Doctor Who and the Eternity Cage (The Future Doctor Chronicles Part One)

Chapter Twelve

Dr Munro swallowed hard to stop himself being sick, his head felt like it'd been cleaned out with wire wool. Even before he opened his eyes he knew the numbness he could feel in his arms and legs could only mean one thing, he'd been restrained. He was beginning to think he'd been switched with one of his patients, his day couldn't possibly get any stranger.  

As he slowly opened his eyes he received more of a shock than he'd anticipated, the floor of the chapel was twenty feet below but not all of it was visible. Extending from the entrance to the altar step above where he was chained was a metallic rectangular box with no windows and only one door at the end, although he guessed the chapel door must serve as its main entrance.  

"Help, somebody, please help." he shouted at the top of his voice. 

The door below him slid open and Romana walked out, but she no longer wore the linen suit, instead she had on a long flowing golden gown with an unusually high collar. On the back of the collar partly obscured by her head was a large round symbol that reminded him Celtic designs. Who was this woman and what the hell was she doing in his hospital.  

"I'm sorry Dr Munro but no one will hear you, this room is completely soundproof." 

"What do you think you're doing with my hospital?" 

"You wouldn't understand if I told you. All you need to know is that no harm will come to you. You're not part of my plan Dr Munro, so once it's over your hospital will return to normal." 

"One of my orderlies will come and look for me, I have my rounds to do" 

"I can assure you they won't, this entire hospital is time locked. That means everybody with the exception of you is quite literally frozen in time. They'll be released once this is over." 

Reaching into her robe she brought out a small cylindrical device, she was rather proud of it as in her humble opinion it was better than the Doctor's sonic screwdriver any day. Romana raised her arm and flicked a switch on the side of the screwdriver causing the small sphere on the end to spin. 

"This is the last time you'll see me Dr Munro. Whatever sounds you hear coming from below have no fear as I've said before no harm will come to you." 

Using her free arm she gestured behind her "All of this is for the benefit of one man." 

The screwdriver began to emit a shrill beeping sound that filled the entire room. After thirty seconds this stopped and was replaced by a whooshing noise reminiscent of a hurricane.  

Dr Munro blinked to make sure his eyes weren't deceiving him and they weren't. A faint outline was taking shape around Romana, steadily becoming more substantial as he looked until it was completely solid and she was lost from view. It was a square metal box made from the same material as the rest of the structure but there was no door at the end. Whoever made it to the end of this structure had only one way out, so clearly it was meant as a trap for some poor soul.  

Dr Munro stared ahead unsure of just how long he might have to stay chained to the wall. As he contemplated his situation his eyes were drawn to his right, where a part of the wall seemed to flicker. The flickering stopped abruptly but in its place appeared a tiny dot that began to expand. His heart skipped a beat as he realised that if it continued it would reach him within seconds, there was nowhere for him to go, he had to accept that something was going to happen.  

Then without warning the shrill beeping restarted although slightly muted by the structure below. Once again it stopped suddenly, he wished it hadn't though as the sound that replaced it chilled him to the very core. A primeval roar echoed around him, hardly dulled by the structure at all. That was the least of his worries now though, the expanding dot had reached his hand and the moment it did he lost all feeling and movement. As the feeling spread through his body his last thoughts were what Romana had said about no harm coming to him. He hoped to God that she could be trusted.