Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Professor, why is it dark in here?”

“Quiet, Ace. I'm working.”

“Oh, is that why it's dark?”

“Yes.”

“Well, this can’t be right,” said a new voice, making Ace jump.

The Doctor was unperturbed by the mysterious newcomer. “No, you are in the right place.”

“Fantastico!” the newcomer said in Spanish. She went over to Ace, who could make out ginger hair and vivid turquoise eyes in the dark, and offered her hand. “I’m Lilith.”

“Ace.” Ace shook her hand.

“Ace.” Lilith grinned. “You’re with the Seven, right? With the question mark sweater vest and the hat?”

The Doctor sighed. “Yes, I am the Seventh Doctor.”

“Granted, he also wore a hat as Four and Five. Tried wearing a fez as Eleven, too. He claimed fezzes are cool. I’ve heard all about you. Ace McShane and her famous explosives. You know, it’s my sister Darkel’s dream to learn your recipe for Nitro-9.”

“Where did you hear about me?”

“From Dad, of course,” Lilith said, waving a hand at the Doctor. “He tells us about all his companions.”

Ace frowned. “The Professor is your dad?”

“In a manner of speaking,” the Doctor replied.

“I haven’t been born yet,” Lilith clarified before Ace could ask. “Not in his timeline, anyway. It’s hard to know how soon, though. He starts lying about his age somewhere around 1000.”

Beeping noises came from the console. “What's that noise?” Ace asked.

“A cry in the dark,” the Doctor said.

“A distress signal?”

“A cry for help,” he corrected. “Perhaps a summoning.”

“Where's it coming from?”

“Earth. Rippling out through the cosmos, forward in time, backwards in time and sideways in time.”

Ace frowned. “Sideways in time?”

“Yes, sideways in time, across the boundaries that divide one universe from another.”

Lilith tensed. “Are you saying that it’s coming from a different universe?”

“No, this universe. Earth. A few years in your future, Ace.”

“It's giving me the creeps.” Ace shuddered. “What does it mean?”

“We'll know in a moment, once we've deciphered it.” The Doctor continued to work at the console.

Lilith peered over his shoulder. “So long as it’s not an advertisement from the Slitheen, it should be safe to check out.”

“Slitheen?” Ace questioned.

“Have you ever been to Raxacoricofallapatorius?”

“Can’t say I have.”

“Good.”

The Doctor pushed both Lilith and Ace out of the way and pressed a few more buttons. A speaker grill on the console emitted a sound similar to Darth Vader breathing.

Ace looked at the Doctor. “Wherever it is it's coming from, I don't think we want to go there.”

“Too late,” the Doctor said. “We've already arrived.”

Chapter Text

The Doctor and Ace had their thumbs out while Lilith stood there with her arms crossed. “I refuse to believe that we are hitchhiking. This is not happening to me, I have a vortex manipulator. What are we hitchhiking for?”

“We don’t know where we’re going, Lilith. We don’t have coordinates.”

Lilith made a face as a car drove straight passed them.

“Don't stop, then! I don't care!” Ace shouted at the car. She stuck her thumb out at another Range Rover coming their way.

“I don't think this'll stop either,” the Doctor said.

“Don't be such a pessimist, Professor.”

The Range Rover stopped and a bearded Irishman called over to them, “Where are you heading?”

“Northeast,” the Doctor replied.

“Right, climb aboard. Come to see the dig, have you?”

The Doctor got in front while ace and Lilith slid into the backseat. “Ah, archaeological dig?”

“Archaeologists,” Lilith snorted.

“Yes, actually,” the driver said. “Oh, sorry, haven't introduced myself. I'm Peter Warmsly. I'm site manager for the Carbury Trust Conservation Area.”

“I'm Ace, and this is the Doctor and Lilith.” Ace shook Warmsly’s hand.

“The dig, as a matter of fact, is a hobby. A battlefield.”

A loud boom came from somewhere to the east. “What was that?” Ace wondered.

“The military use the area as a firing range,” Warmsly said. “Never understood why.”

“Blowing the occasional chunk out of the earth keeps them amused,” said the Doctor.

“Sounds like my sister,” Lilith muttered.

“It didn't sound like a shell,” Ace mused.

They drove on for a few more minutes before stopping. The Doctor, Lilith, and Ace got out and Warmsly drove off. The Doctor checked the wind direction with his finger and brought out a small machine with an antenna and a large knob on the end.

“Professor?” Ace frowned down at a group of military men.

“Yes,” the Doctor mumbled, distractedly. “The transmission's definitely coming from over there.”

“Dad, look.” Lilith turned him around. The beeping from his machine got faster.

“It's a missile convoy,” Ace said.

“A nuclear missile convoy,” the Doctor corrected.

“How do you know?”

“It has a graveyard stench.”

They ducked under a barrier across the track as something crashed to earth nearby. “Didn't sound like a shell,” Ace said again. “More like a couple of rockets.”

“Close,” Lilith murmured.

They hid from running soldiers. “What we need is something to help us.” The Doctor searched his transdimensional pockets. “Wait a minute. Ah yes, of course! I never thought I'd need these again.”

He took a pair of passes from his hat and gave one to Ace. “This should remove a few obstacles.”

Ace looked at the pass. “Who's Elizabeth Shaw? I don't even look like her.”

“Oh, never mind. Just think like a physicist. Lilith, er…”

Lilith took an ID holder out of her pocket and showed him with a smirk.

“Psychic paper?” the Doctor guessed.

Lilith grinned. “Had to swipe it from you before I left my linear TARDIS, but I knew it would come in handy.”

They walked into the UNIT mobile command post. “Excuse me, Brigadier Bambera?” Lilith held up the psychic paper. “I’m Lilith Taylor, scientific advisor for UNIT in New York. These are my associates, Dr. John Smith and Elizabeth Shaw.”

“Now, what seems to be the problem?” the Doctor asked.

“Excuse me?” Bambera demanded.

“Well, you've had an explosion in your electronics, haven't you?”

“An electro-magnetic pulse effect,” Ace said.

“Caused by?”

“A nuclear explosion, usually.”

“I think I would have noticed a nuclear explosion,” Bambera sniffed.

“Yes, well, they are conspicuous.”

Ace crossed her arms. “Well, if there was no nuke, where did the energy pulse come from?”

“All systems failures were the result of a minor technical difficulty.” Bambera held up the UNIT passes. “I don't know where you got these from, but I intend to find out. Show these two out.”

“I'd just like to say three things,” the Doctor said.

“What?” Bambera sighed, exasperated.

“Yeti, Autons, Daleks.” Then he added, “Cybermen, and Silurians!” He and Ace left.

Bambera turned to Lilith. “Now, you can help, Miss Taylor?”

“Do you know who the Doctor is?” Lilith questioned.

“No.”

