trip of a lifetime part 2
CHAPTER 5: A STRAINGE LANDING:
All of a sudden the TARDIS shuddered. Jess went down in her night gown with her dressing gown on top to investigate. She was soon followed by The Doctor in his boxers and dressing gown.
The Doctor asked Jess, “What’s happened dear?”
Jess said bewildered, “We’ve landed.”
Sid and everyone else pleaded with them, “Let’s go and explore, please.”
She said, “How can we? We are not sure if it’s safe out there. At least let me check the scanner.”
The Doctor keyed on the scanner and it showed a corridor, a space type corridor.
Jess seemed to recognise the image. He noticed their reaction and asked her, “What’s wrong Jess dear?”
“Nothing darling. It’s just that I recognise this place.”
“Well dear that’s wonderful, where have we landed then?”
“We’ve landed on the moon but it’s called Moonbase Alpha. The people are not hostile. So we might as well disguise ourselves and have a look round.”
“Good idea but I think we should change into something appropriate sweetie.”
“Yes, we don’t want to cause a stir.”
The couple both dashed upstairs to change. During that length of time the others got impatient and went outside to explore.
When the couple had returned to see they were not there waiting. Jess knew what they had done and rushed ahead in her top and skirt, then The Doctor sighed under his breath, “Oh well, better get them out of trouble.”
After that he followed in her direction. The others were looking at the corridor when all of a sudden the six were all caught by an Alphan called Alan. He took them to the command centre to be seen by their commander, John Koenig and his colleagues Doctor Helena Russell and Maya. In the corridors, Jess and The Doctor were careful in searching everywhere but they had no luck. But all wasn’t lost for long as she remembered about how she and the commander were best of friends.
If she had to get through to someone, it would be him.
She told The Doctor, “If I could see the commander maybe he would let them go.”
He said back, “I’m not sure if I like you facing the commander alone. By the way, how do you know the commander?”
“He and I are old friends if you must know. He’d still recognise me after all this time; I’ve not changed a bit. Oh, come on Doctor where’s your sense of adventure?”
“Oh all right but if you’re wrong…”
“I won’t be wrong love. Have a little faith in me.”
“Ok sweetheart.”
They talked and talked then finally reached a decision.
Jess walked down the corridors into the command centre to see John Koenig, sitting on his chair near his desk. She smiled as she walked up to the desk. She couldn’t wait to surprise him after all this time who could?
His eyes fixed on her and he had clicked that it was her. He cried out, “Jess, my old friend! You still look as pretty as I saw you last!”
“Come off it. I’m not that old John, I see you haven’t changed.”
“So how is life?”
“A hell of a lot better.”
“Why?”
“I got married 75 years ago.”
“Is your husband here? I’d love to meet him!”
“Yes he is.”
“Call him in then!”
“Very well I will. You might want to cover your ears.”
John Koenig covered his ears, so did everyone else around the area.
She shouted, “Doctor!”
She heard The Doctor shout back, “Coming darling!”
The Doctor soon entered the room, she immediately kissed him. Then stood there beside him.
She said proudly, “This is my husband The Doctor. Doctor, I’d like you to meet an old friend of mine. Commander John Koenig of Moonbase Alpha.”
“Nice to meet you Doctor. Now Jess I’d love to introduce you to some associates of mine.”
“Yes but all in good time. The thing is that we came with an entourage, the people you caught earlier before we arrived, that was them.”
“Jess I’m so sorry, I’ll ask for them to be released and returned to you. Just let me show you both around. Alan?”
Alan answered, “Yes commander.”
“This is Mr and Mrs Doctor, we caught some old friends of hers earlier, can you return them?”
“Yes, I can manage that commander.”
“John, has anything happened that you can’t explain?”
“Yes. Something is happening to the Alphans.”
“John can you tell me anything?”
“Jess, I can tell you that they are disappearing one by one.”
“John, you’ve been a great amount of help. Tell Helena me and my husband will be seeing her in the medical centre.”
“Yes I will.”
Jess and The Doctor departed the command centre and entered the medical centre.
Doctor Helena Russell had just come away from the communicator.
Helena greeted them, “Hello Jess. This must be your husband The Doctor. John has just told me. So it’s nice to finally meet you both. How long have you been married?”
“We’ve been married for 75 years. Now to business, what is going on?”
Helena replied trying her best to calm down, “Some of the people who live on Alpha have disappeared. They have not returned since then. Have you got any ideas what is going on?”
Jess said, “I have a small idea of what’s going on here but I need to check it, mind if I have a poke about?”
“No Jess, feel free to have a look.”
Jess looked around in the room but she found nothing. The Doctor went back to the others to give them a lecture they’d never forget. Certainly one they’d never forget in a hurry.
Back in the medical centre, Helena was helping Jess when a woman with long, red hair entered the room.
“Helena I’ve brought the personnel files you asked for. Who’s this?”
“Maya this is Mrs Jess Eve Doctor an old friend of John’s.”
“Hello Maya.”
“Hello Jess. It’s a pleasure to meet you. What are you doing?”
“Trying to find out what is going on around here.”
