Episode 6: The Man Who Was Thursday Part 3

Tracy looked around, trying to find the reporter for the Galactic Times. While Claire had informed her that there was a reporter, she hadn’t specified who it was. While Tracy recognised most of the people here from the local area, she didn’t recognise two males and one female.

“You three,” she said, indicating the Doctor, Georgia and Conner. “On your feet.”

Georgia pulled Conner to his feet, shaking, and the Doctor nimbly stood up, his plimsolls kicking the floor. Next to him, Angela crawled sideways, hiding behind a case containing ancient pottery.

“Who are you?” Tracy Carter asked. “I haven’t seen any of you before.”
“We’re just tourists,” Georgia shrugged. “I work in a Bakery, and my boyfriend here works at a Space Garage.”
“With all the spanners,” Conner nodded. “Like Catherine Ford.”
“And the wrenches,” Georgia added.
“And you?” Tracy asked, turning to the Doctor.
“I’m… A doctor,” the Doctor replied.
“You don’t look like a doctor,” Tracy shot back.

She turned her gun towards the Doctor, who raised his hands.

“So, if I shot you right now, would you be able to fix yourself?” she asked.
“No,” the Doctor said. “I’d regenerate. Listen, Tracy Carter – I don’t think you know what you’re dealing with. I’m a Time Lord, from the planet Gallifrey, and that means bad news.”
“I understand perfectly,” Tracy replied. “Your race consisted of dusty fodders, refusing to intervene in anything. You three will come with me, now!”

She waved the gun threateningly, and Georgia, Conner and the Doctor reluctantly followed her to the secure area door.

“Hello?” Claire Fisher muttered. “Yes, Tracy Carter has taken people hostage. Please, set up quarantine around Upper Mount Monastery.”

Usually, Claire would have done anything for Tracy – cleaned, cooked, entertained guests. But as she watched Tracy take the museum visitors hostage, she knew that her employer had gone too far. On top of that, her dress was ruined. As she put the phone down, she heard a whirring noise, and the squelches of doors sealing all around the Monastery.

“What’s going on?” Father Gabriel asked.
“I’ve got no idea,” Father Noah frowned.
“Did someone put the building in quarantine?” Father Isaac called, entering the room.
“I’ll go and ask Claire,” Father Gabriel suggested. “I’ll be right back.”

He left the room, and headed along to the balcony where Claire was watching the hostage victims far below. Tracy had just taken the Doctor and his friends into the private quarters, and would probably be taking them up to her room.

“What’s happening?” Father Gabriel asked.
“I put the building under quarantine,” Claire explained. “Look, down at the museum. Tracy took the visitors hostage – she’s gone mad with power! I told her about the journalist, and she’s worried about her image.”
“So she took everyone hostage?” Father Gabriel frowned.
“I know,” Claire sighed. “Great help for her image. I take it you found out about the Flood?”
“They aren’t real,” Father Gabriel nodded. “Why would she lie about that?”
“She wanted the water for herself,” Claire shrugged. “Because she’s a selfish bitch…?”

Father Gabriel smiled, and turned away.

“What did you do?” Tracy spat at the Doctor.
“I have no idea what you’re on about,” the Doctor frowned. “What did I do?”
“You put the building under quarantine,” Tracy growled. “All of you, on your knees.”

The Doctor looked sideways at Georgia and Conner, and raised his eyebrows. The three got down on their knees, as Tracy picked up the telephone near her bed.

“Yes, is that the quarantine office?” she asked. “Thank you. I was wondering if you could remove the quarantine for Upper Mount Monastery. No, there is no hostage situation here, whoever reported it was dreaming. What do you mean; procedure? Can’t you just take the quarantine off?”

She sighed, and kicked her bedside table over.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” she continued into the phone. “Where am I calling from? The police station. If you can’t take away the quarantine from Upper Mount Monastery, then please put quarantine around the police station – we’ve had a nasty outbreak of rats. Thank you.”

She put the phone down, and smiled to herself.

“What did you do that for?” Georgia wondered.
“If the police know about the hostage situation,” the Doctor explained. “They will try and get into the Monastery. But if the police station is under quarantine, they can’t get out, and Tracy Carter will get away with it.”
“Exactly,” Tracy smiled. “Now, if I find out who did this…”

She waved her gun threateningly, causing Georgia to gulp. There was a knock on the door, and Claire entered the room.

“Are you okay, Tracy?” she asked.
“Fine thank you,” Tracy replied. “I’m just about to finish up here. Which one did you say was the reporter?”
“I… I don’t really remember,” Claire lied. “Could I talk to you outside for a moment?”

Tracy nodded and left the room. Claire looked back at Conner, and pointed to underneath Tracy’s bed.

“Escape route,” she whispered, before closing the door.

Immediately, Conner and Georgia climbed to their feet and ran over to the bed. Together they lifted it up, leaving a space large enough to crawl through. Instead of a floor, there was a set of steps, leading to somewhere unknown.

“Doctor, get under, quick,” Georgia groaned. “This is bloody heavy.”

The Doctor rushed over to the bed, and grabbed Georgia’s end.

“What are you doing?” she frowned.
“You’ve got to escape,” the Doctor said. “It takes both of you to hold the bed up, so you’d be left behind while I escape. But I can hold it by myself, for a while, and you two can escape.”
“We aren’t leaving you,” Conner said.
“You’ve got to,” the Doctor urged. “Go!”

Georgia opened her mouth to argue, but the Doctor shook his head. Sighing, Georgia ducked onto the floor, and climbed under the bed, heading down the steps. The door to the room opened slightly, and Conner gasped.

