OUT OF TIME, OUT OF SPACE
By Carl Blessing/Murphy Slaugh
(Doctor Who belongs to BBC,
Murphy Slaugh and Rusty BlackMist Clydesdale
belongs to respective selves;
Ryt Sannys, Chessis, and Cheshire
terms belong to Synnastyr)

CHAPTER 1
THROUGH THE (BLACK) RABBIT HOLE

‘“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don't much care where - ” said Alice.
“Then it doesn't matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
“– so long as I get somewhere,” Alice added as an explanation.
“Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough.”’

I chuckle as my traveling companion, Rusty reads Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. We’re both sitting in chairs facing the open door in my TARDIS, yet safe from the vacuum of space due to a force field which is keeping an air bubble around us. The TARDIS is currently orbiting Cardoni, a huge yellow G type star, the sun of the Cardonix system.

Rusty, a 5’11”, 200-pound Clydesdale, dressed in a Dallas Cowboys football jersey, blue jeans and tennis shoes, asks with a Texas twang, “Where does Lewis get references to all of his creatures?”

Sipping at some tea while dressed in my usual brown suit, fez, bow tie and black shoes, I scratch one of my brown fuzzy Gallifreyan/European pine marten ears and reply in a slightly British accent, “I’m not sure. But unbelievable as it may be, almost all of them, unbeknownst to him, really do exist. You’ve got Slithy Toves which are found on Magalora II, Borogroves from Zenix, Mome Raths from Vanderbaal and Bandersnatchi from Alpha Stigorbia. All but the Cheshire cats. Well, I’ve been practically everywhere and every time, but I’ve never seen them. And if I haven’t seen them, believe me, they don’t exist!”

“Really, Murphy?” Rusty looks over at me and snorts loudly, raising one eyebrow. “Sometimes you are the limit. You think that you have seen everything that can exist in all of time and space, huh? Not even as a 400-hundred-plus-year-old time traveler could you see everything. They could still be out there,” he sweeps one handhoof across the expanse of space, “somewhere, undiscovered.”

“If I haven’t seen them, then I would have heard about them from the future. I’ll say it again, Rusty, Cheshire cats do not exist!” I emphasize the last three words with a one finger.

Rusty rolls his eyes and snorts again. “You’ll never convince me, friend.”

As we continue our discussion, the light from the sun seems to dim ever so slightly. Rusty, having better eyesight than me and glancing out at that moment, sees the change, tilts his head and looks with some alarm. Busy being deep in my thoughts, however, I don’t notice anything.

“You sure this star is stable?” he asks.

“Of course I’m sure. Do you think I’d have us orbit a star that wasn’t?”

“I seem to remember you telling me of the Cardonix system. Something you read about it in your travels to the future.”

“Well that was a long time ago. I can’t remember everything. I have a log book of it somewhere that I can look at.”

I get up and go out of the control rooms, coming back with an immense brown tome with the seal of Rassilon embedded on the cover and an ornate bronze latch securing the ages old book. I blow the dust off, set it on a stand nearby, unlatch the front, turn the pages gently, and start searching for the entry for the Cardonix System.

“Let’s see. Caladan, Camboriga (now there was a fun planet, just don’t ask for lettuce there), Canax, Capusar... Ah, here we are - the Cardonix System.” I put on my reading glasses and read the entry aloud. “‘The Cardonix System was one of the major civilizations of the Sivornian Galaxy until it was destroyed when the sun inexplicably became…” I pause, my eyes growing wide. Then I swallow and look towards Rusty, suddenly very frightened, and continue in a hoarse voice. “…became a black hole on the Seventeenth Day of Malistom in the year 2735.” I pause a bit and look up. “Um…Rusty, could you look over at the view scanner near you and read me the current date and time.”

Rusty runs over to the lighted control column, and whips the scanner (essentially a TV screen on a swivel) around. In a very dry voice, he says “It shows Seventeenth Day of Malistom. Year: 2735.” The last part comes at a whisper.

“Then we are in big trouble. Hold on!”

I quickly rush over to the controls and push the lever for the door, just in time to see the sun start collapsing. It’s a sight I will never forget…then, the door closes, and I frantically push a few buttons and twist a dial as the whole place goes crazy and rocks, sparks flying as controls burn out. Rusty holds on to the center column as the TARDIS is suddenly sucked into the newly formed black hole.

“Well, I’ve got good news and bad news. Which do you want first?”

“Does it matter at this point? Just give either to me!”

“Well, good news is that this is the first time this has happened, so you’ll be the first horse from earth to experience it. Bad news is that I don’t know whether we’ll survive this or not.”

“And this is supposed to be reassuring?”

“No,” I reply, “it’s just matters of fact.”

“Thanks,” he replies sarcastically.

The TARDIS groans and shakes, circuits flare and lights flash before I slam a lever down, trying to break free of the black hole’s gravitational pull. Rusty suddenly notices a button on the console. “Hey, what is this red Emergency Escape button?”

“No! That button will send us to who-knows-where-and-when.”

“But that’s better than being dead, right?”

“Well, no…yes…I suppose.”

“Then what’s the harm?”

“The harm is…Oh, very well then. Push it!”

Rusty slams a hoof into the button, the inside of the TARDIS starts getting brighter and brighter, groaning more and more. Suddenly, everything slams down and goes black for a while. We both hit the ground and pass out.

Sometime later, in the silence and the darkness, I groan and slowly put a paw to my head and sit up.

