A Question of Time

Martha squawked as she was thrown around the TARDIS, watching the Time Traveling Family all manage to stay upright. “How do you do that?” she asked as the ship continued to shake.

“Practice,” Jack replied, a smile on his face. “My first few times I got thrown about more then you… even broke my arm once.”

“That, was because you were fooling around!” the Doctor protested.

“But how does it work?” Martha asked, looking at the controls. “How do you travel in time?”

“Oh, let’s just take the fun and mystery out of everything!” The Master sighed.

“Martha, you don’t want to know. It just does,” Rachel laughed.

“Do you have to pass a test to fly this thing?” Martha asked.

“Yes, and he failed.” The Master smirked as he pointed to the Doctor as the TARDIS came to a stop.

“We’re here,” Rachel smiled, moving towards the door and tossing coats to her parents.

“Outside this door, brave new world,” the Doctor smiled.

“Where are we?” Martha asked, and the Doctor ushered her through the door… into the past. “I should say when are we… shouldn’t I?”

“London, about 1599.” Rachel smiled. “Oh, just walk about like you own the place, always works for us.”

“We’re down the river by Southwark,” Jack realized, a smile growing on his face as he darted forward, followed by the others from the TARDIS.

“There it is…” the Doctor gazed up at a far away building. “The Globe Theater… brand new, just opened.“

“Containing the man himself,” the Master added.

“Shakespeare?” Martha gasped, her eyes wide. “William Shakespeare?”

So the group found themselves on the floor of the Globe Theater, watching Love’s Labor’s Lost… and Martha found herself inventing the shouting of ‘Author’. The Doctor found himself staring in amazement at the Bard himself, who had come out on stage to greet his audience.

“Genius,” the Doctor whispered. “He’s a genius, the genius.” The Master smiled softly at the awe in his mate’s eyes. “The most human human there’s ever been…and we’re going to hear him speak!”

“Always he chooses the best words… new, beautiful, brilliant words,” the Master added.

“Oh! Shut your big fat mouths!” Shakespeare yelled, causing both the Doctor and the Master to blink in surprise.

“You should never meet your heroes.” Jack laughed as they listened to the great man talk about his play, and the next one he was writing, a sequel entitled Love’s Labor’s Won

“Why haven’t I ever heard of that play?” Rachel asked as they started to file out with the rest of the audience.

“It’s the Lost Play. Doesn’t exist except in rumors,” the Doctor replied, running a hand through his hair.

“It’s mentioned in lists of his plays, but never turns up… not a single copy, not even a fragment,” the Master added, stroking his chin in thought. “And no one knows why.”

“Looks like this trip just got a bit longer,” Jack smiled. “And I’m betting our next stop is wherever Shakespeare is staying.”

“The Elephant,” the Doctor murmured, turning down a side street. “A logging house… I believe it’s this way.”

At first William Shakespeare thought they were nothing more then fans and wanted to turn the lot of them away. But then he caught sight of the youngest member of their party.

“Hey, nonny, nonny!” he whispered, staring at Rachel, who blinked in surprise and blushed when she heard the serving woman refer to her as ‘William’s New Muse’. “Sweet lady…” Shakespeare whispered, staring at Rachel. “Such unusual clothes… so fitted.”

Rachel smiled and sat across from the Bard, while her family and Martha found seats around the room. The Doctor pulled out his psychic paper and held it up for Shakespeare to see. “I’m Sir Doctor of TARDIS… this is my daughter, Lady Rachel Rani.”

“Interesting… that paper is blank,” Will said, looking at the paper.

The only one in the room not amazed by that statement was Martha, who saw the words the Doctor had said written on the paper… which meant Jack had to quickly explain it to her.

“Who are you exactly?” Will asked. “And more to the point… who is this delicious lady?”

Rachel blushed and fought to keep herself from stammering. “We’re from a far off land… Gallifrey,” she answered, before they were interrupted by the ‘Master of the Revels’ who didn’t want Love’s Labor’s Won to be performed… since it seemed he just plain hated William.

“That was a bit anticlimactic,” Jack sighed, stretching in his chair.

“I thought it would be some a bit more… I don‘t know, mysterious,” Rachel said, taking a sip of the drink that William had offered her.

“Guess we can leave now.” The Master was about to get up… when the group heard a scream from the street outside. The Master of the Revels was throwing up water… when suddenly his heart stopped, as if he’d had a heart attack. But he had drowned on dry land.

The Doctor knew he couldn’t tell the assembled crowd the truth. “Good Mistress, this poor fellow has died from a sudden imbalance of the humors,” he said to the owner of the Elephant.

“A natural, if unfortunate, demise. Call the constable, have him take away,” the Master added.