“Tracy’s coming back!” he said quickly.
“Go!” the Doctor repeated. “Now!”

Conner ducked under the bed, and headed down the steps. The Doctor groaned under the weight of the bed, dropping it as soon as Conner was clear. He looked round at the door, to see it was still only slightly open. He could hear Claire stalling for time, aware that Tracy could open the door at any time. The Doctor returned to his place on the floor, and waited until the sound of Claire’s footsteps echoed down the corridor and Tracy returned to the room.

“Where are they?” was the first thing she asked. “What have you done?”

The Doctor shrugged unhelpfully, and Tracy hit him across the face with her gun.

“Conner, where are we going?” Georgia muttered, as the headed down the passageway.
“I’ve got no idea where this leads,” Conner said. “So how would I know?”
“I meant, what are we going to do now?” Georgia sighed.
“I’m gonna go and get the Monks out,” Conner replied. “And you’re gonna find Claire and get her and the museum visitors out. Okay?”
“But the building’s been quarantined,” Georgia reminded him. “How do we get out if all the doors and windows are locked?”
“The Astronomy Base,” Conner smiled. “According to the map I had, it is the highest part of the Monastery, and it’s built so people can see the stars a little closer. I imagine that we can escape from there.”
“So we’re going to the highest room in the Monastery in the hope that it doesn’t have windows?”
“Pretty much,” Conner grinned.

They reached the end of the passageway, and saw a ladder. Conner climbed up it, and pushed open the trap door above. It opened onto another a corridor, at the end of which was the staircase. As Georgia climbed into the corridor, she watched Conner head over to the staircase, and walk up it.

“I’ll see you in a minute!” he called back. “The museum visitors are down the staircase!”

His feet disappeared from view, and Georgia headed over to the staircase, beginning to descend.

“Mr Bennet, what’s going on?” Father Gabriel asked as Conner entered the Monk’s room.
“We’re getting out,” Conner smiled. “Tracy Carter’s in her room, so we’re all gonna sneak out through the Astronomy Base.”
“Then what?” Father Noah said.
“The police station is under quarantine too,” Conner explained. “So we’re just gonna climb down the Monastery and leave Tracy to the Doctor.”
“You do realise the Astronomy Base will have been sealed off too?” Father Isaac pointed out.
“It doesn’t have a balcony or anything?” Conner frowned.
“Nope,” Father Isaac said.
“Then we’ll have to get out another way,” Conner smiled optimistically. “Is there another way out?”

The three Monks thought for a minute, and Conner used the silence to lead the way back to the staircase.

“Well, we do have an emergency escape pod,” Father Gabriel said. “Just in case, you know…”
“That wouldn’t be big enough for everyone,” Conner sighed. “Why an escape pod? I thought they only used them on spaceships, cos they’re air tight?”
“We couldn’t fit a whole spaceship into the Monastery,” Father Gabriel reminded him.
“Tracy would suspect something. Since the other Monks left and there have only been three of us, we decided it would be big enough.”
“We could always take several trips,” Father Noah suggested.
“It would take too long,” Conner shook his head. “And Tracy would suspect something.”

They reached the bottom of the staircase, and entered the Main Hall. Georgia was waiting for them, along with the museum visitors and Claire. The Monks joined the group, leaving Conner stood at the front.

“Right, hello everyone,” he said nervously. “It seems we are stuck here – the Astronomy Base has been sealed along with everything else, and we only have one escape pod to fit all of you in, which, let’s be honest, is never gonna happen.”
“So what else do you suggest?” Angela Hawkins asked. “Maybe one of us should just go and stop Tracy…? I could do it…”
“The Doctor’s already working on that,” Georgia snapped. “Let Conner talk.”
“Thanks Georgia,” Conner blushed. “Now, we could call the quarantine office and ask to be released, but I doubt that will work either.”
“Do you actually have any useful suggestions?” Claire grinned. “Tracy’s gone too far this time, and she ruined my dress. I’ll go and stop her; then we’ll ring the quarantine office and get out of here.”

She walked past Conner and headed up the staircase confidently.

“Drop the gun, Tracy,” the Doctor ordered.
“No,” Tracy said. “You’ve ruined my reputation!”
“You ruined it yourself!” the Doctor protested. “You took everyone hostage – do you really think you’re gonna get away with this?”

Tracy frowned, and a tear slid down her cheek.

“I’ll have to run away,” she decided. “That’s right, I’ll go far away, leave my home.”
“I’m sorry,” the Doctor said. “But you brought this on yourself.”

Tracy ignored him, and headed towards the door. As she reached for the handle, it opened, and Claire punched her in the face. Her gun dropped to the floor, and the Doctor dived for it.

“What the hell…?” Tracy screamed as Claire pushed her against the wall.
“Sorry,” Claire muttered. “But I’m performing a citizen’s arrest.”

The Doctor smiled slightly, throwing the gun aside. Producing a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, he handcuffed Tracy, and led her from the room. The three headed along the corridor, down the staircase, and into the main hall. As the group saw Tracy had been handcuffed, they cheered. Conner smiled, and stood aside to let the Doctor pass.

“Call the quarantine office,” he told Claire.
“Right away,” Claire beamed. “Gabriel, Noah, Isaac – you’re free!”

Before the Monks could hug or even speak, a large rumble filled the air. Suddenly, the Monastery shook, and its occupants dropped to the floor. A large image appeared in the air, and a man looked down on the Doctor and the others from what looked like a spaceship.

“Hello Doctor,” Petr Costravalos smiled.

To be continued…