“For lack of a better word...‘Ouch’.” I get up and hold my head in my paws for a bit. Then I call out, “Rusty? Are you OK?”

I crawl about and stretch my paws out to feel for him. I brush a paw against his head, and lightly slap his face. “Hey, Rusty. Wake up.” He blinks and groans, then gets up and shakes his head.

“What happened? Are we still alive? Where are we?”

“I’m not exactly sure. Power is still out, but I think I can get it back again. As to our current whereabouts, well, I think we’ve landed on some planet. Let me take a look and see.”

I make my way to the column and flip a few switches and the lights come back on. I swing the display around and look at the space-time coordinates, and I stare wide-eyed at the results.

“What? What!?”

Rusty asks, “What is it? What does it show?”

“It just shows we’re in the Void, and, even stranger, it’s showing the time as Not Available. The Void? Time not available? We can’t be in the Void. That’s impossible. We have to be somewhere and some time. The display must be on the fritz.” I bang on it, but, outside of a flicker, it still shows the same.

I turn on the view screen and look to see if I can see anything outside of the TARDIS.

It shows us at the edge of a huge garden covered by an enormous plastic dome. A little further on is a tunnel that leads to another dome protecting a huge metropolis. Zooming in on the city, we see lots of creatures that tended toward humanoid felines wearing different styles of clothes. There were many different colors of fur, with various colored rings on their ears, tails, arms and legs. While shapes and sizes tended to vary, all of them seem to be very fit and agile. Every once in a while, one of the creatures would vanish, and others seem to reappear out of thin air.

Rusty and I both watch the scene for a while before he turns to me. “I don’t know about this, Murphy. They don’t look very friendly.”

“Oh, don’t be silly. Besides, we don’t have a choice now, do we? We can’t stay here forever. We have to get back to our own time and space. Come on and don’t worry - I get on very well with other species.”

I check the readings. “Hmmm…oxygen and carbon dioxide levels seem to be normal (though what constitutes “normal” in the Void I couldn’t say). And gravity appears to be just slightly higher than Earth’s. But overall, a suitable planet.”

Feeling more confidently than I should be, I straighten my bow tie, adjust my fez, clap my hands together and push a lever that opens the door. “Let’s go. Allons-y!”

CHAPTER 2
CAT-ASTROPHE

I step out the door and Rusty very warily follows.

I turn back and tell him, “At least we don’t have to worry about any linguistic barriers as the TARDIS matrix automatically lets its passengers understand and speak any language, though everything is heard in your own. So, let’s greet our new guests…well, it’s the other way around, but you get the idea.”

We look around at the huge garden. The plants are somewhat Earth-like, but with odd shades of colors, like purple and yellow, and slightly different shapes. I see vents at the top of the dome with what seems to be a filtration system. I reach into my jacket pocket, take out my sonic screwdriver, scan the dome and the filters, then look at the readings and tilt my head a bit.

“Now, that’s weird. The vents lead into the garden. You’d think there would be trees here to create oxygen, but instead, the plants are absorbing all the carbon dioxide that’s being pumped in.”

“Maybe these creatures don’t need oxygen?”

“But then where’s the carbon dioxide coming from? If they don’t breathe in oxygen, then how would they breathe out carbon dioxide? Well, that’s one of the things we can ask when we get there.” I shrug and we continue through the garden, and go through the tunnel. As we look through the transparent tunnel, we can see the land is barren and desolate.

We get through the tunnel until we get to the edge of town, behind one of the gleaming buildings.

Stepping out from behind the building, I smile and cheerily call out “Hello, as we say on Earth. I’m Murphy Slaugh, otherwise known as the Doctor, a Time Lord from Gallifrey. And my big, stout companion here is Rusty BlackMist Clydesdale from Earth. But we don’t hold that against him.” I chuckle from the joke that’s obviously lost on them. “We seem to be…” I pause because every head turns toward me and some of the creatures’ eyes have widened while others have turned to dangerous slits. “…stuck and need some…help.”

The air is filled with cries of “Strangers!”, “We’re found out!”, “Get them!”, “Call the authorities”.

I turn to Rusty, whose eyes are wide and he goes in a defensive position. “Hmm…very unfriendly crowd, wouldn’t you say?”

Turning to me he says, “I would say and I DID say, if you’ll recall.”

“Yes, well, now is not the time to argue. Now is the time to run!”

Just as some of them extend their claws and start to chase us, we both turn and start running back through the tunnel, but before we get too far, several of the creatures suddenly appear ahead of us. We skid to a stop and look all around us. Some have claws extended, some have fence posts, and others have various other weapons aimed toward us. Slowly, they all advance, evidently wanting to do us harm.

Suddenly, several of the creatures appeared in front the crowd. They were wearing blue uniforms of sorts. One of them turns to the crowd.

“Hold back. We’ve got this taken care of. Go back about your business.”

Then he turns to us, and I get a better look at him. He stands about six feet tall, and a very solid-looking 180 pounds or so. His fur was mainly brown, with some yellow and orange stripes. He has dark brown eyes, almost black, which were very narrow and menacing looking. His hair was medium length, but combed neatly. His uniform, oddly enough, did not look custom made, but seemed to have been modified to fit him. Like the citizens, he didn’t wear any shoes.

“You there. Who are you and what are you doing here?”

“Well, I’m the Doctor, and this Rusty. And who are you?” I ask, trying to distract him.

“I am Suo Yved, Third Level Silencer. I ask again, what are you doing here?”

“You see, our ship crashed on your planet. Well, not exactly crashed, but landed, sort of…ish. We’re from outside the Void.”

