London, 5:02pm, 22 April 2011
A man, shackled, bedridden, and dressed in a toga, was led down the hallways of the Buckingham Senate, guarded by two Roman soldiers.
Outside the windows, steam trains ran by on aerial tracks around London while cars drove around... through the air, carried by hot-air balloons. And as they turned a corner, heading toward the most central room in the building, a mammoth peered inside the large bay windows and the creature eyed the unshaven man being led into its master's office as though it knew who the man was. As though it knew what he was.
The guards threw open the door to the office, shoving their prisoner down onto his knees before their Caesar. The man sat behind his desk, dressed in a posh black suit, and he barely looked up as he ordered his men: "Leave us."
With a bow the guards left, throwing dirty looks at the soothsayer still kneeling before their leader.
Caesar Churchill placed his papers down and studied the heavily bearded man before him, and he began: "Tick tock goes the clock, as the old song says. But they don't, do they?"
He looked from the large grandfather clock in his office and then back to the soothsayer as he continued: "The clocks never tick. Something has happened to time. That's what you say. What you never stop saying. All of history is happening at once. But what does that mean? What happened?"
Churchill looked down at the soothsayer over the top of his spectacles as he demanded: "Explain to me in terms that I can understand: what happened to time?"
The soothsayer lifted his head, and sorrowful old green eyes peered at Churchill wearily from under unkept, wild brown curls.
"A woman." The Doctor said sadly, and Churchill blinked in surprise.
*******************************************
Some unidentifiable time earlier
Disabled spaceship
"Imagine you were dying." A dark figure, more of a shadow, at the end of the hallway said in a low voice.
It looked humanoid, except its head was shaped strangely, like a flying saucer or a spinning top, and it struck an uncommon fear in the spaceship's inhabitants.
"Imagine you were afraid and a long way from home and in terrible pain. Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, you looked up and saw the face of the devil himself."
The figure came closer, stepping into the light to reveal the Doctor, in all his Stetson-wearing glory.
"Hello, Dalek." The Doctor murmured, smirking down into the disabled Dalek's eyestalk.
"Emergency." The Dalek groaned, while the Doctor leaned over it. "Emergency. Weapon system disabled. Emergency protocol put in place..."
The Doctor ignored the Dalek's calls as he soniced the Dalek's top, loosening it before removing the heavy metal casing.
The Dalek's voice pitch changed, getting higher as it was exposed, and the Doctor muttered as he soniced the inner mechanics of the Dalek's casing: "Hush, now. I need some information from your data core. Everything the Daleks know about the Silence."
*******************************************
Some time later
The Docks of Calisto B
A cloaked figure walked quickly through the rundown riverside, huddling deep beneath the hooded cover of his clothes as he hurried into a nearby spacebar.
The Doctor followed the figure at a distance, keeping his eyes peeled and on the lookout as he too entered the rather dubious-looking bar. But rather than blend in quietly, the instant he was inside the Doctor straightened and walked right up to the barman, demanding of the red-skinned alien behind the counter: "Gideon Vandaleur. Get him. Now."
"Who says he's here?" The barman scoffed, giving the Doctor a dismissive look as he took in the Stetson and tweed jacket.
By way of answer the Doctor dropped the eyestalk of the Dalek he had... disassembled.
*******************************************
A very short while later
The Doctor sat at a corner table, flipping through a magazine called, 'Knitting for Girls', when suddenly a cloaked figure approached. The cloaked man he had been following.
The Doctor raised his brows as he appraised the male before him, and he greeted as the other man sat down: "Father Gideon Vandaleur, former envoy of the Silence."
The man smiled politely at being recognized while removing his hood, revealing one eye to be covered by a black eyepatch.
The Doctor smiled in return as he whispered: "My condolences."
The smile disappeared off Vandaleur's face, and he demanded incredulously: "Your what?"
The smile was gone from the Doctor's face as well, and the Time Lord replied flatly: "Gideon Vandaleur has been dead for six months."
He soniced the figure before him, causing the male to stiffen and go unnaturally rigid instantly in a way that was familiar.
The Doctor pointed his sonic's glowing end right up against 'Vandaleur's' eye and he asked as he stared deep into the figure's iris: "Can I speak to the Captain, please?"
And inside the Teselecta's eye, the tiny man nodded before scampering off to do as the Doctor bid.
The Doctor grinned, and he called, knowing the Captain could hear him even if the Doctor couldn't see the man: "Hello again, the Teselecta time-travelling shape-changing robot powered by miniaturised people. Never get bored of that. Long time since Berlin."
"Doctor, what have you done to our systems?" The Captain finally demanded, and the Doctor shrugged as he answered easily: "They'll be fine if you behave. Now."
