By Kyron Mallett
Part One
The Doctor - the model with the generous middle and wide feline face - looked around the TARDIS console room and shook his head. It was like a scene from his last regeneration: three young companions littering his space and time. The TARDIS had recently become very crowded. So much for 'the cat who walked by himself'! Jason and Crystal were busily playing a card game on the anachronistic collection of furniture they had dragged in from the storage room. Zog, the small, furry brown-grey, Aldebarian was amusing himself by jumping from sofa to chair to chair to sofa, perhaps in the hope that one of his new friends would pay him some attention.
The new coat that The Doctor had adopted was barely an improvement in sartorial eloquence: it was still a battlefield where a myriad of colours clashed for attention. The coat was mostly red tartan with long purple lapels and cuffs, frilly white sleeves peeking around from both. It was all offset by a new purple tie and small white cat badge. Jason wore a gentleman's suit of revolutionary France. His new best friend Crystal was currently out-fitted in some late twentieth century attire, jeans and a t-shirt, that she had found in the TARDIS wardrobe. Probably once belonged to Peri, The Doctor thought. Jason had been rescued from a grim fate by The Doctor but seemed to take everything in his stride. He exuded boundless enthusiasm, a trait that endeared him to all, particularly the more cynical and arguably more worldly suburban night club singer, Crystal. Zog didn't wear clothes or speak for that matter, but he rounded the group off with his mischievous personality. Just every now and then, The Doctor thought he detected a deeper intelligence behind his eyes...
A bleeping sound from the central console broke The Doctor's reverie and he promptly inspected the scanner. Jason and Crystal were soon at his side.
"What is it Doctor? It seems to be approaching fast!" Crystal exclaimed.
The Doctor shoved her out of the way and flicked some switches - looking up at the monitor every couple of seconds with an increasingly long face.
"A comet! Only it isn't approaching us - we're being attracted to it. Gravity you see, one of the fundamental forces of the galaxy," The Doctor explained in an exasperated fashion.
Even Zog had finished his game now and was standing by the scanner transfixed by the looming image of thousands of tons of ice and gas.
"Hadn't we better dematerialise Doctor?" Jason suggested brightly.
The Doctor ignored him.
"We're heading right for it!" Crystal shouted.
"The problem is, it's on the exact same course for Earth that we were following and we must have got caught up in its wake. Ah, perfect!" The Doctor declared as the central column began to rise and fall once more.
"See, no need to panic!" The Doctor purred.
Jason and Crystal exchanged a sceptical glance.
The TARDIS moaned itself fully back into existence inside the outpost. The doors immediately fell inwards and The Doctor was the first to emerge. Zog bolted through his legs in a mischievous way. The Doctor only just prevented himself from falling on his posterior with the aide of Jason. Crystal barely suppressed a laugh.
"From what you've told me Doctor, it seems rather pleasant for Mars," Jason commented.
"An artificially maintained environment I'm sure," The Doctor informed him with a wink.
The corridor they had landed in seemed very much like the interior of a hospital. Almost totally white and featureless. A few windows looked out across a Martian landscape.
"This must be some kind of station for astronauts then!" Crystal reasoned.
"Well done," The Doctor replied in his most patronising manner.
Crystal stuck her tongue out at him as he wandered past.
"Is there likely to be people here most of the time Doctor?" Jason asked as he watched Zog bolt off down the corridor.
"No! Wait! Come back you fuzzy little ball of trouble!" The Doctor shouted after him.
The echoing sound of his voice attracted some attention almost instantly.
"You're here! Excellent timing!" It was the voice of a small man, propelled by an electronic wheelchair. He spun out of a nearby room with a broad grin across his bespectled face.
"Ah, yes... I'm The Doctor..." The Doctor began almost apologetically.
"Well, of course you are... my, my, my, you two look rather young to be outposters, but then again who am I to judge by appearances! Please forgive me. Follow me to control will you."
And with that the outposter lead them down the corridor. The Doctor shrugged and motioned for his two companions to follow him.
Outside the outpost but inside the atmospheric dome, one of the other outposters was busily chipping away at a rock. Clang clang clang. A hopeful look. Clang clang clang. Another hopeful look. Obviously slow and tedious work but a passion nonetheless. The scientist, Asian in aspect, checked her sonic hammer. She had a box where she was placing pieces of rock for later analysis. Clang clang clang. Clang chonk clang clang. chonk? The woman looked up as a shadow fell across her face. She didn't have time to scream...
The outposter in the wheelchair lead them at full speed into the control room. It was quite a large room, rimmed with monitors and various computers.
"These young people are part of my... team: Jason and Crystal," The Doctor informed Cohen.
"I can't say that I'm sorry to see you lot here a little early. As fulfilling as this has been, we'll all be glad to get back home to our families and friends back on Earth. Some of us have started to get on each other's nerves a bit but that's only natural I suppose."
"I see," The Doctor began, "how long have you all been here?"
That question seemed to bring a look of surprise to the face of the scientist.
"Well some of us have been here three years, others are only finishing their second year. Yem, our Geologist is due to go home. She's out under the dome now, manically trying to collect as many last minute samples as she can to take home with her. We had a death you see - our medical officer fell to his death recently so we've all been granted an additional weight quota. Sorry if that sounds rather cold!"
"How many others are here?" Crystal asked and was shot a disapproving glance from The Doctor.
The outpost scientist gave them all a distinct 'I don't believe you don't know look' before answering: "Well, Moody is our cartographer. He's only been here a year but he's been given permission to return to Earth. The psychological screening process isn't totally infallible, you see. At the moment he's locked up in his room studying images of the far side of the planet. Connelly our Engineer, he's only been here a year as well, he's usually up to his neck in the guts of the outpost generator. Our botanist Singh is in the rec room, she's due to be relieved like myself..."
