Doctor Who and the Final Confrontation (The Future Doctor Chronicles Part Two)

Chapter Two

Sylvester paused outside the Shadow Architects office. Despite rehearsing this moment countless times in his head he still felt nervous. His heart was pounding and his mouth felt dry. Such opportunities didn't come around everyday so he took a deep breath and knocked twice. 

An authoritative but impatient voice came through the intercom. 

"What is it?" 

"It's Agent Sylvester ma'am. I have news of the Doctor." 

The door immediately slid open and as he crossed the threshold he scanned his surroundings. It was a reasonable sized office but the space was clearly wasted on the Shadow Architect. All she had was a plain white fibreglass desk and a chair. The lack of personal effects hinted that she was a driven and focused individual. 

"Where's my report agent?" 

Sylvester looked down at the piece of paper in his hand and walked towards the desk. He plucked up the courage to look at her and found that she was as intimidating as he'd feared. He couldn't quite put his finger on why. Maybe it was the intensity of her stare or the unusual shock of fuzzy white hair that sprouted from the top of her head. She snatched the report from his hand and without a word began to read through it. 

It seemed to take an eternity for her to work through it but eventually she finished and fixed him with a penetrating stare. 

"What do you think needs to be done?" she asked matter of factly. 

His mouth opened but no sound came out until he took a deep breath. 

"In my opinion ma'am we should send an agent to investigate."  

"Excellent. Be ready to leave in half an hour."  

He smiled to himself as he turned to leave. He had a good feeling about this assignment. It could be just what his stagnant career needed.

Before the Brigadier even reached Magdalene's quarters he could hear her shouting and screaming. The Psychic Defence Program had been his idea but there were days when he regretted it. Although the results were nearly always positive the Officers themselves were difficult to deal with. The trouble was that during their visions they were extremely active but afterwards they could be out of action for day's or even weeks. 

The door was already open so they walked straight in. The Brigadier felt something crunch underneath his boots and looking down he noticed ornaments and pieces of furniture strewn across the floor. Magdalene was lying on the bed at the far end of the room being held down by Doctor Bell who was tasked with looking after the psychic officers. They were struggling to strap her arms and legs down. He hadn't wanted to introduce such extreme measures but after several incidents it'd become necessary. In this instance though he appeared to have left it a little too late. 

"Can you get her to talk doctor?" asked the Brigadier. 

Doctor Bell secured the final strap and turned to answer the question. 

"Yes Sir. Maybe you'd like to ask her yourself." he motioned for the Brigadier to approach the bed. 

He followed his suggestion and strode over, stood by her head and leaned over. 

"Magdalene can you hear me? I need you to tell me what you've seen." 

He stared into her eyes but she didn't even give the merest hint that she'd heard him. Concerned that she might be in some kind of catatonic state he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her gently.  

"I wouldn't do that if I was..." Doctor Bell's warning tailed off as he realised he was too late. 

He watched as Magdalene's eyes widened in shock. She grabbed hold of the Brigadier's arm despite the restraints and moved her head as close to his face as she could manage. He leapt into action and attempted in vain to prise her hand off the Brigadier's arm. The Brigadier turned to face him and held up his free hand. 

"Thank you Doctor but I think I'll take the risk" he twisted around to face Sergeant Carter "Be ready to take down everything she says Sergeant." 

Sergeant Carter nodded and produced a dictaphone from his jacket pocket. He liked to be one step ahead of his superiors so he'd pocketed the device just before reporting to the Brigadier. He placed it carefully on the bedside table, stepped back and stood to attention.  

A sharp intake of breath made them all to return their attention to Magdalene. The Brigadier lowered his head once more to ensure he would hear what she had to say. 

Intense anguish showed in her eyes and her breathing became laboured as she began to speak her prophecy. 

"I see a man, an unspeakably evil man and he's not alone. Behind him stands an invincible army. An army so powerful that all will fall before it." 

She paused and her breathing slowed but the Brigadier needed to hear more. He shook her gently in an effort to revive her slightly. 

"Do you see the Doctor? Is he going to help us?" he asked trying hard to keep his composure. 

"The Doctor has gone, he can't come back. The earth will fall without him knowing anything about it." 

The Brigadier visibly paled and turned to face Sergeant Carter and Doctor Bell. 

"This must not go beyond this room until I've spoken to the Prime Minister." he demanded sternly.