He grew serious as he noted: "This unit can disguise itself as anyone in the universe, so if you're posing as Vandaleur, you're investigating the Silence. Tell me about them."
"Tell you what?" The Teselecta's captain asked, sounding puzzled, and the Doctor answered without missing a beat: "One thing. Just one."
He looked the Teselecta in the eye... although the effect was slightly lost considering he was facing an empty space.
However, he knew the Captain would be looking him right in the eye, so he maintained the eye contact as he demanded: "Their weakest link."
*******************************************
A little while after that
Another Space Bar
People cheered in the distance while others booed or chanted, creating a general din while in the middle of the ring two figures sat opposite each other.
One was dressed almost like a viking in metal plated armour over fur and a winged helmet over long, dirty (and not just in colour) blonde hair. He looked a bit like a toad beneath the black eyepatch covering one eye, and he licked his chapped lips as he stared down at the chessboard before him where the White Queen was almost crackling thanks to the amount of electricity coursing through it.
On the other side of the board, the Doctor lounged lazily back in his seat as he watched his opponent calmly.
"The crowd are getting restless." The Doctor noted as he watched his opponent hesitate to reach for the board. "They know the Queen is your only legal move, except you've already moved it twelve times, which means there are now over four million volts running through it."
The Doctor grinned, while his opponent glanced uneasily at the crowd that was pressing up close to the bars to watch what he would do.
As the man continued to hedge, the Doctor added with only a hint of sarcasm: "That's why they call it 'Live Chess'."
The man reached for his piece but continued to falter, swallowing heavily as he just barely touched the Queen piece before grimacing and flinching his covered hand back.
"Even with the gauntlet you'll never make it to Bishop Four alive." The Doctor pointed out flatly, his smile gone as he watched his opponent like a hawk.
Finally, the alien - Gantok - looked at the Doctor for the first time since he'd started to realize he might lose the game.
"I am a dead man," he croaked, "unless you concede the game."
"But I'm winning." The Doctor pointed out, leaning in close as he stared at the other male with dark eyes.
"Name your price." Gantok whispered, and the Doctor shot back instantly: "Information."
Gantok's eye widened and he pointed out in a low voice: "I work for the Silence. They would kill me."
"They're going to kill me too, very soon." The Doctor replied darkly, his green eyes glinting dangerously as he stared Gantok down. "I considered just lying down and taking it; but they they hurt my angel and my friends, and they laid their hands on something they never should have."
Gantok wheezed, uncertainty and fear flickering in his eye while the Doctor continued in a low voice: "And you know what? I think I deserve to know why they're so determined to have me die."
Gantok twitched, and he finally caved: "Dorium Maldovar - he's the only one who can help you."
"Dorium's dead." The Doctor countered flatly. "The Monks beheaded him at Demon's Run."
"I know." Gantok retorted, and he nodded at the board between them. "Concede the game, Doctor, and I'll take you to him."
The Doctor raised a brow, and he nodded slightly.
And Gantok smiled in relief as the Silver King tipped over in a concession of the game.
*******************************************
Much later
Charnel house
"The Seventh Transept."Gantok announced as he showed the Doctor through a series of tunnels literally littered with skulls and into a dark cavern. "Where the Headless Monks keep the leftovers."
He motioned around with his head while holding a flaming torch before him to light the way.
"Watch your step. There are traps everywhere."
As if at Gantok's warning, there was a scuttling noise ahead, and the Doctor muttered in distaste: "I hate rats."
Gantok glanced at the Doctor and he answered flatly: "There are no rats in the transept."
"Oh, good." The Doctor said in relief, but Gantok added: "The skulls eat them."
The Doctor blinked, and that was when he noticed all the skulls lining the walls had turned to look at him and Gantok - hence the scuttling sound as the bones had shifted along the stone ledges.
His eyes widened while Gantok whispered: "The headless monks behead you alive, remember."
The Doctor's eyes narrowed in thought, and he asked as he saw pedestals around the edges of the cavern: "Why are some of them in boxes?"
He gestured to the boxes that sat atop the pedestals, and Gantok replied scathingly: "Because some people are rich, and some people are left to rot. And Dorium Maldovar was always very rich."
He nodded at one of the boxes before moving to place his torch in a holder in the corner of the cavern. The Doctor quickly soniced the box Gantok had pointed out, checking that it was safe. Relatively reassured, the Doctor slowly slid the box open, revealing the familiar blue head of Dorium Maldovar.
His eyes were closed and the head was unmoving, and the Doctor cocked his head... before he jumped as the head abruptly sneezed. The Doctor stared as Dorium's head sniffled before going still once more. The Doctor blinked, looking from Gantok and back at Dorium (who was apparently asleep) before he cleared his throat.
