Episode 11: Neurosis Part 1

The TARDIS span through the vortex, music blaring from its panels. Inside the wonderfully small box, Conner Bennet danced with Georgia Bell to Lady GaGa, while Korena Hashimoto leaned against the console talking to the Doctor.

“Who is this again?” Korena asked the Time Lord.
“Lady GaGa,” the Doctor replied. “You like?”
“Yeah,” Korena smiled. “She’s so different.”
“She’s amazing,” the Doctor agreed. “You know what; I think we should meet her.”
“Did I just hear you right?” Georgia asked as she and Conner span past the Doctor.
“Are we going to meet GaGa?”
“GaGa?” Conner laughed. “I didn’t know you were a personal friend of hers…”
“Oh we go way back,” Georgia said.

The song ended, and all fell silent. The Doctor pulled out the Sonic Screwdriver and pressed it against the console.

“Can we have Paparazzi?” Conner asked.
“The TARDIS,” the Doctor said. “Something’s wrong. Get back!”

Georgia stumbled backwards as the console began to overheat. Korena yelped and hid behind a pillar. Conner looked as the Doctor dived out of the way, and the console exploded around him.

Title Sequence.

Georgia hitched her dress up to her ankles, and ran along the stone corridor. There was an eruption of fire behind her, and she felt the heat and she skidded around the corner. Conner was waiting for her, wearing chain mail and armour over medieval dress. The two grinned at each other, and ran.

“Where’s the Doctor?” Georgia asked as they thudded down another corridor. “He was supposed to be here!”
“He’s with George now,” Conner said.

There was an explosion and the walls broke apart in a blaze of stone and fire. Conner was knocked off his feet, and Georgia was thrown sideways. A gigantic tail, complete with spikes, smashed through the wall and wrapped around Georgia, before withdrawing from the castle. Conner cried out as the Doctor and George appeared round the corner. The Doctor looked strange, blurred, like he wasn’t quite there. Conner frowned, struggling to concentrate on remembering his face. He heard a screech and his thoughts returned to Georgia.

“The Dragon’s got Georgia!” he said, attempting to stand up amongst the rubble. “Saint George, you’ve got to stop it!”
“Saint?” George asked.
“It’s the 23rd of April, a good a time as ever,” the Doctor said, his voice unclear too. “Let’s get my… horse and let’s go! Conner, stay here and evacuate the castle.”

Conner nodded as the Doctor and Saint George ran off. He looked out of the side of the castle and saw the Dragon, flying off, with Georgia still wrapped around it, to the mountains. He sighed, and slumped to the floor.

“Let me go you maniac!” Georgia yelled, as the Dragon reached the mountain where it slept.

She screamed as it dropped her. She hit the floor, backing away from the giant beast. Georgia looked behind her as she heard the TARDIS materialise.

“Georgia, get away from that thing!” the Doctor cried, running from his ship with George.

The Dragon shot out a plume of fire, and its tail swung at the Doctor, narrowly missing him and knocking George off his feet. He hit the side of the TARDIS and crumpled, unconscious. His lance rolled along the floor, stopping at Georgia’s feet. She picked it up as the Dragon swung once more, and thrust it deep inside its tail. The Dragon screamed, and flew off into the sky.

“Nice one George!” the Doctor grinned. “Wait… No! You can’t be!”
“What?” Georgia asked.
“I just called you George!”
“You do that all the time,” Georgia said. “Oh wait. No way! I’m Saint George! You’re kidding me! And he gets all the credit!”

She pointed at George, who was still lying unconscious. The Doctor laughed and took her hand.

“Let’s go, before he wakes up.”

Georgia nodded, and headed back to the TARDIS with the Doctor.

***

John Bennet woke with a start. He remembered the Dragon, and Georgia. It was all a dream. He sighed, and rolled over in his bed. It was 7:00 o’clock. The radio sprang to life, and Chris Evans began talking about nonsense. Sighing once more, John began to get up.

“I miss Terry Wogan,” he said to the radio.

After a slice of toast and a cracked mug of coffee, he headed upstairs and slipped his shirt off. He turned on the shower, but before he could test the temperature the phone rang.

“Hello?”
“Hi John.”
“Hi Victoria.”

It was Victoria Lane, John’s best friend. He must be late.

“You’re late,” Victoria said. “And if you don’t get off at the same time as me I’m going down the pub without you.”
“I’ll be there!” John protested. “I’m just having a shower.”
“See you in a minute,” Victoria said. “Or I’ll go with Alan and Dave.”

She hung up the phone. Fifteen minutes later John burst into the office. Victoria waved at him from the printer. His other mates were clearly busy at work – Dave Aconda was nibbling on the potted plant beside his desk, and Alan Watts was heading towards him doing the robot.

“Alahhh!” John grinned, doing the robot in return.
“Jonhlahhh!” Alan laughed. “We need to stop watching Gavin & Stacey repeats on BBC3.”

John nodded in agreement and headed over to Victoria. He decided to tell her about the dream, that he’d now fondly called ‘Georgia and the Dragon’, or ‘Saint Georgia’. He’d have to decide later.

“Can I talk to you?” he asked Victoria.
“Sure,” Victoria said. “You okay?”