“Then you’re of no use to me. How can you be a part of UNIT and not know the Doctor? He was right; Lethbridge-Stewart was a far better Brigadier than you.” Lilith turned on her heel and ran to catch up to the Doctor and Ace.

“Weren’t you going to stay and help?” the Doctor asked.

Lilith rolled her eyes. “You should know by now that you’re not going anywhere without me.”

“Nothing has changed in the last seven hundred years.”

“Good to know I’m consistent,” Lilith said. “So, the Yeti. That was your second regeneration, right? The first time you met the Brigadier?”

“If my memory serves.”

Bambera ushered them into a car.

“We could have walked to the hotel, you know,” The Doctor said as they drove passed the TARDIS.

“No problem. I thought you'd like to see Vortigern's Lake.”

“Vortigern. That's an interesting name.”

“Yeah, fascinating,” Ace said, sarcastically.

“What's your name, by the way?” the Doctor asked.

“Brigadier Winifred Bambera.”

‘Winifred?’ Lilith mouthed to Ace, who shrugged.

“There are many secrets in names. Vortigern is old British for High King,” the Doctor informed them.

Ace looked at Bambera. “Your convoy's stranded by the lake of the High King.”

They reached the inn where a young Asian woman was getting out of a car and the Doctor raised his hat to her. Bambera drove off again. The Doctor, Lilith, and Ace went inside to the bar.

A man was clearing glasses off a table. “Can I help you?”

“Yes. I'd like to book two rooms,” the Doctor said. “One for myself and one for my two young friends here.”

“Yes, sir. Long journey?”

“Er, quite a distance, as it happens.”

Lilith snickered.

“Then you'll be having a drink, sir?” the man asked.

“Yes, please,” Ace said.

“Why not. What do you have?”

“What we have, sir, is possibly the finest beer in the area, even if I do say so myself. Perhaps the best in the country,” the man bragged.

The Doctor raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“He makes it himself in a converted barn at the end of the garden,” the Asian woman said.

“It's in the CAMRA guide. We call it Arthur's Ale.”

“Vodka and coke, Pat,” she ordered.

“Glass of water, please,” the Doctor said. “Lilith? Ace?”

“Iced water, if you can.”

“Oh, vodka and—”

“Ace,” the Doctor warned.

Ace sighed. “Lemonade, please.”

The woman smiled. “Good choice.”

“Lemonade?”

“Anything but the beer.”

“Hello, I'm The Doctor.” The Doctor shook her hand. “This is my friend, Ace, and my daughter, Lilith.”

“I’m Shou.”

“There we are, sir,” Pat said, putting down the glasses. “Five pounds, please.”

Ace frowned. “How much?”

“This is 1997, Ace,” Lilith reminded her. “Even the near future is a whole different planet.”

The Doctor tipped a bag of various objects onto the counter, rummaged through it, then handed Pat a coin. “There, a five pound piece.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Shou picked up a circular object with moving legs. The Doctor plucked it from her hand. “Do you mind? It's a very valuable piece of coinage.”

Lilith crossed her arms. “Dad, was that an ancient Transic cort?”

“Of course not, Lilith. Don’t be ridiculous.”

“So you've met Peter?” Shou asked.

“Mm,” the Doctor confirmed. “Very knowledgeable fellow.”

“That’s one way of putting it. He's got this thing about King Arthur. Digs things up out of the ground by the lake.”

“Well, he is an archaeologist,” Lilith pointed out, making a face.

Shou shrugged. “Can't see it myself, all that patient scraping about. You know, I get the urge to bung half a kilo of TNT down the hole and bring it all up in one go.”

“Now you're talking!” Ace laughed.

“The point of archaeology is to carefully recover the past, not disintegrate it,” the Doctor said.

“Wouldn't make much difference. The only half decent thing Peter's ever found is that scabbard.” Shou nodded to an old brass-edged scabbard hanging by the fireplace, which had 1684 carved into it. The Doctor went over to examine it.

“You could use something with more brisance,” Ace suggested.

“More brisance? Than trinitrotoluene? Like what?”

“Tell you outside.”

“Why outside?”

“He gets upset when I talk about explosives.”

Lilith snorted. “A bit hypocritical of him.”

“Why’s that?” Ace asked.

“Hating explosives? You know, he met my mother when he blew up the building she worked in.”

Ace’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

“Cross my hearts.” Lilith got up and went over to where the Doctor was studying the scabbard.

“Interesting, isn't it?” asked the blind woman in a nearby chair.

The Doctor hummed in agreement.

“I wish I could see what it looks like. I can feel its presence sometimes. Touch it.”

The Doctor touched the scabbard. “My, it's hot. No, no. Now it's cold.”

“Every so often I get the strangest feeling about it,” the woman said.

“What kind of feeling?” Lilith questioned.

“Oh, that it's waiting for something. Stupid, really.”

“Waiting for something, or someone,” the Doctor murmured.

‘Someone?’ Lilith wondered.

‘You never know.’

‘You know something,’ she accused.

‘Nothing for sure. Not yet.’

Lilith hesitated. ‘That woman, Shou, she said that Warmsly’s a King Arthur nut. There’s something I should probably tell you.’

Warmsly stormed into the inn. “Elizabeth! Ah, I need to use your telephone. The one in my car isn't working.”

Elizabeth, who was cleaning the counter, pushed a candlestick phone to him. He spoke at it.

“Yes. Call. External. Sedgewick. Carbury Trust.”

“Mister Warmsly, just the person,” the Doctor said. “This scabbard.”

“The line's dead.” Warmsly muttered.

“This scabbard. Where did you find it?”

“Here, locally. Why?”

“Where?” he questioned.

“For the scabbard's worth—”

“Ten of the sword,” the Doctor finished.

Warmsly nodded. “Said Merlin. Yeah. Hey, careful with it. It was found here, at the dig by the lake.

The Doctor took the scabbard from the wall. “What period?”

Warmsly hung it back up. “Does it matter? Eighth century AD.”

“No, no, no. It's been waiting around longer than that.”

“Okay, the scabbard was waiting,” Lilith allowed. “But for what?”

The sound of a loud explosion rang through the air. Lilith and the Doctor ran outside to where Ace was talking to Shou. “We'd better get the Doctor.”

There was a smoking hole in the barn roof. “Good idea,” the Doctor said. “Did you see it?”

“Yeah.”

“And?” he prompted.

“It looked like a bloke.”

“A bloke,” the Doctor repeated. “Flying through the air?”

“And then through a wall,” Lilith added.

Once outside the brewery, the Doctor turned to Ace and Shou. “You two stay here.”

Ace rolled her eyes. “Be serious, Professor.”

“What's going on?” Shou questioned.

“You'd better ask the Professor.”

“What's going on?”

The Doctor and Lilith put their fingers to their lips. Lilith winked and they all went inside. It was dark.

“Doctor?”

“Yes?”

