Episode 8: Black and Gold Part 1

The Doctor pulled Triss along the bridge, explosions going on all around them. Wailing sirens filled the air.

“It’s a Kritzanthian attack!” she cried as they ran across the bridge.

Georgia, Pippa, Becky and Carlisle turned as a Gold man stomped down the corridor towards them. It grabbed Carlisle by the throat and held him up against the wall, chocking him. Becky ran to help as a ripping sound filled the air. Georgia could see through the hole that had just appeared in the air.

“It’s the TARDIS!” Georgia cried, heading to the hole. “I can get back to the Doctor!”
“Go!” Pippa cried. “You might not get back!”
“Help me!” Becky screamed. “He’s dying!”

Conner leapt against the door that was trying to open. Dorris jumped up from the floor of the cupboard. She ran to help him, and the two held the door against who ever was behind it.

“You will be perfect!” Susan cried, trying to open the door.

Triss screamed and grabbed the Doctor as a bomb landed on the bridge. Part of it collapsed, and turned to rubble. Triss slipped and fell, screaming for the Doctor. He grabbed her hand, as the bridge began to burn around them.

“Help me!” Becky screamed. “He’s dying!”

Pippa ran and grabbed the gold man’s arms, struggling to save Carlisle. Georgia hesitated, unsure what to do.

“Go Georgia!” Pippa screamed again.
“Help him!” Becky pleaded.

The TARDIS made a vworp sound, and the hole began to close, sealing itself. Georgia looked from the hole to Carlisle, whose eyes were slowly closing.

“Oh God!” Georgia cried. “What do I do? Doctor!!!”

Title Sequence.

A light filled the cupboard Dorris and Conner were trapped in. Dorris let go of the door and walked towards it. It was coming from the wall directly opposite them. The door, without Dorris helping hold it opened, and Susan’s hand grabbed Conner’s wrist.

“It’s Narnia!” Conner cried, trying to pull Susan off him. “Go Dorris! Get out of here!”
“But you!” Dorris cried. “I can’t leave you!”
“I’ll be with you in a moment,” Conner said, hoping that would be true.

Dorris nodded, and headed towards the light. The Doctor pulled Triss back onto the bridge, and continued to drag her through the bombs and explosions that continued to bombard the mountains and bridge. There was a flash of purple light and suddenly the Doctor and Triss froze. The light extended from one of the Kritzanthian spaceships, and pulled the two up to it. There was another flash, and several Kritzanthians appeared outside Triss’ base. The knocked the door down and ran for the control room, with a terrifying battle cry.

Pippa ran and grabbed the Gold man’s other arm, attempting to pull him off the unconscious Carlisle. Georgia leapt and rugby tackled the Gold man, who dropped Carlisle to the floor. Georgia and Pippa fell in a heap, and Becky slid across the floor as the Gold man stood up and walked through the large hole, which then vanished entirely.

“Carlisle!” Becky cried, crawling over to him.
“You missed your chance,” Pippa said. “To help us. Becky will love you.”

Georgia just laughed sadly in reply. Dorris ran into the light, wondering what to expect. What she saw made her laugh with relief.

“Conner!” Dorris cried. “It’s a balcony! We can get out!”
“Still not Narnia?!” Conner sighed. “Get it open!”

Dorris grabbed the handle and opened the door. She took one last look at Conner before scurrying through the door. Conner let go of the door to the cupboard and ran for the balcony. Susan burst into the cupboard, but Conner slammed the balcony door on her face. He turned around in the sunlight, and saw Dorris leaping over to a second balcony.

“Okay,” Conner grinned. “Works for me.”

He leapt across to the second balcony, opened the door to a small office, and the two ran back inside the house. Larry, Steve and Ryan were in the control room as the Kritzanthians stormed the building. The crocodile-like creatures burst into the room and held the three at gunpoint. The leader of the Kritzanthians headed over the controls across the room, and blasted them with his gun. They exploded in a shower of sparks.

“No!” Ryan cried, running forward.

The Kritzanthian leader turned on the spot, and blasted Ryan into a skeleton. His bones fell to the floor in a tangled heap. Steve covered his mouth with his hand, and Larry hung his head.

“He was a good man,” he said quietly.
“You will come with us,” the Kritzanthian Leader said.
“And who might you be?” Steve managed to say.
“My name is Snappy, and I’m the leader of the Kritzanthian Unit 5,” Commander Snappy said.

If this was a less serious situation, Larry would have laughed. This was exactly the sort of thing he, Steve, Ryan and Mark would have laughed at while drinking coffee. After that, Triss would usually come and tell them off for slacking – and then she’d laugh too. But Ryan and Mark were dead, and Triss was missing. Purple light surrounded the Kritzanthians, and the two humans, and they disappeared.

Georgia handed the damp cloth over to Becky, and left Carlisle’s bedside. Becky smiled gratefully at her. Georgia walked over to Pippa and Jeremy, who were stood anxiously at the end of the ward.

