Astrophysics in Action

Post Doomsday. What if the Doctor had a different companion? Say… Samantha Carter? Crossover with Stargate: SG-1

Chapter Nine: The Sound of Drums

Rather abruptly, the time vortex appeared in an alleyway and roughly deposited three travellers on the ground. "Oh, my head!" Sam exclaimed, massaging her temples.

The Doctor winced in sympathy. "Time travel without a capsule. It's a killer."

The third traveller, Jack, cracked his neck as the three left the alley. "Still, at least we made it. Earth, late 20th century by the looks of it. Talk about lucky."

"That wasn't luck, that was me," the Doctor said shortly.

Back at the end of the universe, as the Futurekind had been struggling to enter, the Doctor had fixed and activated Jack's vortex manipulator. Jack shrugged, sitting down on a bench. "Well, the moral is, if you're gonna get stuck at the end of the universe, get stuck with an ex-Time Agent and his vortex manipulator."

"We need to find the Master," Sam said distractedly. "He's got the TARDIS, so theoretically he could be anywhere is time and space, but I recognised the voice. I've heard it on TV, but I'm not sure exactly who he is."

"Okay, well, we at least have somewhere to start," said the Doctor. "He's likely insinuated himself into a position of power."

"But because he's a Time Lord, and he must have regenerated, we wouldn't recognise him at all if he walked right by us," Jack pointed out with a frustrated groan.

Sam looked up, noticing an appalling amount of posters with a familiar face on them. She paused a moment in recollection, then in realisation closed her eyes in the hope that when she opened them the problem would go away. Both Jack and the Doctor looked at her worriedly, seeing the colour rush abruptly from her cheeks.

"What is it, Sam?" asked the Doctor.

"We need a newspaper!" she said frantically.

The Doctor and Jack shrugged, confused by the abrupt declaration. "Hey, you finished with the paper?" Sam asked a passerby, who grumbled and tossed it to her. Quickly, she unrolled it and smoothed out the front page, revealing the headline. Sam swore violently.

"Sam, you're going to need to explain," said the Doctor.

"It's the Master, I know who he is."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Sam shook her head grimly. "President Saxon Reforms Cabinet Following Clinton Assassination!" she read the headline.

The two men paled. "Let me guess, Saxon is the Master?" Jack concluded and Sam nodded grimly.

"I knew I'd heard his voice from somewhere, but I couldn't quite place it," Sam explained.

After some deliberation,they decided that their best course of action would be to return to Sam's apartment, where they could regroup and plan what to do next. Sam switched on the TV to the news as they sat down in the study, Jack hopping on Sam's computer and searching the internet for information about Saxon.

"So who is he to you?" Sam asked the Doctor, her hands curling around a mug of coffee.

"He's a Time Lord."

"And that's it?"

The Doctor sighed obviously reluctant. "We were classmates. Rivals, if you will. Jack, anything?"

"Born and raised in Virginia, and was their Senator until a year or so ago, when Gore died and Clinton chose him as his replacement."

"There was a bit of fuss about him after Gore's death, no-one knew much about him," Sam recalled. "But there were records and stuff going years back, and of course plenty of people who claimed to have known him at school and stuff. He went to Harvard. Got married 18 months ago. He's a little bit off beat, but most people seem to like him well enough."

"Which was about as far back as he could have possibly arrived, since I locked the coordinates before he left. He can only travel between now and the year 100 trillion."

"He may have only arrived 18 months ago, but it sure looks like a hell of a lot longer." Jack said, looking over the information he'd managed to find. "He's got a whole life - at least, on paper."

Suddenly they were interrupted by the TV, announcing that a special broadcast from the President would occur in several moments time. "It is extraordinary how far we have come in a such a small length of time. For hundred of years, the British Empire ruled supreme.

But no longer. In today's society, it is us who have more influence! More power. Many of the newest innovations in technology are coming from here - the United States of America. And it is my infinite pleasure to introduce to you, the citizens of this great nation, the greatest discovery of humankind as yet. I have been contacted from beyond the stars, with a message for humanity."