“I can't see anything.”

Someone, not one of the four who had just entered, groaned. The Doctor found the light switch and flicked it. A knight in full armor was sitting against a vat.

“Is it an android?” Ace asked.

The Doctor poked it with his umbrella, and then touched it carefully. “No, it's a human.” He took off the helmet to reveal a blond man, who opened his eyes and stared.

“Merlin. Against all hope.”

The Doctor looked surprised and Lilith bit her lip. “Um, Dad? About what I was saying earlier…”

“You've got it wrong, mate,” Ace said. “This is the Doctor.”

The knight removed his plate armor to reveal chain mail. “Oh, he has many faces, but in my reckoning, he is Merlin.”

“You recognize my face, then?” the Doctor questioned.

“No, not your aspect, but your manner that betrays you. Do you not ride the ship of time? Does it not deceive the senses being larger within than out? Merlin, cease these games and tell me truly, is this the time?”

“Time for what?”

“Thou dost not know? Truly?”

“Do you think he'd be asking if he did, tin head?” Ace snapped.

“Why, the answer to Excalibur's call. The time of restitution; the time when Arthur rises to lead the Britons to war.”

“Vortigern's Lake, of course!” the Doctor said, excitedly. “Can you walk?”

“Can someone tell me what on Earth is going on?” Shou asked.

The Doctor helped the knight to his feet. “Well, if my hunch is right, the Earth could be at the center of a war that doesn't even belong to this dimension.”

Lilith flinched at the mention of a different dimension, not liking the reminder of where she had been in the past and where she was going in the future.

Bambera burst in with a machine gun. “Freeze! Everyone stand nice and easy.”

“Listen, Winifred. We've got to be somewhere urgently, so please get out of the way.”

“You're all under arrest. You and your freaky friends.”

“Who are you calling freaky?” Ace demanded.

Lilith’s hand drifted toward her blaster, but the Doctor stilled her arm. “I can sort this out,” he insisted. “Look, if I can just explain.”

Another group of knights came in. “Kill them!” the leader ordered. “Kill them now!”

Lilith swore in Gallifreyan.

Chapter Text

Bambera burst in with a machine gun. “Freeze! Everyone stand nice and easy.”

“Listen, Winifred. We've got to be somewhere urgently, so please get out of the way.”

“You're all under arrest. You and your freaky friends.”

“Who are you calling freaky?” Ace demanded.

Lilith’s hand drifted toward her blaster, but the Doctor stilled her arm. “I can sort this out,” he insisted. “Look, if I can just explain.”

Another group of knights came in. “Kill them!” the leader ordered. “Kill them now!”

Lilith swore in Gallifreyan.

“I'm an armed military officer. You are under arrest. Lay your weapons down and put your hands in the air!” Bambera ordered.

“Winifred, this is not the way,” the Doctor insisted.

“Put the guns down!”

The Doctor knocked her gun down with his umbrella and walked up to the knight in charge. “Listen, now that we're all here, let me introduce myself. I am the Doctor and this is—”

Bambera fired a shot that bounced off the knight's armor. The knight laughed and raised his visor.

“Mordred,” the knight they had found growled.

“Ancelyn,” Mordred sneered. “Fitting that you should die amongst peasants.”

“Look again, Mordred.” Ancelyn glanced at the Doctor.

The Doctor stepped forward. “Do you recognize me?”

“Merlin!” Mordred gasped.

“Not again,” Ace groaned.

“Better get used to it,” Lilith muttered. “Something tells me these two aren’t the only ones who call him that.”

“You were bound,” Mordred protested. “My mother sealed you into the ice caves for all eternity.”

“I am the master of time. I cannot be bound so easily,” the Doctor said, sharply.

“Master of lies.”

Ancelyn stepped forward. “Beware your tongue, Mordred. Have you so easily forgotten Baden, hmm? The way he cast down your mother with his mighty arts.”

“Yes, remember Baden and my mighty arts. Do you think I would use mere trickery against someone as formidable as you? Go, before I unleash a terrible something on you.”

‘You bullshitting this, aren’t you?’ Lilith accused.

‘It sounds quite impressive to me.’

‘No wonder you have such a big head in the future.’

“Go, Mordred, while you still live,” Ancelyn warned.

“There will be a reckoning, Ancelyn,” Mordred growled. “I have sworn it. As for you, Merlin, my mother has waited twelve centuries to face you. You will bow down before her this time.”

Mordred and his knights left through a hole blown in the wall.

“Who was he?” Ace asked.

“That was Mordred, and his mother is Morgaine, a mighty sorceress,” the Doctor said.

“You know these guys then?”

He shook his head. “Never met them before.” The Doctor led them back out to the hotel grounds. “Brigadier Bambera, if we're going to work together, you've got to stop shooting at everything that moves.”

The Doctor, Ace, Lilith, and Shou walked on. Bambera stopped Ancelyn, who had taken off the chain mail to reveal a padded jacket. “Not you. I want to talk to you.”

“I am Ancelyn ap Gwalchmai, Knight General of the Britons,” Ancelyn said. “I do not talk to peasants.”

Bambera grabbed him. “You'll talk to me.” The two of them started fighting.

“Professor!” Ace exclaimed.

“Oh, ignore them. They're just establishing their credentials,” the Doctor said, dismissively.

“They've got a funny way of doing it.”

“Don't worry about them.”

“What should we worry about?” Shou asked.

“Sorcery.”

“I hate having to deal with magic,” Lilith grumbled. “It reminds me too much of the story Aunt Martha tells about running into witches with Shakespeare. This is the one adventure I didn’t want to show up during. The one where everything goes all space-age Camelot.”

That night, the Doctor locked everyone inside the inn. He looked out the window. “No one's to go outside.”

“Why not?” Pat questioned.

“There are things out there in the dark you wouldn't want to meet.”

Something knocked against the wall. “What was that?”

Bambera brought Ancelyn in from the grounds, handcuffed. “Come on, move it, will you. Get in. Brigadier Bambera.”

“What happened to you?” the Doctor asked Ancelyn.

“She vanquished me, and I threw myself on her mercy.”

“As of now, I'm in charge. Everyone remain calm. We'll soon have everything under control,” Bambera announced.

“I don’t think so,” Lilith said.

The Doctor looked at her curiously and she nodded toward the scabbard on the wall. It was moving.

“What's that noise?” Warmsly wondered.

“What noise?”

The scabbard flew across the room and stuck point first into the upright timber by Warmsly. Glasses fell off the shelves behind the bar. 


“That noise!”

“Which way does that wall face?” the Doctor demanded.

“North, towards the lake,” Pat told him.

Lilith snorted. “The lake. Figures.”

More glasses fell and the lights flickered. “Another storm. Just what we need.” Bambera said.

“Stay where you are,” the Doctor told her.

“An earthquake?” Warmsly guessed.

