On the advice of someone wiser than me, I thought that I would set up another blog for more of my scribblings to go – properly formatted and (hopefully) easier to read. So, here is hopefully the first of a few, the first part of a two part story (the second part of which doesn't exist other than in note form at present) for someone else's series that hasn't come to pass.
Have a read, I hope you enjoy, and please use the link to hop back to gallifreybase and pass comment and/or vote. Many thanks!
The Heaven Machine
"Gentlemen, if I may have your attention."
The speaker had to shout. The lack of anything resembling a public address system was one of the many things that he despised about the place. No matter, he thought, they'll soon quieten down when they see it.It took a few moments, but the assembled crowd settled into their seats and looked to the speaker. They could see in front of him a metal case with wires extruding from its sides.
He looked around at the silent faces in front of him, deliberately pausing before starting his speech. In his head he counted down, 3....2.....1...and....
"This here," he tapped on the case, "this is victory!" Still silence, the crowd either disbelieving or awestruck by what they were witnessing. "It has taken so long to complete, so very long. Many good people have been lost, many close to us taken away. Yet this...this means that they were not taken for nothing. Behold!" he held up the box, "our salvation!"
At this juncture the crowd cheered as if a contest had already been won and they were the rightful victors.
The speaker had to shout now to be heard. "I'm not here to rewrite history, I'm here to be the author of the future." The noise in the chamber increased. The speaker held the case aloft, pressing a small button on its underside. "I call it...the Heaven Machine!"
As he spoke, depressing the button, the case began to open, and a blinding light enveloped the room.
Silence.
******
It looked like a perfectly ordinary beach on any planet, in any galaxy. The tide lapped against the golden sand, the sun casting its joyful gaze across the idyllic looking scene. A gentle breeze blew the leaves of the trees that lined the seashore, distant birdsong could be heard by anyone who chanced this way.Peaceful. Tranquil even.
Until...
The wind gradually began to grow in intensity, blowing the leaves around with a force that was sure to dislodge them if it continued. The birdsong was drowned out by what sounded like something tearing the very fabric of space and time apart. Indeed, that was exactly what was happening, as the unmistakable shape of the TARDIS ground in and out of reality, its light appearing first, flashing in time with the materialisation of the time ship. With a heavy thud, it solidified, and the leaves settled once more.
A slow creak accompanied the door opening, and the Doctor poked his head out, peering at the surroundings. Cautiously, he stepped outside and jumped up and down. Amy looked at him curiously from the doorway.
"Hey jumpy, what you doing?"
The Doctor stopped. "I was jumping Pond. Up and down...you know, jumping!"
Amy rolled her eyes. After all this time, he hadn't changed. "I know that, but why....no wait, don't tell me..."Amy stepped back into the TARDIS.
The Doctor looked around confused, before Amy reappeared with a large sombrero, a towel and a bucket and spade. "There, perfect beach...stuff!"
"Aha! But Amy Pond, we are missing one very important thing." The Doctor whirled around, scanning in both directions. "Ice cream! Can't beat an ice cream at the beach!" The Doctor licked his finger and stuck it in the air. "Yes," he pointed to the left, "definitely this way."
Sighing, Amy trudged after him. Then stopped. Standing next to a tree she was sure she could hear a faint humming noise. She pressed her ear to it. "Doctor!" He was a few metres ahead, and Amy wasn't sure if he'd heard her or merely noticed she wasn't right behind him. He came bounding up to her. "Listen. Sounds like...humming...some kind of machinery maybe?"
The Doctor wore a puzzled look. "Machinery? In a tree? Are you quite mad..." He stopped, then, "Oh." He turned to Amy. "This tree is humming!"
Again, she rolled her eyes. "I know! That's what I said!"
"No, no, no, trees don't hum they...they just don't! So..." He produced his sonic screwdriver from inside his jacket pocket, waving it over the bark of the tree. He tapped at the bark, pressing his ear to it.
Amy tapped him on the shoulder, and he whirled round to face her. "Well? Is it or is it not a tree?" she asked.
The Doctor paused before he spoke again, fiddling with a catch on the screwdriver. He looked up at Amy. "Yes and no." He held up a finger to silence her before she gave the inevitable remark. "Externally, yes. Internally it's a machine. If I can calibrate the settings..." The screwdriver hummed and clicked several times as the Doctor cycled through its various functions. Suddenly a click from behind him let him know he'd found exactly what he was looking for. A small section of the bark had swung open, revealing a set of controls, numerous wires extending outwards from them.
"Aha!" He prodded the screwdriver into the nest of cables. "Just as I thought –"
He spun back around, and was surprised to see Amy was no longer there, and his surroundings had changed considerably. He was stood, alone, in a low-lit metal corridor.
"-a rudimentary teleport system."
