Out of Time

Chapter Twenty

CHAPTER TWENTY

 The Doctor was running for his life for the third time today, this time alongside Ivana Steinway whilst being chased by a baying mob of apes that were very good at throwing spears. Although luckily in evolutionary terms they weren’t that fast at running yet.

 “Aha but the plan worked like a dream. Such fun!” The Doctor gleefully clapped his hands together, the pouch around his neck containing the time key piece bounced against his chest.

 “Doctor look out!”

 The Doctor immediately ducked and narrowly missed being impaled by a dirty great big javelin.

 “Doctor I had no idea you could swing so masterfully on a piece of rope constructed from jungle vine and trouser braces..” Ivana smiled and added mischievously. “You looked just like Tarzan or was it Cheeta…”

 “And I had no idea Ms Steinway that you could play such a convincing Goddess.” The Doctor chuckled. “And they loved you…Well up until the moment you stole their sacred piece from their shine…” The Doctor mused to himself. “Highly advanced race really, though they weren’t exactly tickled pink with the collection of glass marbles I gave them as a replacement.”

 “Monkey Goddess. It was a role I was born to play Doctor.”  Ivana drawled sarcastically and mumbling a little sadly to herself. “I always knew my looks would come in handy for something one day.”

 Ivana turned suddenly, the apes had stopped chasing them and they were nowhere to be seen as though some bigger predator had spooked them. The assassin knew something was wrong but before she could voice her fears there was a familiar screeching from above as an ancient one materialised from out of nowhere, Ivana fired instinctively, her aim good as she clipped one of the creature’s wings and then fired again, hitting it’s torso. The creature tumbled through the sky, spiralling out of control and landing somewhere in the middle of the jungle.

 “Good shot Ivana!” The Doctor shouted as they kept running, the ancient ones weren’t indestructible and it looked as though Ivana had taken one out. “Those creatures have my scent, they’ll find me wherever I go and apparently they have the ability to cross into other Universes oh goody!…”

 But Ivana wasn’t listening to the Doctor’s moaning as she was tracking something which was moving extremely fast through the trees, trying to cut off their pathway to the portal. The only thought in her mind was to protect the Doctor, it’s what she had been recruited to do by Alfred the omnipresent being but as Ivana Steinway dived in front of the Doctor and collided with another ancient one she realised that somehow, accidentally along the way the Doctor had become her friend. The Doctor yelled out helplessly as Ivana was carried up into the sky, trapped in the savage creature’s embrace, there was a vicious struggle as Ivana pulled out a knife and wrestled with the creature. There was a loud screech as the creature cried out in pain, flying higher into the sky and finally dropping Ivana as she fell from a great height, landing in a clearing, her fingertips brushing against the portal.

 “Ivana!”

 The Doctor shouted running to his friend who was lying face down in the long grass, she suddenly stirred; miraculously she had survived the fall but as the Doctor moved closer he discovered the cruel and brutal thing that the creature had done to Ivana…The Doctor’s eyes ached with sadness as he gently turned over the frail form of the once mighty and strong Ivana.

 “Oh Ivana…” The Doctor gripped her tiny withered hand and stared intently into the eyes of an old woman who was at least in her nineties. The ancient one had stolen Ivana’s natural life span and spat her out. Though the aging process had not finished, Ivana only had minutes of life left.