Jess took out her sonic screwdriver; she then put it on and waved it around.
After 10 minutes it sounded a bleeping noise, as she got closer the bleeps were faster. It took the three out of the medical centre and led them into a secret, cold, dark passage.
On one side was a row of men. As she became aware that the men were made of metal, she saw a unit and recognised it as a conversion unit. The image of the men became clearer too. She realised that they had to get out and told Maya and Helena, “Let’s get out of here. It isn’t safe down here.”
They got out of the passage and dashed to the command centre. When they arrived there they were a little bit breathless. Jess went up to The Doctor and John along with Helena and Maya. She said in a matter-of-fact tone, “I know what has been happening here.”
John asked, “Well, what is happening?”
“Moonbase Alpha has a small amount of dormant Cybermen, they could be woken up at any time.”
Helena questioned, “So what happened to the people that went missing?”
Jess answered with a tone that disappointed them all, “They have undergone a process called Cyber Conversion. Basically, they have been changed into Cybermen.”
John enquired, “What are Cybermen Jess?”
“Men with their brains in a metal exterior, all emotions removed because they believe that emotions make you weak. They are killers. People who resist are deleted, killed. Me and The Doctor have encountered them in our adventures, we travel through time and space. He’s a Time Lord and I’m an Acolyte Time Lord, which means I’m a Time Lady. The Cybermen tortured me and him once, we were very lucky to get out alive.”
“What can we do to stop them from invading Alpha?”
“We can only hope and prey that they don’t wake up and find us.”
The Doctor interrupted, “But love you can use your magic powers and your voice, the one you sing with. Please, have a think about what I’ve said for us and for them.”
She said after a 5 - 10 minute interval, “Yes I could use my singing voice. Or I could use my laughing voice, the one that kills your ears. I think under the pressure it will break the workings of the Cybermen. I can’t make up my mind; I don’t know what to do.”
The Doctor looked appealingly into her eyes, “Well you are going to have to on this occasion. I have a lot of faith in you my love; I believe you can do this.”
“All right but let me think over a cup of tea.”
Maya said willingly, “I’ll make you one Jess, you just sit tight. We will get through this together with your help. We, on Alpha have faith in you. We believe you can do this.”
Maya went off to make a cup of tea for Jess, while Helena and John listened more about the couple’s time/space travelling adventures and their encounters with other species of aliens. They were astounded by their tales, beguiled too it seemed to her.
By the end of their 10th tale Maya return with Jess’s cup of tea. She gave it to her and then they sat down on their chairs when Samuel, Sid, Tony, Pat, Katie and Tara walked into the room followed by Alan.
Jess for a moment seemed to feel engaged and distracted in her thoughts, a deep mediation they assumed but they kept quiet. All of a sudden Jess got off the chair, clapped her hands once and smiled, saying, “I’ve got just the plan but for it to succeed, I need your help.”
The Doctor felt glad by his wife’s new courageous behaviour, so pleased that he felt like kissing her but he resisted the temptation although he would have adored the moment more than he did before they arrived.
Jess also lectured the others about the danger they were in and about not running off. She made sure that was harshly lectured, highlighted in detail.
Down in the dark passageway, the dormant Cybermen were activated and each one ascended to the corridor above it. Back in the command centre, Jess had finished her lecture and prepared metal resisting pads and was placing them at the back of everyone’s necks.
Immediately she heard a warning noise and seen if she can get the cameras to see it was them, the Cybermen were not dormant any longer, they were awake and on the way to kill them!
She remembered the vile she drank earlier and took the rest and amplified the effect by using her sonic screwdriver as a microphone to make her sound even louder, so that it could kill the Cybermen. She then noticed that everyone except The Doctor was clueless about what she was planning to do.
She explained, “First I’m going to try laughing at them, if that fails, I’ll sing. The metal resistors on the back of your necks, whatever you do, do not take them off. I can’t promise I’ll return alive.”
The Doctor pleaded her, “Please come back to me alive. Anyway, I know you will.”
“I’ll try. Wish me luck.”
The Doctor stepped forward and said in a really saucy tone, “I’ll do more than that dear.”
He then lifted her face and snogged her, after a minute or two he let her go and she went into the corridor. He turned to look at the Cybermen on the screen.
She finally made it to the corridor, the Cybermen just a few minutes in front of her. She laughed putting her sonic screwdriver to her mouth.
Her laughing was working but the results were too slow so she thought of a catchy song and started to sing into her sonic screwdriver.
This time the results where immediate, one by one the Cybermen fell to death because of their unknown weakness for singing. No sooner than within 10 minutes 20 seconds they were all dead so she got rid of them out of a nearby air lock.
Then once the air lock was closed she walked back to the others in the command centre.
As soon as she was re-entered the room, she smiled and cheered, “It’s all over, they’re all dead. Alpha is safe.”
John said, “And thanks to you my old friend. How can I ever repay you?”
“Well you can calm down for starters John. Just think of it as a favour for all those laughs we’ve had over the years.”
John agreed, “Yes, I will Jess.”
As The Doctor smiled, Maya said, “I did tell you were going to return to us unscathed, Jess.”
“Yes you did Maya, thank you.”
