Doctor Who: The Time of the Companions: Book One (Doctor Who: The Companions Adventure 1)

by Cour M.

  “But Mr. Smith,” Clara magnified, “There are two planets here.”

  “Yes, and the other one is called Jexari. It was a scary thing, but I was there to see it happen after the Time War.”

  “What was the Time War?”

  “Oh, it was nothing. Just a galactic war long ago. The people on Uxarieus were scared so I went to see it. Jexari was pushed off its axis, for reasons that we don’t know why or how, and it began to make its way to Uxarieus, and then suddenly in between it, the black hole erupted. I remember doing everything I could to help, but I could think of nothing, for a black hole’s power is almost unbeatable, sucking everything into it until it finally collapses all together.”

  “You must have felt helpless, and very lost,” Clara commented, feeling hopeless and empathetic.

  Nine read her expression and felt as if it mirrored his own inner torment.

  “Well, it would not have been the first time,” Nine admitted. “But then, when all was at its bitterest end, the most incredible thing happened.”

  “What?”

  “The black hole just froze. Like you see. A scientific impossibility.”

  “John Smith, I just learned today that there are two men with blue police boxes that can travel through time and space,” she laughed, “impossible things are happening every day, it appears.”

  “True, but this—well, it was a new sort of strange. The sort of strange that I never wished to see again really, for I never discovered the bottom of it. But there it is, two planets sharing the same bit of space with a black hole between them.”

  “A black hole that is frozen in time.”

  “Yes. Frozen.”

  “Is it because of the black hole that the planets are not colliding into each other? Is it keeping them both from collapsing under any sort of gravitational pull?”

  “Good,” Nine commented, quite impressed, “very good thinking! You’re a clever one. Yes, that was the only deduction I could ever really make. And yet, Clara, I feel as if there is something else. Some other reason that is out of the corner of my eye, and I’m missing it. Missing it so terribly.”

  “Well,” Clara smiled, “We won’t get any answers just by remaining floating up here and, you know, not investigating.”

  “We might die.”

  “We might not,” Clara countered, hopeful.

  “Good again,” Nine approved happily as he closed his doors and then they rode the TARDIS down toward Uxarieus and landed right outside of its capital.

  “We have now landed in Boston, the present capital city of Uxarieus.”

  “It’s called Boston?”

  “What can you do?” Nine laughed, “not everyone is good at being original.”

  “But is it a safe city to walk around in?” Clara sauntered up next to him, “They would not attack us just because we showed up in the middle of their city?”

  “Of course not,” Nine dismissed, wiping his hand, “they have too many people walking around to care about a blue box that suddenly appeared out of nowhere.”

  Nine and Clara emerged from the TARDIS and were met by thirty men with their guns raised at them.

  

  Raising up their arms in surrender, Clara looked up at Nine.

  “You were saying?” She put in.

  “For the love of…! I swear, one day I shall say that and won’t emerge to guns pointed at me.”

  “This has happened to you before?”

  “Of course it has. Stay around me long enough.”

  “Silence!” One of the soldiers demanded. She came up to them, her gun still raised and she focused at them both long and hard. “State your name and intent.”

  “I’m Clara and I’m just with him.”

  “She really is just with me,” Nine confirmed, “now if you don’t mind, I’m just going to reach in and pull out my identification. I promise, that is all it is.”

  “Hold up a moment,” She said, removing an instrument from her pocket and sweeping it over their forms. “No weapons are detected,” she reported.

  “Oh a weapon detector,” Nine grinned, “how quaint.”

  “Ah, so that’s your definition of quaint,” Clara smirked.

  “Yes, it is.”

  Nine removed his psychic paper from his pocket and showed it to the soldiers.

  “There,” he confirmed, “I believe that this shall suffice.”

  The leader of the group read the paper and her shoulders relaxed.

  “Ah, welcome Governor Smith,” She greeted, “it’s nice to know that the Galactic Alliance is willing to assist us with this new crisis on our hands. And also, your assistant is welcome as well.”