*****
A bright light had flared up from the 'tree', and when it had gone, so too had the Doctor. Amy stood, bewildered for a second, before understanding that the Doctor's probing had obviously tripped some kind of circuit within the machinery. "Only with you is a beach not a beach – now it's a desert island!" Her frustration lasted all of the few seconds it took to kick the sand four or five times before realising there was little she could achieve.
"Right Amy, calm down, focus. What would the Doctor do?" She paused. "No, what would I do?" She looked back to the TARDIS, and started the journey back. There was bound to be something that would be able to find the Doctor, surely?
As Amy mused on just how exactly she was going to locate the errant Time Lord, she noticed the unnaturally still sea was now beginning to ripple slightly. She stared out at the water, the ripples dramatically increasing in size within moments.
"Ok. So, do I stay and wait for whatever it is to possibly eat or kidnap or God knows what to me? Or...run!" Not wishing to find out exactly what the thing was, she turned and began to pick up her pace towards the time machine.
She'd only moved a couple of steps as the vehicle forced its way out and onto the beach, huge caterpillar treads narrowly avoiding running her down.
"Oookay. So, now a bloody great tank drives out of the sea, and typically the Doctor isn't here!"
A door opened on the side of the vehicle, and several similarly attired figures stepped out. They were covered in emerald-coloured metallic body armour, save for their heads which remained free of any adornment.
It was what they did next that gave Amy slight cause for concern, each saluting her and then kneeling in turn. The first to have exited the vehicle, a small but well built man with thinning hair, approached Amy.
He extended a hand. "Miss Pond! An honour to see you again!"
Amy paused slightly before taking it, though realising that it would be safer to shake the hand, she did so. "And you, too, erm..."
The man looked puzzled for a moment, then suddenly broke into a smile and laughed, pointing a finger jovially in Amy's direction. "Ah, Miss Pond, that sense of humour again. Very good, very good!"
Amy smiled politely in return and watched as three other figures left the craft. Two other males and a female, all around average build, all saying nothing. She looked back at the man in front of her and gestured to the beach. "So, you're here then! Just like we said?" Even she was confused, not really knowing why she'd said it, but it seemed to be exactly what was required.
"Of course! Commander Davis Morley is always punctual if nothing else."
Right, thought Amy, I have a name now. But how does he know me?
*****
"Ok, low lighting, metal walls...I'm getting an underground bunker kind of vibe here." The Doctor started walking along the corridor, waving the Sonic around as he did so. "Yep, definitely some kind of base. No siege yet though, so that's something. Ah!" He stopped, as the muzzle of a gun was pointed in his face by a less than impressed figure standing directly in front of him. "Would you mind pointing that another way, I'm allergic to bullets." The figure lowered the weapon slightly, but kept it trained on the Doctor. From behind the figure with the gun stepped a lean man dressed in what appeared to be a white lab coat. He gestured for the gun to be lowered and approached the Doctor.
"Apologies for the misunderstanding. You can't be too careful though. Professor Wilby, and you are...?"
The Doctor rubbed his hands together. "Yes I am...very confused. Did you know you have a malfunctioning teleport system on this planet? I'm assuming we're still on the same one...but really it needs some work doing to it. Any old idiot with a Sonic Screwdriver could wander in here."
Wilby cracked a rictus grin. "Quite. The transmit device was not malfunctioning, rather it isn't in day to day use." He paused. "It's not widely talked of, and I'd prefer it if it remained that way."
The Doctor playfully punched Wilby's arm. "Of course. Can't have people appearing out of nowhere can we!"
Wilby made a noise that the Doctor took to be a humoured response to his comment, then proceeded to lead the way down the corridor, beckoning the Doctor to follow.
"From your knowledge, I take it you are a man of science, like myself? We could use another mind on the project."
They continued, the light growing brighter as they walked further. "What kind of project? If it's art and crafts I'm a bit rusty. My temporal engineering is...well, better not talked about, and..."
They stopped outside of a large door, rust eating away at it. The guard swiped a card through a small reader to the side of it, and began turning the large wheel-lock at the door's centre.
"The project is for the safety and continuation our race. The first stage has begun. Room 14 is our holding area. But first, I need to show you this."
They stepped through the door, and the Doctor's eyes immediately looked to the box in the corner of the laboratory. "I'm assuming that box over there has something to do with it?"
Wilby nodded. "Oh that's no ordinary box – that is the Heaven Machine."
The Doctor muttered to himself. "I've a feeling I'm not going to like this..."
*****
The troops were unloading equipment from their craft onto the beach, setting it up with a minimum of fuss. Amy didn't pay much attention to them, preferring to question Morley without letting him know she had no idea who he was."So, everything's nearly ready then – the big one! The big...thing!" There's got to be a big something, there always is, she reasoned.
Morley was typing something onto a small screen that looked to Amy like a larger iPhone or similar. He looked up as Amy cleared her throat. "Sorry Miss Pond? Oh yes, nearly ready. The end of it, peace once again."
