Episode 2: TimeSpan Part 1

A woman in a business suit walked down a corridor, her heels clicking on the metal boards. She pulled out a slim pen device, and pressed a button on it. A blue light shone out of it, and made a whistling, buzzing noise. The door swung open, and the woman walked inside the room beyond.

“Hello Mr Braithwaite, has the time come to pass as of yet?” the woman asked.
“Not of yet, Miss Swade,” Mr Braithwaite replied. “But some of the prisoners are talking.”
“And what are they saying?” Miss Swade asked.
“They talk of a man,” Mr Braithwaite said. “The man coming across the stars, the beacon of hope. The bringer of death. The Oncoming Storm…”

Far across the TimeSpan prison complex, a hand stirred, wrapped in chains. A manacled wrist dragged the chains across the floor, and into the light. This was a high-security prisoner, and the chains were deadlock sealed. His hair was longer than it had been the last time he saw the man. But things had changed a lot since then. He had learnt how to fight, but had lost the man, seemingly forever. The Spidership was a disaster, and had cost many lives. The prisoner was thought to be one of them, but he’d survived.

It seemed such a long time ago since Conner Bennet had met the Doctor, and stopped the Octopli. It seemed like such a long time ago Conner had first stepped aboard the TARDIS, and travelled to stop Maid Marian, met the Cats who lived in their own little Kingdom, found his friends under threat by the Slitheen, met Oliver Cromwell, saved the world from a video game, and attended a book club. Now here he was, chained up, but alive. And he would fight to find the Doctor. He would travel again – see the stars and the planets, and all the distant galaxies out there. Conner Bennet – Galactic Traveller! Except, he knew he wouldn’t really, not ever. Even though the whispers foretold of the coming storm, the man in the brown suit, Conner knew the stories in the cracks of the walls were impossible. However much he dreamed. It was impossible.

Title Sequence

Somewhere in the complex, in a cupboard, the TARDIS materialised into view. The door opened, and the Doctor squeezed out. He walked to the cupboard door, and left the room. Georgia Bell shut the TARDIS door behind her, and followed the Doctor. She caught up with him along the corridor, and Georgia could tell by the look in the Doctor’s eye he was not happy. She looked properly around, and noticed the cells. Row upon row of cells, each containing one prisoner.

“Why are we here Doctor?” Georgia asked, timidly clutching his arm.
“We’re here to stop this prison, and save someone,” the Doctor explained casually, continuing to walk.
“And kick some ass?” Georgia grinned.
“If you like,” the Doctor replied.

Miss Swade looked at the security camera, and pressed an alarm. The soldiers would be there soon. Problem dealt with. Miss Swade smiled, knowing it was not that easy. She knew that if she wanted something done, she’d have to do it herself. Picking up her sonic pen, Miss Swade left the room.

An alarm blazed out of the wall, and the Doctor tapped Georgia’s arm. She automatically passed him the sonic screwdriver.

“Check,” she said.
“No!” the Doctor replied. “The alarm, can’t you hear it?”
“Crap – that’s not for us is it?” Georgia asked.
“Yep, c’mon!” he pulled Georgia away from the wall “allons-y!”
“Where are we going?” Georgia said.

The Doctor didn’t have time to reply, as about 50 guards entered the corridor. The Doctor raised his hands, in surrender, and Georgia did the same. Georgia waited for the Doctor to talk them out of it, but he did not. That was new, and Georgia wondered if she’d have to do it instead.

“Who are you?” Guard Twine asked the two strangers.
“I’m the Doctor,” the Doctor waved.
“And I’m Georgia,” Georgia waved.
“What are you doing here?” Guard Pokaski asked.
“We’re here to set the prisoners free,” the Doctor grandly, lifting up the sonic screwdriver.

With a buzz, all the doors to the cells flew open, and aliens flooded the corridor. Blue, green, tentacled, clawed, all huge, viscous aliens. Georgia screamed and ducked as a blob flew over her head, and landed on a guard. With a squelch, Guard Jenson was gone. The Doctor grabbed Georgia and slammed her against the wall as a terrifying creature leapt past them. The creature was shot down by Guards Pokaski, Kristoph and Blunt, but another creature took its place.

“Doctor what did you let them out for?” Georgia bellowed.
“So we could escape!” the Doctor exclaimed.

Georgia slapped the Doctor around the face. The Doctor rubbed his cheek, frowning at the strength of Georgia’s slap. The Doctor made a personal note not to cross her while she was in a bad mood.

“We’ll be lucky to survive!” Georgia said feeling annoyed.
“Well… Yeah, fair point. Let’s go,” the Doctor said, backing Georgia into a lift in the wall.

Georgia stepped back as the Doctor pushed her into the lift. The Doctor pointed to a panel on the wall behind her, and she forced it open.

“Now what Doctor?” Georgia asked, waiting for a reply, while she held the panel open with her back to the Doctor. “Doctor!?”

Dropping the front of the panel to the floor, Georgia whipped around. The Doctor had shut the door to the lift, trapping her inside. She could see through the grills the Doctor was pressing buttons to send her down. As the lift descended, Georgia thumped on its door. The lift slid down further into the darkness, and Georgia screamed.

“DOCTOR!”