John sat on the printer, next to her, and began to recount his dream, from everything with the Dragon to the Doctor’s blurred face and voice. When he finished, Victoria looked him straight in the eye.

“What do you think?” he asked. “Does it mean anything?”
“You aren’t planning a trip to Wales are you?” Victoria laughed. “The Dragon…?”
“Not after all those aliens,” John sighed.
“Honestly, I think you need to see a Psychiatrist,” Victoria said. “A shrink. There are people who can get rid of these dreams.”
“It’s not that simple,” John replied.

He slid off of the printer, and headed to his desk. Apart from the dream, he hadn’t gotten much sleep last night. As he began to play Solitaire on his computer, he drifted off into a dreamland of sleep.

***

There was an explosion, and Georgia dived sideways. The Panda, still carrying its gun, sauntered towards her. She backed away in terror, when the Doctor appeared behind her.

“Oi!” he cried. “Panda! Come and get me!”
“You fiend!” the Panda cried, leaping at him.
“Ooh,” the Doctor said, clearly not expecting a response.

With a quick sidestep, he dashed off. Georgia leapt up from the floor, and began chasing after the Panda.

“Come on!” Conner cried, pulling Korena by the hand.

They leapt through the vegetation until the reached the cage bars. Conner reached through for the handle, but it wouldn’t turn.

“I’m gonna kill that man when we find him,” he said angrily. “Fancy tricking us into this cage!”
“What does it say on the outside?” Korena asked.
“Human,” Conner said. “He must have planned this all along. We’re the new exhibits.”
“I don’t want people everywhere to see me,” Korena said sadly.
“Korena, you’re a film star…” Conner sighed.

Korena shrugged and pulled at the handle too. It still wouldn’t budge.

“Err Conner…?”
“Yeah,” Conner replied.
“You didn’t read the rest of the sign, did you?” Korena asked. “It says Humans and Snakes…”
“Oh. No I didn’t. Woops.”

They backed into the nearest corner, listening out for the slithering sounds that were growing closer. Georgia finally caught up with the Panda, who had cornered the Doctor against a fence.

“You’re quite a fast bugger aren’t you?” she growled.
“I wasn’t sat around fanning myself,” the Panda said dryly. “The cage wasn’t big enough to fan one’s self.”
“I’ll give you one chance,” the Doctor said. “Get back into your cage, or I’ll stop you.”
“Sorry, but after I kill you, I’m a free Panda,” the Panda said, raising its gun.
“Then I’d suggest you look behind you,” the Doctor said, pointing grandly behind the Panda.

The Panda hesitated, and chanced a look behind him. A helicopter was descending behind Georgia, trapping the Panda beside the fence. It howled, and turned its gun towards Georgia.

“You’ve only got one shot,” the Doctor warned, noting the zoo keepers, complete with tranquilisers heading towards them. “So make it count.”
“Doctor!” Georgia sighed. “Don’t give him encouragement.”

Korena breathed in deeply, and tried to slip between the bars of the cage.

“I’m too fat!” she complained.
“And I’m too muscled!” Conner said sarcastically. “Hurry up.”
“You don’t have breasts!” Korena moaned.

With a slight gasp, she slipped through the bars. She ran to the door, and opened it, letting a grateful Conner out of the cage full of snakes.

“We’d better go find the Doctor,” she said.
“Wait,” Conner said. “One second.”

He pulled a Sharpie from his pocket, and scribbled out Human on the cage sign. With a grin of satisfaction, he led the way to finding the Doctor.

***

John woke up with a start. Victoria was watching over him, concerned. She sat down beside him, and began chewing one of his pens.

“Another dream, huh?”
“Yeah,” John admitted.
“What happened this time?” Victoria asked.
“Georgia and the Doctor chased a Panda,” John said. “And Conner and some Japanese girl, called Korena were locked in a cage full of snakes. It all took place at some Space Zoo.”
“And could you see the Doctor’s face this time?” Victoria asked.
“No,” John replied. “And I couldn’t hear his voice again either. I really want to know what he’s like. That Korena seems nice though.”

Victoria slipped a small card onto John’s desk.

“It’s the number of a shrink,” she explained.
“Do you often have shrink’s numbers lying around?” John said, a glimmer of a smile forming on his face.
“Google’s your enemy,” Victoria shrugged, sliding from her seat and heading back to the printer.

John sighed and threw his half chewed pen into the bin beside him. He examined the card, and pocketed it. He decided – if he had any more dreams, he’d book in and check the shrink out.

***

The TARDIS had landed. The Doctor, covered in soot, had hauled the unconscious bodies of Georgia, Korena and Conner out of the doors and into the Heron Jungle outside. The year was 4473, and the Heron Jungle was now a large expanse covering the Earth. After making his friends comfortable he returned to the darkening TARDIS.

“Please don’t die,” he muttered.

But he knew it was too late. Leaning on the blackened console, he began to cry.

“Doctor?” Georgia called from outside, clearly awake.

When she didn’t get a response, she lay back against the palm leaves. The Doctor was allowed a moment to himself, she knew how he felt about the TARDIS. Besides, she needed a moment to regain her composure – she was trapped in the middle of a Jungle, thousands of years into her future, with no way back home.

To be continued…