At this point, he played a video. A large silver sphere glimmered into existence and began to speak. "People of the Earth, we come in peace. We bring great gifts. We bring technology and wisdom and protection. And all we ask in return is your friendship."

The footage cut back to Saxon at his desk. "Isn't that kind? And this alien species has identified itself. They are called the Toclafane."

Hearing this, the Doctor frowned, shaking his head. "What?"

The Master carried on with his speech, "And tomorrow morning they will appear. Not in secret, but to all of you. Diplomatic relations with a new species will begin. Tomorrow, we take our place in the universe. Every man, woman and child. Every teacher and chemist and lorry driver and farmer. And every…oh, I don't know…military officer?"

At his last words, the three immediately realised something was off. A split second later and they realised there was a bomb attached to the back of Sam's TV. Unsure how long they had before it went off, they made a dash for the door, and watched in dismay as the house blew up after them.

"All right?" the Doctor asked them, and they both responded affirmatively.

Sam swallowed heavily. "Doctor, he knows about me. And when he was Yana, I spoke to him about my family. Dad can look after himself, but Granddad is far too old, and Mark and Rachael…" Sam trailed off, worried. "What if he tries to use them to get to me?"

The Doctor closed his eyes briefly to think. "Thom lives here, in Washington, right?"

Sam responded affirmatively.

"And Mark and Rachael are in Denver?"

Again, Sam nodded.

"Alright. We'll go to Thom. Don't call him first, they could be setting up a trap, or tracking your phone. You'll have to take the risk with Mark though - let him know that he should try to get out of the country if at all possible, and for Rassilion's sake, try and keep it short."

Sam nodded shortly and quickly made the call. Although Mark was less than happy to hear from her, she convinced him that it would be safest for him and his family to go, and promised her that they would be on the next flight out. In short time, they arrived at Thom's apartment.

"Granddad!" Sam called, opening the door with her key. "Granddad, are you home?"

There was no response. They made their way into the kitchen and saw a pot of pasta boiling on the stove. "Thom?" Called the Doctor.

There was still no response. "I don't like this," Jack said quietly.

Sam and the Doctor didn't voice it, but they didn't like it either. Thom would have responded by now. Fear clenching in her gut, Sam made her way into Thom's bedroom, then the adjoining bathroom.

"Oh, God," she breathed, sick. "Oh, God, Granddad!"

There, slumped over the sink, was Thomas Carter, blood seeping quietly from a single bullet wound to the head. His lifeless limbs were slack, his eyes open in shock. A post it had been stuck on the mirror, upon which was written 'Dear Sam, Love, The Master.'

The Doctor walked in behind her, and a mournful sigh escaped him. "Sam," he put his arm around her and curled her into his chest. "I'm so, so sorry. Thom was a brilliant man. But it's not your fault, and we can't stay here. This could be the beginning of a war, we don't have time to dwell." They were harsh words, and the Doctor was wary of speaking them.

Sam pulled herself from his arms, and looked like she might explode at him for a moment, before she sniffed, and wiped the tears from her face, snapping into her military persona. "You're right." Turning away from Thom's body, they quickly made their way from the house. "But the danger is worse than what I thought it was, I have to call my father."

"I strongly advise against it," said the Doctor, but Sam already had her phone out.

"Dad?"

"Sam, why are you calling me?"

"Dad, I don't have time for this. Where are you?"

"I'm at the White House."

Sam started. "The White House? What are you doing there?"

"President Saxon invited quite a few important people to the meeting with the Toclafane tomorrow morning." Jacob explained. "There're lots of military personnel, leaders of various rights groups, important political figures. You know, that kind of thing."

Sam frowned at the explanation. "Alright, whatever. Dad, you need to get out. You need to go and hide. Don't go home, go somewhere no one will expect you. Don't tell anyone where you're going,"

"Sam, stop being ridiculous."

"I'm not being ridiculous, Dad! They've already killed Granddad."

Jacob was getting angry. "That's not the kind of thing you joke about, Sam."