"Professor Sebastian Cohen, I presume!" The Doctor interjected with a broad grin, extending his hand.
"Well I'm relieved that you at least know me!"
"Astrophysicist and founder of the planetary terraforming movement," The Doctor explained to Jason and Crystal.
"Yes, I'm the Director of Research Projects here. And you are Doctor... who?"
"Yes, quite right. Your work will help to terra form Mars and enable mankind to colonise the stars," The Doctor continued with unbridled adulation.
Cohen didn't appear to be a man who was easily flattered: "Would you excuse me for a moment?"
"Terra-form Mars... that would take thousands of years wouldn't it?" Crystal asked in a whisper.
"That's why they're starting now," The Doctor answered with an air of finality.
Suddenly the station went black.
"Another power failure... Connelly is going to go nuts!" Cohen exclaimed.
A much dimmer array of lights were restored allowing Cohen to work the communication systems.
"Connelly? Connelly? Are you there?"
"There was a crackle and a moment of static before a Scottish voice answered him: "I'm heading out to look into it right now - with a bloody crow bar!"
"I'd be glad to join you, but we have visitors," Cohen answered.
"The relief crew here then are they Gov?" Connelly asked.
Cohen wheeled around and stared at the strange party.
Zog had found his way into the ventilation system and was wandering deeper into the complex. What he was actually looking for was only known to him. Zog froze when he heard whispering voices through a grill below him.
"The humans?"
"They are now dependant on reserve energy for their power Lord!"
Zog peered down and saw some heavily armoured reptiles below. One was more human in appearance and wore a samurai type helmet.
"The human invasion must be repelled. There are indications now that more have arrived. If they were to arrive en-masse we might not be able to stop them!"
Zog noticed that the alien named 'Lord', turned and left the other alien in that position. Very carefully, Zog backed up off the grill and retraced his steps.
The supposed arrival of the relief team had coaxed Moody and Singh away from their work or play.
"Are we glad to see you guys! Relief teams are never and I mean never early!" Singh - an attractive Indian woman - joked as she placed her arms around Cohen's neck.
Moody, a tall, anxious man, was eyeing them with a hint of suspicion: "I didn't hear your shuttle arrive? I don't suppose there's any point in asking which one of you is the replacement cartographer - I've suspected for months that they were going to make my disgrace complete by making the position redundant!"
"Moody," Cohen gently reminded him, "the surface of Mars has been properly mapped for the first time and it's thanks to you! Everyone is simply going to assume that you finished ahead of schedule."
"So you say!" Moody replied, crossing his arms and glowering at The Doctor's party.
There was an awkward pause.
"And what do you do then? You're obviously not a fashion consultant!" Moody declared.
The Doctor looked down his nose at him: "My interests are quite eclectic!"
"You're the new Head of Projects then! I suppose someone has to be the boss!"
"Moody!" Cohen pleaded.
"Well I've got to go. Nice to meet you all. I'll be on the shuttle. It'll come as no surprise to you that my bags are already packed. The sooner I'm off this planet the better!"
Jason and Crystal exchanged a perplexed expression as Moody strode out.
"And you've only had to put up with it for a couple of minutes..." Singh joked.
"As you probably know, isolation can have different consequences on the human mind," Cohen explained with an apologetic air.
The Doctor was more interested in studying the monitors: "We just avoided collision with a comet before landing!"
"Really?" Cohen asked, his curiosity clearly piqued.
The Doctor's face had suddenly taken on a dark aspect: "What year is this?"
Cohen's jaw dropped.
"Errr... The Doctor sometimes forgets such little things, humour him please," Jason explained with a grin.
"It's 2525 of course..." Cohen answered.
"Ah, of course, the year of the great migration... yes... I wonder..."
"Are you well Doctor?" Cohen enquired.
"Darling is there a comet due to pass through this system this year?" Singh asked.
"Not that I'm aware of - must be a rogue!" Cohen answered beginning to check his instrumentation.
"We've been that preoccupied with the terra-forming project that..." Singh began, but paused when she caught sight of Connelly in the door way.
The large Scotsman was carrying the body of Yem. Her head was at such an obtuse angle that it had to have been broken.
"What happened?" Cohen demanded.
"I just came across her on my way over to the power generator. She'd been collecting rock samples like she planned... I don't know, she couldn't have fallen or anything..." There was a crack in Connelly's voice.
"The power generator?" The Doctor asked suspiciously as Connelly laid Yem's body on the floor.
The Doctor inspected Yem's injuries before making his verdict: "Her injuries are mainly internal. Her neck has been snapped after her death."
"Who are you people? I know you aren't the relief team," Cohen shouted.
Connelly pulled out some kind of energy weapon and backed over to Cohen and Singh.
"Now, listen, there's been some kind of misunderstanding! We aren't the relief crew but we were forced down by the comet," The Doctor started to explain, with his hands raised.
"So you have said, but it is rather strange that you turn up just before one of the team is found dead," Cohen declared, articulating his suspicions.
"You can't accuse us of murder!" Cried Crystal.
"What am I to think?" Cohen countered.
"We turned up long after the first death though didn't we Professor Cohen," The Doctor corrected him.
"That's true," Singh admitted, "The old Doctor was killed in that fall weeks ago."
"How many of you are here?" Connelly demanded to know.
"Just us and our... pet... Zog is an Aldebarian and he's loose somewhere in the outpost. He's harmless though, he just has a tendency to wander off," Jason explained with so much honesty that Connelly lowered his weapon.
Zog scuttled into the room and attached himself to one of The Doctor's legs. The Doctor gave him a pat.
"Is that him then?" Connelly asked, more in a state of shock than from a desire to know.
"I think Zog's scared of the dark Doctor," Crystal explained.
"Is it my imagination or is it getting cold in here?" Jason asked.
"Should I?" Connelly asked Cohen, who promptly nodded at him.