“Will he be okay?” Georgia asked.
“He’ll be fine,” Pippa assured her.
“You don’t seem convinced,” Georgia said, observing the worry on their faces.
“Matron Readington wants to know what’s happened,” Jeremy informed her. “When one of her doctors is almost killed in a way we can’t explain, she wheels herself down and confronts us all.”
“Wheels?” Georgia asked, raising an eyebrow.
“She had an accident years ago,” Jeremy said. “She never talks about it. We only know that Gerry Bates – who you replaced, was involved. They used to be lovers you see.”
“I didn’t know that bit!” Pippa laughed.
“Well she is about 10 years older than him,” Jeremy said. “And we ought not to gossip.”
“But if he was involved, why did he work here?” Georgia asked.
“Guilt, we suspect,” Jeremy shrugged. “But a few days ago he mysteriously vanished.”
“Pippa told me he was killed in the bombs!” Georgia frowned.
“That’s the cover story,” Pippa explained. “Matron Readington could have been considered an enemy – and he disappeared after everyone but she had gone home for the night. Of course, she didn’t want certain facts about her accident to come out. And the Police couldn’t prove anything – how would a wheelchair-bound, old woman kill a man who was fit and healthy?”
“So you covered up for her?” Georgia asked incredulously.
“Yes,” Jeremy said.
“And I think we were right to,” Pippa said. “After tonight, with that hole in the air – he could have wandered through something like that. Like you did.”
“What?” Georgia asked quickly.

Becky beckoned over to Jeremy, who gave Pippa a meaningful glance before heading over to Carlisle’s sleeping form.

“You said about how you could get back,” Pippa continued, watching Becky show Jeremy the pattern of Carlisle’s bruises.
“It’s hard to explain…” Georgia said. “I didn’t come through the hole. But my… Transport, it was there. And I’ve lost my friends somewhere.”
“You’ll find them soon,” Pippa smiled. “As soon as one of those holes opens up again, we’ll get you home. Was that Police Box thing your transport?”
“Yeah,” Georgia grinned. “It travels so far. Maybe you could come.”
“It doesn’t look very roomy,” Pippa laughed.
“It’s bigger than it looks,” Georgia said.
“Well, maybe,” Pippa said. “Thanks. I’ll think about it.”

And with that, she hurried away, blushing, to Carlisle’s side. Conner and Dorris ran through the small office, and headed for the door. They reached it, grabbing the handle, when it flew open. Dorris was thrown over the top of the writing desk, and Conner slipped backwards into the bookcase, and was hit with several heavy books. Peter and Susan entered, surveying the room with blank, robotic eyes. Dorris clambered onto the desk, and snarled, baring her teeth. Conner crawled along the floor towards her, and hid behind the desk.

“Come with us,” Susan ordered.
“You will be perfected,” Peter said.
“Never!” Dorris cried, leaping from the desk.

She dived on Susan, and was hauled off by Peter and restrained. Despite this, she seemed to enjoy leaping from desks and running about the house. Conner appeared from behind the desk, waving at Dorris. He walked over to Susan, helped her up, and the two captives were led to be made perfect.

“Doctor!” Triss said. “He’s waking up!”

The Doctor’s eyes, still blurry, tried to focus on the dim room he was locked in. He could faintly see Triss, Larry and what looked like Steve bending over him. Triss prodded him in the cheek, and he instantly became focussed, sitting bolt upright.

“Hello,” he grinned.
“We were captured,” Larry sighed. “We’re in the Kritzanthian Head base. There’s no way out for us.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” the Doctor said, waggling the Sonic Screwdriver.

He stood up and sonicked the door, which swung open. Triss laughed, and Steve clapped (making the Doctor bow grandly), but Larry remained worried.

“I don’t mean there’s no way out of the room,” Larry said. “I mean something worse. Much worse.”

The Shadowy Man had been drifting. A few hours ago, he’d teleported away from the Doctor and Triss Crask, hoping to arrive in 1945. But he hadn’t; he was still in the in-space between two teleport regions. It only seemed like a few minutes, but the Shadowy Man knew it was in fact hours. He’d try one last, complicated sequence before asking for his ‘assistant’ to help. He still wasn’t sure if he could trust his new ‘assistant’, but fortunately the teleport pinged, allowing a few more hours until he’d have to asses whether his new partner was really useful.

“That’s better,” he said, as he appeared in 1945, at the Hospital.

He heard a noise, and ducked around the corner, hiding behind a metal gurney. He heard a squeak of wheels, and the ‘tut-tut’ of a disapproving Matron Readington. She wheeled past the Shadowy Man, heading for the doctors and nurses who had no idea that their worst nightmare had just arrived.

“What do you mean?” the Doctor asked. “What’s happened? Weren’t there more of you?”
“It’s not that,” Larry said.
“Ryan and Mark are dead,” Steve interrupted.
“Ssh!” Larry said. “Here comes the official announcement: our base has been captured, and with that, another has fallen. Only a few humans remain. At 5:06, I’m sorry to announce, but, ladies and gentlemen; we’ve lost the war.”

To be continued…