Ace and Shou ran in. “Doctor!”

“What's going on, Doctor?” Bambera demanded.

“I don't know,” he said, darkly, “but I've got some nasty suspicions.” The Doctor ripped the scabbard from the post.

“An earthquake? In England?”

“No.” Lilith ground her teeth, shaking slightly. “Someone is tearing a hole in the fabric of time and space.”

“She is coming,” Ancelyn said.

“What are you talking about? Who's coming?” asked Bambera.

“You can feel it?” Ace asked Lilith.

“Lilith and I are uniquely sensitive. Argh! Gah!” The Doctor fell to his knees, still clutching the scabbard for dear life.

Lilith knelt next to him, gripping his arm. “Dad!”

The Doctor spoke through gritted teeth. “I hear you.”

“What’s wrong?” Ace questioned.

“Someone’s trying to talk to him telepathically. Whoever they are, they’re doing it wrong,” Lilith growled.

“I cannot allow your interference,” the Doctor hissed.

All the lights went out and everybody screamed.

The next morning, the Doctor collected Ancelyn's sword and Bambera's beret from the grounds and tiptoed through the bar where the two were sleeping, resting against each other. Putting them on the bar, he picked up an empty chips bag.

Lilith stopped him with a wink before he could inflate it. She held up her phone, which had a countdown on it.

Three seconds later, an alarm started blaring. Bambera and Ancelyn leapt to their feet, ready for action.

“Good morning,” the Doctor and Lilith chorused, cheerily.

Later, Warmsly led Lilith, the Doctor, and Ace to the dig site by the UNIT convoy. “And you excavated all this yourself?”

“Labor of love, really,” Warmsly said, modestly.

“Impressive,” Lilith complimented.

“And I did have some help from Shou Yuing.”

“And where did you find the scabbard?” the Doctor asked.

Warmsly pointed to a wooden T in the ground. “By that marker.”

“How long did it take?” Ace wondered.

“Oh, about ten years so far.”

“Ten years?”

“Archeology is a precise and delicate skill. History has to be eased out of the earth one painstaking layer at a time.”

Lilith snorted.

“I still think ten years is a bit of a long time.” Ace squatted in a trench and used a brush to remove some soil from carved stones. “What's this?”

Warmsly knelt next to her. “Ah, now that's a bit of a mystery. No one's been able to decipher the carving.”

Lilith frowned at it over Ace’s shoulder. “Is that Circular Gallifreyan?”

“It says, ‘Dig Hole Here’,” the Doctor said.

“Extraordinary.” Warmsly looked up at him. “What does it say that in?”

“My handwriting,” he answered. “Ace, we need a hole.”

Ace pulled out a canister of Nitro-9 from her jacket pocket. “Right. How long?”

“Er, sixty seconds should be long enough.”

“Long enough for what?” Warmsly questioned.

The Doctor led Warmsly and Lilith away as Ace set the timer. “Nothing to worry about. My young friend's something of an expert.”

“What, in archeology?”

“Explosives,” Lilith corrected.

“What?”

Ace ran up to them. “Down!” They dove into another trench as the Nitro-9 exploded.

“Ace?” the Doctor coughed.

“I think the timer needs work,” she admitted.

“One of these days we're going to have a nice long talk about acceptable safety standards.”

Lilith spat dirt out of her mouth. “That was so cool.”

They went back over and Ace peered into the massive hole she had made. “What's down there?”

“Don't ask me. I've only been excavating this site for ten years,” Warmsly grumbled.

“With a bit of luck, a tunnel,” the Doctor said.

“A dark, mysterious one?”

“Probably.”

“Leading to unknown dangers?”

“Indubitably.”

Lilith grinned. “My kind of tunnel.” The three of them dropped down the side of the pit.

“Oh, wicked!” Ace exclaimed.

“Peter; Ace, Lilith, and I are going to investigate this tunnel,” the Doctor called up. “You stay here and guard it. Don't let anyone come in here.”

“What am I supposed to do, lecture them on archeology?”

“Yes.”

Lilith wrinkled her nose as they started down the tunnel. “Archeologists.”

“What’s your problem with them?” Ace asked.

“I’m a time traveler. I point and laugh at archeologists,” she sniffed.

“It's damp,” Ace noted.

The Doctor shrugged. “Well, we are under the lake.”

“And this wall's made of concrete,” Lilith added and dust fell through a crack in the top of the tunnel.

“Hmm.” The Doctor inspected the dust. “It's gone soft with age. This was built in the eighth century.”

Ace furrowed her eyebrows. “But they didn't have concrete in those days.”

“No, they didn't.”

“Thought so.”

The tunnel sealed behind them. “Doctor?” Ace said.

“Don't worry, Ace. It's only a trap.”

“Only a trap.” Lilith rolled her eyes. “Let’s continue down the dark and ominous tunnel, shall we?”

They did until they came to a sort of cavern. Ace sat in a giant carved fish’s mouth. An entrance of some sort, but it had a metal door across it.

“Ancelyn's people must have built this tunnel,” the Doctor mused.

“Looks fishy to me,” Ace joked.

“This is no place for humor.”

Lilith cracked a smile. “I don’t know. Cheesy humor tends defuses the tension.”

“Professor? Where does Ancelyn come from?” asked Ace.

“Another dimension,” he answered. “Sideways in time from another universe.”

Lilith shuddered; Ace raised an eyebrow at her. “Only been to another universe once,” Lilith explained. “Cybermen and death, no fun there.”

“The question is how do we get through here?”

“No coded pattern?” Ace asked.

“No hidden switches,” the Doctor confirmed.

“Well, how are we going to get through the door, then?” 


The Doctor studied the door. “Open up. It's me.” It opened.

“Somehow, I was expecting that to happen.” Lilith sighed.

“I refuse to ask how you did that.” Ace paused. “How did you do that?”

“Well, it came to me that it wasn't Ancelyn's people who built this tunnel. It was Merlin.”

Ace frowned. “But everyone thinks that you're Merlin.”

“Exactly. Door keyed to my voice pattern. Just the sort of thing I would do.”

“Are you Merlin?” she asked.

“No. But I could be, in the future. That is, my personal future. Which could be the past.”

“Right.” She looked at Lilith. “Did you get that?”

Lilith waved her hand, dismissively. “It’s a bit—”

“Wibbly-wobbly?” the Doctor offered with a smirk.

The Time Lady shrugged. “I was going to say timey-wimey, but that works too.” She followed the Doctor beyond the door. He led the way up a spiral staircase.

“This is a spaceship?” Ace wondered.

“More than that,” the Doctor said. “It's a craft for travelling between dimensions.”

“Seen one spaceship you've seen them all.”

“Don't be so cynical, Ace.”

They reached the main chamber in the center was a large stone altar with a sword sticking out of it. Someone was lying next to it.

“Holy hell,” Lilith breathed.