"Thank you for bringing me, Gantok." The Doctor stated as he eyed Dorium's head rather uncertainly, and Gantok replied in a low voice: "My pleasure. It saves me the trouble of burying you."
The Doctor turned, and he pursed his lips as he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun.
"Nobody beats me at chess." Gantok snarled, and the Doctor glanced down as Gantok took a step forward.
The Time Lord's eyes went wide as he saw a faint dip appear on the ground, but before he could do anything Gantok had taken another step forward - and he triggered the trap. The alien man fell through the hole in the ground with a scream, and the Doctor yelled as he lunged forward: "Gantok!"
But it was too late and the man had already fallen into the deep pit, right into a pile of skulls. And the Doctor could only watch helplessly as Gantok was eaten alive by the skulls in a matter of seconds before the skulls turned with more clatters to stare up with empty eyes at the Doctor high above.
Flinching, the Doctor soniced the top of the floor trap shut and quickly backed away again, just as Dorium woke up with a start at all the noise.
"Hello?" The blue alien called. "Is someone there?"
The Doctor pushed himself back up onto his feet, dusting himself off and Dorium said in surprise as he spotted the Time Lord: "Ah, Doctor. Thank God it's you."
The Doctor tilted his head questioningly, and Dorium explained heatedly: "The Monks - they turned on me."
"Well," the Doctor deadpanned, "I'm afraid they rather did, a bit."
Dorium closed his eyes as though preparing himself as he said bravely: "Give it to me straight, Doctor."
He looked the Doctor in the eye and he asked mournfully: "How bad are my injuries?"
The Doctor's lips parted slightly and his face filled with indecision as he looked at the blue head in the box. What could he say?
"Well-" The Doctor began, not really knowing what he was going to say, when Dorium burst out laughing.
"Oh, your face!" The blue alien chuckled, choking a little on his laughter while the Doctor frowned slightly in annoyance. Even beheaded, it seemed Dorium never changed.
*******************************************
London, 5:02pm, 22 April 2011
Churchill's office
"This is absurd." Churchill protested, throwing his hands up and pacing around his office. "Other worlds, carnivorous skulls, talking heads. I don't know why I'm listening to you."
"Because," the Doctor replied seriously from where he sat watching Churchill at the edge of the conference table, "in another reality, you and I are friends. And you sense that."
Churchill paused, both reading the truth in the Doctor's clear green eyes and feeling the truth in his own heart, while the Doctor continued firmly: "Just as you sense there is something wrong with time."
Churchill hesitated, deliberating, before the Caesar caved to his curiosity once more.
"You mentioned a woman." He reminded the Doctor, settling down to listen more.
"Yes." The Doctor said with a small sigh - though whether of disappointment or regret, Churchill couldn't tell. "I'm getting to her."
"What's she like?" Churchill asked curiously. "Attractive, I assume?"
"Normally? As sweet as an angel." The Doctor answered with another sign. "But on her bad days?"
Those green eyes were suddenly as empty as his tone as the Doctor stated bluntly: "Hell - in high heels."
The bald man raised a surprised brow at that description and Churchill urged, intrigued: "Tell me more."
*******************************************
An unidentifiable time earlier
Charnel house
"Oh, it's not so bad, really."
Dorium rambled while the Doctor paced before the blue head.
"As long as they get your box the right way up. I got a media-chip fitted in my head years ago, and the Wi-Fi down here is excellent, so I keep myself entertained."
He chuckled, but the Doctor gave him a withering look as he demanded: "I need to know about the Silence."
"Oh." Dorium said, his face becoming grave.
But he obliged the Doctor as he explained: "A religious order of great power and discretion. The sentinels of history, as they like to call themselves."
"And they want me dead." The Doctor added, and Dorium corrected: "No, not really. They just don't want you to remain alive."
"That's okay, then." The Doctor said sarcastically as he leant against another pedestal and annoyance crossed his features. "I was a bit worried for a minute there."
"You're a man with a long and dangerous past." Dorium countered with a slight scoff at the Doctor's petulant attitude. "But your future is infinitely more terrifying. The Silence believe it must be averted."
"And what about Terry?" The Doctor demanded. "What do they want with her?"
"What do they not want with her is the better question." Dorium replied and the Doctor frowned. "They've been gathering information on her for centuries as far as I am aware."
"Why?" The Doctor demanded and Dorium answered pointedly: "She is special, Doctor, and not just in the way she is to you - Miss Storm is highly unique, even for your kind."
The Doctor's eyes narrowed, and he pointed out: "You know, you could've told me all this the last time we met."
