TRIAL OF A TIME LORD: THE VALEYARD

Chapter Four

"Shit!" Rain said as she ran into the TARDIS.

She felt her daughter's fear in her mind and now that she was inside the time ship she heard her daughter's panicked screams for her.

"Please, TARDIS, shorten the distance between us," she said.

The TARDIS complied and moved the door to the library to the back door of the console room. The screams which had been faint were now loud and clear as she bolted through the door.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Rain said, running to her side and hugging her.

"Daddy, Daddy Alan, they're gone!" Hope wailed.

Fear gripped Rain's hearts in a way it normally didn't. Her husband and brother had been taken before but the TARDIS was a safe haven and it was nearly impossible to take someone from within her walls. The fact that they had been abducted from the library filled her with dread and she wondered who was powerful enough to breach the ship's defenses. For the moment she pushed those fears aside and concentrated on calming her daughter so she could get her to say what happened. She poured love into Hope's mind and felt her calming down as she rocked her and held her close.

"Baby, what happened to Daddy and Daddy Alan?" she asked.

Hope swallowed hard and pointed to the space in front of her.

"What happened, Baby? I need to know so we can help them," Rain said.

"This...light. It came and it swallowed them," Hope said between sobs.

Rain frowned.

"What kind of light?" she asked.

"Just this light, it came out of the air and it ate them. They're gone!"

Hope wailed again and Rain shushed her as she held her close and rocked her. She racked her brain for any explanation. She remembered Rose telling her about the time the Daleks abducted her, the Ninth Doctor and Jack from the TARDIS. They'd been pulled out by a transmat...which manifested as a beam of light. Rain's hearts stopped.

Oh God, not Daleks, she thought to herself.

Rain, where are you?

Rain was jerked from her thoughts when she heard Adam telepathically call to her. It was followed by the other brothers along with Donna, Martha and several others in her family. She thought back to them and told them she was in the TARDIS library. She briefly explained to them what Hope had said but by the time she got done, Adam was by her side along with Amato, Duer, Shilah, Mingxia and John, Rose, Rosie, Marion, Peri, Frankie and Faith.

"The others are coming," Adam said as they knelt down by her. "I need to tell you lot what I saw. I had another vision. I know who took them."

Hope let go of Rain and wandered over to him.

"Who?" she said as Adam embraced her.

"I'll tell you in a minute, little Starburst. We need to wait for the other family members because I want to tell everyone what we're up against."

"We better tell them then," Rain said.

She thought to everyone, telling them to come over while the brothers embraced Rose who was now upset with tears rolling down her face. While they were hugging her, Jack came in with Martha and waited for Rain to finish her summons before all of them went back to the living room. Rain went to put some tea on for those who wanted it while slowly the rest of the family streamed in. It took awhile for everyone to assemble since Sarah Jane, her son, Rani and Clyde had to come from Earth but finally everyone was in the room, some of them sipping tea while they waited to hear what happened. Rain nodded to Adam who was still holding Hope. He stepped into the center of his family while they waited patiently for him to speak.

"I had another vision," Adam said.

He explained what he saw to the others. Halfway through, Jenny held up her hand.

"This is what I saw, centuries ago when we went into the simulation room. It's the Valeyard, right?"

Adam nodded as everyone groaned.

"Yeah, I saw them in separate cells except for our Doctor and Alan, they were together."

"But according to Jenny's vision, they get rescued," Grace said. "The Doctor knew this would happen, he just didn't know when. We just have to wait till they come back, right?"

"I don't know, it seemed different this time," Adam said. "I'm wondering if we should do something to help them escape."

Jack came forward.

"I'm wondering the same thing. I mean, you said that when you had the vision the Eleventh Doctor said that he was still in exile and it had been three hundred years since he'd seen us. But Kin and Imiko changed that and brought them home early so what if other things have changed and they really do need our assistance?"

"But we have no idea where they went," Awinita said. "We never did figure out where we were in the vision, we just saw a couple of rooms and some cells."

"And neither the Doctor nor Alan are registering in my mind," Jack said.