“Why did you say that?” Martha asked the two Time Lords.

“This lot have still got one foot in the Dark Ages,” Jack explained to Martha. “We tell them the truth, they’ll panic and think it was witchcraft.”

“Then what was it?” Martha looked between the four Time Travelers.

“Witchcraft,” Rachel shivered.

“Sir Doctor…” William stepped forward. “You and your companion…” he gestured to the Master. “How can two men so young have eyes so old?”

“I do a lot of reading,” the Doctor deadpanned.

“A trite reply… that’s what I do,” William laughed softly as he shifted his gaze to Martha. “You… you look at him like you’re surprised he exists. He’s as much of a puzzle to you as he is to me.”

“I think we should say goodnight,” Rachel sighed, moving towards the doors of the inn.

“Tomorrow then, Doctor,” William sighed, heading back to his work. “I’ll find out more about you and why this constant performance of yours.”

“All the world’s a stage,” the Doctor replied.

“I might use that…” Shakespeare smiled as the group left his rooms.

“So… alien?” Rachel asked the Doctor as she and Jack prepared to enter one of the three rooms they’d managed to get.

“Yes… but I’m not sure what sort,” the Doctor replied, stopping in front of a door across the hall, Martha tried to stop with the Doctor but was beaten to the punch by the Master. “We’ll sleep on it..”

“Martha, you’re the next one down,” the Master added, before closing the door behind him… Jack and Rachel had already close their doors, so none of the Family saw the look in Martha Jones’ eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Another person died that night… the owner of the Elephant. Died of fright while walking into William’s room. When they’d looked out the window, Martha and Rachel had seen a witch flying away, broomstick and all.

When they were talking with Shakespeare about the death of the woman, not only did Martha managed to reference a play that he hadn’t written yet, but they found a possible connection between the witchcraft and Shakespeare.

A man named Peter Streete, who had spoke of witches… and Peter Streete was the man who designed the Globe, the architect who had decreed that the globe have fourteen sides, making it a tetradecagon. And as every playwright or actor knew, the Theater was magic, a place where you could change peoples’ minds, just with the right words at the right time.

“If you exaggerate that…” the Master whispered, as the pieces started to fall into place.

“It’s like the TARDIS… little blue box, but with all that power inside!” Rachel smiled.

“Peter Street would know, there is no way he isn’t connected to this,” Jack added.

“Can I talk to him?” the Doctor asked Will.

“You won’t get an answer.” Will’s face fell. “A month after finishing this place, he lost his mind.”

“What happened?” Martha asked.

“Started raving about witches, hearing voices, babbling.” Will turned to look at the Doctor. “He’s in Bedlam now.”

“What’s Bedlam?” Martha asked.

“Bethlem Hospital… the madhouse,” the Master explained. “Then that’s where we have to go.”

And while they walked, William didn’t let the opportunity to flirt with Rachel pass by… “You are a royal beauty.”

“I know for a fact that you’ve got a wife in the country.” Rachel laughed at the looks that her parents were shooting the Bard.

“But this is town!” Shakespeare replied, a large smile on this face.

“Oh, come on!” the Doctor cried. “We can all have a good flirt later.”

“Is that a promise, Doctor?” Will asked and the Doctor froze.

“57 academics just punched the air.” The Master laughed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Master, Jack, Rachel and Shakespeare watched in silence as the Doctor managed to get Peter to talk. They managed to figure out that someone had been commanding the poor man, forcing him to build the Globe as they wanted it built.

But before the Doctor could fix anything, before he could help save Peter… a woman appeared in the cell and killed the man. She stopped his heart with only a touch of her finger.

“No!” the Doctor cried out, before glaring at the strange, elderly woman… whom everyone in the room could tell wasn’t really an elderly woman.

The woman laughed and the Doctor stepped forward, the Master by his side. “There’s a power in words…”

“If we can find the right one… if we can just know you…” The Master smirked evilly.

“None on Earth has knowledge of us,” the woman hissed at the two, clearly thinking she was facing two humans.

“Then it’s a good thing we’re here! Think, think, think…” the Doctor murmured.

“Humanoid, female, who uses shapes and words to channel energy…” The Master tilted his head.

“14!” The Doctor laughed and pointed at the creature. “As in the 14 stars of the Rexel planetary configuration.”

Rachel suddenly stepped forward, knowing where this was going. “May I?” she whispered, and her two father’s nodded. “Creature, I name you Carrionite!” she shouted.

And the woman dissolved into a mass of light. “What just happened?” Martha gasped.

“Rachel named her. There’s power in a name… that’s old magic,” the Master explained.

“But there’s no such thing as magic!” Martha protested.