"You're from one of the solar colonies are you?" Cohen asked.
"Sort of, travellers really," The Doctor offered.
"Well, you certainly don't look like miners to me!" Singh admitted.
"You're forgetting the comet Professor," The Doctor reminded Cohen, trying to ignore the way Zog was pulling on his trousers.
Cohen checked his instruments and his eyes bulged behind his spectacles.
"It can't be!" He gasped as he adjusted one of the scanners so that the main view screen showed a picture of Earth. Within seconds, a comet hit the side of the planet and Earth was engulfed in a sphere of energy. In less than a second longer, it vanished completely.
Cohen and Singh stared disbelievingly at the screen.
"Doctor? What's happened? What does this mean?" Crystal asked.
Singh began to cry and Cohen went deathly pale.
"Well... the Earth has been destroyed!" The Doctor announced.
"What do you mean?" Crystal gasped.
The Doctor looked at her in an unemotional way and turned away.
"You knew! You knew didn't you?" Crystal shouted at him, while Jason held her back.
"What does she mean Doctor?" Cohen asked quietly as he consoled Singh.
"Did you know Doctor?" Jason asked bluntly, his voice shaking.
"Only just now, when Professor Cohen told me the year..." The Doctor whispered with a meaningful look that indicated that they might be giving too much away.
"It's true then? The Earth really has been destroyed?" Crystal begged to know.
"Not exactly but as far as these people are concerned it has... I don't want to go into the details, but it's actually been moved - quite illegally mind you..."
"What are you three muttering about?" Cohen asked, "Did you know something about this?"
"I think it was the same comet that forced us down - that's all. We didn't have time to check its trajectory but I think it was on the way to Earth at the time... I should have said something!"
"I don't think there was anything we could have done. Somehow it seems to have slipped through the sensor field that sweeps our system," Cohen returned, the colour returning to his face.
"But how could that be? It was so massive, almost the size of the planet itself!" Singh asked.
Cohen shrugged his shoulders: "It must have been travelling at a fantastic speed to virtually obliterate Earth!"
"Listen I'll go and lend Connelly a hand with the generator and... break the news to him somehow..." The Doctor declared and strode out before Cohen could protest.
The Doctor shot Jason and Crystal a look on the way which basically meant that he wanted them to stay there. Zog, however, bounded out after him.
In the shuttle Moody was watching his monitor. It showed the empty space where the Earth had once been. His body was shaking, wet with perspiration. Suddenly he jerked into action, activating the engines and retracting the ship's ramp.
The Doctor covered the ground between the control complex and the power station with considerable speed. Even Zog had trouble keeping up with him when the Time Lord was in this kind of mood. When they arrived, Connelly had removed one of the side-coverings of the generator.
"I don't understand it... these cables have been burnt through. I would say it was sabotage if I didn't know that was impossible... but it isn't impossible is it?" Connelly reasoned as he scowled at The Doctor.
"Yes, it's deliberate... deliberate and suicidal..."
"What?"
"If this can't be repaired, we're all going to freeze to death and I wouldn't count on help anytime soon," The Doctor explained.
"How do I know you and your friends don't intend to jump into your shuttle or whatever it is... or ours, if you've been dropped off here, to leave us to die?" Connelly asked with a sarcastic air.
"Well... your shuttle's taking off can't you hear it?"
There was a low, whining noise being carried on the gentle breeze that circulated around inside the dome.
"Wha...? Moody that frigging idiot! What the hell is he doing now?!" Connelly shouted.
"There's no way we can get back to stop him in time he's already in final stages of preparation for take-off - we have to fix this generator," The Doctor advised him.
"Yes, you're right. I've got some spare cable back at control... it's heavy stuff mind you... we'll need the get-about to haul it over here. What a day!" Connelly declared as he started off.
The Doctor realised he hadn't mentioned the Earth at all. He looked down and saw an odd pair of foot prints leading off to a nearby service shaft. The breeze was very gradually starting to cover them over. The Doctor instantly deduced that they belonged to Zog.
"Zog! Come back here! We haven't got time..."
Although he knew it was useless, The Doctor ran after him. He watched his head pop up out of the service shaft and then vanish down inside in a mischievous way. Connelly turned and saw all of this and then, hesitating a moment took off after The Doctor.
"It's almost too horrible to think about," Crystal sighed.
Jason nodded, but his attention was distracted by the sight of the shuttle lifting off on one of the monitors.
"Ummm... Professor... that ship, is that meant to be going somewhere?"
"Hey!! What the hell! That's all we need," Cohen exclaimed, quickly operating the communication station.
"What in blazes are you doing?" Cohen shouted.
"I'm... going home... I'm not waiting any longer..." Moody replied.
Singh placed her hands over her mouth.
"Moody? Moody?! The Earth is gone... I haven't heard back from the colonies yet but..."
"... I'm not waiting any longer. I'm going, do you hear?" Moody insisted and then broke transmission.
"That fool... with Earth gone the entire gravitational balance in this part of the solar system will have changed. There's no guarantee he'd make it to Earth's co-ordinates without being smashed by debris and even when he got there..."
Cohen and Singh rushed out of the room. Cohen's chair could move surprisingly fast in top gear.
"Well, what do we do now?" Crystal moaned.
Jason shrugged and offered her a half-smile.
The Doctor paused at the entrance of the service shaft. From a distance it looked like a square hole in the ground. It was obviously a shaft melted through rock to join up with a natural subterranean passage below. A metal ladder was the only available access, up and down. Connelly came up to him, huffing and puffing.
"I'm afraid he's got a mind of his own!" The Doctor apologised.
"He wouldn't go chewing on any cables would he?" Connelly asked.
"Oh, no... he knows better than that... he's been wanting to show me something, it might be something important," The Doctor assured him.
The hairs on the back of Connelly's neck bristled and he found himself answering The Doctor: "Okay."