“Impressive,” the Doctor admitted.

“That's Arthur, King of the Britons, isn't it?” Ace was referring to the man by the altar.

“The legendary Arthur, yes. From another dimension, where the man was closer to the myth. But what is he doing here?” the Doctor wondered.

“Not a lot,” Ace said. “Is he in suspended animation?”

“Who knows?”

She held her hands over the body. “In eternal sleep until England's greatest need.”

“Ace, don't touch that,” the Doctor instructed.

“Oh, it's all right, Professor. It's not like I'm King of the Britons, is it?” Ace pulled the sword from the stone and fell backwards.

“No, Ace!”

Lilith caught her before she could hit her head. “I really hope you haven't disturbed anything.”

“It disturbed me!”

“Well then, I really hope you haven't disturbed anything else!”

“Like what?”

“Like that,” the Doctor said. “I think I saw something over there.” A green thing with a snake's head glided into the room. “Ace, I think it's time for plan B.”

“We run?”

“Yes, run!”

Lilith and Ace ran to the door. “There's no way out!”

“Now is not the time to panic!” the Doctor said. The energy snake knocked him across the room.

“Doctor!” Ace yelled.

“Can we panic now?” Lilith demanded, helping him up.

“It's some sort of automated defense system, isn't it?” Ace guessed.

“Yes. When I say run, run!” The snake hit the Doctor again, this time knocking Lilith back too.

Ace ran to what looked like an escape hatch. “Doctor, it's a dead end!” The door closed, trapping her inside. Lilith ran her hands around the wall, looking for some sort of trigger to open the door.

“Hang on, Ace!” the Doctor yelled. “I'm coming!”

Water flooded into the escape hatch. Ace was screaming for the Doctor and hammering on the door. The water was up to her chin. The snake hit the Doctor again, knocking him out.

“Dad!”

Chapter Text

“Run!” The snake hit the Doctor again, this time knocking Lilith back too.

Ace ran to what looked like an escape hatch. “Doctor, it's a dead end!” The door closed, trapping her inside. Lilith ran her hands around the wall, looking for some sort of trigger to open the door.

“Hang on, Ace!” the Doctor yelled. “I'm coming!”

Water flooded into the escape hatch. Ace was screaming for the Doctor and hammering on the door. The water was up to her chin. The snake hits the Doctor again, knocking him out.

“Dad!”

“For Rassilon’s sake, Dad. We don’t have time for this!” Lilith put her fingers on the Doctor’s temples. His eyes snapped open and he helped him up.

The Doctor stumbled over to a control panel and pulled out a small pyramid with seaweed attached to the bottom. Ace was ejected out through the top of the escape hatch.

Lilith stepped in front of the Doctor protectively, but the snake knocked the two of them down again, the piece of the control unit slipping for the Doctor’s hand. As he and Lilith scrambled to their feet, someone else stepped on the control unit. The snake vanished.

“I just can't let you out of my sight, can I, Doctor?” said a man in a green military uniform.

“Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, right?” Lilith said, brushing off her jeans.

“Yes, hello Collector,” the Brigadier replied.

“We’ve met?” she asked, eyes bright.

“When the Doctor was working with UNIT.”

“Ah, I look forward to meeting you then.”

The Doctor stood. “We best be getting back to the surface.”

Lilith nodded. “So, Brigadier, what exactly happened the first time we met?”

“Lilith!” the Doctor scolded. “Foreknowledge is dangerous.”

She held up her hands in surrender. “Fine, fine.”

As they climbed back through the tunnel, Lilith could hear the people outside talking. “But the Doctor is still down there,” Bambera’s voice said.

“And the Brigadier.”

“I am the Brigadier.”

“So am I.” The Brigadier stepped out of the tunnel.

Ace cocked her head to the side. “Hey, I thought it let you in but it doesn't let you out.

“It let me out,” the Doctor said, walking into the daylight with Lilith behind him.

“Brigadier, I thought you'd retired.” Bambera sounded surprised.

“So did I, Brigadier. Now, is the perimeter secure? This whole area is crawling with armed extra-terrestrials and they're hostile.”

“I wish this wasn’t my typical day.” Lilith sighed, climbing out of the hole. “But it is.”

The Brigadier, the Doctor, Lilith, Warmsly, Ace and Shou went to the Carbury Range Rover. “Oh, Bambera, take the other car, will you?” the Brigadier said.

“Yes, sir.” Bambera nodded. “Come on, Ancelyn. Looks like we get the deck chair.”

The Range Rover drove off. “We might run into trouble,” the Doctor warned.

“Oh really, Doctor? You do surprise me.”

Ace stuck her head out the window. “Winifred isn't following.”

The Brigadier frowned. “Good lord, is that her name?”

“Could be worse.” Lilith shrugged. “Could be something like Francis or Scootie. I met a Scootie once. Tragedy, really.”

‘You’re looking shifty, Dad,’ she thought. ‘What’s up?’

“Something's wrong,” he said aloud.

“What?” the Brigadier asked.

“We haven't been attacked yet.”

Before the Doctor could even finish his sentence, a grenade exploded next to the Range Rover. The vehicle swerved but kept going. Morgaine’s knights appeared from the trees and started shooting their blasters.

“Down!” the Brigadier shouted. He drove through two knights on the track. They shot out the rear window, but the Brigadier kept driving. Lilith shot each of them in the chest as they drove away.

“Are they gone?” Shou asked. “Who were they?”

“Space-age knights from Camelot.” Lilith blew a strand of hair out of her face. “There, we've been attacked. Happy, Dad?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, good.” The Brigadier snorted.

“As long as Morgaine's people are shooting at us, she won't be using more obscure methods of attack.”

“Such as?”

“I don't know, and I don't want to find out.”

The car pulled over and Ace got out to look around. “Professor, there's a whole pile of tinheads setting up on the road down there,” she said, looking through binoculars. She tossed them to the Doctor, who was on the roof of the car.

“Brigadier, tell Bambera she's in trouble.”

Lilith looked out the window at the smoke drifting between the tall pines nearby. “You sure we can’t help them?”

“Well, what do you want us to do?” the Brigadier said. “The area's swarming with Morgaine's troops.”

“Doctor?”

The Doctor shook his head, Lilith and Ace scowled.

“Better get back to the hotel.”

Ace got back into the Range Rover and they drove away, eventually reaching the inn where UNIT was setting up a base. Major Husak led Elizabeth out by the elbow to a truck before she shrugged him off.

“Everything under control?” the Brigadier asked one of the soldiers.

“No, sir,” the soldier said.

“Don't worry, Major. You'll soon get the hang of it. Oh, this is the Doctor. Yeah, well, don't let him baffle you.”

“It’ll just inflate his ego,” Lilith added.

“Yes, and this is the Collector and this is Peter Warmsly.”

