Doctor Who_ Father Time - Lance Parkin [0]
Father Time
by Lance Parkin
‘I love her,’ the Doctor said.
‘Of course you do, she’s your daughter.’
Earth in the nineteen-eighties is a battleground. Rival alien factions have travelled from the far future to pursue their vendetta.
With UFOs filling the skies, a giant robot stalking the Derbyshire hills, and alien hunters searching for the mysterious Last One, the Doctor is the only man who can protect the innocents caught in the crossfire.
But old scores are being settled, the fate of a Galactic Empire is at stake, and, against his will, the Doctor is drawn into a decade-long war that will strike at those he holds most dear.
The Doctor has lost his memory, his friends, his past and his TARDIS.
All he has now is the love of his daughter.
But will even that be taken from him?
This is another in the series of adventures for the Eighth Doctor.
* * *
Contents
Chapter Zero – Planet of Death
Part One – ‘Battle of the Planets’
Chapter One – Knights and Castles
Chapter Two – The Doctor
Chapter Three – The Girl with Two Hearts
Chapter Four – Close Encounters
Chapter Five – Contact
Chapter Six – Talking to Strangers
Chapter Seven – Inside the Spaceship
Chapter Eight – Prefect Timing
Chapter Nine – The Last Battle
Part Two – ‘Masters of the Universe’
Chapter Ten – Eighties’ Child
Chapter Eleven – UFO Detected
Chapter Twelve – Voices from the Past
Chapter Thirteen – The Black Tower
Chapter Fourteen – The Interrogation Game
Chapter Fifteen – Target Acquisition
Chapter Sixteen – The Party of Doom
Chapter Seventeen – Urban Regeneration
Chapter Eighteen – Escape to Destiny
Chapter Nineteen – Date with Death
Chapter Twenty – Don’t Leave Me This Way
Part Three – ‘Defenders of the Earth’
Chapter Twenty-one – All Around the World
Chapter Twenty-two – Today America, Tomorrow the World
Chapter Twenty-three – Escape Velocity
Chapter Twenty-four – Home is Where the Hearts Are
Chapter Twenty-five – Power to the People
Chapter Twenty-six – Death in the Family
Chapter Twenty-seven – Death Comes to Time
Chapter Twenty-eight – The Next Generation
‘Father Time – The Album’
About the Author
Credits
* * *
Dedicated to child of the eighties, Cassandra May.
Thanks to the usual suspects: Cassandra May, Mark Jones, Mark Clapham, Mike Evans, Kate Orman and Jon Blum.
And also to Lisa Brattan, Henry Potts, Allan and Charis Bednar, Lorraine Mann, Jonny Morris, Rebecca Levene, Graham Evans, Amanda Dingle, Lawrence Miles and Paul Griggs.
The cover is based on an original concept by Allan Bednar.
* * *
Chapter Zero
Planet of Death
It was a planet shrouded in fog.
Thick grey mists clung to the broken, rocky ground. Nothing but the simplest vegetation lived on the surface, although there were ruined walls and cracked roadways, evidence that a civilisation had once prospered on this world. At higher altitudes the fog grew thinner, but also more sulphurous. The sky was yellow, sickly. Even at noon, the sunlight was weak, filtered through layers of haze. Everywhere, the air was stagnant. There were no winds, not even the hint of a breeze.
But life still clung to this planet, dotted around in sealed cities, tunnels and bunkers.
A flying disc broke through the gloom and soundlessly approached the largest of these strongholds.
The palace was a collection of twisted silver spires, like fingers reaching up to grasp the stars. It was vast, the size of a city, with the tips of the tallest spires poking out of the poisonous atmosphere. There were signs of damage, and the metal surface had become tarnished over time, but it was an impressive spectacle, and the lights and air traffic were clear signs that this place was occupied, even vibrant.
The flying disc began slowing, altering its course ever so slightly. It drifted through a gap in the palace walls. As it passed, a transparent dome slid smoothly across, enclosing it.
* * *
The room smelled of cinnamon and sandalwood. He could feel the firm stone floor beneath his knee and his feet, and hear the hum of the ventilation