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legends-of-time · 9 months ago

Text

Thorn Bush (Doctor Who Story)

Chapter 24: War of the Sontarans

Masterlist

1855 AD/CE

The Crimea war begins and Kathy finds herself near the battlefield helping the Mary Seacole at her British Hotel hospital. Mrs Seacole was very happy to let her join.

Kathy emerges onto the battlefield with Mary, walking along the desolate ground with the dead littered everywhere but a lack of enemy bodies. And that's the thing, Kathy's experience of the Crimean war has gone completely different to how she had imagined and known. Time seems to be almost distorted, changed, and she doesn't know why. If this is part of an episode, it's clearly aired after Kathy travelled to this universe. She hopes it's still Thirteen, at least a Doctor she knows.

It is then that Kathy hears what sounds like the TARDIS' Cloister Bell tolling and, while she knows that means bad news, she perks up and runs in that direction though it is difficult to do in her period-appropriate attire. She feels the familiar faint pull of the mental link she shares with the Doctor snap into place. Kathy then hears three voices which sound familiar.

"Yaz. Is Dan with you?" The Doctor is yelling.

"I'm here. I just blacked out." Dan calls. "Last thing I remember, we were on your TARDIS, that Flux thing was coming at us, and then... nothing."

Dan... a companion she's not so familiar with. For all she knows this could be after or before the Sea Devils fiasco.

"Me too. I think. I was on the ground over there. We must've been thrown out." Yaz adds.

"Must have been. Where are we?" The Doctor is scanning a body in a red military jacket as Kathy nears them.

"Maybe I can help?" Kathy calls to them. She receives two greeting smiles and one baffled one. Maybe before the Sea Devils.

"Kathy! Brilliant!" The Doctor exclaims, running over to her as best she can over the difficult terrain. "I'm assuming we're on earth?"

Kathy frowns. What happened? "Yes, didn't you know?"

"The TARDIS seems to have taken a hit with the Flux." Yaz replies breezily.

Before Kathy can ask what the hell she's going on about, Dan blurts, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm Kathy." She introduces herself with a kind smile.

"A friend. A good friend." The Doctor adds.

"Looks like we're in the middle of a battlefield." Yaz observes.

"Hey!" Kathy jumps at the sound of Mary's voice yelling towards them. "Ms Davis, what are those people doing near that man's body?!" She cries as she approaches. Yaz, Dan and the Doctor jump away from the man. "They didn't steal anything did they?" Mary questions as she comes to stand next to Kathy.

"Uh, no I don't think so. I hadn't che—" She'd been a bit too excited at seeing the Doctor and the companions with them.

Mary ignores her and turns to the trio in front of them. "Well, come on then! Show me your hands. What did you take? Show me."

"Better do what she says." Kathy adds. She had learnt that very quickly when it comes to Mary Seacole.

The trio abruptly throw up their hands as Dan complains that they hadn't taken anything.

"I know what goes on out here. Vultures emptying the pockets of the dead." Mary accuses. She frowns, taking them in. "What...? Who are you? Where you from?"

While her hands are still in the air, the Doctor introduces them all, "I'm the Doctor. This is Yaz. This is Dan. Nice to meet you." She brings down her hands and Yaz and Dan do the same. "We were tracking for signs of life."

"Sure. Doctor is a man's term." Mary scoffs.

The Doctor shrugs. "It's fluid."

Kathy smiles slightly at those words.

Mary crouches next to the man's dead body. "Sentry patrol. All of them dead. It's too late for medical aid." She explains. "But you're too close to the front to be with Mrs Nightingale. She won't come this close to Sebastopol. How long have you been here?"

The realisation begins to dawn on the Doctor's face as she works through the information she's given. "Sebastopol. 1850s. Orientated. I know where we are. Crimean War, 1855, Ottoman Empire weakening, British soldiers fighting Russians."

Kathy winces and glances at Mary Seacole's confused expression. Yeah, Russians.

"We're in the middle of the Crimean War?" Dan complains.

"It could be worse." Kathy remarks.

"How?!"

Kathy's reply is cut off by the Doctor's gasp of realisation. "But that would make you Mary Seacole. Are you? You are, aren't you? Kathy, you've met Mary Seacole!"

"Ms Davis and Mrs Seacole to you. Doctress to the fallen." Mary corrects.