"I'm serious! You have to go and hide!" Sam pleaded with him. But she never heard what his reply was.

"Ooh, a nice little game of hide-and-seek. I love that. But I'll find you, Samantha Carter. Been a long time since we saw each other. Must be, what, one hundred trillion years?" The Master was on the other end of the line.

"Saxon!" Sam exclaimed, and the Doctor turned around suddenly at her outburst. "What's your plan for them?"

The Doctor snatched the phone from her hand, pulling it to his own ear. "I'm here," he said simply. Sam and Jack hung impatiently at his side, listening intently.

On the other end, the Master became serious, sitting up straighter in his chair. "Doctor."

"Master."

"I like it when you say my name."

The Doctor shrugged. "You chose it. Psychiatrist's field day."

"And you chose yours. The man who makes people better. How sanctimonious is that?"

"So, President. Most powerful man in the world."

The Master sounded almost like a schoolgirl in response "I know! It's good, isn't it."

The Doctor didn't justify that with an answer. "What are those creatures? I've never seen them before, and there's no such thing as the Toclafane, they're imaginary."

"Do you remember all those fairy tales about the Toclafane when we were kids? Back home? Where is it, Doctor?

"Gone," he admitted.

The Master was displeased with this answer. "How can Gallifrey be gone?"

"It burnt," he said simply.

"And the Time Lords?"

"Dead. And the Daleks… more or less. What happened to you?"

There was a brief pause while the Master gathered his thoughts. "The Time Lords only resurrected me because they knew I'd be the perfect warrior for a Time War. I was there when the Dalek Emperor took control of the Cruciform. I saw it. I ran. I ran so far. Made myself human so they would never find me because…I was so scared."

"I know,"

"All of them? But now you, which must mean…"

The Doctor looked into the distance. "I was the only one who could end it. And I tried. I did, I tried everything."

"What did it feel like, though? Two almighty civilisations burning. Oh, tell me, how did it feel?"

The Doctor flinched. "Stop it!"

"You must have been like God." The Master continued, taunting.

"I've been the last one ever since, practically alone. But not anymore. Don't you see? We have each other now, we're the only two Time Lords left."

"And what, you propose we perpetuate the race? Hate to break it to you Doctor, but we need a female for that."

Sam made a face, Jack raised an eyebrow and grinned, and the Doctor completely ignored the remark. "You could stop this right now. We could leave this planet. We could fight across the constellations if that's what you want. But not on Earth."

"Oh, but it's too late."

"Why do you say that?"

"The drumming." The Master replied, drumming his finger on a desk in the background. "I thought it would stop but it never does. Never ever stops. Inside my head, the drumming, Doctor. The constant drumming."

"I could help you," pleaded the Doctor. "Please, let me help."

"It's everywhere. Listen, listen, listen. Here come the drums. Here come the drums. And besides, I don't want your help. You like Earth entirely too much, I thought I might see what all the fuss is."

The Doctor was beginning to get impatient. "Enough. What are those creatures? Tell me!"

The Master merely chuckled, "Ooh, look, you're on TV."

"Stop it! Answer me!"

Sam stopped in her tracks as they passed an electronics store, tugging on the Doctor's arm.

He turned to look. "No, really. You're on the TV! You and your little band. Look, there you are! Ha!"

The three gazed at the TV for a few seconds, listening to the anchor announcing that they were armed and extremely dangerous. "You're public enemies number one, two and three. Oh, and you can tell handsome Jack that I've disposed of his little crew so he won't be getting any help from them."

Jack paled at that: none of them had any doubt what the Master meant when he said he had disposed of them. "Who the hell do you think you are!" he burst out.

The Master laughed. "I'm the Master. Now, go on, run along. Why don't you start by turning to the left?"

Turning to the left, the Doctor spotted a CCTV camera. "He can see us," he explained, even as he pointed his sonic screwdriver at it.

"Oh, you public menace!" the Master taunted. "Better start running. Go on, run!"

"He's got control of practically everything," said the Doctor.

Sam nodded, agreeing. "He's clearly got access to private surveillance devices, it stands to reason he's got access to public ones too."

