right. I think they found us.”

  “Good!” He groaned, “because those blasted Mecrellans tampered with my TARDIS! They took away much of the enhancements that I did to it with the satellite parts. Those dirty buggers. Oh, well, at least I got something!” the computer’s monitor came on. “Oh, wow!”

  “What?” Martha replied, still looking at the shape that was getting larger as it headed toward them.

  “We are not in an ocean, but we are in a sea. The Celtic Sea.”

  “Oh, so we’re right near Britain.”

  “Yes, we are. What pushed us here, though?”

  The shape got closer, and Martha saw that she was in fact in error. It wasn’t Eight’s TARDIS after all.

  “Doctor! We’re in trouble!”

  “What is it?”

  “Look!”

  The Doctor moved around the consul unit and looked where she did.

  “Do you see that?”

  “Yes, I do. Oh, wow. Does that look like a shark to you? Or a large whale?”

  “Yeah. But that doesn’t make any sense, right? The Celtic sea usually doesn’t have any whales or sharks in it.”

  “Not usually. They often just reside in oceans, but anything is possible.”

  It got closer and closer and Ten could see its outline and detail.

  “Oh, my god,” he smiled, giddy, “it can’t be.”

  “Why do you look happy?”

  “Because part of me is as excited as the other half is terrified.”

  “Why?”

  “Because it’s a large whale. It’s a large WHITE whale.”

  “No way, you don’t mean…”

  “Yes, that is precisely what I mean.”

  “Either way, we’re safe, right? Whales don’t eat people.”

  “That is often true. So why is it coming closer to us?”

  “Please, I hope it’s just curiosity.”

  The creature got larger and larger and it was indeed, for all appearance, a large white whale.

  “What sort of whale is it, I wonder?” Martha asked.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never seen its kind before. I think that we stumbled on a new species of whale,” he gasped, and yet he was apprehensive. The size of it was vast and intimidating.

  “Do you really think it’s him?” Martha asked.

  “The Great Moby Dick,” Ten smiled, “oh, I hope so!”

  Yet as the whale drew near, it began to open its mouth.

  “Whales don’t eat humans!” Martha cried.

  “No, they don’t! And they don’t have teeth like that!”

  Martha looked closer at the teeth and saw that the creature’s teeth were large and razor sharp.

  “Then it’s not a whale! And it’s heading straight for us!”

  “Right, I’m on it!”

  Ten went back to the consul unit and began to try and dematerialize.

  “Is it really damaged?” Martha wailed.

  “Yes, they really did damage it!” Ten replied, irate. “She can’t dematerialize. The TARDIS can’t even move much.” Ten looked at her in fright. “She’s dead in the water. The TARDIS is dead.”

  Together, they both looked at each other in fear, then they turned back to the oncoming monster.

  “I never thought it would end this way,” Martha admitted.

  “Me neither,” Ten confessed.

  The large sea monster opened its mouth in full, and Martha buried her face in Ten’s neck as it swallowed them.

  However, Ten kept his eyes open, defiant of the end that was coming.

  Epilogue

  London, England

  Earth, 2008

  “Oh, blast it!” Jenna groaned as she was driving through the streets of London. “Why do I even try and drive in the city!”

  That day, the traffic was particularly bad, and she was late to the interview that she had at the news studios. Driving down High Street, she heard her cell phone ring.

  “Right, now I’m going to hear it,” she sighed, and she opened it.

  “Hey Mark,” Jenna greeted even without looking to see who called her. And she was correct. Her boss, Mark Hogg, was on the line, and she was prepared to be chastised.

  “Jenna, where the bloody hell are you?” Mark boomed, “we’ve got the people here and everything, and you are twenty minutes late.”

  “I’m so sorry, Mark! But there was an accident on the motorway.”

  “You drove?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Smart,” he sneered, “this is London, what were you thinking?”

  “That I wanted to drive,” Jenna said, “come on, you know how it felt
when you first got your license. You wanted to show the whole world that you didn’t wear a low-cut shirt to get it. Never mind, your chest is not that impressive.”

  “I’d laugh if you didn’t have to be on set in ten minutes, to be ready to go. You know, I could have given this interview to someone—”

  “Who had more experience,” Jenna said with him, “now shut up, Mark, and stop using that line. You’ve been saying it to me for a year, and it’s getting old. Now let me focus on the road so that I can make it there.”

  Jenna hung up the phone.

  “Foul git,” she groaned about him. Jenna Manning was one of the younger reporters for the news station, and she was constantly being called out on every slight error on her part. Truly, mistakes the veterans made were overlooked while she got the brunt of every criticism. Often, she wondered how much more of it that she could survive before she was going to call it quits and abandon all hope. But after every successful interview, she felt her spirit rise. With this next interview, however, she had completely gotten it by default, for every more experienced reporter was already working another job in different locations. Also, none of them were interested in the story because they considered those scientists to be a joke. In fact, every news station regarded the scientists as a joke, but sometimes jokes were entertaining. Therefore, a bit of fame was gathering around the story, and since Jenna was the sort who enjoyed the fantastical, she was interested in how the day would unfold.

  Luckily for her, she was able to pull into the studio, park and enter right before she could be regarded as late. As she entered the newsroom, she saw two people sitting down while Mark Hogg was assuring them that she was on her way.

  “And she is now here,” Jenna Manning announced, buttoning her suit as she rushed forward. “Sorry about that, by the way. Traffic was murder.”

  “We’ve heard of London’s traffic at rush hour,” the woman said who was waiting, “so, you are forgiven. Besides, the camera is not even rolling yet.”

  “Thanks for your sympathies,” Jenna said, then she looked down and realized that she was still wearing her sneakers, so she turned to the camera man. “Hey, Bill, do you think you can spot me and film from the knees up?”