B00DPX9ST8 EBOK

by Parkin, Lance

  This was Earth Reptile Shelter 873, led by Okdel L’da. [166] James Stevens followed a tip and managed to (briefly) phone the Brigadier at Wenley Moor. The plague spread to Paris airport. Four hundred people died, twenty of them abroad, and three ministers resigned. [167] The Doctor believed that the Silurians at Wenley Moor were killed. [168] The Brigadier was issued with direct orders to destroy the Silurians. [169] Those orders came from C19. [170] Mike Yates lead a team looking for surviving Silurian technology. [171]

  Mortimus (also known as the Monk) used the captured Chronovore Artemis to create an alternative history where the Doctor died during the Wenley Moor adventure. [172]

  = In a parallel timeline, the Doctor was captured and killed by the Silurians before he could find an antidote to their plague. Millions died in a matter of days, a time that would become known to the survivors as “the Nightmare”. [173]

  The Silurian Imorkal was hatched. In one reality, he was one of the Silurian masters of Earth. In the proper timeline, he eventually worked for NATO. [174] A UNIT station in Antarctica investigated a possible Silurian shelter uncovered in the 1920s. [175] Another Silurian shelter was discovered and destroyed in Oregon. [176] The government destabilised under political pressure following the plague. [177] Anne Travers became scientific advisor to the cabinet. [178]

  Old Soldiers [179]

  Kolonel Heinrich Konrad was now head of the UNIT facility at Kriegeskind Castle, and oversaw research on Project 995: an attempt to create a supersoldier using the psychotropic elements of an extra-terrestrial plant - a phylum that originated in Galaxy M33 - found in the jungles of South East Asia.

  Kriegeskind came under attack by ghostly soldiers from bygone eras. The third Doctor and the Brigadier determined that Konrad was manifesting psychic powers due to the phylum, and was latching onto the emotional residue left in the castle’s stone by soldiers who had visited the location. Konrad’s second-in-command initiated the Arc Light Protocol: a scorched-earth policy created by the Brigadier. Two F5 bombers each deployed a single fuel-air explosive bomb - the most lethal ordinance UNIT had at its disposal. The Arc Light planes obliterated the castle, Konrad and all research pertaining to the project.

  The lower ranks of UNIT regarded the Doctor as a myth, someone spoken of like a ghost story.

  Shadow of the Past [180]

  The Mim, a race of shapechangers who used oceans for breeding pools, sent a warfleet to Earth. The third Doctor contacted the Time Lords, who sent the warfleet back to the Mim-sphere and made sure that it was too busy to leave. A single Mim scout was left behind, and Sergeant Robin Marshall of UNIT died while exploding the creature within its spaceship. Corporal Benton was given Marshall’s sergeant stripes, and the scoutship was quarantined in UNIT Vault 75-73/Whitehall.

  The Ambassadors of Death [181]

  Recovery 7 was dispatched, piloted by Charles Van Lyden, to give assistance to Mars Probe 7, which was still maintaining radio silence after lifting off from Mars. Van Lyden linked up with and entered Mars Probe 7, but contact was again lost. Recovery 8 couldn’t be prepared for launch for ten days, forcing the ground crew to await developments.

  Recovery 7 returned to Earth, but not with the Earth astronauts aboard. Instead, it contained three ambassadors from the race of radioactive aliens that General Carrington had encountered on Mars. Furthering his private agenda, Carrington intercepted the ambassadors and directed them, via a signalling device, to commit acts of terror. Carrington hoped to portray the aliens as invaders, mobilising a global effort to destroy them, but the third Doctor and UNIT exposed the scheme. The ambassadors and Earth astronauts were exchanged, and Carrington was discredited.

  The new channel BBC3 launched with coverage of the Recovery 7 capsule. [182] The Doctor appeared on Nationwide during this incident. [183] The aliens conducted limited diplomatic discussions, but concluded that mankind wasn’t ready for their technology. Contact was limited, as the aliens were a plutonium-based lifeform. [184] Mars Probe 6 ended up in C19’s Vault. [185] The Mars Probe Programme continued for several more years. [186]

  Jones, a hired killer from C19’s Vault, abducted a young secretary called Roberta. Vault scientists gave her cybernetic implants and false memories. [187]

  (late July) - Inferno [188]

  Professor Stahlman discovered a gas underneath the crust of the Earth, and claimed that it might be “a vast new storehouse of energy which has lain dormant since the beginning of time”. The government funded a drilling project (nicknamed “Inferno” by some of the workers) based in Eastchester. But as the project’s robot drill approached its target, a green slime came to the surface. On skin contact, people became savage beastmen, Primords.