"Everybody, shh, shh." Yaz interrupts. It is then Kathy hears the familiar marching sound as Yaz murmurs, "Listen."

"It's enemy soldiers. Back up, back up." Mary says hurriedly.

They all take cover behind some earth as the marching gets closer.

"Where in the battle are we? How many Russian troops are the British fighting? What's happening in Sebastopol?" The Doctor questions Kathy and Mary.

"What's this word you keep using? Russians. They're not fighting Russians." As Mary explains, a Sontaran appears on the back of a horse with many others following. The Doctor's expression morphs into horror. "They're fighting Sontarans."

The leader removes his helmet. "Taste the victory, my soldiers. Breathe in the rotting stench of our vanquished foes. Onwards, to domination. Sontar-Ha!"

"Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha! Sontar-ha!"

——

"Thank you for getting us out of there safely, Mrs Seacole." The Doctor says after they have escaped the battlefield and are reaching camp.

"Ms Davis and I know every safe avenue on and off of this battlefield. We have to stay alive if we're going to nurse these men back to health." Mary replies.

"You're army nurses?" Dan asks.

Kathy smiles at him over her shoulder. "No, Ms Seacole works for herself and I work for her. We're the closest nurses to the front."

"And this is your hospital?" Yaz asks as they approach the wooden structure.

"This is much more than a hospital, child." Mary retorts. "This is my British Hotel."

Kathy grins at her words. The fact she had helped in creating this historical structure fills her with pride. Mary walks on into the hospital while Kathy lingers with the Doctor, Yaz and Dan, hoping for some answers.

Dan looks at them in bafflement. "So let me just get this straight. She's like a real person from history?"

"You just talked to her, didn't you?" The Doctor quips.

"And those Sontaran things, they're not part of history, were they?"

"No. That's what's been confusing me for a while." Kathy replies. "This isn't the history that I know."

"Could this be connected to the Flux? Is history being rewritten?" Yaz theorises.

Again, this word. "The what?" Kathy blurts.

The Doctor opens her mouth to reply but is cut off when they all notice Dan's right hand glowing light blue. "Dan, are you okay?"

"Are you seeing that?" Dan asks as he raises his hand to stare at it.

"It's hard to miss mate." Kathy wonders if she's using sarcasm to cover up the panic and confusion of not knowing what's happening.

"Stay still, Dan." The Doctor warns, scanning him with her sonic.

Now all of Dan is glowing and he's beginning to fade. "What's happening to me?"

"Ah! Dan!" Kathy cries as she leaps forward but he vanishes.

Before Kathy can recover from the shock of Dan disappearing like that, Yaz calls to them, "Doctor, Kathy! You're fading." Kathy's eyes widen in alarm as Yaz starts to glow.

"No Yaz. You are." Kathy replies as the glow covers Yaz's body.

"A collision between Flux and Vortex energy. You're falling through Space and Time." The Doctor realises. Yaz looks at her in alarm as she too begins to fade. "Yaz, stay calm. I will find you."

"Promise?"

"I promise!"

Yaz vanishes.

The Doctor suddenly whips around to face Kathy. "Kathy, will I find her? You need to tell me?!" She yells frantically, the oncoming storm raging in her eyes.

Kathy flinches. Her mind goes back to how this Doctor had yelled at her during the battle against the Lone Cyberman. "I-I don't—"

"What?!"

"I don't know!" Kathy retorts, deciding she's not going to just take any blame or fury thrown at her by the Doctor. "This is part of your timeline where I don't know what happens."

The Doctor calms marginally. "So you don't know what the Flux is or where Yaz and Dan are?"

Kathy shakes her head before realising something. "I have met Dan though, you and Yaz were there, he'd already met me and since this is the first time he's met me..."

The Doctor's eyes widen when she realises what Kathy is saying. "Then I'll find them, they'll be okay."

"The question is, what's the Flux?" Kathy asks.

"I don't know, some force destroying the universe." The Doctor shrugs. "Got some Lupari ships to protect earth but something's gone wrong."

Kathy smiles, happy that they're back on track. "Then what are we waiting for? TARDIS?"

"TARDIS."

——

As they hurry across the battlefield, Kathy turns to the Doctor. "So, how did you meet Dan? Why's he on the TARDIS team?"

The Doctor looks at her incredulously. "You're asking now?!"

Kathy shrugs. "A good a time as any as you like to say!"