“Well, it’s just a different sort of science… you lot, you chose mathematics,” the Doctor explained.

“Given the right string of numbers, the right equation, we can split the atom,” Jack added.

“The Carrionites use words instead,” Rachel finished.

“Use them for what?” Will asked.

“The End of the World,” whispered the Master.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“The Carrionites disappeared way back at the dawn of the universe,” The little group was back in William’s loggings, and the Doctor was trying to figure out what the Carrionites were trying to do by thinking out loud. “Nobody was sure if they were real or legend.”

“Guess we figured that out,” Jack sighed, crossing his arms. “But what do they want?”

“A new empire on Earth,” the Master told his mate. “A world of bones and blood and witchcraft.”

“But how?” Martha asked.

“We’re looking at the man with the words,” Rachel said, staring at William. “The play… how does it end?”

“Boys get the girls, they have a dance… all funny and thought-provoking as usual.” Shakespeare suddenly looked up at the Doctor, his eyes wide. “Except those last few lines… Funny thing is, I don’t exactly remember writing them.”

“They used you!” the Doctor realized. “The right combination of words, spoken in the right place with the shape of the Globe as an energy converter!”

“The play is the thing!” the Master yelled as they started to run towards the Globe. “Oh… and you can keep that!” he shouted back to Will.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The future of the entire human race was depending on the TARDIS travelers stopping a play in 1599. Shakespeare went to stop his play while the Time Travelers made their way to the Carrionites house and ran smack damp into one. It turned out to be the youngest, the one who called herself Lilith.

“I take it we were expected,” the Doctor stated, staring at the creature in front of him, who was wearing the shape of a young attractive woman.

“Oh, I think death has been waiting for you for a very long time…” Lilith stepped forward and laughed. “I gaze upon this bag of bones… and now I name thee, Martha Jones!” She shrieked and pointed at Martha, who fell to the floor, unconscious. Jack made sure that the young woman was okay, while the Doctor, the Master and Rachel stared at the woman. “Curious… Her name has less impact,” the Carrionite remarked. “She’s somehow out of her time.”

There was a pause… then Lilith decided to try again. “And as for you, sir Doctor…”

But nothing happened.

“Fascinating…there is no name,” Lilith remarked, tilting her head. “Why would a man hide his title in such despair? Oh but look..” She shifted her gaze over to Rachel, whose face twisted in confusion. “There’s still one word with the power that aches.”

“Don’t,” the Doctor whispered, anger clear in his face. “The naming won’t work on her.”

“But her heart cries and moans… for she fears in Cardiff lies a bag of blood and bones with the name of Ianto Jones!” Lilith hissed and, as her parents looked at her in confusion, Rachel stepped forward… anger without measure flowing off of her, as if Rachel was the one in her family who was called the Oncoming Storm.

“Oh, big mistake,” she hissed. “’Cause that name keeps me fighting… the Carrionites vanished, where did you go?”

“The Eternals found the right word to banish us into deep darkness.”

“Then how did you escape?” the Master asked.

“New words,” Lilith replied. “New and glittering… from a mind like no other.”

“Shakespeare,” Jack whispered.

“His son perished. The grief of a genius. Grief without measure… madness enough to allow us entrance.”

“How many of you?” Rachel asked.

“Just the three. But the play tonight shall restore the rest… then the human race will be purged as pestilence!” Lilith hissed. “From this world we will lead the universe back into the old ways of blood and magic.”

“Busy schedule,” the Doctor smirked.

“But first you’ve got to get past us,” Rachel added, her hands on her hips.

“Oh, but that shall be a pleasure.” Lilith reached up and ran a hand along Rachel’s hair and snipped a bit off.

“What was that for? What did you do?” the Doctor yelled, stepping forward.

“Souvenir.” Lilith laughed… before jumping out the window and hovering… she attached the hair to a little doll, like a voodo doll and stabbed it in the heart.

Rachel screamed out in pain and fell to the ground as Lilith flew away Martha woke and the Doctor screamed, dashing forward to pick up his daughter.

Rachel’s eyes opened and she hissed in pain. “I’ve only go one heart working…” she gasped, clutching at her father’s arms. “How do humans cope?”

“Hang on!” The Doctor cried, as the Master darted forward and pointed his Laser Screwdriver at Rachel’s un-beating heart… managing to start it again.

“Okay?” Jack asked, fear in his eyes.

Rachel stood up and stretched a little. “Lovely.” She coughed slightly. “What are we waiting for? We’ve got to get to the Globe!”

The Time Travelers arrived at the Globe at the same time that the portal had opened. Apparently the Carrionites had used their magic to stop Will from ending the play. Fire was spewing out into the sky, and demonic creatures were flying out… shrieking their joyous laughter along with the three Carrionites who were already free.