  = “Sideways in time”, Britain was a republic, and it had been since at least 1943 when the Defence of the Republic Act was passed. A fascist regime had executed the royal family. In this version of events, Professor Stahlman’s project was a day ahead of ours, and was under the aegis of the Republican Security Forces. This world was destroyed when Stahlman’s project released torrents of lava and armies of Primords.

  On our Earth, the project was halted at the insistence of Sir Keith Gold and UNIT.

  = The Britain of the parallel world was run by an alternate version of the Doctor. [189] In the parallel universe, the British Isles were destroyed in hours, the rest of Europe a day later. The entire world was devastated within thirty-six hours. The leaders of the American Confederation, India, White Russia and the Asian Co-prosperity Sphere, along with the new leader of the British Republic, were evacuated to Copernicus Base on the moon. Once there, they formed the Conclave. [190]

  C19 acquired some of Stahlman’s Gas. [191] The Doctor attended the wedding of Greg Sutton and Petra Williams. He met Ian Chesterton, who was now working at NASA, at the reception. [192] Greg Sutton gave Ian some fashion advice - that he should buy an orange shirt and purple tie. [193] James Stevens tracked down the Suttons, who told him about Project: Inferno and the Doctor’s involvement. The Suttons left the country shortly afterwards. [194]

  Two Irish twins, Ciara and Cellian, assisted Dr Krafchin in a number of plastics experiments. He offered them immortality, and their blood was replaced with Nestene Compound, a type of plastic. They become contract killers for C19’s Vault. [195]

  The Doctor gave a lecture tour in the United States that was really cover for UNIT recruitment operations. He met rocket scientist Von Braun. Soviet radar detected meteor impacts in Siberia, which unknown to them marked the arrival of the Waro on Earth. The Brigadier met Soviet UNIT commander Captain Valentina Shuskin. [196] He also spent Christmas in Geneva on UNIT business. [197]

  The Beatles reformed without Paul McCartney, but with two new members called Billy and Klaus. [198] Sarah Jane Smith went out with a Royal Navy officer named Sammy Brooks. [199]

  Unit Year 3

  (January) The Liberals formed a coalition government following a General Election. [200] (February) James Stevens wrote a series of articles for the Daily Chronicle that referred to UNIT and C19. These got him sacked, and his wife left him. [201] (March) UNIT moved to a new headquarters. [202] (Early March) Soviet satellites detected a vast mining operation in Siberia. All military attempts to investigate were wiped out. The Soviet branch of UNIT lobbied Geneva to send the Doctor. [203]

  At C19’s Vault, Grant Traynor injected Stahlman’s Gas into a Doberman, creating the Stalker, a vicious killer animal. [204] (April/May) C19’s Vault acquired a Venus flytrap large enough to eat a dog in Africa. They also stole a Blackbird stealth aeroplane. [205]

  (May) - The Eye of the Giant [206]

  The third Doctor was sent an alien artifact that he discovered was emitting omicron radiation. He converted the Time-Space Visualiser into a space-time bridge to track the object’s origin, and he and Liz Shaw wound up on Saluta in the Pacific in 1934.

  (=) Their actions in 1934 inadvertently created an alternative timeline ruled by The Goddess of the World, the starlet Nancy Grover. The Doctor r
eturned to 1934 and set history back on the correct course.

  The Blue Tooth [207]

  Gareth Arnold, a local dentist, had discovered the crashed Cyber-ship near Cambridge, and experimented upon the Cyber-metal within. He developed a blue liquid variant that could directly convert people’s bodies into metal, as well as gestate Cyber-insects within the human form. Arnold himself succumbed to Cyber-conversion, and used his dentistry business as a means of kidnapping people - including Liz Shaw’s friend Jean Baisemore - to turn into Cybermen.