Helena lectured, “Jess you should always have faith in yourself no matter what.”
Jess said to the six, “Go and get something to eat, you look hungry.”
The six sped off and had a small meal, leaving her with The Doctor.
The Doctor stepped closer to his wife and said to her something that warmed her heart to hear it as much as it did his to say it, “Well done sweetheart. I never doubted you for one moment.”
She looked at him in his leather jacket and then she grabbed him for a snog. When Katie came into the room to see her snogging him, Katie tried to gain their attention but she failed to. So in the end, Katie gave up and left them to it, she had never known a couple to be so much in love with each other.
All the time Jess had known she could use her powers but she didn’t know how strong they were, she knew her origins at birth because her parents had given her a spell book, a wand, a sonic screwdriver and an old Gallifreyan book in their language.
Shortly before the couple went to join everyone else they kissed again and then he said in a rather posh tone, “May I escort you into dinner?”
His hand was open at the time. After a while she nodded her head and took his obliging hand which was near her arm stroking it.
They walked into the others all loved-up and sat together, beside each other at the table and with their hands held together on the table.
They ate many new things from new planets, to Jess being a Time Lord’s wife was the most special thing she had been in ages.
After that meal they all celebrated with a glass of champagne and John raised his glass in Jess’s direction, so did everyone else, even The Doctor with a big, charming smile.
John praised Jess, “To our heroine of the day.”
They all shouted, “Here! Here!”
The glasses clanged together and they sipped the champagne.
But when it came to the afternoon’s entertainment, she suggested, “Why don’t we play ‘Bridge’?”
All of them agreed to play the game. She dealt out the cards after she had shuffled them and then sat in concentration over her cards; she then discarded one and then picked up another.
The Doctor helped Jess a little bit and he told her to stick with the cards she now had. She had forgotten all about her past but she never forgot her Uncle Declan back on Earth, never forgot what her he had taught her. Just because of her husband’s help she won the game.
CHAPTER 6: FAREWELLS:
As soon as they had finished the game Jess and The Doctor led Katie, Sid, Tara, Samuel, Pat and Tony to the TARDIS. John, Helena and Maya came to see them off on their way.
John said to Jess, “So this is how you lot arrived here. What is it?”
The Doctor took the pleasure and explained, “Well this is the TARDIS. That is short for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. Jess and I, we were exiled from Gallifrey but I was exiled because I was a renegade Time Lord and Jess was exiled for two reasons, one she was a witch and two because her parents wanted her not to suffer the curse we have. They wanted to give her a better life. But I think considering what she has been through before I met her that she is wonderful and I wouldn’t trade her for anyone else.”
Maya commented, “Well you are a lucky woman Jess. All the best and we will look forward to seeing everyone again. And keep singing. Look after the baby inside you.”
Jess said thankfully, “Thank you Maya, I will.”
John said in a caring tone, “Look after yourself and look after him.”
Jess replied in an even saucier tone, “Oh I will, don’t you worry about that John. If you get anymore trouble you could always call for us.”
The Doctor turned to Jess and said as if he knew what she was going to say, “Come on Jess let’s get back inside the TARDIS.”
Jess said which surprised him, “Hold your horses Doctor!”
She hugged the three goodbye, but she also got a peck on the cheek from John. Katie, Sid, Tara, Samuel, Pat and Tony then turned to enter the TARDIS as The Doctor unlocked the door. The six went ahead of the couple while The Doctor waited for Jess to stop talking.
He was getting a little impatient so he was trying to charm her back inside the space/time machine by kissing her neck.
After a few moments she gave in, she simply couldn’t resist him and she snogged him, dragging him inside the TARDIS at the same time as Maya, Helena and John had turned their backs.
Inside the TARDIS, the couple were still kissing, Jess flicked down the dematerialisation switch on the glowing console and the blue police box exterior disappeared from view.
Katie moaned, “Could you stop kissing you pair?”
Jess and The Doctor shouted, “No!”
Pat asked, “Doctor?”
The Doctor said, “Yes Pat?”
“Is Mrs Doctor with child?”
“Yes Pat, she is with child.”
Then he picked her up gently in his arms, he kissed her while he carried her to their room, this time no one stopped them but the others did burst laughing.
Several days later, she crouched on the ground of the console room, The Doctor knew that was going into labour. He flew to her side, she clicked her fingers for the equipment that he would need such as a bowl of hot water and some hot towels. They appeared on the floor without delay. Pat knew what to do but by the time she was ready, Jess had all ready pushed and panted enough that the newborn was out and The Doctor had now all ready cut the umbilical cord, he wrapped the newborn into the warm towel.
He said cheerfully, “Now this is one trip of a lifetime I won’t forget in a hurry!”
They all giggled, the others giggled more when the couple kissed but Jess and The Doctor didn’t have a care in the world.
Now their family was complete. A little girl she gave birth to. They called her Doris Gwen Doctor. They all smiled, even Jess smiled as they all watched the Time Rotor in the central column on the console rose and fell.
THE END.
PS>
Will post the second tale in my own series 'A Mysterious Night At The Opera '. any questions or comments welcome!