"Well, what does this button do?" Crystal asked as Jason obediently operated a number of switches, his genteel clothes very much at odds with the control panel before him. Their own image appeared on the viewer.
"I think that's it! Every camera must have a corresponding switch in this row - let's see if we can't find The Doctor then," he suggested.
Crystal nodded as the viewer switched from the botanical section, to the deserted power generator outside, to the shuttle lifting off from the landing platform.
"Moody! Come back here! We might need that shuttle! We can't be sure anyone got away from Earth and it'll take ages for the colonists to get here. Moody!" Cohen's voice was gradually being drowned out by the roar of the ship's engines.
"Sebastian, come back from the platform. In his state of mind he might even fire the rockets early!" Singh warned.
Cohen took her advice and scooted back beside her in the archway leading out onto the platform. The shuttle began to rise into the air. The platform was directly under the peak of the dome. Normally a force field allowed the dome to open at the apex and facilitate the entry and exit of any space craft. The VTOL shuttle lifted off towards it.
"He's forgotten to activate the dome aperture - the idiot!" Cohen yelled.
>
"If he breaks the dome, we'll all die instantly!" Singh screamed.
"Depends how strong the force field is... we've got power problems at the moment, so you could be right," Cohen answered, activating the intercom near the archway.
"He's going to hit it!" Singh cried.
Part Two
"Moody! Moody remember the aperture - activate the remote signal - I'm not in the control room!" Cohen shouted.
There was no answer.
Cohen then contacted the control room.
"Jason? Crystal? Are you watching?" Cohen's voice rang out from the communication panel.
"Yes, how is he going to get past the dome?" Crystal asked, sensing the danger.
"On the central panel before you is a large red button. It's an override switch - press it!" Cohen ordered.
Jason pounced forward and slammed his hand down on it.
The shuttle was almost at the aperture when it began to open. There was insufficient space for the ship to pass through when it hit the force field and rebounded back inside the dome. Out of control, the shuttle sped over the main building and slammed into the Martian soil a few hundred metres past it - part of its left wing detaching and slamming up against the side of the dome. The impact caused a huge vibration and echo right across the base.
"Well, he never could fly could he?" Cohen reflected.
"Let's hope we don't need that shuttle," Singh sighed, mostly relieved.
"What was that?" Connelly asked, spinning around back towards the service shaft.
The tunnel was dimly lit due to the power shortage, and the amount of debris over the floor made it hard going.
"Sounding like a shuttle crashing inside the dome," The Doctor answered honestly.
"Tell me you are kidding please! There is no way I was prepared for any of this at Engineering College!" Connelly exclaimed.
"Well if he'd punctured the dome we'd be dead," The Doctor insisted.
"If he isn't dead - I'll strangle him myself!" Connelly swore.
"That may not be such a good idea... there's something I haven't told you. It's important..."
"I doubt that the world would miss that sour bastard!" Connelly himself insisted.
"You're more correct than you know..."
"Listen maybe we should go and check if he's okay?" Connelly though, calming a little.
"Our top priority has to be restoring full power," The Doctor reiterated.
"Then why are we down here looking for that wee little bear of yours?"
"I think he found something. Something relating to why the generator was damaged in the first place and maybe connected to the two mysterious deaths you've suffered. If we don't investigate and we fix the generator then, there's no saying it won't happen again. The Outpost should be fine for a few more hours yet."
"You're probably right... the others can check on him. Cohen won't be too pleased though... what was it that you thought I should know?" Connelly replied.
"Err... some of these tunnels are natural you know," The Doctor answered, changing his mind at the last moment.
"Yes... Professor Cohen told me that one of the reasons this sight was chosen was because of the network of tunnels beneath the area. They were carved out by a long extinct volcano and some of them were extended and added to by us. They help with the distribution of power and ventilation.. those sorts of things," Connelly replied giving The Doctor a weird look.
The Doctor paused in front of a camera which was hooked up to one of the cables that ran along the top of tunnel.
"It's The Doctor!" Jason shouted.
The Doctor smiled.
"Doctor... can you hear me?"
"Yes... there's an intercom here. Listen to me. You and Crystal are to stay exactly where you are. At the first sign of trouble you are to get back to the TARDIS. Do you understand?"
"I think it may have already have happened Doctor," Crystal interjected, "Moody crashed the shuttle."
"I realise that... but that's not the sort of trouble I mean. When it happens, you'll know."
"Professor Cohen and Doctor Singh aren't back yet Doctor - should we go and see if Moody's alright?" Jason asked.
"No - it's too dangerous for you. Let Cohen and Singh do it and remember, first sign of trouble: back to the TARDIS," he ordered as he and Connelly wandered off in pursuit of Zog.
Cohen and Singh were already making their way out to the downed shuttle. There were pieces of wreckage everywhere. Some of it was still live and sparking or on fire. The main body of the shuttle was intact and Singh operated the airlock.
Moody had been thrown back from the cockpit into the main hold. One of his legs was clearly broken and there was blood running out of his mouth.
"Moody what the hell got into you this time?" Cohen demanded.
"Sorry... panicked..."
Singh examined him and shook her head.
"What were you doing?"
"The Earth... it's gone and we can't go home... no home... I've seen them you know... there's things underneath the ground... we're all going to die..."
And he did.
"There he goes again with stories about things living under the ground," Singh commented.
"Not just unstable it seems... but delusional... poor fellow," Cohen reflected.
"Will we leave him here?"
"I'll get Connelly to bury him later. By the looks of it we're going to need to start a cemetery of our own. There's no Earth to send Doc and Yem's bodies back to now!"
"Zog?" The Doctor whispered.
There had been a scratching sound further up the tunnel and The Doctor had left Connelly behind to make sure he could grab Zog just in case he had been playing a game all along and scooted past him.
"Zog?" The Doctor called, a little louder.