What’s that you say? You’re from outside Void Space?” He draws in a hissing breath. “Then, the outside world knows of our existence!”

“Well, no. Just my friend Rusty and I. Our method of transport is not one that anyone else could follow, you see.”

His eyes slitted and he growled low. “Nevertheless, you must be eliminated so our existence can continue to be a secret. No one outside Void Space must know about us.”

I wave a paw dismissively. “Oh we’re very good at keeping secrets. Besides, no one would ever believe us if we ever told anybody. Right, Rusty?”

He looks very skeptical but follows along. “Right. Not that we’re planning to tell anyone.” Rusty adds hastily.

“Oh, good grief, no. We can keep a secret.” I smile disarmingly at Suo.

“Nonetheless, we cannot take that chance. You will come with us. We will discover whether or not you are threats to be dealt with.”

Rusty leans towards me and, while keeping his eyes on Suo, murmured from the corner of his mouth, “I don’t like the sound of that.”

“Well, I don’t either, but I don’t think we have a choice,” I whispered back.

“No,” Suo said, obviously hearing what we were saying, “you don’t have a choice. Now come with us.”

CHAPTER 3
QUESTIONS AND…DEFINITIONS

They surrounded us and moved us through the crowd, which parted to let us go, but not without a lot of looks, both hostile and wary, thrown our way. We were led down streets which were very clean. No vehicles barred our way, but then with their mode of teleportation, or whatever it was called, and, stuck on a planet in the middle of nowhere (literally), why would they need any? I noticed that a lot of their clothes and items seemed…borrowed, like it didn’t belong here but came from different cultures. I mentioned this to Rusty, but he seemed more preoccupied with trying to find out how to get out of our predicament, his orderly mind going through scenarios and possibilities, and discarding them as each one appeared unlikely, given our circumstances. So, I decided to ask someone about it later on.

We crossed many streets and passed a few buildings, obviously heading downtown, until we came to a building with a sign that read “Security”. The doors opened before us, and we were ushered past a security guard, with a name badge that indicated he was Corp. Llagro. He looked at us with some alarm for a split second, then resumed his official demeanor.

“Who are they, sir?”

“They are strangers that claim they are from outside Void Space. I’ve brought them in to have them interrogated. Is Room Number Three available?”

“Let me check.” The guard types at a computer and looks at the screen. After viewing the info, he turned his attention back to Suo. “Room Number Three is available, sir.”

“Very well. Thank you.” Turning to us, he growled, “Let’s go.”

We all marched through the dark hallway, which was drab gray. Trying to be friendly, and to calm down Rusty, I said, “Very nice building you have. Nice and clean, but could do with a bit of color. I think a dark blue would do nicely. What do you think, Rusty?”

He rolls his eyes. “Um…I don’t think it really matters, Murphy.”

“Oh but it would help to put prisoners at…”

“Silence, you two!” Suo snarled.

We keep silent and continue marching on. We turn a corner and reach a large room with table with various machines, an intercom box and some computers. There are wires of all colors connected to them and leading down to some chairs. Suo opens the door and motions us to sit in the chairs and closes and locks the door behind us.

I look rather skeptical at what are obviously interrogation chairs. “Um, don’t you have any other chairs? Louis Quinze for me and a nice sofa for my friend, perhaps?”

“Doctor, sit down…now!”

“Well, really, Mr. “Third Level Silencer”. No need to be so officious. I’ll sit…but I won’t be comfortable.”

Other Cheshires arrive and grab Rusty while I sit in the chair. “Hey, what’s going on? Let go of me!” Rusty starts struggling against his captors, but I try to calm him down.

“Rusty. Rusty! Such commotion. It’s all right. Don’t fight.”

“But…”

“But nothing. It’s OK. The sooner we show them we’re friendly and can be trusted, the sooner we’re can find a way out of this…place.”

Rusty finally calms down, but gives a snort, showing he’s not entirely convinced.

Suo comes and attaches some of the wires to my arms and head. He motions to some of the technicians and they start up the machinery and computers. They start typing away and look at the screens, then one of them, a light brown Cheshire with white rings, nodded to Suo.

“Ok. I will ask you a few questions. You better answer me truthfully.”

“Truthfully? Always. I’m always truthful. Well, I say always, I am most of the time…unless I have to lie…which isn’t often. But I…”

“Enough! Just answer the questions.”

“Oh, very well.”

He looks at a screen near him. “What is your name?”

“Murphy Slaugh…also known as the Doctor.”

Suo eyes narrow. “The Doctor? I’ve heard of you before in our raids. Where are you from?”

“Well, depending on your point of view, from either a planet called Earth or the planet Gallifrey.”

“Gallifrey, you say?” Turning to the technicians, he tells
one, “Deniz, look into ‘Gallifrey’ and ‘The Doctor’ and tell me what we’ve learned about them.”

“Yes, sir,” Deniz, a white Cheshire with grey stripes, answers and starts frantically typing away. She looks through several screens before speaking.

“‘Gallifrey - constellation of Kasterborous. Class Four planet. Gallifrey was involved in something called…,’” she scrolls a few lines down, “‘…the Time Wars - a war with another race…the Daleks. Planet was destroyed in the war along with Daleks.’” She stops and scrolls through some more entries before continuing. “Gallifrey is home of the Time Lords. They invented time travel in regular space. They have the ability to regenerate, it seems. According to our records, the Doctor is a renegade Time Lord. It appears he stole one of their time machines and departed Gallifrey. He was convicted of ‘Interfering in Time’, and ‘Genocide’, but found Innocent on both accounts due to extenuating circumstances. He has been offered the position of Lord President on numerous occasions, but never accepted it. The Doctor fought during the Time War and was responsible for the previously mention destruction of the planet. And there are references to him on many planets…though accounts of his appearance differ.” She stops and looks back up at Suo.

