Doctor Who: Changes in Time and Space: Chapter 7: Confrontation

Chapter 7: Confrontation

14 February 2710

Deep beneath Ilkona City

The Doctor and Felicia entered a large underground chamber from the staircase they had just descended.

“He must’ve extended a natural cave,” Felicia said.

“I agree,” the Doctor said.

They walked into the chamber, which was decorated with scenes from Earth’s history. They could also see many instances of the TARDIS in the motifs. One was reminiscent of the Bayeux Tapestry. Another was a depiction of a scene in Revolutionary America.

“Doctor,” she said, pointing at one of the motifs.

“Yes?”

“There are representations of the TARDIS in this mural.”

“I may have met him before,” the Doctor said. ‘More than once, and at any of these depicted events,’ he thought.

‘Great,’ Felicia thought. “He may be an old enemy,” she pondered. They continued towards the end of the chamber where the person attempting to take over Ilkona waited.

---

They were met at the door to the inner chamber by a robot. “My master awaits you Doctor, and Miss Lovell,” he said.

“As I expected,” the Doctor said. The robot ushered them in.

They saw a large table dominating a room reminiscent of the chamber outside. The person attempting to take over Ilkona was standing behind it.

“So you are the infamous Doctor, the Oncoming Storm, the last of the Time Lords of Gallifrey,” he said dramatically, drawing out the ‘so’ and pausing between each of the Doctor’s titles.

“I am the Doctor, and you are trying to take over Ilkona for your own ends! Why are you doing this?”

“For what purpose, you ask, Doctor? I answer with a question of my own. Why not?” the other man said.

“I ask you, right now, to give up your plans to take over this planet,” the Doctor said, with a warning tone.

“What will you do to stop me, Doctor? Is that what you ask all of your other enemies, before you stop their plans?”

“It varies, but yes, I do ask them all that. Except the Daleks; them I just oppose,” the Doctor said. The antagonist walked out from behind the desk and stood in front of the Doctor.

“There is nothing you can do to stop me from taking over Ilkona, Doctor. You may have caused some setbacks, but that is it,” he said.

Whilst the Doctor and the man were engaged in their aggressive discussion Felicia had been thinking. ‘Maybe, I could look in his files and discover what he is up to, and why he had set the conspiracies in place.’ She saw that the man’s attention was focused on the Doctor, so she acted. She walked around the two of them and approached the desk.

“Are you willing to put that to the test?” The Doctor asked. He paused before adding; “And another question; do you intend on stopping with Ilkona, or are you planning to take over more planets with this scheme of yours?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” the man stepped towards the Doctor.

The Doctor stared back.

The antagonist glared back and smirked.

He turned back to his desk, to find Felicia sitting at the computer terminal trying to look at his files. “I wouldn’t bother, sweetheart. They are all password protected. You’ll never be able to crack them,” he said.

“We’ll see about that!” Felicia said. She leaned closer before typing random letters, numbers and other characters in a password field. The combination was incorrect.

The villain produced a firearm from his pocket. “Now. I suggest stepping away from the desk,” he said.

“Are you afraid that I would crack your password by accident?” Felicia asked as she raised her hands. She knew it wasn’t highly probable, but stranger things had happened. ‘I knew it was a long shot, but it was worth a try.’

“Not at all,” the villain said, he raised his energy weapon.

Felicia leapt aside. “Doctor!” she yelled, as the energy beam scorched past her, and hit an area of the wall and burning off one of the TARDIS motifs. The Doctor activated the sonic screwdriver, holding it upright.

The man laughed. “Your companion is quite agile, but I doubt that your sonic screwdriver would be able to crack my systems!” ‘I have made sure of that!’ he thought.

“The sonic screwdriver may not, but...” the Doctor trailed off. He had other ideas in mind.

“What are you up to?” the villain asked. Then an echoing sound answered him. “No! Activate anti-TARDIS defences,” he said. ‘You didn’t expect this, Doctor,’ he thought. He was certain that the technology that he had gained from a rogue Time agent and enhanced with certain Torchwood devices would work.

The TARDIS continued to materialise as a computer voice said, “Anti-TARDIS defences active.”

‘I hope he hasn’t gained Dalek, or even UNIT, technology. That would be quite a bother,’ the Doctor thought.

The TARDIS completed its materialisation. “Anti-TARDIS defences failed,” the computer said.