"Doctor, what do we do?"

"We run." answered the Doctor, as on the other end the Master shouted at him to run for his life.

Hours later, Sam, Jack, and the Doctor were holed up inside an abandoned warehouse. The Doctor was at the laptop, and Jack was fiddling with his vote manipulator. Sam dumped a pile of takeaway on the table. "I don't think anyone recognised me. How about you?"

"No one recognised us either," Jack joked. "But I don't think anyone saw us."

Sam rolled her eyes.

"According to the news, your family has been taken in for questioning about your activities." The Doctor reported.

"Did it say who, exactly?" Sam queried, digging into the fried rice.

The Doctor shook his head, and quoted. "The family of known terrorist, Samantha Carter, has been taken in for questioning. While some initial resistance was met, it is expected that they will do all they can to preserve the safety of this nation."

Sam frowned, a little bit worried. "Resistance?"

The Doctor merely shrugged. "That's all they said."

Nodding in acceptance, Sam swallowed another mouthful, and exchanged a glance with Jack.

"So, Doctor, who is he? How come the ancient society of Time Lords created a psychopath?"

"And what does he mean to you?" Sam added. "Was he a colleague? Or a friend…"

The Doctor looked into the distance. "A friend, at first."

"But all the legends of Gallifrey made it sound so perfect." Jack interjected. Sam, never having heard such legends, listened in interest as the Doctor waxed poetic about his home planet and the Master seeing eternity through the schism when he was eight.

"You said that the Toclafane were a fairy tale," Sam reminded.

"They are," agreed the Doctor. "Legend has it that the Toclafane are those who gave Time Lords their ability to travel in time, but at the cost of their immortality. Instead of infinite regenerations, the Toclafane took all but twelve and granted Gallifrey with knowledge. And they had the ability to grant and take away regenerations as they pleased, so if you were good they'd give you and extra one and if you were bad they'd take one away, that sort of thing. Pure nonsense, of course, but a good story told to children in order to get them to behave nonetheless."

Sam and Jack looked at him expectantly.

"Oh, come on. I am not telling you two a fairy tale, you're too old for that," protested the Doctor, but neither said anything and he eventually conceded. "Alright, the short version. The story goes that long ago, before time travel was even thought up there lived a Gallian known as Rorvadmoteothertine, or Rorvad for short. He was on his thirteenth life when he fell in love with an alien from Frey by the name of Teyllarbinecadrope, or Teyll. Teyll was of a species that only had one life, and as such, aged appropriately. For a while things were good, and Rorvad and Teyll had a wonderful, mundane life together. They welcomed several children, worked hard for a living. But it was all too soon becoming apparent that Teyll was no longer able to keep up with Rorvad. When visiting her home planet, he was often mistaken for her son. His children were taken for older siblings. When Rorvad went mountaineering or swimming, Teyll was unable to join him because of the pains in her joints. She claimed she didn't mind, but it mattered to Rorvad, and so he went on a quest.

"After finding several ancient objects in a tale worthy of Indiana Jones, he found an object that would allow him to summon a greater power. He called upon the Toclafane, and begged of them not to allow his wife and children to grow old without him. The Toclafane decided to grant him this boon, and he was so grateful that he didn't bother reading the contract before he signed it. Only once he started to age himself did he realise that he had been tricked: instead of his wife and children becoming immortal to match him, he had instead doomed himself and all future generations to only survive the thirteen regenerations that he already had. As time passed, Rorvad's children intermingled with the immortal Gallians, and came to be known as the Gallifreyans. Still, they were unhapppy with their thirteen lives and Rorvad's great time one hundredth grandson, also names Rorvad, summoned the Toclafane once again. 'Make me immortal,' he begged. 'And allow me a chance to rectify my grandfather's error,'. The Toclafane conferred among one another, and decided to grant him this boon. However, Rorvad had not learnt from his ancestor's mistake, and was not specific enough in his demands. The Toclafane gave him the knowledge to travel through time, and infinite lives. A machine was built, and he was sent back in time. However, the Toclafane chose not to allow him to keep his memory, and soon he fell in love with and alien from Frey, who was known as Teyll."