"Accidentally caused his house to miniaturise—" The Doctor begins to say but Kathy cuts her off.

"You what?!" She exclaims.

"An accident and not my fault!" The Doctor defends. Kathy throws a sceptical eyebrow in her direction. "Well... anyway! Then we saved him from the Lupari that was actually saving him."

"Wait, is it that Lupari dog aliens that have a human thing?" Kathy asks. She had heard of them but never realised that they'd come from the show.

"Yep!"

They reach the TARDIS and run faster as the Cloister Bell is still tolling, but as they run around the TARDIS, they begin to realise something's off.

"Where's the door? I need the door!" The Doctor cries loudly.

"Doctor!" Kathy hisses, worrying that the Sontarans will hear them but it's too late.

"Over there, Commander." One calls. "A voice. Another soldier waiting to be obliterated."

The Doctor turns to the TARDIS, begging, "Let me in. I have to find them."

"Spread out and locate the human scum." A Sontaran replies.

"Doctor!" Kathy begs. They're clearly not getting into the TARDIS so they need to get out now.

The Doctor turns to her. "There was something you said, Kathy. That this isn't the history buoy know. Has something else happened?"

Kathy sighs and nods. "Maybe it's time I showed you something, Doctor." She grabs the Doctor's hand and they run.

——

The Doctor and Kathy enter the British Hotel. Kathy can see that Lieutenant General Logan has helpfully helped himself to some rum as he gleans over a map. Great.

"Good evening." Mary greets them. She turns to the Doctor. "Where are your friends?"

"They were called away, while I'm remaining here for now. Apparently." The Doctor replies.

"Well, then, you are most welcome to the British Hotel." Mary cheerfully replies. Kathy smiles at her warmly.

"New arrival, Mrs Seacole, Ms Davis?" The Lieutenant General asks.

Kathy wrinkles her nose at the man who'd thankfully not looked up. "Yes, met on the battlefield." Kathy turns to the Doctor and gestures towards him. "This is Lieutenant General Logan of the Light Division." She lowers her voice. "And a great lover of our rum."

"I'm the Doctor." The Time Lord introduces as the man stands.

"Oh." The Lieutenant General almost scoffs in disbelief. "Mrs Seacole and Ms Davis could certainly do with your assistance. Our advance tomorrow is not without risk." He sits down again.

The Doctor walks over to the other side of the table he sits at as she speaks, "Please tell me you're not about to engage Sontarans in battle."

"That is why we're here." Comes the reply.

The Doctor breathes deeply as if to contain her irritation with the man. "You don't understand. I've fought Sontarans before."

"Somehow I doubt that." The Lieutenant General remarks. Kathy rolls her eyes at the man as she moves over to them.

"Sontarans live for war. They're a clone race. It's what they're bred for. It's their entire history. And they're very, very good at it. They also have weapons beyond your imagination. So, even if you do have numerical advantage, I advise, at all costs, do not engage." The Doctor pleads.

"Then it's fortunate that I command these divisions of Her Majesty's Army, and you do not." The Lieutenant General dismisses.

"How long have they been here, the Sontarans?" The Doctor questions.

"Outside Sebastopol?" Mary asks, walking over.

"No, on Earth."

"They have always been here." Says the Lieutenant General.

"And you both think that's normal." The Doctor realises.

"War is the opposite of normal." Mary retorts.

The Doctor turns to Kathy, desperate. "Kathy? Surely..."

Kathy frowns as she ponders for a moment. "It's funny, I remember a world where they've always been here and one where they haven't."

"But what about Russia?"

"A thing happened."

"What thing?" The Doctor questions.

Kathy grabs the map the Lieutenant General is leaning over.

"Madam, I am at work." The Lieutenant General protests.

"I know, I can smell the rum." Kathy retorts. She spreads out the map for the Doctor. "Everything is what it should be except..." She points to where instead of saying Russia, the country is labelled as Sontar and China has seemingly disappeared.

"What?!" The Doctor exclaims in shock.

"Yeah, like I said, a thing happened."

"That word you used... Russia. Where have I heard that before?" The Lieutenant General asks, his brow furrowed.

"She said it earlier. I thought the same. I heard it before, in the past." Mary adds.

"Like a memory. An echo of another time." The Doctor realises.

"Yes." The Lieutenant General and Mary say simultaneously.