“Time Lords, huh?” He looks back at me and frowns. “Why are you here?”

“Well, personally, I think that is a philosophical question. Maybe it’s to help others, but it could be…”

He gets angry and slams a paw the table. “Do not play games with me, Doctor! This is serious. Both of your lives depend on the answers. Why are you here physically? What brought you here to Void Space?”

Sigh “Oh, very well. As I explained earlier, Rusty and I were in my spaceship when…”

“Spaceship? What spaceship? No spaceship can navigate Void Space. There is no “space” here to travel through. And we are outside normal space. Not to mention we would have detected it long before it landed.”

“Well, I hardly like to spread the word…”

Rusty, hearing that, snorts and mutters, “That’d be the first.”

“…but it’s actually a TARDIS,” I continue, giving Rusty a cursory glance, before looking back at Suo.

“A what?”

“A TARDIS. T A R D I S. Time And Relative Dimensions in Space. It’s a time machine, but it can move through space, so I was speaking the truth…ish. In any case we were orbiting this one star, Cardoni. It is - or, rather, was - a Class G star. We were just minding our own business when the star collapsed into a black hole. I managed to use the emergency escape button…” Another snort from Rusty. “Fine. ahem Rusty pushed the emergency escape button. This caused the TARDIS to somehow escape the black hole before we got to the singularity, but only by escaping normal space and time.”

Suo raises one eyebrow, then looks at the readout. He calls out to the technicians. “Are you sure this equipment is working properly?”

“Yes, sir,” one called out. “Everything is functioning normally. According to what we’re seeing, the subject is telling the truth, however…crazy it may sound.”

“Hmm…well, maybe we’ll get more out of the Doctor’s companion. Put him in the chair.”

“No!” Rusty roars and struggles against his captors. He manages to throw a few of them off being bigger and stronger than they are, but sensing the futility of his fighting, I call out, “Rusty, no! It’s all right. They won’t hurt you. Will they, Suo?”

“No…we won’t hurt him…just yet,” he says.

“Good enough. Rusty, just go with them peacefully. Think of them doing a polygraph test on Earth. That’s all. Don’t cause any trouble. After all, where could we run to? Remember, we’re on their planet, in Void Space, wherever and whenever that may be.”

“Are you sure about this, Doctor?” Rusty asks hesitantly.

“Yes, as sure as I usually am.”

“Well, if you say so,” he replies and, with one last snort, calms down a bit, allowing them to lead him to another chair, and hook him up with sensors. Suo starts the process again.

“Name?”

“Rusty Blackmist Clydesdale.”

“Planet of origin?”

“Earth”

“Earth? But not also from Gallifrey?”

“Nope. Just plain ole Earth.”

Turning to the computers, Suo inquired, “Deniz?”

She types some more and reads, “Earth, also known as Terra, third planet of the system of Sol, in Galaxy X4J19, also known as Milky Way Galaxy. Class Three planet. Major lifeform there is human. Technology: negligible. They do not have interstellar flight capability.” She frowns and reads down before continuing. “It seems one of their kind, a Charles Dodgson (pseudonym Lewis Carroll), had seen one of us during a raid. After our scout returned, he notified us of his discovery. An advance force went down and took care of the discovery. We ensured no one would take Charles’ story seriously.” She looks back at Suo.

I look at him and tilt my head, frowning. “What do you mean Charles saw one of you? Who are you? And where is this, by the way?”

“Since our existence has already been made known and there’s no one you could tell, I don’t see any harm in telling. This is Chessis. And we…are Cheshires.”

“What? What!? You are the Cheshire cats that Lewis wrote about in Alice in Wonderland? Nonsense! You…you don’t look anything like them.”

“Like Deniz mentioned, we ensured his story wouldn’t be taken seriously. We got him on hooked on opium. While he was on it, he started dictating his story. We recorded his words, transcribed them, changed a few details and submitted them to a publisher under the pseudonym Lewis Carroll. This way, if Charles told anyone about our existence, then they would have been taken as part of a drug-induced dream.”

Rusty listened to our conversation, turning from Suo to me. He asks, “So, the Cheshire cat’s smile is a work of fiction?”

At this question, all of the Cheshires turn towards us and simultaneously grin at us…but not in a good or humorous way.

Rusty turns to me, a bit shaken. “There is that Cheshire grin, Doctor…though not quite in the way I imagined.”

“Yes, I have to agree, Rusty.” I suppress a shudder and ask, “So, how did your planet end up here in the Void, or as you call it, Void Space?”

“Well, the scientists could probably explain it a lot better than I can, but, from what I understand, we were doing some phasing experiments when our sun inexplicably went nova. There was something about a phase bubble and it interacting with our sun. The result was what we refer to as The Splintering. Something about this caused our planet to break up and be transported out of normal space. The travel caused everyone to pass out. When we awoke, we found our sun back as it was, and it and our planet were now in Void Space.”

“I see.”

“And now, I have a few more questions for your companion, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, very well.”

Suo leans down and looks straight into Rusty’s eyes.

“What are you doing with the Doctor?”

