by Derek Landy
‘The Land of Fiction isn’t even in this reality.’
‘You’re an intelligent being,’ said the Ch’otterai. The swirling was calmer now that it was growing in confidence. ‘I’m sure you can find a way. Put your mind to it or perish.’
Martha let go of the Doctor and got ready to leap towards the TARDIS. The Doctor slipped his hands into his pockets.
‘There might be something I can do,’ he said. ‘I have an emergency unit onboard. I won’t bore you with the details, but it could allow us to slip sideways through dimensions. Technically, you wouldn’t even leave this space you’re haunting. It’s quite dangerous, however. There’s no guarantee Martha and I could ever return once we’ve delivered you. I don’t think it’s a good –’
‘Do it or die, Doctor,’ said the Ch’otterai. ‘It is that simple.’
The Doctor took a moment, and Martha saw his jaw tightening. ‘Very well,’ he said. He walked to the TARDIS and pushed open the door. The Ch’otterai swirled inside before the Doctor could change his mind …
And then the Doctor slammed the door.
Martha stared at him. ‘What are you doing? You’re locking it in the TARDIS? What if it takes off?’
The Doctor leaned one shoulder against the door and folded his arms. ‘The Ch’otterai is a being of pure psychic energy. True, it has the potential to be infinitely powerful, but right now it can barely keep itself together.’
For once, the Doctor’s calm demeanour failed to soothe Martha’s worry. ‘So explain to me how locking it in the TARDIS is a good idea.’
‘The TARDIS isn’t a machine, Martha. Well, it is, but it’s also so much more. You saw how I overloaded the Ch’otterai with the books I’ve read? My imagination reduced it from a ghost with a planet to a ghost with a garden plot. Now, just think what the TARDIS will do to it.’
Martha frowned. ‘The TARDIS has an imagination?’
The Doctor laughed. ‘From a certain point of view, the TARDIS is imagination.’
He slipped his key into the lock, turned it and motioned to the open door.
Martha walked through. The console room was quiet. There was no sign of the Ch’otterai. The Doctor walked past her, strode to the console, flicked a few switches and glanced at a few readouts.
‘Where is it?’ Martha asked.
‘Gone,’ said the Doctor. ‘Or mostly gone, anyway. From what I can tell, it’s been reduced to a single thought, and probably not a nice one at that.’
Martha looked around. ‘So where is it?’
The Doctor waved a hand in the air. ‘Here. There. I don’t know.’
‘But when we leave, we won’t take it with us, will we?’
‘What’s the matter, Miss Jones? You don’t like the idea of a haunted TARDIS?’
‘Not particularly.’
‘Don’t worry,’ the Doctor said, pulling levers. ‘We’ll fly off to distant lands, but what remains of the Ch’otterai will stay here. Probably.’
She didn’t like that ‘probably’, but she didn’t say anything as the TARDIS started to wheeze and whoosh. She walked up to a monitor, saw the nothingness outside fold in on itself and blink out of existence. For a moment there was nothing but empty space and stars, and then the screen went blank.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who, eleven ebook short stories will be available to download and collect throughout 2013.
ELEVEN DOCTORS.
ELEVEN MONTHS.
ELEVEN AUTHORS.
ELEVEN STORIES.
FIFTY SPECTACULAR YEARS.
PUFFIN BOOKS
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First published by Puffin Books 2013
Text copyright © Derek Landy and BBC Worldwide Limited, 2013
BBC, DOCTOR WHO (word marks, logos and devices), TARDIS, DALEKS, CYBERMAN and K-9 (word marks and devices) are trademarks of the British Broadcasting Corporation and are used under licence.
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ISBN: 978–1–405–91331–7
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