There was a movement behind him, which he thought was Connelly. He turned to see an enormous figure lumbering towards him.
"Halt!" It hissed.
"Connelly?"
The figure stepped further into the light and The Doctor could see it's reptilian armour.
'Lord of the Red Planet'
By Kamael. Used with permission.
"Just as I feared, an Ice Warrior!" The Doctor gasped.
"All human invaders are to die!" It gloated as it raised it's weapon.
The Doctor stumbled back against the tunnel wall: "But I'm not... human!"
The Ice Warrior - a huge creature with shell-like armour that made it seem like a tortoise on two legs - hesitated: "Explain..."
"I'm not human and the others are not invaders. I'm sure they don't even realise that you're here!" The Doctor explained.
"You lie!"
Zog slipped down from a rock above them and scuttled over towards The Doctor.
"You see, my friend there is an alien as well... a species called an Aldebarian," The Doctor informed him.
The Ice Warrior lowered its weapon and thought for a moment.
"Wait here!" It hissed as it trundled up the tunnel to a communication device hidden behind a boulder in the tunnel. The Doctor's only avenue of escape was deeper into the tunnel system, where no doubt there would be more of them.
Zog buried his head in The Doctor's coat.
"What did you think you were doing leading me straight into an Ice Warrior. Honestly Zog, sometimes I think you haven't got my best interests at heart!" The Doctor reprimanded him.
Zog flashed The Doctor an evil look, which he missed in the darkness of the tunnel. There was some movement, not far away and Zog and ducked behind The Doctor when he realised that the Ice Warrior in question was returning...
"What do you think The Doctor meant by trouble?" Crystal asked.
"If anyone knows when trouble is on its way - it's him!" Jason replied.
Cohen and Singh returned with long faces. Jason and Crystal didn't even have to ask what had happened.
"How did you come to Mars?" Cohen asked.
"Err... why?" Crystal answered nervously.
"Because there wasn't another ship on the landing platform... how did you get into the dome?" Cohen continued with his impromptu investigation.
Jason looked around, searching for a way not to mention the TARDIS...
"Is that Connelly on the screen?" He finally blurted.
"Yes it is... I thought he was fixing the generator... what's he doing in the service tunnel?" Cohen answered.
"Professor? Are you there?"
"I'm here Connelly - what's going on?" Cohen asked operating the communication system.
"The Doctor and I went looking for Zog in the tunnels. The Doctor thought that he might have seen something down here. I think he might be right. The Doctor went on ahead and I could hear voices... wha...?"
There was a glow around Connelly's body and he fell out of view of the screen. The picture went dead indicating that the camera had been disabled.
"You don't think Moody might have been right do you?" Singh pondered aloud.
"My God... now Connelly! What's going on here?" Singh cried.
"Lord Klarr requires an audience with you. You will proceed down the tunnel to the transporter... any attempt to escape and you will be killed!" The Ice Warrior hissed.
The Doctor beamed a wide smile and strode on with Zog on his shoulders. The Ice Warrior watched them vanish down the tunnel.
It was clear that the game was up and Cohen wanted some answers.
"I want you to tell me how you got here and what connection you all have with whatever is in those tunnels!"
"I assure you we don't know what is in those tunnels," Jason replied quite openly.
"The Doctor might have a better idea though... he told us to expect trouble!" Crystal added.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't suspect you're a part of some elaborate plot to take this outpost?" Cohen asked with an air of intellectual superiority.
Jason and Crystal stared at one another in a way that suggested they were both about to take part in an act of betrayal.
"We arrived in the TARDIS... it's a craft that belongs to The Doctor..." Jason started, deciding on the edited highlights.
"It's outside the dome then... how did you get in here?" Singh enquired.
"No, it's just outside in the corridor... a blue box," Crystal admitted.
"I thought that was Moody's luggage!" Singh retorted.
"They're insulting our intelligence... there is no possible way one object could just... materialise inside another!" Cohen declared.
"Well don't ask me how it works but it belongs to The Doctor and he can... pilot it," Jason assured him, stopping himself from giving too much away.
"Well, if all you say is true then you won't mind if we take a look at it then..." Cohen insisted, pulling Connelly's gun from beneath his legs and ushering them out.
"From the inside!" He added.
The Doctor and Zog soon saw a large, metallic object that seemed to hover above the ground. In front of it stood two Ice Warriors. The rock behind it had a large scar on it. It seemed that the machine had melted its way through the rock and sealed the hole it had made on the way out. The two Ice Warriors raised their weapons as he approached. A door opened on the side of the machine and a small ramp extended down. The much shorter Ice Warrior, an Ice Lord called Klarr strode down it - his long cape swirling behind him as he did so.
"You will explain your role in this invasion!" Klarr ordered.
Klarr had a horribly scaled face just visible under his helmet. He walked with the arrogance of any creature who had the power of life and death over those that served him. His appearance was enough to make Zog jump off The Doctor's shoulders and duck inside his coat!
"Forgive me Lord Klarr," The Doctor began with a bow, "but I fear there has been some misunderstanding."
"One does not invade a planet by mistake!" Klarr declared, placing his hand on his sword that hung at his side.
"The humans have established an outpost for the purpose of scientific research - they have no idea that your species exists," The Doctor argued.
"We have tapped into their computer systems... they have a long term plan to alter the climate of our planet."
"That will cease once they learn of your existence. They are an inquisitive and explorative species, they have little real interest in Mars... their eyes are on the systems beyond their grasp."
Klarr gave a hand signal and the two Ice Warriors moved over to The Doctor and pushed him to his knees.
"There is something you are not telling me," Klarr announced as he drew his sword.
The sword was long and thick, with a very broad and decorative handle and many jagged edges along the body. It glinted in the darkness of the tunnel - picking up on any source of light.
"I assure you Lord Klarr that the humans are not hostile. You have nothing to fear from them," The Doctor reiterated.
