Mini Ep. 1: Desert Storm

Conner Bennet looked around, and frowned. Just a second ago, he was standing in the TARDIS with Georgia and the Doctor, and now, he was in what looked like a desert.

“Doctor…?” he called. “If this is some kind of joke, it isn’t funny, okay?”

There was no reply. He sat down in the sand waiting for the TARDIS to materialise in front of him. After about half an hour, he wished he had a drink, and within fifteen minutes, he was unconscious.

***

“Hello?” a voice called, as Conner opened his eyes. “Are you okay? You were unconscious.”
“Mrm-nerg,” Conner groaned.
“I don’t know what that means,” the voice replied.

Conner sat up, and rubbed his eyes. He immediately saw a pretty, olive skinned woman, with green eye shadow in his face, and he blinked once more.

“I was rambling,” Conner blushed. “You’re… You’re Cleopatra, right?”
“Maybe,” Cleopatra replied. “Yes. Hi.”

Conner grinned, and stood up shakily. Cleopatra handed him some wine, forcing him to drink it.

“You were dehydrated, it’ll help,” she explained.
“Oh,” Conner laughed. “For a minute I thought you were trying to get me drunk. I was gonna say, it’ll take a lot more than that.”

Cleopatra smiled, and looked Conner up and down.

“You’re clothes look strange,” she said. “Almost like… never mind.”
“What?” Conner asked.
“Almost like the Doctor’s.”
“Ah, that’s because I know him,” Conner smiled. “Except, I don’t dress like him – do I?!”
“I just meant your clothes looked… new,” Cleopatra frowned. “Not new, but not current.”
“Futuristic?” Conner asked.
“Yeah, that sounds good,” Cleopatra smiled. “I’ll go and get you some food, you must be starving.”

She left the room, and Conner sat down. Suddenly, the sound of the universe ripped into existence, and the TARDIS appeared in front of him. The Doctor opened the doors, and leaned out, grinning at his companion.

“Sorry about that,” he said. “The TARDIS circuits slipped. Still, you’re all right.”

Before Conner could reply, the Doctor hauled him into the TARDIS, and it disappeared. Cleopatra burst into the room, but the TARDIS had already disappeared. With a sigh, she turned away.

***

“Doctor!” Conner cried. “You shouldn’t have done that!”

The Doctor, at the controls of the TARDIS, frowned. Georgia smirked, imagining Conner lost in time somewhere.

“Done what?” the Doctor asked.
“You didn’t give me time to say goodbye to Cleopatra,” Conner sighed.
“What?” Georgia gasped. “I’ve met Cleopatra too!”
“She didn’t mention you,” Conner shot at her.
“That’s because you met her first,” the Doctor explained. “By a couple of years, in fact.”

Georgia scowled, and returned to her seat.

“I vote we go back and see her,” she said.
“Yeah,” Conner agreed. “I want to say goodbye to her properly.”
“Fine,” the Doctor sighed.

He set the TARDIS in motion, and it materialised in Cleopatra’s temple, a few years after Georgia and the Doctor had saved her from two Sphinx creatures. Cleopatra was waiting for them when they opened the door, but was amazed and pleased to see Conner.

“Doctor!” she grinned. “Conner! Georgia!”
“Cleopatra!” Conner smiled.
“Cleo!” the Doctor beamed.
“Donkey!” Georgia muttered in an irritated voice.

After a long hug from the Doctor, which was almost too long in Georgia’s opinion, Cleopatra smiled at Conner and nodded at Georgia.

“Sorry about earlier,” Conner smiled back. “The Doctor took me off before I could say goodbye.”
“Earlier?” Cleopatra frowned. “That was years ago! It’s 43 BC now…”
“Oh,” Conner blushed. “Well that’s embarrassing…”

Georgia smirked again, as Conner whistled awkwardly. Before the Doctor could interrupt the silence – and make the situation even more awkward – a cracking sound filled the air.

“I recognise that sound…” Cleopatra muttered.
“I do too,” Georgia nodded.
“That’s because it happened last time we were here,” the Doctor said. “Just before the Sphinx creatures came to life.”
“What is it?” Conner asked quietly.
“Alien technology…” the Doctor replied. “Look – over there – those jackal statues are coming to life!”
“They aren’t jackals,” Cleopatra muttered in a horrified voice. “They are the descendants of Anubis!”

She began to run, grabbing the Doctor’s hand as the Anubis statues advanced. Georgia looked at Conner in shock, as they too ran away. The four headed over to the nearest Pyramid to hide, but the Anubis statues had already spotted them, and were marching towards them.

“Can we hide inside the Pyramid?” Georgia asked quickly. “It’s not disrespectful is it?”
“Who cares?” Conner cried. “Doctor – get it open!”
“I agree,” Cleopatra nodded, keeping her eyes on the Anubis statues.
“I can’t!” the Doctor frowned. “The door’s made of metal… and there’s a code!”

He whipped out the Sonic Screwdriver and began to type several numbers onto the key pad. The door slid open, and the group bundled their way inside it. They immediately gasped – everything was made of metal.

“We’re inside a spaceship, aren’t we?” Georgia muttered.
“Yeah,” the Doctor replied. “We need to keep moving – the Anubis statues will break in here any minute.”