  The third Doctor and Liz investigated the disappearances. Jean died, but the Doctor created a compound that terminated Arnold. His demise quelled the remaining Cybermen - who were later executed by the Brigadier’s troops using the Doctor’s compound.

  Liz herself was infected by the blue liquid - the Doctor cured her condition, but she lost a tooth as a result.

  (June) - The Scales of Injustice [208]

  A group of Silurian/Sea Devil hybrids awoke in Kent, and performed genetic experiments in the hope of ending their sterility and shortened lifespans. The third Doctor investigated the matter, but the warmongering Silurian leader launched an attack on the coast of Kent. UNIT defeated the assault, and a smaller group of benevolent Silurians sued for peace.

  The cyborg leader of C19’s Vault sought to acquire Silurian technology, leading to UNIT uncovering the Vault’s base of operations. The Vault leader escaped along with his two Nestene-augmented assassins. Foreign powers had purchased some of the Vault’s acquisitions.

  After this incident, Sir John Sudbury of C19 knew too much to be sacked by any government, and he gained in power. The Brigadier’s wife Fiona filed for divorce and left with their daughter Kate. [209]

  Liz Shaw told the Doctor that she planned to leave UNIT, return to Cambridge and continue her researches. [210] She took a leave of absence. [211] Liz travelled around the world, and published a book entitled Inside the Carnival. [212]

  Harry Sullivan served on the Ark Royal after leaving Dartmouth Naval College. [213]

  (June) - The Devil Goblins of Neptune [214]

  Geneva refused to release the third Doctor to help with a situation in Siberia, so Captain Shuskin of the USSR branch of UNIT attempted to kidnap him instead. Liz Shaw was working with Professor Bernard Trainor, who was planning an unmanned mission to Neptune. The Doctor and Liz travelled to Siberia and were attacked by the Waro, demonic creatures from Neptune’s moon Triton. The Doctor realised this was a distraction - the Waro were really after the American supplies of cobalt-60, with which they hoped to build a bomb that would devastate Earth. The Brigadier uncovered a conspiracy in UNIT that led to Area 51 in Nevada, a secret military base containing five aliens, the Nedenah. Freed by the Doctor, the Nedenah released a virus that made the Waro destroy themselves.

  On 18th June, there was a General Election, and the Wilson government was defeated by the Conservatives under Heath with a majority of 43. Days before that, James Stevens’ book Bad Science was published. [215] At some point during the UNIT era, the Doctor met the Russian Colonel Bugayev. During the encounter, Bugayev and some of his comrades were exposed to temporal radiation that either aged them to death or prolonged their lives. [216]

  Liz Shaw returned to Cambridge, and soon afterwards the Doctor started to agitate for a new assistant. The Doctor started the steady state microwelding of his dematerialisation circuit. [217] There were some slow weeks at UNIT. The Doctor helped Benton paint some Nissen huts. [218]

  Jo Grant was seconded to UNIT at the insistence of a relative in government. Although she failed her General Science A-Level, she managed to pass the UNIT training course. [219] Her relative was General Frank Hobson, the UK ambassador to the United Nations. [220] She was trained to use skeleton keys and interrogation techniques. [221] Her best friend on the course was called Tara. Jo did intelligence work for the Ministry, alongside a gentleman adventurer. [222]

  (At least three months after Inferno) - Terror of the Autons [223]

  Josephine Grant became the third Doctor’s new assistant.

  The Master had allied himself with the Nestenes, and together they plotted mass slaughter - when a radio signal was sent, thousands of distributed plastic daffodils would spray a plastic film capable of suffocating a person. The Nestenes would take over the country during the resulting chaos. The Doctor convinced the Master to help him defeat the Nestene plan. The Master was subsequently stranded on Earth when the Doctor stole his Mark 2 dematerialisation circuit, rendering his TARDIS useless.