He strode closer to Dorium's head as he spoke, glaring down at the blue alien, but Dorium rolled his eyes as he answered with a sniff: "It was a busy day and I got beheaded."
He looked around at the box he was in to emphasize his point, but the Doctor ignored that part as he frowned even more deeply as he examined Dorium.
"So what's so dangerous about my future?" He asked in a low voice, and Dorium raised a brow.
"You want to know about your future?" The blue man asked, and the Doctor said impatiently: "That's what I asked, isn't it?"
Dorium shrugged - if that was all the Doctor wanted...
Settling himself comfortably in his box, Dorium recited for the Doctor:
"On the Fields of Trenzalore,
At the fall of the Eleventh,
When no living creature can speak falsely, or fail to answer,
A question will be asked.
A question that must never, ever be answered."
"Silence will fall when the question is asked." The Doctor murmured, realization dawning.
But Dorium corrected grimly: "'Silence must fall' would be a better translation. The Silence are determined the question will never be answered - that the Doctor will never reach Trenzalore."
"I don't understand." The Doctor frowned as he stared at Dorium in confusion. "What's it got to do with me?"
"The first question." Dorium replied and the Doctor was startled to see a hint of pity in the blue male's eyes.
"The oldest question in the universe, hidden in plain sight."
Dorium leveled a look at the Doctor.
"Would you like to know what it is?"
"Yes." The Doctor answered without missing a beat, but Dorium asked darkly: "Are you sure?"
The Doctor glanced around as he heard the skulls clattering again, the bones scraping against the stone as they seemed to skitter nervously.
"Very, very sure?" Dorium checked, his gaze very serious as he stared at the Doctor.
The Doctor swallowed, but he replied affirmatively: "Of course."
"Then I shall tell you." Dorium said in a low voice. "But on your own head be it."
He chuckled darkly, and the Doctor gulped. But there was no going back now and he leant in closer as Dorium opened his mouth once more.
*******************************************
A few minutes later
Inside the Tardis
"It's not my fault." Dorium protested, his voice muffled in his box. "Put me back!"
The Doctor ignored the blue head's cries as he dumped Dorium's box down on the captain's chair by the console.
"Ow!" Dorium complained. "I've fallen on my nose."
The Doctor continued to ignore Dorium, instead quickly fiddling with the console and taking them off once more. And as the Tardis wheezed, he pressed a few keys on the scanner monitor and the Doctor pulled up the date, time and location of his predetermined death.
Staring at the records, he took a deep breath and then another while Dorium continued grumbling behind him: "Have you got wi-fi here? I'm bored already and my nose is hurting."
When the Doctor didn't deign to respond in any way, Dorium sighed. Probably sensing the anger and confusion and reflection the Doctor was going through, the blue alien said seriously: "We all have to die, Doctor, but you more than most. You do see that, don't you? You know what the question is now. You do see that you have to die."
*******************************************
London, 5:02pm, 22 April 2011
Senate room
"But what was the question?" Churchill asked impatiently as he followed the Doctor into the room. "Why did it mean your death?"
The Doctor paused in his steps, before he turned to face the older-looking man.
"Suppose there was a person, or persons, who knew a secret." The Doctor explained, waving his hand vaguely. "A terrible, dangerous secret that must never be told."
Churchill stared at the Doctor, his brows knitting together, while the Doctor asked intently: "How would you erase that secret from the world? Destroy it forever, before it can be spoken."
"If I had to," Churchill pondered, "I'd destroy the person, and anyone else who knew about it."
"And silence would fall." The Doctor sighed and shook his head.
"All the times I've heard those words," he murmured as he stared into space thoughtfully, "I never realised it was my death - my death to silence it once and for all. The Doctor will fall, and in doing so..."
He trailed off thoughtfully, before he frowned as he glanced around the Senate room curiously.
"Why are we here?" The Doctor asked abruptly, and Churchill looked around in surprise as though he had just realized where they were.
"This? This is the Senate Room." He noted, and the Doctor fixed serious green eyes on the other man.
"Why did we leave your office?" He demanded, and Churchill shrugged.
"Well, we wanted a stroll, didn't we?" He suggested, but the Doctor looked down at himself and then back at Churchill.
"I think I've been running." He murmured, and then he noticed something else in Churchill's right hand. "Why do you have your revolver?"
Churchill looked down at the gun in surprise, as though just noticing the weapon, before he shrugged again.
"Well, you're dangerous company, Soothsayer." He answered as if that was enough of an explanation.
But the Doctor had glanced down at his arm and he stared at the single black marker line on his inner arm grimly.
"Yes." The Doctor murmured grimly. "I think I am."
But Churchill didn't notice the Doctor's odd preoccupation as he pressed once more: "Resume your story."