"Doctor... why are they fighting Sontarans? What's happened to time?" Kathy questions the Time Lord.

"Time is being disrupted. But if you're still retaining those memories of the truth, then the disruption must be recent. But how? Fallout from the Flux? Yeah, but that wouldn't be enough. I mean, Sontarans are embedded in maps all of a sudden." The Doctor rambles.

While Kathy feels like she's getting what the Doctor is saying, Mary Seacole and the Lieutenant General are baffled.

"Are you expecting a response to your musings?" The Lieutenant General asks.

"How far away is their encampment?" The Doctor instead questions. The Lieutenant General looks down and doesn't reply. "You've gone very quiet, General."

"The soldiers appear from directions unknown." The Lieutenant General reluctantly admits.

"See? They're doing the basics, and you're already on the back foot." The Doctor warns. "You will lose every man if you face them in the battlefield tomorrow. You need my help."

"I have Queen and Country on my side. That is all the help I need." The Lieutenant General retorts.

"Is she here with you, then, the Queen?"

"Obviously not."

"Then her influence may be limited." The Doctor sarcastically remarks.

"Mrs Seacole, your new assistant is putting me off my task." The Lieutenant General avoids.

"You want to be helpful, Doctor? Nursing rounds." Mary pulls the Doctor away and Kathy follows.

"You have to get the General to listen to me." The Doctor pleads.

"We will, but there's something else you need to see." Kathy says as they move through the building to the back where a section of it is covered by a curtain.

"What?"

"Something the General does not approve." Mary admits. She pulls back the curtain.

Behind the curtain is a wounded Sontaran, shackled. "More of you. More to destroy when I free myself. Which will be soon." He growls.

"This is a surprise. No wonder the General doesn't approve." The Doctor remarks darkly.

"All life is sacred to me. I use my remedies to help whoever is in need." Mary says.

"Just as you did the Russian soldiers." The Doctor murmurs.

"Although this one has refused all treatment and healed himself." Mary says, sounding like an irritated mother. "He takes his rest in a regular rhythm. Seven and a half minutes every 27 hours. I recorded it."

"I shall massacre you for revealing privileged military information." The Sontaran declares.

Kathy rolls her eyes, typical. "The rest of the time, he yells."

"No wonder you're angry. Capture, the ultimate shame for any Sontaran." The Doctor snarks. "How did it come to this?"

"I was dispatched by my commanding officer to assess the laughable strength of the weak and pathetic human resistance, and was ambushed by a circular propellant." The Sontaran explains.

At the Doctor's look of confusion, Kathy explains, "Cannon ball in the back."

"Oh. I bet that hurt." The Doctor remarks snidely.

"There is no such thing as pain." The Sontaran spits before quietly admitting, "A little."

"You're lucky you survived at all."

"You call this luck?" The Sontaran growls. "The gloried embrace of death would have been luck."

"I have questions for you, soldier." The Doctor states, seemingly irritated with the Sontaran's behaviour. Kathy gets it. This species is just filled with whining children.

"I will answer nothing. I am trained to resist all interrogation."

The Doctor ignores his statement. "Where's your encampment?"

"I assert my rights to silence under section Cyan K-Z Nine Slothback of the Shadow Proclamation." The Sontaran declares.

"Oh, you do, do you?" The Doctor remarks smugly. "But what if I have valuable battle information for your Commander?"

"What sort of information?"

"The Doctor." The Sontaran recoils at her words. "Vanquisher and sworn enemy of the Sontarans, former President of Gallifrey, is in the Crimea."

"Where? Show me. I will vanquish our despised nemesis with my bare hands. Where is the Doctor?" The Sontaran demands to know.

Kathy smirks. "Closer than you could possibly imagine. They're very close by."

"But how can he have heard of...?" Mary tries to ask. Kathy quickly shushes her.

The Doctor continues, "I'd be prepared to give your Commander information on the Doctor's whereabouts, should he agree to parlay on my signal. Now, if we release you... will you relay this information?"

"I accept your offer," The Sontaran reluctantly accepts before hissing, "and pledge to end your life with maximum suffering at our next encounter."

"I'd expect no less." The Doctor sonics off his shackles.

"May death rain down on you all."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, too." The Doctor sarcastically remarks. "Hurry along."

The Sontaran marches out through the main section of the hotel. "Human scum. You will be stamped beneath the boot of Sontar at a future point to be determined."