"So he became his own ancestor?" asked Sam.

The Doctor grinned. "And that was the simple version. The full version's got a bit more to it than that. I think they tried to cram as many lessons into one story as they possibly could."

"No kidding," Jack agreed.

Before they could manage to get any more off topic, Jack's manipulator beeped. "Encrypted channel with files attached. I don't recognise it," he announced.

"Patch it through to the laptop," the Doctor instructed.

Jack nodded, taking ahold of the laptop. The Torchwood logo appeared on the screen and the Doctor gaped.

"You work for Torchwood!" he accused.

Jack nodded, a little confused. "Well, my speciality is aliens, their speciality is aliens… it does make sense, you know. What have you got against them?"

It took the Doctor a minute to realise that in Jack's terms, it was nearly a decade before Torchwood would do any of those horrible things that he remembered. He decided not to say anything for now.

A video appeared on the screen. It was a man in his fifties, wearing a suit. "My name is Dennis Ellsworth," he began. "I am a reporter for the Washington Post and I have been charged with the investigation of our newest president. What I found astounded me. If I don't return here by 2200 hours, I've set this file to be emailed automatically to Torchwood. So if you're watching this, I'm afraid I won't… be able to help you. I have attached the relevant documents. In short, Harold Saxon did not exist before 18 months ago. His records are forgeries - very adept ones, but nonetheless. I'm trusting that you'll look into it properly." The message ended abruptly, leaving a blank screen.

"What's this about forgeries?" asked Jack.

"The Master was always very adept at hypontism, he could have easily made a few officials create some records for him." Explained the Doctor. "He's probably got most of the people who work for him under his thumb as well."

"Why didn't you know he was here?" asked Sam, curiously. "I thought you said you could sense other Time Lords."

That made the Doctor start for a moment. "He must have found some way to confuse the signal, probably a low level signal that's active all over the country, if not the whole world." he mused. "But that's hardly our main concern at the moment. What we need to do is figure out exactly what he wants to do and if and how we should stop it."

"If?"

"Well, you can't really commit to stopping someone from doing something if you don't know what it is and whether it's worth stopping - although, knowing him, it probably is."

Keen to move on from this topic, the Doctor hurried on, handing Jack and Sam TARDIS keys to which he had welded bits of circuitry.

"Three TARDIS keys, three pieces of the TARDIS with low-level perception properties because the TARDIS is designed to blend in. Well, sort of, but… Now! Assuming the Master's set up a second low-level signal. Weld the key to the network and… Sam," he stepped back, "look at me. You can see me, yes?"

Sam nodded. "Of course."

"How about now?" he slipped his own key over his neck.

Sam blinked as her eyes slid away from him despite her attempts to look at him. Jack laughed a little in the background.

"No, over here!" called the Doctor. To Sam, his voice sounded somewhat like an echo.

Sam concentrated for a second, but was unable to focus on him. "It's like my perception has been shifted just bit so that I can't notice you."

"Exactly," Agreed the Doctor, taking off the key. "Now, let's go to the White House. Don't run. Don't shout. Just keep your voice down. Draw attention to yourself and the spell is broken. Just keep to the shadows."

"Like ghosts,"

"Yeah, that's what we are. Ghosts."

The three of them slipped the keys around their necks before heading off into the city.

"And as the eyes of the world turn towards the White House, sources indicate that British Prime Minister James Black has arrived tonight on American soil in a surprise visit. It is said that other world leaders plan to make the trip for the first official alien contact tomorrow morning." Narrated a reporter.

Sam, Jack and the Doctor watched as the Prime Minister and the Master greeted each other. The Master's wife Nancy was also present. In short order, the PM took control of the operation, dictating that the meeting would now take place on the aircraft hangar, the Valiant, and that he would be doing the greeting instead of Saxon.

When the Queen and PM left, Saxon turned to his wife, completely unconcerned by the latest turn of events. "There goes the last Queen of England. We should reach the Valiant within the hour."