Looking straight back without any fear, he replies, “I’m a friend of his. He said we could see the universe and travel to other times.” He shrugs his massive shoulders. “I was just curious to see if he could live up to that.” Looking around, he says, “Never thought we’d travel to nowhere and at no time.”

“Are you part of an advance force?”

“From Earth? Are you kidding? You heard Deniz. We don’t have interstellar capability. I’m here alone with the Doctor.”

“I see.”

I pipe in, “So, since we’ve amply demonstrated that we are completely harmless and alone, we’re free to go, right?” I start pulling off the sensors.

“Actually, no. You still know of our existence. We can’t let you go because of that. Until we know what to do with you, I’m afraid we’ll have to keep you for a while.”

“What?” Rusty shouts. “But you can’t just keep us prisoner.”

“Oh, can’t we? Guards! Take them away and lock them up!” Several hefty Cheshires came, grabbed Rusty and I, shackled and chained us, and led us out of the building.

Though Rusty still struggles vainly, his strength overpowered by the many Cheshires, I calmly walk along with them, trying to make casual conversation. “So, where are our new accommodations? Is there room service?” But the guards do not answer and continue leading and pulling us along.

We go through several streets and enter a smaller grey building. Once inside, one of the guards, sign us in and talk to the warden, then lead us into an elevator that gets cramped with all of us in it. The lowest button, which reads B3 (which I take to mean Basement 3) is pushed, and I swallow, realizing that we are being taken deep underground. The elevator slowly makes its way through the shaft until it reaches the bottom and the doors slide open.

CHAPTER 4
RYT IN THE NICK OF TIME

Before us is a group of four jail cells, approximately seven feet by eight feet by eight feet. There are two cells on each side of a short walkway, each separated from adjacent cells by a thick wall. They seem to be furnished with a bed, a sink and a toilet. In each corner of the jail is camera, and all around the jail are other devices that seems to be aimed at the walls, ceiling and floor. I look at them but say nothing about them at the moment. We are dragged in and put in separate adjoining cells, the chains and fetters removed, then the doors shut with a clang.

Rusty, grabbing the bars that makeup the doors, calls out, “How long are we to be kept in here?”

“Until we can figure out whether you have compromised the knowledge of our existence or not. As for the Time Lords, we’re not sure what to do with them as we are aware of their regeneration ability. And though you’re just from Earth, you’re associated with them, so you’ll just have to share his fate, whatever it may be.”

“Gee thanks ever so much,” Rusty drawls, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

While they are talking, I examine the devices more closely. “Hmmm…Cameras for surveillance, I see. And is that a Bitarian multi-cellular frequency oscillator?

Suo eyes widen, then looks back at me. “You can tell that just by looking at them?” He looks over at Rusty, who snorts and shrugs.

“Don’t ask me. I’ve been with him for a few months, and I STILL haven’t figured him fully out. I don’t even know what this…bipartisan… multi-cellular whatchamacallit is.”

“Bitarian…not bipartisan, Rusty,” I pipe in.

Suo turns his attention back to me with a hint of admiration, and leans against the wall with arms crossed. “Since there’s no way of escape, I don’t see how knowing the info can hurt. What you call teleportation, we refer to as Phasing. We can become intangible for about 10 minutes. While in Void Space and intangible, near instantaneous movement is possible practically for any distance. The Bitarian multi-cellular frequency oscillator is something we acquired on one of our raids. It interferes with our ability to phase, which prevents us from instantaneous travel. With this being a jail, we can’t have our prisoners just vanish. Now if you’re finished with your interrogation, I have other matters to attend to. I’ll send an attendant along shortly with some food and water in a bit.” He turns and walks away.

“Well, I’ll have some steak, medium well, with potatoes and green…” My voice trails off as Suo vanishes from sight. “…beans. Well, that was terribly rude. Didn’t get the rest of my order…or yours, for that matter of fact. Well, I thought he was rude. Didn’t you?”

Rusty examines his cell with his discerning eyes, but nothing seems to catch his attention. There were no windows, not being this far underground. He finally sits down on the bed. “Doctor, how can you be so upbeat in a time like this? We’re stuck on a planet in the middle of literally nowhere and in no time and in jail for who knows how long.”

“Well, when you’ve lived as long as I have, you learn to take each moment as it comes. Sometimes it’s best not to contemplate all the negatives and just think on the positives.”

“And, the positives would be…?” He prompted.

“Well, we’re still alive. They haven’t executed us.” I decide not to mention the sonic screwdriver as I realize we’re being monitored.

“Not yet. That may still happen if they decide we’re a threat to the knowledge of their existence.”

“But we’re still alive for now and we get food and water. I just hope they do make good steaks here. I hate it when they overcook my steak.”

“Do you really think we will ever get out of here?”

“Well, I’ve been in impossible situations before and I’m still here.”

While we are still bantering, I look at glance at the cameras and see the red ready light blink off, then a few seconds later blink on…only this time the light turns blue. Then, a rather rough voice comes through the speaker on the camera. “So, you are the poor suckers that got locked up in here, huh?” a husky disembodied voice asks, then chuckles.

“Poor su…? Wait…who said that?” Rusty called out, hesitantly.

“A friend. I’ve managed to take over the cameras and loop the recorded film for a bit. The guards shouldn’t catch on for a while. “Right now, I’m trying to find a way of getting you out. But I can’t get in with those oscillators still working.”

“Well, I might be able to do something about that,” I reply and, knowing that our captors won’t notice, I pull out my sonic screwdriver from my pocket, aim it at one of the oscillators, push a button, and a hum erupts from it as the tip grows bright green. Nothing happens, though to the device.