  “Oh, great,” Clara put in, not sure why the woman would make such an assumption and then she looked at the paper that John Smith had brandished and it did in fact list Clara as his secretary. But they had just met!

  “I am Captain Cressa Nestor, head of Sector 9’s unit, and if you require it, I would like to escort you to headquarters so that the issue can be quickly addressed.”

  “Captain Nestor, I should like that very much,” Nine welcomed, clapping his hands. “Step lightly, Miss Oswald. The sooner that we confront the crisis, the sooner we can help these good people come to a conclusion.”

  Nine wrapped his arms around Clara to lead her onward and she dutifully followed as the soldiers made a phalanx around them and led them onward, through the streets, toward a set of hover vehicles.

  “Why did that paper say that I was your secretary?” Clara whispered.

  “I’ll explain later.”

  “It’s impossible.”

  “What can I say, I’m an impossible man.”

  “And it said that you are governor in the Galactic Alliance.”

  “Think of it is a space parliament.”

  “Yeah, I got that, bless you though. But that’s what you are? You’re a politician?”

  “On certain days, yes I am. See, what did I tell you? I’m impossible.”

  They entered the hover crafts with a few soldiers, including Captain Nestor, and they departed.

  “Just curious,” Clara asked, “When we landed, why were there so many guards about and ready to arrest us?”

  “Our apologies sir and ma’am,” Captain Nestor said, “but there are many of us guards on the main streets today. Naturally, as you know, it’s due to all that has been going on in the last couple of days.”

  “Right, yes that thing.”

  Clara leaned into Nine.

  “So, what is this event that you know about?”

  “Actually I really have no idea what they are on about, so let’s find out, shall we?”

  Nine leaned forward and looked at Captain Nestor.

  “Forgive me, but before I left for Uxarieus, I was briefed on the subject really quickly, and I am not sure that I have all my information correct. Therefore, please, in your entirety, can you tell us about the incident from your perspective, Captain?”

  “I would prefer it, because I never really trust reports. They have a bad habit of leaving things out very often.”

  “I could not agree more.”

  “Two days ago, Uxarieus welcomed the arrival of seven illegal aliens, all coming from the planet Earth. All seven of them arrived at different times, but it was in the same vicinity of each other. Each time they arrived, they had no idea how they had arrived, what brought them there, or anything. None of them bore a time vortex manipulator, any concept of the thing, and when we ran them through our databases, the information was conclusive, but it was clear that they were normal, everyday individuals. I was actually present where the first one arrived, and I was the first guard on sight when the second arrival was reported.”

  “So what you are saying is that seven random people from Earth were teleported here to Boston?” Clara summed up.

  “Yes.”

  “What are the individuals’ names?”

  “And can you recall their places and eras of origin? Sorry if we are as
king for too much information that you do not have on hand.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, I remember them all pretty well. For I spent the entire morning staring at their information, trying to find any similarities. One’s name is Euripides, and he informed us that for him, he was last in 438 B.C. in Macedonia before he just suddenly appeared here in our time. The other was named Virgil, from a place called Rome, and he claims he was in the year that we have listed as 29 B.C. The next one who arrived was named Ethel Waters, who kept claiming that she was just in a state called New York in 1925, then half an hour later came a woman writer from the 1800s named Emily Bronte, and then another was named Jeannette Picard, who’s appearance followed Ethel’s by no more than ten minutes. She was from the 1930s. Then there was Guy Fawkes from England in the year of 1605. And the last was named Wolfgang Mozart in the Czech Republic in 1791.”

  “Euripides?!” The Doctor blurted out.

  “Virgil?” Clara gasped.

  “Ethel Waters?”

  “Emily Bronte?”

  “Jeannette Picard?”

  “Guy Fawkes?”

  “And Mozart!” Clara and the Doctor said in unison and then they gave each other a look.

  “Whoa, that was weird,” Clara noted.

  “Yes, it was.”

  “You sound surprised,” Commander Nestor observed.

