Chapter One: Another Victim of the Time War

The night was dark and cold; snow was falling, blanketing the multicolored vegetation in glistening white. It was Christmas Eve on Earth, however, here on Alnilam, holidays generally weren’t celebrated.

Neither the Doctor nor Lisa felt like celebrating anyway. The Time Lord was troubled. More so than he usually was, that is. It was the words that woman, Donna, had left him with.

“Find someone…you need someone to stop you.”

Those words were haunting him. He’d gone too far, he knew he did. Even Lisa thought so and she always supported him with what he did. This time, however…he didn’t know what hat come over him.

He needed to calm down. He needed to calm down and not think about Donna or the Racnoss or the drained Thames. That was why Lisa had suggested they go to Alnilam. Her home planet had that effect on him. He could relax there.

And he was. They were in the living room of her house, lying on the couch underneath the Doctor’s coat, being warmed both by each others presence and a roaring fire in the fireplace. All the Doctor wanted to do was lay there in Lisa’s arms and forget about planet Earth for a while. She was, of course, perfectly content to let him.

They were just starting to doze off when they heard a high-pitched whine coming from outside. Curious, the Doctor tossed his coat to Lisa – as she was more susceptible to the cold than he was – and they both left the house to investigate.

Lying face down and unconscious in the snow was a humanoid creature, off-white in color with a triangular head and wings where its arms should be. It looked vaguely familiar.

“Is that a Chronovore?” Lisa asked.

Chronovores were time eaters; not the most pleasant of creatures in the universe.

The Doctor shook his head. “No. It’s too small.” He checked its vitals. “It’s still alive.”

As she hated seeing a creature suffer, even when it could possibly be dangerous, Lisa said, “We can’t leave it out here. It’ll freeze.”

He nodded after a moment and together they carried the unconscious creature into the house and onto the couch. The Doctor examined him further while Lisa went to get blankets.

When she came back, she asked, “Doesn’t he seem a little familiar to you?”

The Doctor looked at the creature and frowned, trying to jog his memory. He finally shrugged. “It does look like a Chronovore, but the proportions are all wrong.”

The creature suddenly stirred, its head turning to them and staring with large eyes. A deep voice resonated in their heads. Doctor…

“Hello,” he replied. “Have we met?”

Doctor…you do not remember? the creature asked. I am the Temperon.

The Temperon! The legendary Time Beast. That explained why he looked so much like a Chronovore; they were genetically related. Lisa and the Doctor met him three times previously in three separate-yet-connected points in the Doctor’s timeline.

But this didn’t bode well. The Temperon had appointed himself guardian of the Sirens of Time, beings that fed on the energy released by distortions along the natural flow of time. He couldn’t have separated himself from them willingly.

Lisa remembered the events. The Doctor did not. She said, “Temperon, what happened?”

The Sirens of Time are free! he said.

“What?!” she shouted, causing the Temperon to wince at the outburst. “How?”

The Time War, he explained. The distortions caused by the Time War created a powerful energy that I could not shield from the Sirens. They fed on it, strengthening themselves while weakening my hold. Finally, the energy was so great that it shattered my hold and splinted the Sirens into ten separate individuals. They have fallen into ten separate points in the Doctor’s timeline.

“My timeline?” the Doctor asked. “Why me?”

The Temperon shifted uncomfortably and looked away, ashamed. I am afraid that is my fault. As my hold started to weaken, I began searching for you.

“How did you know he’d survived?” Lisa asked softly.

The Temperon turned back to them and seemed to smile. A cosmos without the Doctor scarcely bears thinking about…and his death would cause the largest distortion the timeline would ever have to endure.

“Well, that’s nice to know…” said the Doctor sarcastically.

“Doctor…” Lisa said in a slight warning tone, placing a hand on his shoulder. “The most important thing, now, is how do we track down the Sirens?”

They now have my particles adhered to them, said the Temperon. I can locate them and take you there.

The Doctor and Lisa exchanged an uneasy look. Time travel without a capsule was unpleasant enough and travel by Temperon was far more uncomfortable than really necessary. They weren’t too keen on experiencing it again.

“Er…I’m sure the TARDIS can track down the Temperon particles,” said the Doctor.

I must go with you! the Temperon insisted, grimacing in pain and the force of his booming voice causing them both to wince. It was then that they realized that the Temperon had been weakened by his ordeal. I am the only one who can contain the Sirens.

“Are you sure you’re strong enough?” Lisa asked. “What if the same thing happens?”

The Temperon’s answer was blunt. We have no choice. The Sirens cannot be allowed to roam in the Doctor’s timeline. The distortions they could create would be catastrophic. They would be unstoppable.

He had a point they had to agree, so they decided to leave right away. This was sure to be their biggest adventure yet.

End chapter one.

Back *~*~* Chapter Two