"You will tell me what I want to know or I will separate your head from its body. I know when I am being lied to by an enemy!"
"I assume then that you are referring to the destruction of Earth," The Doctor informed him.
Klarr's sword returned to his scabbard and he stepped closer.
"What do you mean... destroyed?"
"Within the last hour a... comet hit the Earth causing it to vanish!"
The story was so improbable that it seemed to convince Klarr to take it seriously.
"Hold him here - I need to confer with the capital," Klarr ordered as he strode back up inside the transport.
"This is incredible... truly incredible!" Cohen chattered excitedly, wheeling about the console room.
Singh was in a state of stunned silence.
"You see... that comet or whatever it was , was headed straight for us and we had to materialise here to get out of the way. Whenever we land somewhere, The Doctor likes to be sure of the co-ordinates before taking off again... the TARDIS is not the most reliable of machines!" Jason explained.
"Really? Well, it looks absolutely splendid to me...bigger on the inside than the outside... possibly some kind of dimensional transference... able to materialise and dematerialise in another place... with transport like this we could colonise the galaxy!"
Jason and Crystal looked at each other, both agreeing to keep the concept of time travel out of the conversation.
"This Doctor must be a genius... why have we never heard of this advancement?" Singh asked.
"Perhaps he's planning to mass produce them and make a fortune, hey?" Cohen chortled.
"Well you know what they say about silver linings... with machines like this our species would have a fair chance of survival," Singh considered.
"Yes... our species... he asked me the year..." Cohen thought aloud.
"I told you we shouldn't have brought them in here!" Jason argued in a whisper.
"The Doctor told us to come here if there was any trouble... remember what happened to Connelly?" Crystal replied, tersely.
"Yes us, not anybody else! He's breaking the rules bringing us along with him I suspect. Now here we are giving guided tours!" Jason sighed with regret.
"Well he did have a gun! Stop being such a goody-goody all the time... they'll never guess the truth," Crystal insisted.
"Um, you two? Could I ask where The Doctor comes from?" Cohen enquired with a quizzical grin.
Jason and Crystal glared at each other.
Klarr strode down the ramp.
Zog's head had emerged from beneath The Doctor's coat.
"So there is a full scale invasion planned. Now with no planet they must colonise another!'
"They had no idea it was coming Klarr. Study their broadcasts, they never knew what hit them!" The Doctor replied.
"You may be correct Doctor. Our Capital detected the destruction of the Earth not long ago. This suits our plans perfectly!"
"I take it you mean the destruction of the outpost? It's true that the remaining humans are isolated and vulnerable but there are many more of them further out across the solar system... I take it your numbers are no longer great?"
Klarr stepped forward dangerously, his hand on the handle of his sword once more.
"What makes you suspect that? Surely it requires no more than a small task force to dispatch a fledgling colony of humans!" Klarr asserted.
"Maybe... but you've been extremely careful and subtle, reducing their numbers gradually and making their deaths appear to be accidents. Slowly sabotaging their support systems... why not just walk right in and take control, hmmm...?"
"You are testing my patience... Doctor! You have not adequately explained yourself," Klarr warned.
"Oh, I've encountered your species before, yes a very honourable but ruthless species. You evolved on a very small planet, that was at one time much like Earth but then because of its lack of gravitational pull, lost it's atmosphere. You were forced underground and your numbers diminished. You sent a mission to your sister planet Earth long ago but it was lost. Then? By the time humans emerged as the dominant species you were a culture in decline... no longer capable of producing fleets of starships necessary for colonisation - after one final attempt of course!"
"You are not human! The humans officially know nothing about our race, although we suspect their leadership does..." Klarr reasoned.
"I wouldn't bet on it. Your attempted invasion of Earth via their T-Mat system would have been covered up long ago. All records destroyed. Humans can be quite delusional... particularly in a collective sense!" The Doctor revealed.
"You would say anything to buy them more time!"
"You are going to need each other Klarr, for exactly the same reason this planet failed... gravity!"
"What do you mean?" Klarr demanded.
"The destruction of Earth has changed the gravitational relationships in the solar system... there is bound to be stellar debris on its way to this planet at this very moment..."
"What you say is logical," Klarr admitted, backing up the ramp.
"Klarr? Klarr! You have to work with the humans it's your only hope. Together you could do great things... you are much more advanced than the humans and dare I say it... disciplined. Your culture is many thousands of years older than theirs... help them to help you!"
Klarr disappeared into the transport.
Crystal was showing Cohen how to operate the scanner. It was the only way she could deflect his line of questioning.
"I see... marvellous. But why make it look like an ancient artefact such as a Police Box? This Doctor must be eccentric, consider the way he dresses..."
Singh had come up close to them, perhaps out of jealously and positioned herself between them.
"I'm more worried about this trouble The Doctor is expecting," Jason admitted.
"Yes... we saw Connelly attacked and possibly killed by some kind of energy weapon," Cohen continued to think aloud, which seemed to be a habit.
"We've been to all sorts of planets and seen all sorts of creatures... if The Doctor is concerned, we definitely need to be!" Crystal assured him.
"What was that?" Singh yelped.
"What?" Cohen asked.
"Something just moved past the monitor screen... I swear... it didn't seem human!"
"I hope The Doctor is all right," Crystal whispered to Jason.
Klarr strode back down the ramp once more in a triumphant manner.
"The Capital has been warned Doctor!"
"I'm glad. Now, you need to negotiate with the humans," The Doctor instructed.
"No. The humans are not to be trusted. They are to be eliminated. I have sent a couple of my Warriors into the outpost to eliminate what is left of them.
"Which means of course... that I have no further use for you!" Klarr announced.
Klarr drew his sword. The two Ice Warriors detaining The Doctor pushed him forward. Klarr grinned maliciously and raised his weapon above his head...