“How did they miss that when they frisked you?” Rusty inquires.

“The coat uses Time Lord technology, Rusty. Pockets are bigger on the inside than the outside.”

I keep trying different settings until I find the right one and the oscillator sparks and shorts out. Then I aim it toward the others, and each of them give off a rewarding Spzzzt! “How’s that for irony? My frequency oscillator is oscillating the frequency oscillator.”

“What?” The disembodied voice asks confusedly.

Rusty rolls his eyes and says, “Just nod and say ‘OK’. It’s what I usually do when he tells one of his…” here he makes air quotes, “…‘jokes’.”

As soon as the last oscillator finishes, another Cheshire appears in the space between cells and looks around before spying us. He (at least I assumed it was a male) stands about around six and a half feet tall, had a slim, athletic build, and was wearing red shirt, and black pants and sort of a trench coat. He has brown fur with black stripes on his tail and ears, and a serious no-nonsense expression on his face. One thing to distinguish him from the other Cheshires was the shape of his ears, which were curled slightly rather than pointing straight up. We both sat up as his appearance registered on us.

“Ah, are you the one that was talking to us a while ago?”

“Yes, I am. I’m here to get you out of here.”

“Well, thank you. You mind telling us who you are?”

“I’m Ryt. Ryt Sannys, Silencer, First Class, Second Tier and I qualify as a Meddler, Fourth Class, Seventh Tier for the clandestine branch of the military. And you two are?”

“Ah yes. Forgive my manners. I’m Murphy Slaugh, AKA The Doctor. My equine friend here is Rusty Clydesdale.”

“Well, Linda told me that two strangers had been incarcerated here, but I didn’t believe her at first.”

“And this Linda is…your friend? Mate? Companion?”

“She is a computer, actually. L I N D A…stands for Linear Integrated Neural Diode Assimilator.”

“You named your computer ‘Linda’? What kind of name is that?” I blurt out.

Ryt’s eyes narrow to very dangerous slits. “A name I picked out for her. I got it from some science fiction literature. You have a problem with that?” he growled.

I smile innocently. “Oh, no. It’s a…a very nice name. I like it. Just doesn’t seem to be Cheshirish…or Cheshirese…whatever the adjective is for Cheshires. Seems more Earth-like.”

“Earth? You’re from Earth?”

Rusty emphasized, “No, I’m from Earth. He’s…,” points one hoof at me, “…from Gallifrey.”

Ryt looks back and forth at us for a bit. “Well, I have more questions, but right now we need to get you out of these cells and out of the jail. I can help you with the second part, but the first may take some time.”

“Actually, it won’t take any time at all,” I say and use the sonic screwdriver on my cell lock and it clicks. I then push the cell door open and it creaks as it swings outward. “Piece of cake.” Afterwards I go and repeat the procedure to Rusty’s cell. “Now that I’ve done the first part, how do you plan on doing the second?”

“Well, I have a plan that just might work.”

Rusty replied, “Might work? You’re sounding just like the Doctor.”

“Don’t listen to Rusty. We’re working on his lack of faith in my abilities. What is your plan, Ryt?” I ask curiously.

“I’ve never done this before,” Ryt explained, “but, I believe if I can hold on to you and phase out, then you should phase with me, then I transport you to my ship on the splintered side of the planet.”

“Hmm…sounds feasible to me. Besides, what choice do we have? We’re ready when you are.”

“Very well then.” He grabs each of our arms, concentrates, and as I look around, everything starts to go fuzzy, then fades into darkness, then darkness overtakes both of us and we pass out from the transport.

CHAPTER 5
DARK SAR-CHASMS

“No, don’t do that. You can’t die. YOU CAN’T!”

I jerk myself awake with this last shout, whatever dream I had slowly dissipating. Slightly disoriented, I blink and look around, trying to get my bearings. I try to guess how long, if time has any meaning in this place-less place, we’ve been out, but soon give it up. For all practical purposes, we seem to be in some sort of a spaceship. After realizing this, next step was trying to remember what had happened and how we got here. As I start thinking for a bit, the memories return. Rusty and I were in jail. Ryt appeared and tried to transport us out of there.

As I turn my head, I see Ryt leaning on a metal wall and gasping a bit, sweat drenching the fur on his head. Glancing down and to my right, Rusty is also slowly coming to.

“Uggghhhhh…” I suddenly close my eyes and hold my head for a moment, “…this is why I prefer travel by TARDIS.”

Rusty shakes his head a bit and gets up slowly, yet still faster than me. “Oh, right. Like we didn’t just experience this same thing when we first got here to Chessis…in the TARDIS? By the way, what happened and where are we?” he asks?

“In a secret base… pant …across the rift… gasp …where I was rescued from my… pant …execution,” Ryt replies while trying to regain his strength. I can see that he is weakened, but still holding on. He continues. “I phased us out before the cameras went back online and transported us here, though it took longer than I expected.”

I slowly get up and walk over to Ryt to help him up. “Are you all right?”

Ryt waves away my help. “I’m fine…just a bit exhausted from that attempt. I’ve never phased three people before, much less transported them that distance.” He wanders over to the medical bay and lays down on a flat metal table. As he does, a scanner moves back and forth over him, then bathing him in a green light. “Don’t worry, Linda is helping me recover. Anyway, Cheshires don’t normally phase out more than fifteen minutes, except for those who work in certain military fields. They can phase out for hours.”