  A spatula-shaped piece of Auton matter survived. It would eventually end up in Little Caldwell, where it would be called Graeme. [224] In October, UNIT started training its men to resist hypnosis. James Stevens completed work on his second book, and was invited to a demonstration of the Keller Process at Stangmoor Prison. [225]

  The Doctor helped set up the Black Archive, a UNIT storehouse of alien technology. Among many other things, it contained the Tunguska Scroll (recovered in 1972) and a number of spacecraft. [226]

  The Mind of Evil [227]

  Incognito as “Professor Emil Keller”, the Master developed the Keller Process: a means of rehabilitating convicts by having their “evil” brain impulses transferred into a machine. However, the machine actually housed an alien parasite that fed off the evil in mankind. The Master hoped to put the parasite’s powers at his command. After a riot at Stangmoor Prison, the Master’s scheme was exposed and the Keller Process abandoned.

  UNIT were now involved with security of the World Peace Conference in London. The Master sought to steal Thunderbolt, an outlawed nuclear missile slated for destruction. He nearly succeeded and triggered a World War, but the third Doctor and UNIT destroyed both the missile and the Master’s alien parasite.

  Deadly Reunion [228]

  The former Greek gods Demeter, Persephone and Hermes were now living as nobility in the English village of Hob’s Haven. Hades had founded a cult named the Children of Light as a means of spreading anarchy among mankind, and coerced the Master into helping him. The Master supplied an alien drug, sarg, that drove its users to commit acts of violence at a pop festival. The third Doctor aided Demeter in summoning Zeus from his abode in another dimension, and the king of the gods exiled Hades from Earth forever. Demeter’s trio departed Earth for Zeus’ realm. The Brigadier remembered his time spent as Persephone’s lover in the nineteen forties.

  In December, James Stevens met Dodo Chaplet, who was homeless. He invited her to stay with him. [229]

  Unit Year 4

  (January) - “Change of Mind” [230]

  The third Doctor and Liz flew to Prague for a Psi conference, but the plane’s wing was torn off in a psychic attack. The Doctor realised that one of the passengers was keeping the plane intact using the power of her mind, but she died from the effort.

  Hamlet Macbeth investigated Professor Hardin, a Cambridge professor of Paranormal Sciences, leaving just as the Doctor and Liz arrived. Hardin was using technology to boost latent psychic powers, and was experimenting on his students. He tried to kill the Doctor, but the Brigadier shot him.

  In late February, James Stevens started writing a book about UNIT. In March, Liz Shaw, who was working on the genetic engineering of reptiles, contacted Stevens and warned him not to research C19. His house was ransacked. [231]

  (spring or summer?) - The Claws of Axos [232]

  The Washington UNIT HQ sent one of their agents, Bill Filer, to help UNIT UK to search for the Master. Meanwhile, the civil servant Chinn investigated UNIT.

  UNIT radar stations detected a UFO one million miles out, on a direct bearing for Earth. The alarm bells started to ring when it got within five hundred miles. UNIT HQ sent the order to launch an ICBM strike against the UFO, but the ship vanished before the missiles hit. It landed on the south east coast of England close to the National Power Complex at Nuton, amid freak weather conditions. As the army arrived to seal off the area, the UFO began to broadcast a signal:

  “Axos call
ing Earth, request immediate assistance. Axos calling Earth...”

  The Axons made contact with the UNIT party. They claimed that solar flares had damaged their planet, and that they possessed an advanced organic technology. Their ship had been damaged. In return for help, the Axons offered humanity Axonite - a substance that was “the chameleon of the elements”. It could be programmed to absorb all forms of radiation, and to replicate and transmute matter. In theory, it would end the world’s food and energy problems. In reality, the Axons had captured the Master in space, and he had led them to Earth - a rich feeding ground - in return for his freedom and a chance to kill the third Doctor. The Axos ship was banished from Earth and time-looped, but the Nuton Complex was destroyed.

  Private Erskine was attacked by an Axon and left for dead, but survived. He was rescued by C19’s Vault, and bore a grudge against the Brigadier. He ended up working for SeneNet. [233] The National Power Complex at Nuton was rebuilt. [234] Chinn was blamed for the disaster at Nuton and was pensioned off. [235]

  UNIT went hunting for the Master and accidentally arrested the Spanish ambassador, mistaking him for the renegade Time Lord. [236] Marnal’s son - who was on the run at the time - visited his father during the nineteen seventies, and told him exactly why the Doctor left Gallifrey. [237]