A tremor shook the cave, causing Klarr to stagger away from The Doctor. There was the sound of a number of great impacts on the surface. Zog leapt from inside the coat of The Doctor and sank his teeth into a leg belonging to one of the Ice Warriors. There was a guttural hiss as The Doctor leapt to his feet.
"Stop him!" Klarr shouted as he fended off debris.
"Quickly into the transport!" The Doctor yelled to Zog, as he leapt up the ramp in one cat-like bounce.
Zog followed, narrowly escaping a swing of Klarr's sword. Once inside, The Doctor sealed the door and ran to the cock pit. He swung the transport around which inadvertently succeeded in flooring all three of the Ice Warriors. Then, after a slight stall, he dove through the cavern wall. The rock sealed itself after the ship had passed through it.
Inside the TARDIS, the assembled humans could hear the pounding of the space debris.
"No doubt this is part of what The Doctor was talking about," Cohen admitted.
"What's causing it though?" Singh asked, frantically trying to stay on her feet.
"The gravitational relationships in the system have been altered and Mars has attracted some of the debris that normally orbits in this part of space and perhaps some small pieces of the Earth as well..." Cohen replied.
"How morbid," Crystal commented.
"Well one positive thing is that those things out there are as much exposed to it as we are!" Cohen reflected.
Outside the TARDIS a lump of space rock shot through the roof of the outpost and caused part of the ceiling to collapse. One of the Ice Warriors in the outpost was covered by a tidal wave of metal and plastic.
"It's over!" Cohen breathed a sigh of relief.
"For good?" Crystal asked, propping herself up on the floor.
"Hard to say. It has a lot to do with the tilt of the planet and the exact rotational position when the wave of matter passes close to the planet. At a guess I would say that the Northern Pole of the planet is copping the worst of it," Cohen explained.
Jason was busy reading the instruments of the TARDIS console as he had been taught by The Doctor: "It says the air out there is thin but breathable!"
"The force field must have automatically compensated for the damage to the dome!" Singh declared.
"Yes, which places an even higher demand on the power reserves," Cohen pointed out.
"Meaning?" Crystal pondered.
"We have to go out. If we don't fix the generator - the atmosphere within the dome will escape and the outpost will become uninhabitable!" Cohen revealed.
The Doctor and Zog emerged out of the ground in the transport on the opposite side of the dome landscape to the power generator.
"Very difficult to steer... it wouldn't win any design awards!" The Doctor claimed.
Zog looked at him sceptically. The Doctor decided to change the subject.
"We'll drive over to the generator first. Without power the outpost is doomed..."
Cohen lead his party out of the TARDIS. There was rubbish everywhere. Jason locked the TARDIS door.
"Look!" Crystal gasped as she pointed to an armoured limb sticking out from under the rubble.
"Is that...?" Singh asked.
"An alien? Yes... perhaps an indigenous species," Cohen reflected, "clearly intelligent and unfortunately hostile."
Singh bent down and gently placed a hand on the dead Ice Warrior.
"I've always wanted to touch an alien organism... it's a dream of mine!" She admitted.
"Let's hope we don't find a live one - if what happened to Connelly is any indication of their humour!" Cohen declared.
"This is bad," The Doctor noted.
The generator was in pieces. It had suffered a direct hit from a piece of stellar debris. The Doctor cast a frustrated eye over the millions, no billions of fragments that once constituted the vital system.
"They place them this far out due to the electro-magnetic fields they generate and the fire hazard basically," The Doctor to Zog who just scratched his head.
Zog pointed to the downed shuttle that was spread out under the dome not far from the generator. The Doctor looked over at the main hull... and smiled a curious smile...
In the control room, Cohen and Singh were checking the systems, while Jason and Crystal were operating the cameras, trying to find any sign of The Doctor.
"The outpost proper only suffered the one hit, although the dome was penetrated half a dozen times," Cohen reported.
"Most of the cameras aren't working," Jason reported, perhaps hoping to feel useful.
"It's getting very dim and cold in here," Crystal complained.
"We're dangerously low in power," Cohen admitted fearfully, as he whizzed over beside them.
He operated the switch for the camera positioned to monitor the generator and saw the reason why.
"My God Sebastian... what are we going to do?" Singh yelped on the verge of tears.
"You are going to surrender!" Klarr declared.
"Well this isn't much more promising!" The Doctor complained.
Zog looked around the inside of the hull. Maybe it was just the dead body that made him look nervous... and maybe it was something else?
"Yes, these engines have been damaged... I thought they might offer an alternative power source for at least a little while but, hang on! They're in the process of decay... I thought I was feeling a little dizzy!"
Zog backed off towards the airlock.
"This won't solve the oxygen or light problem - but it will solve the most immediate problem!" The Doctor exclaimed as he pulled some kind of lever, making the core of the engines glow red hot.
Zog was already headed back to the transport.
"Oh, don't worry you silly furball," The Doctor muttered, and then decided to follow him at a good speed.
"Your power supply has been destroyed. Soon the temperature within the dome will equalise with that of the outside environment, and you will all die!" Klarr declared.
The Ice Lord had strode into the control room, backed up by two Ice Warriors. Cohen didn't know whether to be fascinated or terrified.
"You... evolved and live on this planet... how can you stand to be in the dome?" Cohen asked.
"It is intolerable but rapidly becoming more comfortable... that is why we have be able to proceed with our final assault on this outpost!" Klarr responded with annoyance.
"Did you... destroy the Earth?" Singh enquired.
"No. It was a natural phenomenon that destroyed your planet, but you will not have ours!"
"My good man... we have no intention of stealing anybody's planet. As far as we knew, Mars was terra nullius... empty land!" Cohen insisted.
"You have long planned to terra form this planet, regardless of what you found here!" Klarr insisted.
"If we had known we could have simply made contact with you and established an out post on Venus," Cohen argued.