Realisation suddenly hit Amy. "So, we're in a war zone? An actual proper battlefield? Right now, with guns and bombs and..."
Morley looked up at her, now convinced something was amiss. "You really don't know? You have no idea what is going on?"
Amy sighed. "Finally, he gets it! No, I don't have a clue, and I'm sure I'd remember meeting you before. Why would you remember me?"
"But we have met – whose idea did you think it was to set up and here and use the detonation device?"
Amy narrowed her eyes at him. "Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like the answer to that question?"
One of the other troops signalled to Morley, and he hurried over to them, all the while keeping his eyes on Amy. As he reached it, he looked the device over and nodded.
Amy didn't know exactly what it was, but she'd travelled with the Doctor enough to know that it was some kind of weapon, and it was pointed at the sky.
*****
Looking around the laboratory, the Doctor was finding it hard to pick up any clues as to what this 'project' entailed. All he knew so far was about the ominously titled box, this 'Heaven Machine' that Wilby had mentioned. "I may regret asking this," he began, "but what exactly is a 'Heaven Machine'?"
Wilby thrust his arms out wide. "Our greatest invention! A triumph! We shall live, far beyond what we could have hoped for."
The Doctor braced the Sonic in his hand. "I don't very much like the sound of that. Extending your natural lifespan? What's the catch? Who has to suffer so that you can live longer?"
Wilby tapped a few buttons on a console next to him, and a shutter slid open, revealing their true location.
"No one will suffer – they will be our new home!"
The Doctor peered out at the blackness of space. He could see the planet he'd arrived on below them, where Amy still remained.
"A space station! Of course! What was I thinking? Underground base? The smell was all wrong, and as for the acoustics..." He pressed a button on the Sonic, the ultra high frequency causing Wilby and the guard to clutch their heads in agony while the Doctor quickly fled out of the room and further along the corridor.
He had to stop at another door, using the screwdriver to trip the security on the lock. He hurried through, not noticing the number on the outside of the door.
14.
*****
"Ok, so you're setting up this weapon - some kind of missile I'm guessing – to destroy...something up there because I told you to?" Time travel often made little sense to Amy, despite what had happened to her so far. Morley nodded. "That's about the size of it Miss Pond." He pointed at the sky. "Out there, the enemy is lying in wait. They've got a station and, our intelligence tells us, something that will devastate this planet and everything on it." He turned to look at her once more. "We have to destroy them before they wipe us all out."
"Listen," Amy began, "I don't like wars, I don't like death, but most of all...I don't like people acting all superior. So, I hope you're not lying to me Mr Army Man." She paused. "But whatever you do, I have got to find the Doctor." She walked back towards the tree the Doctor had been standing at before he disappeared. "But I don't know where..."
A thought hit her – what if the Doctor had been teleported up to wherever this enemy was? He didn't stand a chance if the missile hit. She ran forward to the troops, waving her arms. "You've got to stop it, delay it, anything!"
The two men held her back, while Morley said, "It's too late Miss Pond. The device has been activated, and there's nothing I can or would do to stop it."
*****
"Hello!" The Doctor's voice reverberated around the room. "Very big. Like a large theatre. Empty though. Very odd." He began to walk around and felt a chill descend as he did. "There's definitely something in here with me..." Wind seemed to whistle past his ears as he moved, as if something was flying past him. He shook the thought from his head.Then he turned.
Rows upon rows of ghostly figures stared back at him, the like of which he had seen before.
"So this is how it happened..." the Doctor mused, fascinated and slightly scared at the same time.
One of the figures started to speak. "We are transformed. We will consume. The Gelth will never die." A low chant began to build around the room. "Never die." Getting louder and louder. "Never die." Hands covering his ears, the Doctor backed away towards the door. "NEVER DIE! NEVER DIE! NEVER DIE!"
He reached for the Sonic, but saw it had fallen to the floor. He dashed to pick it up, barely registering at first that the chanting had stopped. He looked around at the now still, silent figures. From a PA system came a loud klaxon, accompanied by the voice of Wilby.
"Detonation commences! Phase two of the project begins"
The Doctor fumbled with the screwdriver, as the Gelth screeched and circled him once more. With a sudden clunk, the door opened and he dashed through, pursued by the army of spectres.
He reached the control room, throwing himself through the doorway. The guard had his weapon trained on the Doctor immediately. Wilby looked him over and sneered. "A pity. I thought you could be of great use to us...what was it again?"
The Doctor drew himself up to his full height, straightening his bow tie and running a hand through his hair for good measure.
"I...am...the Doctor. And if you press that button...and I must warn you that it's really not something you should enter into lightly...if you press that button, there will be consequences."
Wilby smiled his sickly grin once more. "Of course there will. The Gelth will rise again!"
He pressed the button, a blinding light flared outside the station, enveloping the planet below it. Seconds passed as the light took hold on the world below and then it happened.
The sphere below exploded.
To be continued...
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