“Please do not speak. Just relax. This will facilitate your recovery,” a feminine voice calls out from the table. Ryt complies and shuts his eyes. I can see his muscles relaxing after a few minutes.

“Who was that?” Rusty asks, looking around suspiciously.

“I am Linda,” the voice replies.

“Hmmm…that must be the computer Ryt was referring to,” I tell Rusty.

After a few minutes, the glow subsides and Linda scans him again. “Recovery complete. You are back at one hundred percent efficiency Ryt. You may get up and move about.”

“Thank you, Linda.” Ryt replies and opens his eyes. He gets up and stretches a bit. “That feels so much better.” He looks over at us. “Either one of you want to try?”

“Rusty might want to, as he is from Earth. I, being a Time Lord, have different internal make-up than either of you two, with my two hearts. With all due respect to Linda, I don’t really trust her to get me right.”

Rusty looks a bit skeptical at the medical table, thinks for a bit, shrugs, and then lies down on the table as well. “Sure, I’ll give it a go.”

“Scanning,” Linda states flatly.

While it is scanning, I take a moment to look around the place. “Hmm…interesting ship. How old is this place we’re in?”

“Species: Equine. Home planet: Earth. Records accessed. Recovery process beginning.” The green glow covers Rusty just as it had Ryt. Rusty closes his eyes and relaxes.

“From what Linda told me when she first saved me from my execution,” Ryt answers, “it’s approximately three thousand five hundred years old.”

I look quickly back at Ryt and blink a few times. “I’m sorry…but saved you from your execution? What was the crime?”

“Our Cardinal Law: ‘A Cheshire must never kill another Cheshire.’”

“Recovery complete. You are back to one hundred percent efficiency. You may get up now.”

Rusty gets up and you can see the energy in his eyes and his stance. Turning to Ryt, he joins in the conversation, which he obviously heard while in recovery. “So…let me get this straight. The Cheshires punished your killing another Cheshire by killing you. Or at least by trying to kill you. Isn’t that a bit hypocritical?”

This time, it’s Ryt’s turn to snort. “Well, I was a special case. I evidently was the first Cheshire to murder another one in a long time, even if it was warranted, or at least the first caught and tried. They will not allow a Cheshire who has killed one of its own kind to kill again.”

“What was the sentence?” Rusty asks.

Ryt stares at Rusty with a withering look. “Death by execution, of course. Weren't you paying attention? If you're asking how they perform those executions then the answer is by being thrown into The Deep, a split in our planet almost as deep as the planet itself. Before I could hit bottom, Linda rescued me.”

“I see. Let me guess, nobody knows you’re here. They think you’re dead, don’t they?” I ask.

“Yes. And I have no desire to relieve them of that illusion.”

Rusty tilts his head and scratches behind his right ear. “Are you bitter about their attempted execution of you?”

Ryt shakes his head. “No. What I…would have gotten, if things went their way, I believe I deserve.” He shrugs a bit. “What I am bitter about is the fact that, according to Linda, I wasn’t the only execution, just the only justified execution,” he explained.

“Well, this is all very interesting,” I interrupt, “but do you have a way of tracking my TARDIS.”

“Your TARDIS? What the heck is a TARDIS?”

“My time-machine. Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. Big blue box, 5 feet by 5 feet by 7 feet (at least on the outside), light on the top. We need that to try and get out of Void Space.”

“You’re kidding, right? A blue box is going to help you out of Void Space? That’s impossible. It’s not time you have to worry about, it’s space…which there is none in Void Space.”

“Oh Ryt, I delight in the impossible. Our being here should be impossible. Our surviving a black hole should be impossible. ‘Impossible’ is just another word for ‘improbable’ to me.” I look smug and smile while Rusty buries his face in a hoof and snorts, shaking his head.

Ryt tilts his head. “So, how exactly did you get into Void Space, by the way?”

“Oh, it’s a long story.” I wave one paw dismissively.

“Well, I don’t remember any of us being on any sort of schedule,” Ryt retorts.

I think about that for a moment then shrug and relate all that I know regarding the incident. Ryt, leans against a wall with paws crossed, one footpaw crossing another and listens attentively. When I finish, one of Ryt’s eyebrows raises up and he puts on a skeptical look. “That’s how you got here? Hmmm…doesn’t seem like much of a chance to get back. There’s only our sun here and there is no chance that it will go nova. And every Cheshire, including me, will try to stop you if you try to induce it to go nova. As far as we know, there is nothing else here, no other planets, no other suns…nothing.”

“Well, I didn’t do it in the first place, and I don’t go around making black holes. I use a black hole for my power, mind you, but the transit here has drained it somewhat.” I take out my sonic screwdriver and hold it close to my ear while I push a button, listening to the tone of the low whine coming from it figure out how much charge it has, and the tip of the screwdriver grows green. “Yes, it’s still recharging. Almost done.”

“Well, maybe Linda can calculate how to get out.”

“Why would you help us anyway?”

“Well, to get you out of here. Sooner or later, my government would decide you can’t be trusted and execute you. Being loyal to one’s people is one thing. Condoning everything its government does is another. You are going to keep our existence a secret, aren’t you?” Ryt’s eyes narrow dangerously as he growls this last part.

“Yes, yes. I’m a Time Lord…we have lots of secrets that we don’t let other races know. As for Rusty here, he can be trusted. I mean, who on Earth (literally) is going to believe him, even if he did say something about your existence…which he won’t, of course,” I add hastily.

“Very well, then. Let’s see what Linda can do. Linda?”