“Ah, Mister Warmsly.” The Major checked his clipboard. “If you'd join Mister Rawlinson in the vehicle, we'll evacuate you from the area.”

“Excuse me, there are a few questions I want answered,” Pat insisted.

“And I have absolutely no intention of being evacuated,” Warmsly argued. “This area is where I live.”

The Doctor stepped forward. “You're very angry.”

“Of course we're angry.”

“And you want to leave.”

“No, we do not want to leave.”

The Doctor gave Pat a look, almost Oncoming Storm like. “Of course you want to leave.”

Pat blinked. “Of course we do.”

“I wouldn't stand for any nonsense, if I were you,” the Doctor added.

“Look, Doctor, the situation is perfectly simple. We are very angry and we—” Warmsly was cut off with the same look. “Want to leave. Is that right, Pat?”

“Don't get in our way.”

“Just no reasoning with these people.” Pat and Warmsly went to the truck.

Lilith raised her eyebrows at the Doctor. ‘What the hell was that?’

He just winked at her.

The Major cleared his throat. “At the risk of being baffled, sir, I have one more evacuee on my list. A young lady.”

Lilith noticed that Ace and Shou were nowhere in sight. “She seems to have disappeared.”

“Well, there you have it, Major,” the Brigadier said.

The Major saluted the Brigadier, then turned and reluctantly saluted the Doctor before leaving.

“You've got enough weapons here to fight a war,” the Doctor noted.

“That's the general idea,” the Brigadier agreed.

“It'll be useless, Brigadier.”

“Not this time, Doctor. Over here!” A soldier brought over a small ammunition box. The Brigadier took out a large bullet. “Armor piercing, solid core, with a Teflon coating. Go through a Dalek.”

Lilith whistled. “Could’ve used that in Utah.”

“UNIT's been very busy, Doctor. We've also got high-explosive rounds for Yetis and very efficient armor-piercing rounds for robots. And we've even got gold-tipped bullets for you know what.” Cybermen.

“No silver?” the Doctor smirked, walking away.

The Brigadier frowned. “Silver bullets?”

Lilith nodded. “Werewolves. Been there, done that.” He looked at her, disbelievingly. “No, seriously. 1879, Torchwood Estate. Got rid of a Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform threatening to kill Queen Victoria. She knighted us afterwards.”

“Truly?”

“Dame Lilith of TARDIS at your service.” She jokingly saluted and skipped off into the inn where her father was in the bar area with Ace and Shou.

“Any idea what Morgaine’s ‘unconventional’ method of attack may be?” Ace asked.

Lilith plopped down on a chair. “Hopefully something that’ll be hurt by a headshot from my blaster,” she grumbled. “I hate things I can’t shoot at. They make me antsy.”

“Why not just shoot Morgaine?”

Lilith made a face. “I would if I could, but he’d never let me. Probably for the same reason Dad wouldn’t let me kill the Master. Morgaine’s after him, not me. Therefore, she’s his responsibility.”

“I’d rather you not shoot anyone,” the Doctor said.

“I bet you’d rather Ace not carry explosives around in her pocket, but that’s not going to happen, is it?”

“She’s got a point, Professor.”

The Brigadier came in. “Doctor! Bambera and Ancelyn are alive.”

The Doctor stood. “They're alive?”

“And Major Husak said they seem to be heading north from here.”

“Towards the missile convoy, then?” Lilith said.

“Yes. Bambera's own unit is there.”

“But if they lead Morgaine's troops…” He trailed off.

“It's a fully armed nuclear missile.”

Lilith rolled her eyes. “Now there’s something we want in the hands of a witch lady who’s trying to kill us.”

“We'd better stop any engagement,” the Doctor decided. “Have you got a helicopter available?”

“Oh, better than that, Doctor.” The Brigadier led them outside. A group of soldiers pulled a tarp off of a car. A yellow roadster with the license plate WHO7.

“Ah ha! Bessie!” the Doctor exclaimed.

“That’s definitely not what I was expecting,” Lilith chuckled.

“Well, I knew how fond of it you were.” The Brigadier shrugged. “So when you last went on your travels I had it put in mothballs.”

“Does it run on petrol or steam?” Ace laughed.

The Doctor looked at her seriously. “Ace, things may get dangerous, so I want you to have this.” He handed her something small and white.

“It looks like a piece of chalk,” she said.

“It is. I got it from the dartboard. But it will protect you against Morgaine's sorcery.”

“A piece of chalk?”

“A piece of chalk,” he confirmed. “At the first sign of anything strange, I want you to draw a chalk circle, and you and Shou Yuing stay inside it along with Excalibur.”

“Right, Professor. Chalk circle. Sure.”

“And remember, stay inside the circle. Don't leave it until I return.”

Ace frowned. “Doctor, you are coming back, aren't you?”

“Trust me,” the Doctor said, and then got in the car. “Ready, Brigadier?”

“Ready.”

“Lilith?”

“Vamanos, Padre.”

“Naught to sixty in twenty minutes,” Ace joked.

Shou smiled. “As fast as that?”

“Appearances can be deceiving, Ace.” The Doctor put a round device on the steering wheel and turned the lever. Then he started the engine. “And remember, look after Excalibur and stay in the circle.”

Bessie zoomed off, spitting gravel and leaving literally burning rubber behind. They drove down the paths and came to a stop just outside of the fighting. The Brigadier hung up the field phone he was using. “Doctor, I've just received the most peculiar from the hotel.”

“Does it say anything about Ace and Shou Yuing?” the Doctor asked.

“No. All it said was, night has fallen here.”

“’Cause that’s completely normal,” Lilith snorted.

“I'll deal with that later. First, I've got to put an end to this bloodshed.”

“And how would be go about doing that, Dad? Stand in the middle and shout stop?” the Time Lady suggested sarcastically.

“Good idea.” The Doctor marched towards the center of the battle.

Lilith gaped at him. “Dad! I wasn’t serious!” She chased after the Doctor, who was dead set on getting between the two knights shouting at each other.

Just as Mordred and Ancelyn raised their swords and were about to attack, the Doctor ran in shouting, “Stop! I command it! There will be no battle here!”

“This is no battle.” Mordred laughed. “Tis but a ruse, a diversion. My mother hath summoned the Destroyer, the Lord of Darkness, Eater of Worlds. Look to your children, Merlin, for soon they shall be no more.”

Lilith and the Doctor shared twin looks or horror. “Ace,” he breathed. “What have I done?”

Chapter Text

Just as Mordred and Ancelyn raised their swords and were about to attack, the Doctor ran in shouting, “Stop! I command it! There will be no battle here!”

“This is no battle.” Mordred laughed. “Tis but a ruse, a diversion. My mother hath summoned the Destroyer, the Lord of Darkness, Eater of Worlds. Look to your children, Merlin, for soon they shall be no more.”