The Lieutenant General draws his pistol as the Sontaran barges past him.

"Do not shoot." The Doctor yells as the door opens and closes.

"You allowed an enemy combatant to escape!" The Lieutenant General cries indignantly.

"I discharged my patient." Mary says. "The British Hotel is my establishment, General, and you are my guest."

"Mrs Seacole, Ms Davis, may I suggest an evening constitutional? Come along." The Doctor walks off with Kathy and Mary following. The former throws a smirk in the Lieutenant General's direction.

——

The trio follow the Sontaran across the battlefield at a distance.

"What are we doing?" Mary questions.

"The thing about Sontaran soldiers is they're not very bright. But that means you can take advantage." The Doctor explains. "M'laddo's got a message for his General. With any luck, he's going to lead us right to the location of the Sontaran base camp. Pretty simple, right?"

"Wait." Mary pulls on the Doctor's arm to stop her. "Who are you?"

"Me? I'm Mary Seacole's assistant." The Doctor replies.

They keep following the Sontaran and watch as he vanishes into a rock face.

"Guys..." Kathy murmurs. She and the Doctor run towards it while Mary splutters behind them.

"Where...? Where did he go?" Mary questions.

"See, Mary?" Kathy says.

"No."

"Exactly." The Doctor puts her hand through a hologram of a rock face.

"A conjuring trick?"

"In a way. It's a basic camouflage shield." Kathy replies having a touch of the false rock face herself. "But if you don't know it's there, it's impossible to spot."

"Want to give it a go with us?" The Doctor asks. Mary nods and the three of them step through, holding hands.

"Where are we now?" Mary questions.

There's what looks like a crater or something so the group crouch and hurries over to it. Down below them are multiple Sontaran ships with multiple Sontarans. They'd emerged just above the Sontaran camp.

"Soldiers, marching duty until sunrise. Strategic base construction troops report to Commander Strevs. Security patrols must execute any intruders on sight." One is ordering.

"There's so many of them." Mary observes.

"Yes, there are." The Doctor resolves herself into planning mode. "Mary, you're good at keeping observation records, right?"

"Of course."

"And you can survive on very little sleep, I imagine."

It's then Kathy clicks what the Doctor is doing.

"What are you asking of me?" Mary asks.

"Monitor this encampment. Keep a note of everything that happens, but stay out of sight." The Doctor explains.

"I can do that."

"Kathy, with me." The Doctor grabs Kathy's hand and pulls her after her. Kathy looks back to give the unsure looking woman an encouraging smile.

——

The next morning, the Doctor uses her sonic screwdriver to create the sound of a 'change of shift' siren to signal parlay. To be honest, even after all this time, Kathy just thinks of pirates when she hears that word.

Kathy watches from nearby as the Doctor meets with the Commander on the battlefield.

"Take your hat off, mate." The Doctor remarks and the Sontaran does so. Kathy and the Doctor simultaneously grimace at the sight. Let's just say the alien's appearance is very Classic Who and more urghhh...

"Urgh. On second thoughts, put it back on." The Doctor comments in disgust.

The Sontaran ignores her. "You have information regarding the treacherous vermin known as the Doctor."

"You're talking to her." The Doctor says smugly.

"What? You deceived my soldier." The Sontaran growls.

"It weren't difficult."

"It is regrettable that our Flux strategy did not foresee your presence, but we shall not falter." The Sontaran says.

"You knew the Flux was coming? So, what caused it? Is it you lot? Are the Sontarans behind the Flux?" The Doctor questions in rapid succession, almost as if her thoughts are spilling out of her. Despite this openness, Kathy knows that this Doctor hardly ever explains anything to her companions.

"The Flux is neither of our making or our control, but our Psychic Command foresaw it. We timed our attack on this feeble rock in the fractions before the Lupari Shield took effect." The Sontaran smugly explains.

Interesting... Kathy had doubted the Sontarans could be behind it but this just confirms it. So, who is behind the Flux?

"While we were all looking the other way. You must be very proud." The Doctor says snidely.

"This planet has defied us ever since the great Commander Linx first staked his claim in the ground of its feeble soil. We now assert that claim. Earth shall be an outpost of the Sontaran Empire." The Sontaran declares.

"No, it won't. But why here? Why Sebastopol?"