“She lives!” Lillith hissed, seeing Rachel entered the Globe. “Then watch this world become a blasted heath!” Carrionites were starting to fly out and into the pillar of fire.

“What do we do?” Martha yelled over the din.

“Will, history needs you!” the Doctor cried out, pushing Shakespeare to the front.

“But what can I do?” Will shouted, in order to be heard over the noise of the Carrionites’ portal.

“Reverse it!” Rachel dashed to Will’s side. “The shape of the Globe gives words power, but you’re the wordsmith!”

“The one true genius,” the Doctor added, “the only man clever enough to do it!”

“But what words? I have none ready!” Will asked, looking up at the portal in awe. “These Carrionite phrases, they need such precision!”

“When you’re locked away in your room…” Rachel caught Will’s eyes. “The words just come, don’t they? Like magic? Words of the right sound, the right shape, the right rhythm… words that last forever,” Rachel paused for the slightest moment, her eyes still locked with Will’s. “That’s what you do… you chose perfect words.”

“Close up this din of hateful, dire decay… decomposition of your witches’ plot!” Will shouted, turning towards the Carrionites and their portal. “You thieve my brains, consider me your toy, my doting Doctor tells me I am not!” Will staggered slightly, but Rachel was at his side, helping him stay upright in the fierce wind which was issuing from the portal. “Foul Carrionite spectres, cease your show, between the points…” He turned towards the Time Travelers.

“7-6-1-3-9-0!” the Doctor shouted.

“7-6-1-3-9-0!” Will repeated, seeming to draw power from his words. “Banished like a tinker’s cuss… I say to thee---” Again, the words wouldn’t come, again he turned to the Time Travelers… who also did not know what to say.

What the heck… why not try it? “Expelliarmus!” Rachel shouted out, drawing a slight smile from the other Time Travelers.

“Expelliarmus!” Will echoed the strange word.

“Good old JK!” the Doctor laughed.

With a final echoing howl of denial and pain the Carrionites vanished, taking every single copy of Love’s Labour’s Won with them and leaving the audience thinking it was all some sort of special effect.

All that remained of the Carrionites was a sort of crystal orb, inside of which they screamed and clawed, raging over the loss of their freedom. As the Doctor and Master went to retrieve this orb, Rachel found herself alone with Will.

“I heard the Doctor talking of what the Carrionites said to you…” Will practically whispered, ignoring Martha, who was sort of hovering in the background, trying to listen in or get some attention. “It appears you also have someone in the country, someone who is waiting for you.”

“Perhaps,” Rachel replied, looking away from the great playwright. “He went there to get distance, he may not be waiting for me.”

“I think he is, or why would the Carrionites use that word to hurt you?” Will laughed slightly. “If you did not think he was waiting… then you would tell the Doctor the truth.”

Before Rachel could answer, her parents returned, the Master holding the crystal which contained the Carrionites. “Time we were off!” The Doctor smiled as he looked down at the crystal ball.

“We’ve got a nice attic in the TARDIS where this lot can scream for all eternity…” the Master remarked, giving the crystal a shake like it was a snow globe, which somehow sent the Carrionites spinning around like they were in a washing machine.

“And we’ve got to take Martha back to Freedonia,” the Doctor added.

“You mean travel on through time and space?” William asked, smiling at the reaction he got out of the Master and the Doctor. “You three are from another world… like the Carrionites.” He gestured to the Master, Doctor and Rachel. “And you two are from the future.” He gestured to Jack and Martha. “It’s not hard to work out.”

“That’s incredible… you are incredible.” The Doctor smiled.

“We are alike in many ways, Doctor,” Will said, before leaning over to kiss Rachel’s hand. “Now… I must say goodbye to you with something… special…” He paused, as if to think… only to be cut off by two of his actors.

“Will! Will!” they shouted, running into the Globe. “She’s here! She’s turned up! Her Majesty… she’s here!"

An older woman with a collar that was nothing short of insane walked into the Theater, followed by several guards.

“Queen Elizabeth the First!” The Doctor smiled.

“Doctor!” the Queen hissed. “My sworn enemy!”

“What?!?” the Master asked, turning to look at the Doctor.

“Off with his head!” the Queen called out and, not pausing to ask questions… the group took off.

“What have you done to Queen Elizabeth?” the Master asked as they ran, dodging arrows from the Queen’s guards.

“I don’t know! I haven’t met her yet!” The Doctor laughed. “But I can’t wait to find out…”

“Something to look forward to!” Jack shouted as the Doctor pulled the doors of the TARDIS closed behind them… just in time for an arrow to imbed itself in the door instead of one of the travelers.

TBC