"That figures," Martha said. "The Valeyard is the evil version of the Doctor, he would know about the artron energy and how to dampen it."

"Which means we're screwed," Tara said as everyone sighed angrily.

"Not necessarily," Emi said. "Remember when we saw the vision, Father's seventh life hadn't been captured yet. Maybe that means he'll rescue them."

"I wish we knew for sure," Rain said. "But at the moment, we have to wait and hope that either his seventh life or any of the other Doctors figure out how to escape before it's too late."

(Thirteen...)

The thirteenth Doctor lay on his sofa, panting heavily. He had tried to get to the TARDIS but it was too hard for him to walk so Namid went to run the scan on her own. Rain had rushed home when she felt his distress. She put a cold compress on his forehead while he stroked her cheek.

"Oh God, Thete, tell me this isn't the end," she said softly.

The Doctor gave her a tender smile.

"I've had nearly a thousand years of bliss with you, my darling. If this is it, I won't regret what we shared."

"Just hold on, my love," Rain said. "We'll find a solution, we always do."

Suddenly the door opened and Rose entered, supporting Alan while he staggered inside. Rose was short, Asian with long ebony hair and a plump face. Alan, who was in his fifth life, was also Asian but with short wavy hair and sharp features. Rain ran to Alan and got on his other side as Rose caught sight of the Doctor and turned pale.

"Oh God, it's happened to you as well," Rose said as they helped Alan over to the chair beside the sofa. "Doctor, what's going on?"

"Not sure, but it feels like I'm being erased from history," the Doctor said. "Brother, it's happening to you as well?"

"Yes, I feel the same way. My past is being erased," he said as Rose stroked his cheek.

"There's no choice then. We have to send Mi-mi back," the Doctor said.

"No, wait..." Rain said as she knelt by his side. "Not her."

"There's no choice, Latara. She's our best hope, especially considering what she can do. I hate to send her, but I trust her. She's saved us before and I know she'll save us now. I don't know what else to do."

Rain nodded. The Doctor thought to his daughter, calling to her to come into the living room. She appeared a few minutes later and paused when she saw Alan.

"Daddy Alan? You too?" she said in shock as she rushed to him.

Alan nodded. Weakly, he wrapped his arm around her and kissed her cheek.

"Brother needs you to go back and see what's happening," he said softly to her.

"I will, Daddy. I found the cause. It's the Valeyard, he's taken all your lives and he's taken Daddy Alan in his tenth life."

The Doctor frowned.

"You mean when the Valeyard kidnapped all of us. That's s'posed to happen but our seventh self rescued us. Alan was with us as well, I remember Jenny telling us that. Why are we dying then if we're both rescued?"

"It's time, Daddy. The TARDIS says time is changing and...the Valeyard kills you and Daddy Alan."

"Wonderful," Alan said with a groan as the Doctor held out his hand to her.

"Then you must go, Mi-mi. You're our greatest hope. You must use your abilities and make sure that the timeline is restored."

"I will, Daddy, I'll save you both," Namid said.

The Doctor held her close to him and poured love into her mind.

"Be careful, my sweet Compassion, the Valeyard is a formidable foe and it would kill me to lose you,"
he said to her.

"I will be careful, I promise."

The Doctor kissed her and she got up and moved to Alan to give him a goodbye kiss. Just as she reached him, a light suddenly opened up beside the Doctor. Before anyone could do anything, a pair of hands grabbed him.

"No!" Rain said as the Doctor's hand was jerked out of hers.

"Mi-mi!" they heard him say before the crack of light closed.

Everyone sat in stunned silence for a moment before Namid recovered her senses. She kissed her two mothers and promised all of them that she would be careful before she ran outside. She closed her eyes and linked her mind to the timeline of her father and his various lives, finding where the Valeyard had taken them.

"Don't worry Daddy and Daddy Alan, I'm coming," she said.

She concentrated and a faint wheezing sound was heard as she faded away and entered the vortex.

Back                         Home                              Doctor Who Main Page                          Next