He pulled Cleopatra along by the hand, and pulled her along the corridor. Georgia almost screamed when a large dent appeared in the door, and began to run, grabbing Conner by the arm and pulling him after her.

“Where are we going?” she called to the Doctor.
“To the control room,” the Doctor replied. “I’m pretty sure that the ship is empty – and it’s been animating things for years – the Anubis statues, the Sphinx, possibly mutating a crocodile or two into Gods?”

Cleopatra nodded, just as the front door smashed open, and the Anubis statues poured through and into the corridors. The Doctor used the Sonic Screwdriver to open the nearest door, and he ran through it. Cleopatra followed, just as the door sealed itself behind her, leaving Conner and Georgia trapped.

“Doctor!” Georgia screamed.
“I can’t open the door!” the Doctor cried. “Run, just run!”

Conner kicked the door, but it would not budge. Georgia took his hand, and they turned around, as the Anubis statues advanced. Suddenly, Conner spotted a door to their right and they ran towards it.

“I didn’t see that before!” Georgia muttered as the door burst open.
“Come on,” Conner urged, as they piled through it. “It was hidden in the wall – it must be a secret door.”

He began to walk forwards, but there was no floor, and he fell through the darkness. Georgia frowned, and looked around, trying to see where he’d gone. She stepped forwards too, and fell down through the darkness of the chute.

“I’m sorry,” Cleopatra said quietly. “But we need to stop these statues.”
“You’re right,” the Doctor nodded. “They’ll be fine, right? Course they will.”

He led the way down the corridor, and they eventually found the control room. The Doctor began working at the controls, trying to stop the Anubis statues, while Cleopatra stood guard at the door. Suddenly, the ceiling opened, and Georgia and Conner fell into the room.

“What the…?” Cleopatra muttered. “How did you…?”
“There was a chute in the floor,” Conner groaned, climbing to his feet.
“Doctor, are you nearly done?” Georgia asked.
“No,” the Doctor frowned. “Why?”

Georgia looked at Conner guiltily for a moment.

“I didn’t close the door to the chute room properly,” she blushed. “So any minute now, we’ll have Anubis statues raining down from the ceiling.”
“Then I’d better work faster,” the Doctor grinned. “Georgia – hold those blue buttons down, there. Conner; take this lever, and slowly push it upwards. I’ll do the typing. Go!”

Cleopatra coughed loudly, and folded her arms. The Doctor looked at her, and frowned. Sparks shot from the console, and a crackling noise erupted from it. On a screen to the right, hieroglyphics ran along the black background.

“What does it say?” Georgia cried, smashing the various blue buttons as the popped up from their circuits.
“I dunno!” the Doctor gasped. “The ship’s preventing the TARDIS from translating, and my knowledge of hieroglyphics is pretty rusty!”
“I can do it,” Cleopatra smiled. “I’m pretty good at hieroglyphics to say the least!”

She began to read the screen, and got to work immediately. As she urged Conner to push his lever upwards, the ceiling began to rumble.

“The Anubis statues!” Georgia warned.
“I’m nearly done!” Cleopatra yelled.

She slammed a red button down, and the console went off. The Doctor grinned, before the ceiling began to open.

“Run!” he cried.

He took Cleopatra’s hand, and pulled her towards the door, Georgia and Conner following, as the Anubis statues rained down on the room. As they burst through the door, Georgia looked back, and saw the statues smashing into fragments – they were no longer animated, just stone.

“We did it,” the Doctor grinned. “Thanks to you, Cleo.”
“It was nothing,” Cleopatra shrugged, as they emerged from the pyramid. “I guess you’ll be going now?”
“Sorry,” the Doctor nodded.
“And you still won’t take me with you?” Cleopatra asked.
“Doctor…” Conner smiled. “Go on.”
“No,” the Doctor said firmly. “I can’t risk the destruction of the universe, sorry.”

Cleopatra sighed, and began to head back to her temple. The Doctor turned and walked back to the TARDIS, as did Georgia, but not before she had nudged Conner.

“Go and say goodbye,” she said.

Conner ran after Cleopatra, and grabbed her arm. She turned around, and almost seemed disappointed.

“I thought you were the Doctor, changing his mind,” she blushed.
“Sorry, just me,” Conner laughed. “I just wanted to say goodbye, properly, and thanks for saving us and everything…”

Cleopatra leaned forwards and kissed him on the cheek. The sound of the TARDIS engines filled the air, and suddenly, the little blue box shot into the air. Cleopatra laughed, and watched as Georgia set off fireworks from inside the doors.

“What are they?” Cleopatra wondered.
“Fireworks,” Conner explained. “Oh, and you won’t have to worry about the spaceship anymore – it’ll just look like a pyramid, and it won’t animate any more stone statues. The Doctor reckoned that a Gardonarak was behind it - apparently their ships are always breaking and animating things with energy. I bet they're British made, too.”

Cleopatra turned to look at the pyramid, which gleaned slightly in the sun. As she turned back to Conner, she realised that he had gone, and so had the TARDIS. With a small smile, she began to walk across the desert, wondering if the Doctor would ever return.

“I’ll travel with you one day, Doctor,” Cleopatra said quietly. “One day, when the universe is old, you and I will go off into the stars, and see all that again. Even if I have to wait for eternity, I’ll be there, with you, one day.”

The End