  “Oh,” Clara lied, “we were just told that you had gained seven aliens, and that was it. The report did not give the names and times of the individuals.”

  “They did not? See that is why I don’t trust reports.”

  “And you are right not to.”

  Clara winked at Nine, who could not deny being secretly content at how quickly she was learning the necessity of lying.

  

  “Yet there is no real pattern other than that. Only two of them were taken from the same time period. Their looks, background, everything… it’s all different.”

  “But not their fame,” Clara acknowledged.

  “Precisely,” Nine stressed.

  “Their fame?” Captain Nestor echoed.

  “I don’t know all of them, but about the majority of them were famous.”

  “Not just the majority of them,” Nine elaborated, “but all of them. Euripides was a famous Ancient Greek playwright, Virgil was a legendary Roman poet, Emily Bronte will write one of the most iconic novels in the English language, Jeannette will be the first woman to reach the stratosphere, Ethel Waters was a brilliant singer and actress, Guy Fawkes was a… well, I cannot think of a better word than terrorist, and Mozart is a famous composer and musician. He’s a genius.”

  “And these people are really all here?” Clara could not believe it, “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Seven famous people from Earth’s history and all of them are congregated here,” Nine said.

  “All of them were brought here,” Clara magnified.

  “So it begs the question of what, then.”

  Nine was silent for a moment and Clara looked at him.

  “Could it be similar to my situation?” She asked him.

  “Your situation?”

  “The one I told you about. The one with the Doctor, when there was this organization that sucked people inside the internet, harvesting off them for… whatever reason it was. These people, could they have been transferred here because they are being harvested for something?”

  “Good thinking,” Nine admitted, “I like that, and it could be, but it could always not be so very simple as that. But if it is, then we are lucky.”

  “Why?”

  “Because for me, things are never that simple.”

  Nine smiled to himself.

  “And what is that smile for?”

  Nine looked at her in surprise.

  “You really don’t know?”

  “No, I don’t.”

  “Clara Oswald, we are about to meet seven famous people sucked through time in space and teleported to a random planet which they have no idea what is going on, and there’s a black hole next to it. I’m not sure that I have ever been happier.”

  “We’re about to meet Mozart!”

  “Yes, we’re about to meet Mozart! Fantastic!”

  

  They were taken to the Citadel, which was the main hall of Uxarieus, travelled to the third floor and led along a corridor while Nine gave the guards full information of each person.

  “Euripides will go on to be a legendary Greek playwright, writing great epic plays such as ‘Electra’, ‘Alcestis’, the ‘Trojan Women’.”

  “And ‘Medea’,” Clara listed as well.

  “And then Virgil will go on to write an epic poem called ‘The Aeneid’, which follows the adventures of Aeneas, the Trojan who founded the city of Rome.”

  “Aeneas was kind of a massive jerk when I recall it,” Clara inferred.

  “They were ancient Greek heroes, Clara. They all kind of were that way. Then in the 1600s, Guy Fawkes will be involved in a plot to blow up King James I, but truth is he was not even the main one to organize it all. He was just a lackie to the main plotter, but for some reason, people remember Guy Fawkes, and on Earth they celebrate Guy Fawkes Day.”

  “It’s where we light bonfires and fireworks, in celebration of the failed plot,” Clara put in.

  “Fawkes and the other 12 conspirators were caught and hung to death for their crimes,” Nine continued, “and Ethel Waters was a blues singer and actress in theater and film. She was an iconic woman in America, being the first woman to sing St. Louis Blues on stage. Emily Bronte wrote the novel ‘Wuthering Heights’, a book that was criticized at the time, but gained enough popularity that it got her into Westminster Abbey. Jeanette Picard, well, I told you already.”

  “But all these individuals,” Captain Nestor noted, “I do believe what you are speaking of is their future and not their past. After all, Guy Fawkes is still alive.”

  “Yes, he is.”

  “Mr. Smith,” Clara said, “what do we do about that?”

  Nine did not answer the question, but they only followed Captain Nestor to the room that they were all being left in.