“What!” the man exclaimed as he brought his right fist down upon the table. He couldn’t understand why the defences didn’t work. He was sure that rogue agent hadn’t duped him, and that the Torchwood enhancements were exactly that.

“Whatever technology you’re using would probably have been effective against an older model of TARDIS, but not a Type 40. Especially an upgraded Type 40,” the Doctor said. The TARDIS door opened and Kiara and Tamsin stepped out. Both of them were smiling.

The man was fuming.

“You will not succeed in stopping me, Doctor! The Empire will do nothing. Nor will the Shadow Proclamation.”

“Actually, both authorities are rather interested in how your conspiracy got so advanced so quickly,” Tamsin said.

“A Proclamation Investigation Vessel and the 32^nd Terran Battlefleet are on their way here,” Kiara said.

“They can’t wait to get here,” Tamsin deadpanned.

Kiara nodded, her expression mirroring that of Tamsin. “They are very eager to know the details.”

“Very good, Tamsin and Kiara! Now, no matter what happens in the next ten minutes, you will loose,” the Doctor said.

“You may think you have unravelled my conspiracy in Ilkona City, Doctor. But I still have tricks up my sleeve. There is more to it than you have discovered. Some of my plans are still in place.”

“That may be the case--” the Doctor began...

“You may have penetrated my inner sanctum, but I am prepared!” the man said, and pressed a button on the desk.

Previously invisible doors along the walls opened and small robots came swarming out, about 15 centimetres high and armed with sharp appendages and energy weapons, and heading straight towards the intruders.

“Yikes!” Felicia said, leaping past the man, avoiding his attempt at grabbing her, and over the table towards the TARDIS.

“That can’t be good!” Tamsin said. ‘Those blades look rather sharp!’ she thought.

The Doctor looked at the metallic swarm and frantically said, “Into the TARDIS!” He, Tamsin, Kiara and Felicia ran as they followed him into the TARDIS and slammed the doors.

The robotic swarm surrounded the TARDIS and began firing their energy weapons at its exterior.

The villain laughed a kind of laugh that wouldn’t have been out of place in old 20^th Century spy films.

The Doctor rushed to the console. He began preparing to leave and then examined the scanner readings.

“What are they, Doctor?” Tamsin asked.

“Their weaponry shows signatures common to Cybermen and Sontaran weaponry,” the Doctor replied. Kiara then noticed something else on the console readouts.

“Doctor, the Exterior Block Computational Field is losing its integrity,” she said.

“Is that what it says?” the Doctor asked in disbelief.

“Yes!”

“But that is impossible with Cybermen, or Sontarran weaponry,” the Doctor said.

“Are you sure?” Felicia asked.

“Neither are powerful enough, nor work in the required manner,” the Doctor replied.

“Perhaps it is a synergistic effect?” Tamsin asked.

“That would make sense,” the Doctor mused.

“The Field is at 90%, Doctor!” Kiara said.

“We have to retreat.” Frantically, he set the TARDIS in motion.

“Not a moment too soon,” Tamsin said.

‘Thank Airyt,’ Kiara thought.

Ilkona City Central Park

The TARDIS materialised twelve minutes later in the Park. The Doctor stepped out and examined the exterior damage. The wooden exterior of the Police Box was rather scorched. He ran his hand around the outside of the ship.

“Quite a hit, wasn’t it old girl. A few hours and you’ll be as good new!” he said.

“A few hours, Doctor? I don’t think we have that long,” Tamsin said, as she came out of the TARDIS.

The Doctor looked surprised. “Oh?”

“It is likely that Mr. Vile, if that is his real name, would send his robots out over the city,” Tamsin said. They had learned his name during their earlier investigations of the conspiracies.

“The Imperial fleet will be here in four hours, and the Proclamation in five,” Kiara said.

The Doctor agreed.

“What can we do against Vile’s machines?” asked Felicia. ‘There are too many for him to deal with using the sonic,’ she thought.

“He isn’t just going to send them out. He would be tracking the TARDIS somehow. He knew that I had arrived in any case. We will wait until the machines are in the park and then go back to his lair,” the Doctor said.

“And then what? It isn’t likely that he will send all of them out,” said Felicia.

The Doctor shook his head “No, he won’t but they would have less of an impact on the TARDIS and it will give me a chance to get into his systems.”

“I guess so,” Kiara said.

“We can prepare in the meantime,” the Doctor said.

‘Of course,’ Kiara thought.

“Absolutely,” Tamsin said.

---

Two hours later, an alarm rang in the console room. The Doctor looked at the scanner. “They’re here,” he said.