Lilith and the Doctor shared twin looks or horror. “Ace,” he breathed. “What have I done?”

“Tell Morgaine to call off the Destroyer,” Lilith growled.

Mordred stood defiantly. “Surrender to our justice and the children will live.”

“Your justice?” Lilith drew her blaster and pointed it directly between his eyes. “Tell her to call it off or I’ll shoot.” 


“Lilith,” the Doctor protested.

“Quiet, Dad,” she snapped.

“You are not a warrior, child of Merlin. You will not kill,” Mordred said, unflinchingly.

Lilith glared at him. “You want to put that to the test?”

“Come then, look me in the eye. End my life.”

She changed her aim and shot his shoulder. “Next time, I won’t miss.” She could see the hesitation in his eyes before Mordred shot her a twisted smile and spoke again.

“It is a scare tactic. You are weak, this lack of spirit.”

The Brigadier put his revolver to Mordred's head. “Try me,” he said.

Mordred's smile faded.

“Brigadier, Lilith, this is not the way,” the Doctor insisted.

“I'm sorry, Doctor,” the Brigadier said. “Can Morgaine hear me?”

“Yes,” Mordred told him.

“Listen to me, Morgaine. Leave my world or your son dies.”

“Deathless Morgaine, save me! Mother!” He glared at the Brigadier. “My mother will destroy you.”

The Brigadier marched them back to Bessie.

“Just between you and me, cobarde, I'm getting sick and tired of hearing about your mother.” Lilith shoved him toward the car. “Get in.” 
She climbed into the seat next to the Doctor.

“Hold tight,” the Doctor advised. The car shot off and didn’t stop until they made it back to the inn. Green lights lit up the inside and the door exploded.

“Ace!” the Doctor shouted.

“Dad, no!”

Another explosion knocked the Doctor off his feet, and Mordred, Lilith, and the Brigadier were thrown out of Bessie.

“Morgaine! If they're dead!” The Doctor stormed into the inn and Mordred escaped, running away.

“Decisions, decisions,” the Brigadier muttered.

“I’ll go after my Dad, you take care of Mordred,” Lilith suggested and raced after the Doctor.

Inside was a disaster. The main bar was a charred wreck. The Doctor scanned the room. “Ace? Shou Yuing?”

“We're here, Professor,” coughed a voice from under a pile of rubble. The Doctor and Lilith helped them get an easy chair off their backs.

“What happened?” he asked.

“The hotel fell on us,” Shou coughed.

“There was this woman with a pet demon, and I seem to remember a chalk circle that was supposed to protect us from harm,” Ace said, pointedly.

“From Morgaine and her magic, sure,” Lilith allowed. “But not from the Destroyer.”

“Yes, I get the idea,” the Doctor conceded. “Where's Excalibur?”

Shou hesitated. “Er, the woman seemed to want it very badly.”

“Very, very badly,” Ace added.

“So we gave it to her.”

“Good.” The Doctor nodded.

“But it's not our fault. I mean, if I'd had some Nitro, then maybe I could—” Ace paused. “What do you mean, good?”

“Exotic alien swords are easy to come by. Aces are rare.”

“That’s sweet, Dad, but we have a potential problem.” Lilith nodded to a shimmering curtain of light across the room. “Any idea what that is?”

The Doctor frowned. “I don't know. Which way did Morgaine leave?”

“A flash of light and gone. Where is she now?”

“At the other end of that interstitial vortex.”

“So what's our next move?”

“Well, first we go through this. Lilith, I'll go first. Ace—”

“Stay here.” Ace sighed. “But why does Lilith get to go too?”

Lilith crossed her arms and glared at the Doctor. “Because this incarnation knows better than to try and stop me.”

The Doctor handed the scabbard to Ace and twirled his way into the vortex. Lilith rolled her eyes. “The man’s an old show off.” She stepped through the light and out into the castle on the other side. “Dark, eerie, echo-y. What more does an evil villain want with a lair?”

The Doctor made his way towards the voices and walked into the room where Morgaine had the Destroyer chained. “Morgaine.”

Lilith shot at the Destroyer at least ten times, but it had no effect. “Rassilon damn you, you demonic ogre.”

“Lilith,” the Doctor sighed, exasperated.

She shrugged. “Was worth a shot.”

The Destroyer lassoed Lilith with green energy and threw her across the room into the stone wall. Her vision went black for a moment when her head hit the wall and she crumpled to the ground.

She scrambled to her feet, but stayed put.

“That was uncalled for,” the Doctor snapped. He made for Excalibur, but Morgaine grabbed it first.

“Your move, Merlin.”

They circled each other. “You haven't won the game yet, Morgaine.”

“I could always defeat you at chess, Merlin,” Morgaine sneered.

“Who said anything about playing chess? I'm playing poker,” the Doctor said. Ace stumbled in and knocked Morgaine down before falling over herself. The Doctor caught Excalibur. “And I have an Ace up my sleeve.”

“Very funny,” Ace deadpanned.

“Destroy him!” Morgaine ordered the Destroyer

The creature lifted its arms. “Release me.”

“What is it to be, Morgaine? Who do you fear more?” the Doctor asked.

“This is no idle threat, Merlin. Give me Excalibur or I will loose the Destroyer upon the world.”

“Don't be a fool.”

Morgaine made a gesture, and the Destroyer pulled the chain links apart, then ripped off the silver breastplate.

“Great work, Dad.”

“But I thought she was bluffing.”

The Destroyer ripped at the silver chainmail. “Free!”

“You fool, Morgaine!” the Doctor shouted. Morgaine snatched Excalibur. “Do you think this'll solve anything?”

“Yes. Too late, Merlin. The gateway is open. I am gone and you have lost.”

“Doctor—!” Ace shouted, but was cut off my Mordred entering.

“Mother!”

“Mordred?”

“About time,” the Doctor snorted and took back Excalibur as Mordred joins Morgaine between the glowing spheres.

“You live,” Morgaine breathed.

“In spite of thee, false parent. Witch!” Mordred spat.

“I thought you dead.”

“Thought? Or wished it so.” Morgaine and Mordred vanished in a flash of light.

The Brigadier came in. “Doctor?”

“Brigadier, you're going the wrong way.” The Doctor shoved him outside. Ace picked up a box and followed Lilith outside.

“What was that?” the Brigadier asked.

“That, Brigadier, was the beginning of the end of the world,” the Doctor replied.

Lilith sighed. “It always has to be something.” The four of them ran, putting distance between them and the castle. “Oh, like this’ll do any good in the long run.”

“I can have an air strike here in minutes.

The Doctor shook his head. “It's no good, Brigadier. Conventional weapons won't harm it.”

“No, I didn't think so.”

“Ace, give me the silver bullets.”

Ace looked at him, surprised. “How did you know?”

“Silver bullets'll do the trick. Brigadier, I need your gun.”