Conner looked up as three people burst into the room. They were fellow prisoners, and each of them carried a gun. A woman threw Conner a gun, which he caught.

“Thanks. How did you all get out?” he asked.
“I dunno, the cells all opened, just like that!” Holly, a girl, who looked about 16, replied. “We just came to look for left over prisoners, like you.”
“And we’re leaving,” Julia said.
“But first we’re gonna make them pay,” Greg said.
“Who?” Conner asked.
“The heads of the company, the monsters who imprisoned us,” Greg replied. “Now, get the boy out of those chains.”
“How we gonna do that?” Holly asked.
“Pull him out,” Greg said.

Holly and Julia ran over to Conner and grabbed the chains attached to his left arm. Holly caught Conner’s eye and blushed. Together they began to pull. Seeing it was no use, Greg joined in. Together with Conner, the three prisoners managed to pull him out of the chains. He was free!

Georgia had closed her eyes as the lift slid down into the darkness. She opened them once more as the lift ground to a halt. She was surprised as she saw the doors had been bent out of shape, and the small lift was dusty. She walked over to the door and forced it open. Climbing out, Georgia was even more surprised when she saw the lift was perched on a large mound of rubble. She slid down her bum so as not to fall over, and reached the bottom safely. The lift on top of the mound collapsed. Georgia knew that the TimeSpan ship was in space, but now it seemed like it was on land, like it had crashed on land…

The Doctor stepped over a dead, large alien with many claws. Next to the creature was Guard Twine, who had died whilst bringing the creature down. He walked along the corridor, dodging the guards and aliens shooting and tearing each other apart. He ran into another corridor, which was empty, apart from a huddled shape in the corner.

Kirsty Purcell saw the man running towards her. She shakily stood up, as he skidded to a halt next to her.

“Hello!” the man said.
“Hi,” Kirsty said.
“I’m the Doctor,” the Doctor said.
“Kirsty,” Kirsty said nervously.
“Come with me,” the Doctor said.
“Where?” Kirsty said.
“Out of here,” the Doctor said. “Escape.”
“Freedom?” Kirsty asked.
“Yep. Let’s go!” the Doctor said, running off.

Kirsty ran after him, a smile on her face. Georgia slid down the wall of the lift, and sat on the floor, defeated. There was no way she could get out of the lift, so there was no way she could help the Doctor. The Doctor knew, however, that Georgia couldn’t get hurt if she couldn’t get out, but Georgia was worried that something would get in. Georgia leapt in shock as a massive dent appeared in the lift. She backed away against the wall, and the scrabbling and scratching of sharp claws began.

Conner, Holly, Greg and Julia stopped in a corridor. Greg turned to Holly and Conner, and motioned for them to go right at the two way corridor junction. He pointed to Julia who began to walk down the left corridor.

“You look for more prisoners, and we’ll try and find the monsters who imprisoned us,” Greg said.
“We’ll do it,” Holly said, “we’ll find everyone out there, release them all.”
“Thank you,” Greg said. “Well, see you.”
“Bye,” Conner said, unsure what he and Holly were going to do next.

Greg left with Julia, and Conner turned to Holly.

“What the hell’s going on with this place?” Conner asked.

The whole place looked like a landfill site. Piles and piles of rubble could easily be mistaken for rubbish in the sunlight. Georgia looked up into the sky. There was one sun, and clouds. Georgia couldn’t remember a planet with one sun and clouds. Picking herself over another mound of rubbish, Georgia could see a man in a black uniform. He was one of the Guards, but she didn’t recognise him. Wondering if he had any answers, Georgia ran over to him.

The Doctor and Kirsty ran down a corridor, and skidded to a halt. The Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver from his pocket, and began scanning the cells. Not one of them had the person he was looking for inside. He began to run again, Kirsty following him, not too sure what to make of the Time Lord yet.

Miss Swade looked at her personal map of the complex. The Doctor was heading for cells HJR to GQE. HJR was nearest to Miss Swade, so she began to walk, heels clicking on the floor again. Pulling out her sonic pen, she thought of the best way to kill the Doctor.

Conner and Holly ran past the empty cells, and stopped at the only closed one. Holly peered inside, but she couldn’t make anything out.

“We’ll have to go inside,” Conner said. “Someone might need our help.”
“But they might be locked up for a reason,” Holly pointed out.
“What was your cell like?” Conner asked.
“I dunno… A small room with a sink…” Holly replied. “Why?”
“Cos you weren’t locked up with chains were you?” Conner asked, feeling his wrists where the manacles had rubbed his skin.
“I guess not, but… Why were you?” Holly asked, backing away.
“I’m not sure, but I think it might be cos I know the Doctor,” Conner said. “This person might too!”
“Well, on your head be it,” Holly said, not entirely seriously.
“Go on then,” Conner said.

Holly opened the door to the cell, which was larger than most. Together, they peered into the darkness. They heard a fluttering noise, and a beat of wings. Leaning closer, they tried to make out what was contained in the cell. Conner realised it wasn’t just one thing – there were several creatures inside. Holly looked at Conner and realised how handsome he actually was. He looked back at her strangely, and she leaned in to kiss him. Kissing her back, Conner was surprised when the bat like creatures flew out of the cell, and attacked them.

To be continued…