"So you say now that your planet has been destroyed and your outpost has been taken!" Klarr snorted.
"What about The Doctor?" Jason pleaded.
"Klarr!" The Doctor's voice rang out from the communication station.
Klarr spun around to see The Doctor's face on the main view screen. He was sitting in the cock pit of the Martian transporter. Jason and Crystal exchanged a grin.
"You will surrender our vehicle immediately Doctor or I will begin to execute my prisoners!" Klarr warned drawing his sword.
"You really have to work on your anger management skills Klarr... "
Klarr sauntered over and grabbed Crystal. Jason went to resist but Klarr struck him down with one hand.
"Alright! Fine. I'll come in!" The Doctor shouted.
"Immediately Doctor!"
"Immediately!" The Doctor grinned.
Without warning the floor burst open and the transport emerged, sending everybody flying in all directions. Jason pulled Crystal to her feet and they dashed out of the control room. They were followed by one of the Ice Warriors. Cohen had been thrown out of his wheelchair. Singh saw him and moved to help him up.
"Go! Get out of here while you have the chance!" Cohen yelled.
Singh ignored him. The other Ice Warrior moved to intercept her. Cohen drew Connelly's blaster and shot the alien in the face causing his skin to bubble. The soldier fell, hissing to his feet. Singh had reached Cohen by this time and had picked him up. Klarr had managed to get to his feet and collect his sword. He strode over towards the two of them...
"STOP!" It was The Doctor's commanding voice.
Klarr immediately spun around.
"It's not often that I am outmanoeuvred by an inferior!" He admitted.
"You will put that sword down! NOW!" The Doctor ordered.
Cohen had his gun pointed at Klarr.
"You as well Sebastian," The Doctor added.
"This is pointless, you have lost!" Klarr spat.
"I have some news for you that you might be interested in!" The Doctor informed him.
Jason and Crystal made straight for the TARDIS. However the shockwave of the transport entering the outpost had caused more of the ceiling to collapse, blocking the entrance.
"Well what do we do now?" Crystal yelled.
There was an energy discharge that exploded on the wall behind them.
"Run!" Jason replied, offering the most pertinent cliché of his life.
"No! It isn't true!" Klarr muttered.
"On the way here there was a transmission from one of your own satellite colonies... your Capital was wiped out only a few minutes ago... your society is in chaos!" The Doctor reiterated.
"The stellar debris?" Singh asked.
The Doctor nodded and then he did the seemingly impossible, he walked over and put his hand on Klarr's shoulder.
"You see, the humans and yourselves, you all need each other!"
"We don't for a second doubt your claim to this planet... we ask only for your help," Cohen declared, taking The Doctor's lead.
Klarr fell to his knees: "It wasn't my decision to press ahead with the attack... I was following orders... I think..."
Singh was the first to realise it wasn't emotion that had overcome the Ice Lord: "It's gotten awfully hot all of a sudden!"
"Yes, the shuttles engine core... I set it to meltdown... you see they are particularly vulnerable to heat. Help me get him into the transport... it has the capacity to maintain a climate suitable for a Martian. If he stays out here he will die!" The Doctor revealed.
Jason and Crystal had ducked into the botanical section. It was full of racks and plants of virtually every species from Earth. They had hidden themselves under a creeper, on an empty shelf. They could hear the Ice Warrior enter. It seemed to be breathing heavy.
CRASH! A rack had been turned over.
CRASH! Another.
The pair could just see each others faces. Crystal thought the sound of her heart pounding would give them away before it even got to their row!
THUD!
Thud? Jason peeked out. The Ice Warrior was laying on the floor a few metres away, steaming.
Inside the transport, The Doctor and Singh found Zog. They placed Klarr in the main seat and sealed the airlock once Cohen had driven himself inside. The Doctor promptly adjusted the thermostat control.
"Brace yourselves... Martians like it cold!" He warned them.
Klarr started to come round.
"How did it get so hot so quickly?" Singh asked.
"As a Botanist, you should know why!" The Doctor replied.
"Of course! The glass house effect... heat trapped with nowhere to escape... the core won't overload will it Doctor?"
"No... just exhaust itself... I wouldn't go near it without a radiation suit for a while!" The Doctor advised.
"Doc-tor?"
The Doctor looked over at Klarr... he had a half-grin on his face.
"You saved my life!"
"Of course, the universe is dangerous and indifferent enough without us select few intelligent species at each others throats!" The Doctor returned.
"Hear! Hear!" Cohen echoed.
"I can make no promises... but if I am to have any influence I will press my people for a treaty of some kind..." Klarr assured them, recovering his composure.
"You can no doubt consider Professor Cohen to be one of the leaders now of his people... he's the person you need to speak to..."
Tap Tap!
The Doctor looked up, it was Jason and Crystal knocking on the front glass of the transport.
Sometime after Klarr had departed, Singh was attempting to free up the TARDIS with the help of Connelly's little get-about!
"She's a handy woman to have about!" Cohen laughed.
"Well, we wish you well," The Doctor announced as he pulled his key from his coat.
"Are you sure you won't stay Doctor? It goes without saying we need you!" Cohen pleaded.
"Nonsense! Professor Sebastian Cohen, this place is a mess, your home planet has vanished and your people are spread out all over the solar system but it's only going to get better! You've just made friends with a race that will help you get back on your feet again. Things are only going to get better!" The Doctor replied with a wink.
Jason and Crystal, waved and both said goodbye as they followed The Doctor into the TARDIS.
"Mars Outpost! Relief shuttle to Mars Outpost... do you copy?" A voice rang out form the control room.
The TARDIS dematerialised and let a clear square on the floor amidst all the rubble.
"Come on..." Cohen began, "we've got work to do!"
And they both turned and headed off towards the control room.
Story Set between The Trial of a Time Lord & Time and The Rani