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By Root 222 0

ever committed by the people who were here. Memories, desires, impressions… It made the prisoners go mad. What was worse, I could feel it tugging at my own mind… My own past.’ A distant look came into the Doctor’s eyes. ‘The things I’ve seen,’ he added in a whisper. ‘The things I’ve endured, the things I felt I had to do… I wouldn’t want to share them with anyone.’ He managed a weak smile. ‘But this creature was just desperate for all of my memories. Didn’t ask for permission, didn’t check with me first – just went straight for the file marked Private, No Admittance.’ He paused. ‘Most people would have died.’

‘So why didn’t it kill you?’ asked Jude simply.

‘That’s a very good question,’ said the Doctor. ‘I think there’s even more going on here than meets the eye. Something else, some…’ Jude watched him look around, at the metal corridor, and the junctions and rooms that extended off from it. It seemed a little brighter again, now that the shadow creature had gone, but Jude knew that it should be night. The lights that blazed in the ceiling could not be trusted to burn forever.

‘We’ve got to find the heart of this station,’ said the Doctor. ‘Somewhere, at its core, are all the answers we need.’

‘The hub you spoke of,’ said Jude.

The Doctor nodded, then stepped forward confidently. ‘It’s this way.’

‘You sure? Looks to me like you’re going the wrong way.’

‘No, it’s over here…’

Moments later, he doubled back on himself. ‘We were going the wrong way,’ he said simply. ‘I reckon if we go down here we might avoid the creature.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m not sure I’ll be so lucky if it attacks me again,’ said the Doctor. ‘Believe it or not, this place is like heaven to your world,’ he added, casually, a few moments later. ‘It’s the God Particle that exploded it into life. It shapes it, guides it, influences it. And if there’s a battle in heaven between – let’s not be modest! – good and evil…’ He smiled again, a grim smile, like a commander on the eve of war. ‘You can guarantee there’ll be a battle in your world as well.’

The lights chose that very moment to dim, the entire corridor suddenly taking on a dusky feel.

‘Come on,’ said the Doctor. ‘We haven’t got long.’

Martha stood outside the meeting hall, grateful to be away from its oppressive heat and the almost palpable sense of anxiety and dread. She glanced up at the sky.

‘Strewth!’ she exclaimed in surprise.

‘What is it?’ asked Saul.

Martha pointed upwards – it was like looking through a grey, misty tunnel that eventually faded away to show the dark night sky. And what a sky it was-absolutely clear of cloud, and absolutely free of stars and moon. There seemed to be no substance to it whatsoever. Beyond the village, it seemed, was absolutely… nothing.

‘The destruction of the village comes closer,’ said Petr.

‘We’d better get cracking, then,’ said Martha, trying to counter the leader’s melodrama with an assured tone.

Holding their lanterns aloft, they began to edge forward. The fog seemed to split apart as they neared, driven back by their presence and by the light, and then flow back into place behind them. It surrounded them always, encircling a rough cylinder of light with Martha and the two brothers at the centre. Houses appeared in the mist as dark, angular shapes. Given what had happened to the night sky, Martha wasn’t entirely convinced they’d resolve themselves into buildings if they stepped any closer.

Regardless, they stuck to the path between the buildings, which wound its way from the centre of the village and towards the lake. They passed over a tiny bridge, arched like something from an oriental garden, and Martha noticed that it was drained of colour, the wood appearing misshapen and unfinished.

If Saul and Petr noticed any changes to their village, they said nothing, and continued walking forwards, heads bowed as if in prayer – or fear.

‘How much further?’ asked Martha.

‘It’s not far,’ said Saul.

‘There are some boats moored up behind Carlo’s home,’ said Petr,