"The Crimean skirmish seems the perfect place to start. So much conflict. So much opportunity. And also..." the Sontaran pauses before admitting, "I wanted to ride a horse."

Kathy has to hold in a laugh at that admission. Of course...

"Leave this planet now and you get to leave alive." The Doctor warns.

The Sontaran laughs, and the Doctor winces. Kathy doesn't blame her; it looks disgusting to watch. "You think your puny words will stand me down?"

"There will be no battle. I speak on behalf of all of humanity." The Doctor declares.

Suddenly, the Lieutenant General appears out of the mist with soldiers following. "No, Doctor. You do not." He aims his pistol at her head.

Kathy runs over, alarmed at the gun pointing at the Doctor's head. "What are you doing?!"

The Lieutenant General ignores this and turns to the Sontaran. "This woman does not speak for the British Army. We are ready."

"I speak for more people than you could possibly imagine. Don't be a fool." The Doctor warns.

"Call me that again, Doctor, and see if you survive."

"This is good sports." The Sontaran almost compliments, which is never a good sign.

"Soldier," a young soldier steps forward to stand next to his general, "escort this doctress and her companion back to the encampment. Keep your weapon on them at all times."

"Don't do this." The Doctor pleads.

"It's done! Raise your arms above your head or be shot as a traitor immediately. Go." The Lieutenant General cries. The Doctor and Kathy reluctantly lift their arms up.

"You speak for no one, Doctor. Not even your pitiful self." The Sontaran taunts. Kathy glares at the Sontaran before she and the Doctor are led away. She hears the Sontaran remark, "I accept your offer of a massacre. Your blood shall soak our uniforms. Your bodies shall soften our steps." Those words fill her with dread.

As they walk along, the sounds of the battle reach their ears. The young soldier looks terrified and the Doctor notices this.

"Yes, it's as devastating as you're imagining. Be grateful you aren't there. And I'm sorry." She knocks the young soldier out with a fingertip to his jawline.

"Nice." Kathy comments.

"Thanks." The Doctor says over her soldier before turning back to the soldier. "Have a kip, it'll wear off in six hours. And you'll still be alive." She turns to Kathy. "Options blocked off. It's time to recalibrate."

"Then let's do this." Kathy declares. It's this time Kathy grabs the Doctor's hand and drags her towards the Sontaran camp to find Mary.

——

They reach the spot above the Sontaran camp to still find Mary sitting there but with a notebook and pen.

"You're still here, on your watch. Thank you. Mary Seacole." The Doctor greets her.

"What happened?" Mary questions hopefully.

"I couldn't stop them. Now soldiers are dying. You're going to be very busy by day's end. I'm sorry." The Doctor apologises.

Mary takes in her words before handing over her notebook. "I noted everything. It's deserted down there now."

"Great work, Mrs Seacole. It's not a surprise that all the Sontarans have run off to battle. It's their first love." Kathy comments.

"Now, given their absence, it would be churlish not to take advantage, don't you think?" The Doctor passes back to the notebook and leaps up. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" Mary questions while Kathy simply gets up to follow.

The Doctor pauses. "Half a league onward."

——

They enter the main section of the Sontaran camp and slip inside a Sontaran ship.

"They built all of this?" Mary questions in amazement.

"I mean, it's good, but it's no British Hotel." The Doctor remarks.

"Too right." Kathy agrees haughtily with a smirk on her face.

"Here we are." The Doctor says as they reach a door that has the three-finger handprint security pad next to it. The Doctor simply splits her fingers into three and opens the door.

There's a Sontaran on guard standing there with its back to them. Kathy and the Doctor quickly drag Mary behind the corner. Kathy pulls out a catapult and shows it to the Doctor, who nods with a grin. Kathy silently steps back into the room and uses the catapult to knock out the Sontaran.

"Double top. Get in." The Doctor compliments, giving Kathy an excited nudge before the three of them step into the room.

The Doctor steps up to the control panel. "Now, Mrs Seacole, with your records, and this data, let's see what's really going on."

Suddenly Dan appears on one of the screens and is in the middle of saying, "...or let everybody know that I'm here."

Kathy's eyes widen in surprise but also relief. Thank God she was right. Dan is alive though she wonders where Yaz is.

"Dan! Dan! Dan! Dan, it's me." The Doctor cries.

"Doctor. Kathy." The companion says with a relieved smile.