The Brigadier handed over his revolver. “Those will stop the Destroyer? What, you just shoot the bullets into it?”

The Doctor loaded the gun. “Simple, isn't it? Just like most killings.”

Lilith eyed the revolver. “Maybe I should do it. Shooting things is sort of my area of expertise.”

“You can’t protect me from everything, Lilith.”

“Good lord, is that a spaceship?” the Brigadier exclaimed. Ace and the Doctor turned and looked up, and the Brigadier knocked the Doctor out. He grabbed back his the revolver.

“You scumbag!” Ace shouted, kneeling next to the Doctor.

“Sorry, but I think I'm rather more expendable than he is. You understand, Collector.” The Brigadier looked at Lilith meaningfully.

“Get out of here before I shoot you,” she muttered, and set about bringing the Doctor back into consciousness.

It took a few minutes. When something inside the castle exploded, the Doctor jerked awake. “We’ve got to stop him.” Lilith and Ace helped him to his feet and they ran towards the castle.

Before they could get close, the whole top of the building exploded in green flame and smoke. “No chance,” Ace said. “He's had it.”

When they reached the rubble, the Doctor found the Brigadier amidst the burning ruin and cradled him in his arms. “You stupid, stubborn, pig-headed numbskull. You were supposed to die in bed. I could have handled it, done your job.”

“Nonsense, Doctor.”

Lilith snickered. The Doctor jumped back at the sound of the Brigadier’s voice. “You're supposed to be dead.”

“Oh, really, Doctor,” the Brigadier said. “You don't think I'd be so stupid as to stay inside, do you? Have a little faith. Ace, Collector?”

“Yes, Brigadier?”

“I'm getting too old for this sort of thing. He's all yours from now on. I'm going home to Doris.”

“Doris?” the Doctor questioned.

“His wife,” Lilith whispered to him.

“Ha, ha, ha. So she caught you in the end.”

“Oi, shouldn't we be getting back?” Ace suggested.

The Brigadier stood. “Yes, Ace is right. I suspect there's some clearing up to be done.

“Yes, just a small nuclear missile bogged down in a nature reserve,” the Doctor said sarcastically.

In the spaceship, Lilith, the Doctor, the Brigadier, Ace, and Ancelyn gathered around the altar. “Ancelyn, replace Excalibur and Arthur will arise,” the Doctor said.

“I think the honor belongs to the Brigadier.” Ancelyn offered the sword to the ex-military man.

“Oh, the Doctor should do it.”

“No, my lord. You were the victor.”

Ace snatched Excalibur. “Give me that.”

“Ace,” the Doctor chided, “have you no sense of occasion?”

“No.” She slid the sword back into the altar and the spacecraft powered up.

Ancelyn looked around. “Listen, she is alive.”

“Which is more than can be said for Arthur the freeze-dried,” Ace noted.

The Doctor frowned. “This is very odd.”

“Well, you put him there.”

“Will put him there,” Lilith corrected.

The Doctor removed Arthur's helm, and sand poured out. There was also a note.

Ace picked up the scrap of paper. “Doctor, this is for you.”

“What does it say?” he asked.

“Dear Doctor,” she read. “King died in final battle. Everything else propaganda.”

“Who signed it?”

Lilith peered at the paper over Ace’s shoulder. “The Doctor. Figures,” she snorted.

“Ah well, that sorts that out.” The Doctor shrugged.

“PS,” Ace continued, “Morgaine has just seized control of the nuclear missile.”

“Oh, great,” Lilith groaned.

“Tut. I could have given myself more warning. Brigadier, you and Ace see to this ship.”

“Explosives, Doctor,” the Brigadier said.

Ace grinned. “Now you're talking.”

“I believe the situation calls for quick transport?” Lilith offered the Doctor her arm that wore the vortex manipulator. The Doctor and Ancelyn placed their hands on the tech and, in a flash, the three appeared a few feet away from where Mordred was laying Bambera’s body on the ground.

Ancelyn let out a shout and attacked the dark haired man. Lilith merely frowned and followed the Doctor as he went inside to confront Morgaine.

The launch countdown passed sixty. “Too late, Merlin,” said Morgaine.

“Is it? Not while there's an abort button.”

Lilith stayed back as the Doctor lunged for the button, but was stopped by the sorceress. “If this missile explodes, millions will die, you will die,” the Doctor warned her.

“I shall die with honor,” she hissed.

“All over the world, fools are poised ready to let death fly. A spark could turn into an inferno.”

“What do I care? This is war.”

“Is it? Death falling from the sky, blind, random, anywhere, anytime. No one is safe, no one is innocent? Machines of death, Morgaine, are screaming from above, of light brighter than the sun. Not a war between armies nor a war between nations, but just death, death gone mad. The child looks up in the sky, his eyes turn to cinders. No more tears, only ashes. Is this honor? Is this war? Are these the weapons you would use? Tell me!”

Morgaine hesitated. “No.”

“Then put a stop to it, Morgaine. End the madness.”

She pressed the abort button, then turned to face the Doctor. “Then tell Arthur to face me with honor in single combat. Tell him to show himself. It's time he ceased hiding behind your coat tails, Merlin.”

Lilith saw the regret in the Doctor’s eyes when he told her, “Arthur is dead.”

“No.”

“He's dead, Morgaine.”

“Merlin, prince of deceit. Another trick,” Morgaine accused.

The Doctor shook his head. “No.”

“I don't believe you. It can't be.”

“He died over a thousand years ago.”

“Arthur, who burned like star fire," Morgaine said quietly, “and was as beautiful. Where does he lie? I would look at him one final time.”

“He's gone to dust,” the Doctor admitted.

“Then I shall not even have that comfort. I shall never see him again. Arthur, we were together in the woods of Celadon. The air was like honey.”

“I'm sorry, Morgaine,” Lilith said, gently. “It's over.”

The Doctor removed the key from the firing controls and put it in his breast pocket. They went outside to find Mordred standing over a defeated Ancelyn with his sword at his neck. The Doctor stopped Mordred from swinging the weapon. He forced him to his knees and put his fingers on Mordred's temples. “Time and Time Lords wait for no man.”

Mordred fell unconscious. Bambera got up, and so did Ancelyn.

“Ah, Brigadier. Before Mordred recovers, lock him up.”

“And while you're at it, lock up his mother, too.”

Once everything was set, the group returned to the Lethbridge-Stewart household. “Peaceful, isn't it?” the Doctor said.

“The silence after a battle, Doctor,” Ancelyn agreed.

“The calm after the storm,” Lilith added. She sighed.

The Doctor looked at her. “I assume this is where the adventure ends?”

The young Time Lady shrugged. “I’ve got times to visit, Doctors to pester, and Brigadiers to meet.”

“Until my next life, then.” The Doctor hugged Lilith and she hugged him back.

“Until then, Dad.”

Next- Mind Control: The First Doctor