Zoe and the 11 Doctors - The Image of an Angel

Chapter 6

"Sorry, am I interrupting?"

"You could say that." said Zoe, sitting up to look at the new arrival, carefully choosing his nickname. "Brolley will do for you."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Brolley. It's your new nickname. I can't call you all Doctor." At the mention of his name for someone else, the newly arrived Doctor looked up at all of the other Doctors, who stood, watching him very carefully back.

"I see. Well, you might want to know something, sorry, what's your name?"

"Zoe."

"Ah, Zoe. Lovely name. Well, have you been picking up signals on some kind of device? A phone, perhaps?"

"Yeah. We have. Did you also pick up the signal?"

"Yes. And I think I picked up its origin too. You see, I found the two signals, realising that they were the same, one at the origin, one at the destination. I was deciding which one to go to, when the Tardis took me here, the destination, I believe."

"Yes. Where's the origin?"

"This very spot."

"That's not possible. We would have tracked it by now."

"Unless it wasn't at this point of time." piped the fourth Doctor.

"Exactly."

"So, the signal was sent from here, just in the past?"

"Quite right, my dear. 1940, in fact."

"That's World War II. What would Weeping Angels be doing in World War II?"

"The same as they always do." said the tenth Doctor. "Only, in World War II, there's lots more havoc and confusion. It's easier to get people. And when they do, the disappearances will be assumed as bombs, or something like that. Perfect timing."

"Indeed." grimaced the new Doctor. "Exactly what are, Weeping Angels, did you say?"

"Beings that send you back in time and feed on what should have been your life's time energy, that turn to a stone like structure when looked upon as a defence mechanism." said the eighth Doctor, and the tenth nodded in approval of his explanation.

"Oh. Not very pleasant then."

"No." The room remained silent for about a minute. Then Zoe spoke.

"So, if the signal is from 1940, shouldn't we be heading back there?"

"Yes. Back to 1940." The new Doctor began to walk off, using his umbrella like a walking stick. He entered his Tardis, and it began to de-materialise. The other Doctors began to wonder back to their own Tardis', and they all began to de-materialise. Zoe was left with the eighth Doctor, who hurried her to his own. They rushed in, and he began to flick switches on the console once more, whilst Zoe watched carefully, still trying to get used to the larger internal structure. She walked over to the edge of the Tardis, and began to feel the metal wall, which had lights flashing all over it.

"How does this work then?"

"How does what work?"

"The Tardis. It's bigger on the inside."

"Ah, yes. Funny little thing, isn't it?" Zoe raised an eyebrow. "Excuse the pun. The Tardis is like another dimension. Wouldn't be able to fit everything in inside this tiny box otherwise."

"So when we go through the Tardis doors, it's like stepping through a portal, or a vortex?"

The Doctor looked up and smiled. "Yes, I guess it is, isn't it?"

They both yelped and fell back onto the floor as the Tardis violently shook. The console flared up, and warning alarms began to sound. Zoe had to cling onto the rails so as to keep herself from falling again. The Doctor ran to the console, clinging onto it just as Zoe was to the rails.

"What's going on!?" She had to shout to be heard over the bleeps and blaring.

"Nothing much! Just need to reverse her a bit! Clashing with another version of herself! Not meant to do that!"

"What!?"

"Basically time traffic! But you have to be really careful, if she crashed into another version of herself in the vortex for too long, it could tear time apart!"

"You mean -"

"It would destroy the universe, yes! But if I can just slow her down a bit ... come on!" The Doctor pulled a stiff lever with all the force he could muster, and brought it down with a clang. The Tardis stopped shaking, and resumed its normal state. The Doctor brushed his hands and smirked at Zoe, who was still clinging onto the rails, breathing heavily.

"Come on, you can get up now. I think we're here." Zoe stumbled to her feet, putting one hand to her head.

"Whoa. This is new."

"You get used to it."

"Really? Why do I find that so hard to believe?" They stepped out of the Tardis, which was where it had been, only it was 74 years earlier. they weren't in a house. It was more like a laboratory. An abandoned laboratory too. Old papers lay scattered over a large table, which propped up many objects such as early models of microscopes and petri dishes, which contained some kind of experimental bacteria, which had overgrown and was spreading across one corner of the table. But it was a machine in the corner that fascinated the two of them.

It was a little box, with may buttons and controls, which looked like it had recently been switched on. However, there seemed to be a malfunction. Zoe placed her hand on one of the surfaces, but quickly pulled away as it burnt her hand.

"Ow!" she yelped.

"It's probably overheating from trying to stop the malfunction. Don't touch it again."

"Yeah, I kind of got that. What do you think it is?"

"It's a radio transmitter. Though it doesn't send messages to this time."

"You mean, this is the thing that was sending the images to my phone?"

"Yes. Actually, where is your phone?"

Zoe checked all of her pockets, but they were all empty. "I must have left it on the table."

"Well, maybe that's a good thing. I don't know what contact with the phone would do to this thing, and it may be vital to stopping the angels."

A shout for help came from above them, and they rushed up the rickety staircase, to find the fourth Doctor and the ninth looking straight at them, not moving. They stopped in the doorway, confused at their stillness.

"Look to the left side of you. We can't look away." said the fourth Doctor, very quietly. Zoe and the eighth Doctor turned round slowly, and jumped to see an angel, only feet away from them. It had its claws out, ready to pounce, and it was fully baring its teeth, which were as sharp as Zoe had seen them in the image. But she noticed something different.

"That's not the same angel."

"You what?" said the ninth Doctor.

"It's not the same angel. It looks different."

The most recently arrived Doctor, who the eighth Doctor had told Zoe to be the seventh, rushed up, and joined in the conversation.

"Yes. The Tardis read the signals to be three extra-terrestrial presences, other than us."

"You mean there's another two of them somewhere?" Zoe was getting more frightened by the minute.

"Yes." The seventh Doctor's tone had become as grave as the fourth's.

Footsteps could be heard, and the first, fifth, and tenth Doctors ran into the room. As soon as they saw the angel, they all kept their eyes firmly on it. They did not notice another shadow appear at the doorway. It crept closer and closer, until Zoe felt the hairs on her back stand up and tingle. She whipped around, to see another angel, still not the same one in the image, with its hand only centimetres away from her arm. She squealed, but it was too late.

She blinked.