The three bystanders were about to leave when the a police car pulled up, and four people were unceremoniously pulled out of the car. Sam gasped in horror on seeing them: it was Mark, Rachael and their children, TIm and Liz.

Jack and the Doctor had to hold Sam back as they were transferred into another car, presumably going to the valiant. After Jack used his armband to work out the coordinates of the ship, they activated the teleport, and found themselves on an enormous ship, surrounded by kilometres of ocean. They hurried along the corridors in search of Sam's family, when the Doctor stopped abruptly, before leading them off in another direction.

Sam let out a whoop of delight on seeing the TARDIS, and all three of them burst inside, before stopping abruptly in shock. It was bathed in red, and making a horrible noise that Sam could only put down to it being ill. Certain parts of the console were caged off, other bits stripped. "Don't touch it!" exclaimed the Doctor.

"Wasn't going to," claimed Jack, and Sam pulled her hand back.

"It can't be. No, no, no, no, no, no, it can't be."

"What's happened?"

"He's cannibalised the TARDIS."

"I don't understand," Sam said. "It's eating itself?"

"No. It's time. He's turned it into a paradox machine. As soon as this hits red, it activates. At this speed, it'll trigger at two minutes past 8:00." Explained the Doctor, looking worried.

"First contact is at 8.00 and the two minutes later," Jack trailed off uncertainly.

"What would he need to sustain a paradox for?" asked Sam.

"Nothing good," Jack hypothesised. "Can you stop it, Doctor?"

The Doctor shook his head. "Not until I know what it's doing. Touch the wrong bit and blow up the solar system."

"Then we'll have to stop the Master," Sam said with a tone of finality.

Jack agreed. "Yeah. How do we stop him?"

The Doctor grinned widely. "Oh, I've got a way. Sorry, didn't I tell you?"

Sam, Jack and the Doctor sidled into the room as the Queen was giving a speech. "For as long as man has looked to the stars, he has wondered what mysteries they hold. Now we know we are not alone…"

"This plan… are you going to tell us?" Jack asked the Doctor significantly as they saw that the smile had faded form the Master's face.

"If I can get this key around the Master's neck…cancel out his perception, they'll see him for real. It's just hard to go unnoticed with everyone on red alert. If they stop me…you've got a key."

Sam and Jack nodded solemnly.

The Queen continued her speech, oblivious. The room was full of world leaders and even a few reporters, all leaning forward in their seats in anticipation. "And I ask you now, I ask of the human race, to join with me in welcoming our friends. I give you the Toclafane." Four large metal spheres appeared in the room, hovering around her head. "I am Queen Elizabeth of England, designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to Earth and its associated moon, on behalf of all it's citizens."

"You're not the Master," stated one Toclafane.

"We like the Mr Master," chimed in another.

"We don't like you."

The Queen was quite at a loss at how to respond to this, but handled it well. "I am afraid that you are mistaken. There is no Master."

"Man is stupid,"

"Master is our friend."

"Where's my Master, pretty please?"

Saxon laughed loudly and stood with a dramatic flourish. "Oh, all right then. It's me! Tada!" he laughed again, and rambled about how great he was for moments before he was interrupted by the confused Queen and suddenly turned very dark and serious. "I'm taking control. Now… let's see… kill him!"

Chaos broke out as the Toclafane fired lasers at James Black, the Prime Minister. "Now if you don't shut up and od as your told, Your Majesty," Saxon mocked. "I'll do the same to you." Black dissolved inot nothingness and Saxon faced the camera.

"Now then, peoples of the Earth, please attend carefully," he said, folding his hands together and grinning in a very unsettling manner.

The Doctor rushed forward in an attempt to stop whatever was to happen, but was caught by the guards. "Teleport!" Jack handed Sam the manipulator.

"I won't!" she whispered fiercely.

"You have to!"

But their argument was interrupted by the Master bringing in Sam's family: Jacob, Mark, his wife and his kids. "Lookie what we have for you, Sammie."