“Let’s do it then,” Tamsin said.

“Right,” the Doctor said, a smile on his face, as he pushed a lever downwards. The TARDIS began to dematerialise. “Here we go.”

Tamsin and Felicia got into position near the door. ‘I hope I am right,’ Tamsin thought.

Vile’s Hideout

The TARDIS materialised in the same position that it had been in a couple hours before. The Doctor immediately began his attempt to hack the villain’s computers.

Felicia and Tamsin stepped outside the TARDIS. The lair looked deserted. “This can’t be right,” Tamsin said.

“You may be right. It could be a trap,” Felicia said.

Tamsin... “I’m sure the Doctor would know that.”

Felicia leaned against the side of the TARDIS. “I would feel better if someone warned him anyway.”

“I will tell him,” Tamsin said, noticing that Felicia was a little subdued. The look Felicia had on her face was becoming a common sight. She missed her Doctor and was homesick.

Felicia saw that Tamsin was studying her and let the thoughts swirling in her mind vanish as swiftly as they had appeared.

Tamsin ducked back into the TARDIS. “The lair looks deserted. It could be a trap,” she said.

“Of course it could be a trap, Tamsin,” the Doctor said. He turned to Kiara. “Watch the scanner.”

Kiara nodded and Tamsin rejoined Felicia as the Doctor began his task.

“The Doctor’s still trying to hack the system,” Tamsin said.

“Good,” Felicia said, hoping that Vile didn’t have Dalek malware to infect the TARDIS with. ‘That would cause a paradox for sure,’ she thought. That was something that she didn’t want to happen.

Five minutes later, Felicia and Tamsin saw Vile re-enter the lair.

“I knew that you would come back,” he said.

“Of course we came back,” Felicia said.

Tamsin approached Vile with a serious look on her face. “You have lost, admit it!”

“You and the Time Lord may believe that, but I still have an ace up my sleeves,” Vile said.

Felicia raised an eyebrow. “Dalek malware?”

Vile laughed “Of course not, Ms. Lovell. Dalek software is like the Daleks themselves, untrustworthy,” he said.

“Just making sure,” Felicia commented, not sure if the villain was telling the truth.

The only response from the villain was a wry smile.

“Dalek malware?” Tamsin asked.

Felicia didn’t answer the question. “Spoilers.”

“Oh, yeah, like that River Song,” Tamsin said.

“There is a story there, I am sure,” Felicia guessed. ‘Whoever that River Song is...’ she thought.

Tamsin agreed and Felicia smiled before Tamsin turned to Vile. “What are you waiting for?” she asked.

“Good question, Ms. Davis. I thought I’d let you two enjoy your little moment, there. The Doctor is going hit a snag in his hacking attempt in a few seconds,” Vile said. He looked at his wrist chronometer, counting down. “Two.”

“What sort of snag?” Tamsin asked.

“One.” Vile counted but there wasn’t enough time for an answer before there was a cry of annoyance from the TARDIS and the Doctor dashed out.

“Of course you would pilfer Proclamation Secure Virtualisation software to hide your files!” he said.

“By the time you will have countered the security the files will be elsewhere. In the meantime your TARDIS is vulnerable!”

“Time Lord firewalls are the best, the TARDIS has multiple firewalls protecting all of its systems,” the Doctor said.

“All firewalls have their weaknesses, Doctor. I have software trying to find those vulnerabilities as we speak,” the villain said.

“And all this doesn’t change the fact that the authorities were alerted hours ago and are still coming,” Kiara said as she came out of the TARDIS.

“Ah, but I have plans for that!” Vile said. He walked over to his desk and pressed a button, next to the computer terminal.

“No doubt,” Tamsin said.

“The battle robots are on their way back here,” Vile said.

“And I can bring the Proclamation ship and the Battlefleet here right now,” the Doctor warned.

Vile didn’t look convinced and wanted to call the Doctor’s bluff. “Somehow I don’t think you are going to do that!”

The Doctor stared back at Vile. “I will.”

The Doctor and the villain glared at the other in hostility for a few minutes, both trying to decide what to say next.

The companions retreated to the TARDIS. Felicia closed the doors. “What would you say if I said I have a plan?” she asked.

“I would ask you what it is,” Tamsin said.

“Better than nothing, I guess,” Kiara said.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Tamsin encouraged Felicia to continue. “So, what are you planning?”

“We get him into the TARDIS and the Doctor takes him to the incoming authorities,” Felicia said.