"Where are you?" The Doctor and Dan ask simultaneously.

"Still in the Crimea." The Doctor says as Dan at the same time replies, "I'm in Liverpool."

"Where's Yaz? I don't know. You speak first." They both say at the same time. Kathy raises an amused eyebrow to Mary who smiles despite her obvious confusion at what's happening.

"How are you on a Sontaran ship?" The Doctor decides to ask.

"I'm back home. They've took over Liverpool Docks. They're building spaceships, hundreds of them, all along the Mersey." Dan explains. So at least he was transported somewhere safe. Ish.

"They're not just in the Crimea." The Doctor realises.

"And why Liverpool?" Kathy asks. "Of all places..."

"Oi!" Dan exclaims before continuing. "And they've got this obsession with Japanese food. I heard one of the big chief potato heads talking about Tempura Command. Tempura Offensive. What's that all about?"

Kathy tries to hold in a smile when she realises what's happened. "Could it have been Temporal Command? Temporal as in time?" She suggests.

"Oh yeah. That makes more sense." Dan remarks. "Hey, I've been filming everything, if that helps."

"Oh, good lad. Very nice." The Doctor compliments. "Hold your phone close to the screens." Dan does so and the Doctor scans it with her sonic. "I can access the Sontaran data banks plus everything that's on your phone."

Dan looks alarmed. "What, including me photos?"

Kathy smirks. "Hope you haven't got anything to hide Dan."

The Doctor ignores them and puts up the video from Dan's phone, showing the ships all over the docks just as he said. "Oh, of course. Temporal Offensive. They're just about to launch a huge wave of attacks throughout Time. They've been building Time ships so they can invade Earth's history. And the Crimea is the pilot scheme. Earth will become a Sontaran outpost from the dawn of time. The whole history, erased."

To her credit, Mary takes this on and turns to the Doctor in alarm. "Well, you better make sure you stop it."

"Now!" Kathy adds.

Dan takes notice of their companion. "Is that Mary Seacole? Hey, Mary." He gives her a wave.

Mary waves back. "Oh. Hello, dear. I don't understand any of this."

"We have to get the Sontarans out of the Crimea." The Doctor turns to Dan. "But the rest is on you, Dan."

"I was worried you were going to say that."

"The first wave of ships in the Sontaran Temporal Offensive are about to launch. You have to stop those ships leaving." The Doctor tells him.

"How's he meant to do that?" Kathy asks. Dan is clearly only just joined and it's a lot to put on his shoulders without much experience with these things.

"What resources do you have?" The Doctor asks Dan.

"A wok."

"I'm sorry, what? Why have you got a wok?"

Dan raises the saucepan to show them what he meant. "It's me Mam's. For hitting them on the probic thingy."

A Sontaran appears on the screen along with Dan. "Tracing rogue transmissions. Who is using this frequency? Security detail..."

Kathy panics. "Dan, get out of there now!"

"What about the plan?"

"And execute all rogue transmitters." The Sontaran finishes his threat.

"Doctor! Kathy!" Dan cries before disappearing.

"Good luck, Dan. Right, Kathy, Mrs Seacole. We both have a lot of work to do." The Doctor declares.

——

The trio return to the British hotel and immediately set to work treating the many injured from the battle.

"So many wounded. We won't save them all. All of the casualties were ours." Mary observes.

"Soldiers pay the price for their commanders' mistakes." The Doctor snipes.

The Lieutenant General steps inside looking worse for wear. "They'll attack again at first light. I don't know what to do. Help me." He begs tearfully.

"I'm going to need a pointy stick." The Doctor declares.

Kathy raises an eyebrow. "Do you?"

Turns out it is helpful to have one as the Doctor stands in front of a board with sketches pinned up on it and the Lieutenant General, Mary and Kathy sit in front of her. The Doctor had asked if Kathy wanted to help but Kathy doesn't have that much experience with them compared to the Doctor and had declined.

The Doctor begins to speak. "Sontarans. Project - Crimean Eviction. Right, pay attention, sit up, back straight, hand on heads. Actually, forget about that last one." Kathy glances amusedly at the Lieutenant General who had actually followed that last order.

"So, here we go. Sontarans need a rest cycle of 7.5 minutes, every 27 hours, as detailed by Mrs Seacole in her observations here and at the Sontaran encampment. During said rest cycle, they all go back into their ships. Why?"