  “Seven people from seven different eras, containing seven different habits, beliefs and prejudices, and you put them all in the same room,” Nine declared.

  “They have been told of where they are, and we thought companionship is better than isolation.”

  “Well…”

  Nine and Clara were shown into the room where seven individuals sat down in different seats and then stood up when they entered.

  Clara did not know what to think as she beheld all seven of them. Blimey, she had heard of them all, knew the weight and magnitude of them, but here they were, before her. Average and everyday people, while also being giants.

  “Hello,” Ethel Waters stood up, “Are you here to help us?”

  “Or are you just here to ask us more questions?” Virgil asked, “for we have told you all.”

  “Let’s let them talk,” Jeannette Picard said, “we may learn something new.”

  “Oh, you’re good,” Nine smiled, “but of course you are.”

  From behind the rest of them, another man stepped forward, his 17th century clothing clashing with the background as much as Virgil’s toga and even more than Euripides’s chiton.

  “Please,” he said, “I was attending a premiere and I must return. I have a wife and family and I must get back.”

  “Indeed, we all have those,” Emily Bronte said.

  Clara took a step forward to the man in his 17th century garb, mystified and then she walked up to him and pressed her hand against his chest, amazed that he was real.

  “You… you are Mozart?”

  The man blinked, but then he nodded.

  “Yes, I am.”

  There before Nine and Clara, was Wolfgang Mozart himself.

  Chapter 10

  The Girl Who Forgot

  Landing his TARDIS in the middle of Hyde Park, for the tenth tim
e, Twelve waited for the phone call from Kate Stewart—he had given her the number to the cell phone that he had stored away… the phone that Martha Jones had called a few times before, but had never used again.

  Eventually it wrung and Twelve picked it up.

  “Come on then, give me the good and bad news all at once,” he said.

  “We did it Doctor,” Kate continued, “throughout the day we have made sure that every media camera has subtly shown your TARDIS as it was placed in the park. At some point, some angels would have seen it and they will find you there.”

  “And did you make sure that no one is in the park?”

  “Yes, all have been informed to leave the park hours ago due to a rumored gas leak somewhere that we’ll have to make up later on. The park has been evacuated.”

  “Good.”

  “Doctor,” Kate said over the phone, “I don’t understand, why don’t you just fly your TARDIS to the year 4000 and find out what’s going on?”

  Twelve whispered his answer and Kate eventually understood.

  “Good luck, Doctor.”

  “Thank you, Kate Stewart. Oh and this will be a strange thing to say, but if all goes to plan, you probably will not see me again for a while.”

  “I know,” Kate confirmed, then she hung up. The Doctor placed the phone in the compartment and then he looked around at his TARDIS. “Well, old girl. I’m going to miss you.”

  He more so imagined the groan that the TARDIS made rather than actually it occurring, but he felt it all the same. The clock read 2:59, and he did not have to look at his screen because he felt their presence somehow. Angels were frightening, but in the end, there was one thing that made them quite predictable. There was always one thing.

  3:00

  Gathering his resolve, Twelve walked to the TARDIS doors, opened them and standing there, twenty yards away, there were three Weeping Angels.

  All three of them had their hands lowered from their eyes, looking at him, smiling.

  “I know that there are no more than you,” Twelve said to them, “because you have learned since the last time to not get too close when I am in this TARDIS. So you shall wait till I close the door, like this,” Twelve closed the door. “Then you shall wait till I have taken a few steps forward, like this. For you don’t want the incident that occurred when we first met to return. No you do not.” Twelve took a few steps forward and stood before them. “How many times we have come in contact with each other, Angels, and at first I thought it all coincidence, but now I wonder if it’s something more. Now I wonder if you have the courage.” He took a few more steps forward, “Do you really have the courage to try and challenge me again? For don’t forget, I have outrun you time and time again, saved from you, lost from you, and what you have to understand, is that the losses make me more dangerous than ever. So if I blink… what will you do? If I dared blink.”