“I suppose so, but how are we going to get him into the TARDIS?” Tamsin asked. ‘He would be quite wary of any tricks, that we may try.’

“We could tackle him and push him into the TARDIS?” Felicia declared.

“I can use my powers to ensure that he goes into the TARDIS,” Kiara offered.

“You know, that might just work,” Tamsin said, with a smirk. ‘It’s silly and rather risky, but it’s the best that we have at the moment,’ she thought.

“Let’s do it!” Felicia said as she exited the TARDIS.

Tamsin and Kiara followed her out.

“You’ll not defeat me, Doctor!” Vile said from where he remained next to the table whilst glaring at the Doctor.

“Maybe not, but, I don’t have to,” the Doctor said.

“What?” Vile asked.

“Now!” the Doctor, said to Tamsin and Kiara, having noticed the expressions on their faces that told him that they had some sort of plan.

“Aaaaaagggghhhhhhh!” Tamsin shouted as she slammed into the villain.

“What are you doing?” Vile asked, as he grappled with Tamsin.

“What do you think?” Kiara said as she produced an ice wall behind Tamsin and Vile, blocking any possible escape.

“That’s impossible!” Vile said. He stared at the ice wall in confusion, clearly wondering how it had came about.

“Clearly, it’s not,” Felicia said.

“Not if you’re from Tyria!” Kiara said. She grabbed hold of Vile and together with Tamsin and Felicia, pushed him into the TARDIS.

The Doctor quickly followed his companions in as the robots surrounded the ship and began firing.

The TARDIS dematerialised.

Shadow Proclamation Vessel Tiara

The TARDIS materialised on the vessel’s bridge. The Doctor stepped out, followed by Tamsin. Tamsin saw the commander breathe a sigh of relief.

“The Doctor, I presume,” the commander of the Shadow Proclamation expedition asked. Unlike the crew of the vessel (who were Judoon) the commander was human.

“Yes. I’m the Doctor and I’ve captured the villain whom was attempting to take over Ilkona.”

“Very good Doctor. That will save us having to scour the entire planet for him. Where is he?”

“He is in one of the TARDIS’s holding cells,” the Doctor said.

“Good. Captain, lead a team to the holding cells and bring him out,” the commander said.

“I will lead you through the TARDIS,” the Doctor said.

Vile was seething behind the force field that was holding him in the holding cell. “You think that just because you’re his companions that you can get away with this?”

“Yes,” Felicia stated.

“I can get away with it,” Kiara said.

“The TARDIS is on a Proclamation Vessel. Even if you could escape where would you go?” Tamsin asked. ‘He can’t escape,’ she thought.

“This ship is a regular Labyrinth. I can get lost in here, and the Doctor wouldn’t be able to find me. I bet I could use some of his secrets against him.”

“He would find you eventually. Meanwhile the TARDIS would stay on the Proclamation ship,” Felicia pointed out.

“You’d be captured eventually,” Tamsin said.

“They would not give up,” Kiara said.

“Let’s wait and see shall we,” Vile said, sounding sure of himself.

“Maybe.”

Five minutes later, the Doctor and the Judoon troops arrived at the holding cells. He input a code sequence and deactivated the force field. The Judoon captain immediately put handcuffs on Vile, who showed signs that he would attempt to run.

“You are under arrest. Crime: Conspiracy to overthrow a legal government. Sentence will be proclaimed at a later time. You will be escorted out of this Time Lord vessel into Shadow Proclamation custody.”

“You brutes, mindlessly following orders!” Vile shouted as he was lead out of the holding cell.

“If there are any further negative vocalisations, you will be gagged!” the Judoon captain said.

Vile grumbled.

“The TARDIS layout can change in a short period, follow me,” the Doctor said, as the corridor behind him slowly changed its direction in relation to the holding cells.

“Yes, Doctor,” the Judoon captain said.

“You think this is the end of it?” Kiara said.

“The end of it for the Doctor, certainly. For Vile, the hurt is just beginning,” Tamsin said. The others agreed with her.

The Doctor exited the TARDIS with the Judoon captain and his prisoner. “Here is Vile,” the Doctor said.

“Very well, Doctor,” the Proclamation commander said.

“And now I must go,” the Doctor said, not wanting to be involved in the incident any further.

“Must you?” the commander asked, wondering why the Doctor didn’t stay around once the immediate threat had gone.

The Doctor soon re-entered the TARDIS.