"Er..." the Lieutenant General stutters.

"I'll tell you why. Because they cannot cope with Earth's atmosphere over an extended period. That's why they wear the protective armoured suits. The suits filter out harmful Earth gases and substitute them with chemicals and nutrients from their home planet. But the suits only have a limited capacity. They have to be refilled."

"From their ships." Mary suggests.

"Gold star and a sticker for Mrs Seacole. Keep up, Lieutenant General." The Doctor compliments/insults. "The ships aren't just transport. They hold their supplies. So, for precisely 7.5 minutes, every 27 hours, the Sontarans top up their suits by the probic vent in the back of their necks, resting and refuelling like cars refilling their petrol tanks."

"Maybe not Doctor..." Kathy suggests, glancing at the confused expressions of the two people next to her.

"Right, yes. Erm... like horses replenishing their nose bags." That receives two nods of understanding. "Right. So, what we're going to do is empty their ships of those supplies, forcing a retreat out of the Crimea back to the 21st century where my best person will be there to deal with them. Hopefully."

"Did you just say 21st century?" The Lieutenant General asks.

"Sssh. She's talking." Kathy quietens him.

"Now, if they're on the same timetable every day, which I bet they are, in 38 minutes' time, they will all enter their ships simultaneously. While they're inside, we will have exactly 7.5 minutes to drain their supplies. Might need some of your men to help."

——

With the addition of soldiers, they all reach the Sontaran camp to enact the plan. They walk up to a spaceship.

The Doctor takes off a handy head-height panel and begins to demonstrate what they need to do while explaining. "Come on. Ah. Right, remember what I taught you. Divert this gas into this chamber... and it will render their supply feed inert, and harmless to humans. Then. rip off... oh, this, and let it all leak out into the air. Got it? Come on, General, next ship, 6.9 minutes left."

Everyone departs to do exactly that. After a short while, alarms start ringing out from the ships. After the Sontarans reluctantly agree to a 'strategical withdrawal', Kathy, Mary, the Doctor and the Lieutenant General watch from above the Sontaran camp as the Sontaran ships are powering up to leave.

"Oh my. It worked. They're leaving." Mary murmurs in amazement.

"And with no further bloodshed." The Doctor says.

"I must disabuse you of that." The Lieutenant General interrupts. Kathy watches in horror as he strikes a match and drops it onto the end of a trail of gunpowder, which ignites despite the rain.

"What have you done?!" She cries.

"I recommend you run." Is his response.

Mary is quick on her feet, calling for Kathy and the Doctor to run. They all run just as piles of gunpowder barrels under each spaceship explode, knocking them to the ground with the force of the blast.

"They were retreating!" The Doctor snaps. "It was done."

"That was for the men I lost today." The Lieutenant General argues. Kathy shakes her head in disgust at him before turning to watch the blaze, actually feeling sorry for the loss of life on both sides.

"For your guilt you mean. Sometimes men like you make me wonder why I bother with humanity." The Doctor growls.

"I... I am grateful that you do." Mary steps forward. "Whoever you are, Doctor."

Kathy smiles softly. "I agree. I wonder what we'd do without you."

The sounds of the TARDIS engines stuttering are heard. Kathy turns to see it fading in and out as the ship tries to land.

"I have to go and find my friends. I hope we meet again, Mrs Seacole. Till the next time, Kathy." The Doctor begins to walk away.

"Where are you going?" Mary calls after her but the Doctor keeps walking. The Doctor goes to the TARDIS. She has a door now.

"Doctor!" Kathy yells as she runs to her. "Shouldn't I come with you?"

The Doctor smiles and shakes her head. "No, I think it's best you stay here and keep an eye on that General and I don't want to take you from Ashildr and Carlyle any more than I do."

"It's fine."

"No, it's important you stay. You have an important adventure to embark on soon." The Doctor smiles knowingly.

"With you?" Kathy asks.

"I remember it well." And with that, the Doctor steps inside the TARDIS and it begins to dematerialise.

Kathy watches as the ship leaves, lingering even after she had fully dematerialised. Kathy hears footsteps and turns to see Mary coming to stand next to her.

"You do realise you have a lot of explaining to do, Ms Davis." The nurse remarks.

Kathy chuckles slightly.

——

A/N: Please leave comments on how you're enjoying this story and what you think.

#doctor who

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