"Dad! Mark!" Sam gasped.

"The Toclafane, who are they? Who are they?" the Doctor asked, breathing heavily, far too focused on this to worry about Sam's family.

"Do you really expect me to tell you that, Doctor?" snapped the Master. "Let me have some fun with your 'sister'."

"Leave them alone!" Sam snarled, coming closer to him

The Master laughed. "Oh, I don't think so."

Sam was by this point close enough to him to hit him, and this she did. She elbowed him heavily in the chest, then kicked him in the stomach, making him double over. "You'll pay for that!" he swore. "I'm going to kill your family one by one and you are going to watch. Kill the woman!" he commanded the Toclafane as he straightened.

Mark's wife Rachael disintegrated before their very eyes and Sam was in too much shock to react.

"Is it time?" asked a Toclafane, spinning around as though nothing had happened, as if Sam's family hadn't just been torn apart because of her arrogance. It seemed to her that the world was moving slowly, so slowly around her and guilt invaded her mind. Mark's face, Tim's face as they looked at their wife and mother. Liz, Mark's other daughter, was too young to comprehend where her mother had gone, but was crying anyway.

"Is it ready?" Sam had to make this right. The Doctor's plan to save the world wasn't going to save her sister in law. Jack pulled her back from the Master, pressing the teleport into her hand while the Master was looking at the Toclafane.

"Is the machine singing?" plans whirred through her mind at light speed, but each scenario ended the same way: Rachael was still dead, Mark would never speak to her again, and she doubted her father would either. Not far away, guards cuffed the Doctor's hands and feet, rendering him capable of only watching what was happening.

Saxon checked his watch. "Two minutes past." He mounted the steps and stood by his wife, Nancy. "So! Earthings. Basically, um, end of the world. Here…come…the drums!" As if on cue, music blared from hidden speakers.

The Master was in his element as the Paradox Machine activated. A horrific wound opened in the sky, Toclafane streaming out like blood.

"How many do you think there are?" The Master asked his wife.

She shrugged in response. "Millions."

"Six billion," he corrected. "Down you go kids!"

The Toclafane descended upon the earth like a plague.

"Shall we decimate them? That sounds good. Nice word—decimate." He now spoke to the Toclafane. "Remove one-tenth of the population!"

Sam could only cry. The Doctor had tears coming from his own eyes, she could see, and she could hear Jack muffled sobs beside her. Distress calls were radioing in from all around the globe, screaming the horrors of the Toclafane.

"Go!" Jack said again, forcing her to take ahold of the teleport. "We'll be fine, but we need to out of here."

Sobbing, Sam nodded and depressed the button, taking one last look at her family and friends before disappearing entirely from the ship. She landed in a clearing, and looking up she could see hundreds of Toclafane flying about, killing anything that got in their way.

"I'll fix this," she vowed.

AN: So, um, yes. It's been a while… I killed a lot of people in this chapter. I was very sad to see Thom and Rachael go. I was also tempted to kill Mark's kids, but I couldn't bring myself to do it when it came down to it.

My use of real people in this chapter: Yes, I am aware is it technically not allowed on this site, but I figured the brief mentions of political figures would be alright. I used a different PM for Britain. I did leave the queen as the same person though, since I figured changing her name would be completely pointless. More on the real people… I also killed Al Gore and Bill Clinton. It was the easiest way to get the Master into office. I didn't want to do the whole hypnotising everyone into it thing either, since this was more than ten years before it happened in canon, and I didn't think it entirely feasable. Also, it would be more than a little bit boring. In my version he was a bit more cunning, hypnotising only a few people in order to create believable records and get himself established. Then he had those in his way assassinated, which I think would be a far better way to go about it. If you don't like it, please PM me about your concerns and I'll try fix it.

I know, I'm horrible. I don't update for months, and when I do I go on a killing spree. I think you've all realised by now that updates aren't going to be on any sort of regular schedule, but rest assured that I am not planning to abandon this story. Obviously, I will be doing Last of the Time Lords after this. I haven't decided whether or not to do The End of Time, but it was awesome…