In the medical bay, one of the grey chairs swivel around, then the surface starts to bulge outward. The bulge takes somewhat of a humanoid shape, like the chair is trying to blow a bubble, almost. The shape becomes more distinct and slowly changes to a shiny metallic color that shows everything like a well-polished, but misshapen mirror. Head (but without eyes), arms, legs, torso all seem to emerge. The fingers protrude from the hands, feet from the legs. Finally a rough humanoid is formed. “I am currently searching the Chessis databases and video feeds.” Linda says in a soft, yet still synthesized voice. “It seems they searching for your…TARDIS, I believe you called it.”

“Well, hopefully the perception filter is still there.”

“Perception filter?” Ryt asks?

“It’s sort of a low-level psychic field that causes the object to be…well, not so much invisible, as just ignored. Like you see it, but you don’t pay any attention to it.” I explain.

“I see.”

“TARDIS has been found,” Linda announced. “Sector Five, garden area.”

“Hmmm…are you able to boost the signal on my sonic screwdriver? If so, I might be able to auto-pilot the TARDIS to materialize here. The Void Space is interfering with the signal.”

I put the sonic screwdriver in her hand. It seems to melt into her hand like it was liquid. After a few minutes of silence, the screwdriver reappears.

“I believe I have boosted the signal by seventy five percent.”

“Thank you, Linda.”

I hold the sonic screwdriver to my ear and push a button. It whines a bit and the end lights up, but then it fades. “Come on, not now.” I whack it against my palm a few times and try again, this time the whine is louder and the light brighter than before. “Gotcha!”

A few seconds later, a wind seems to blow from nowhere and a labored groaning sound is heard. Ryt backs up and goes in a defensive position, slightly hissing at the “intruder”. A light appears, followed by the rest of the TARDIS. But, suddenly, everything seems to fade slightly.

“No, no, no you don’t!” I push another button and aim it where the TARDIS is trying to materialize. The sound gets louder again, the light stabilizes and the TARDIS fully appears, then is silenced. “Whew, that was close. This travel through Void Space is really taking its toll on it.”

Ryt remains in the position, his muscles coiled and ready to attack. But I try to calm him down. “Easy there, big fellow. That’s just my time machine. I really need to put in for its 500 year or 12,000,000 mile tune-up one of these days.”

After a while, Ryt relaxes a bit. “That’s your TARDIS?” He looks at Rusty, looks at me and back at the TARDIS. “That is your time machine?”

“Well, it’s bigger on the inside than the outside. That’s Time Lord technology.” I look smug.

“Looks a bit decrepit to me,” Ryt mutters.

I gasp and look incredulously at him. “Decrepit? Decrepit!? This is the finest piece of time and space travel anywhere!” I approach the TARDIS and pat it affectionately. “There, there, dear. Pay no attention to the mean kitty. He doesn’t know you like I do.”

“‘Mean kitty’?" Snorting again, this time more derisively, "I was going to call it a rusted out piece of junk." Ryt turns to Rusty with one eyebrow raised. “Does he do this often?”

This time it’s Rusty’s turn to snort and he rolls his eyes. “You have NO idea how often. Sometimes I think he is more concerned with the TARDIS than with my safety…or where, or when, we land.”

Ignoring the other two, I turn back, give my sonic screwdriver a flip in the air, catch it and put it back in my jacket pocket. “Now we just need to find a way to get out of Void Space.”

“There’s no way to get out the same way we came in?” Rusty asks.

“Well, yes and no. If there was a black hole nearby, we could make a control entry into instead of just being accidentally sucked into it like last time. But this is Void Space. The only star is the one Chessis used to revolve around, and I have no intention of trying to make IT into a black hole.”

“But, didn’t you tell me that the TARDIS is powered by a black hole? Couldn’t we use that somehow to create…I don’t know, a wormhole or something into normal space?”

“Brilliant! Rusty, you are a genius!” I pull his head close and kiss his forehead. “That’s a wonderful idea.”

“I believe I can help you with that, if I may connect to your control systems,” Linda offered.

“Well, I don’t know if Cheshire and Time Lord Technology is compatible, but things really can’t get any worse than where we are now. Go right ahead.”

I snap my fingers and the door opens. Linda walks in, followed by me, Rusty and Ryt.

Inside there are a few lights glowing, some blinking, and a bit of beeping, but it’s definitely quieter and darker than usual. I kneel down, crawl under the console and push a panel open, revealing an input port. “This should help you get access to the controls.”

Linda stretches out one arm and it becomes a cable, which slithers over and connects to the port. She stands perfectly still as the connection is made and information passes between the TARDIS and her. After a few minutes, the cable retracted and re-formed into an arm. She turns to face us.

“A solution has been found. By using my teleportation ability on black hole that powers your TARDIS, we can create a temporary wormhole some distance from the planet that should get you back to your original place. I cannot guarantee the time you’ll get back.”

“Well,” I said, “that’s my cup of tea, so to speak.”

“Wait a minute,” Rusty interrupted. “What about the other Cheshires?”

“What ABOUT the other Cheshires, Rusty?” I asked.

“If they see the wormhole, they’ll know THEY didn’t create it as evidently they don’t need it, being able to phase and teleport. They obviously don’t realize he’s still alive,” Rusty points to Ryt, “so, they know we’ve gotten out. Won’t they be able to follow us? If they do, and catch us, they’ll just capture us again, won’t they?”

“Hmmm…a valid question. Any ideas, Linda? Ryt?”

Ryt thought for a while, then turns to Linda. “Can the wormhole be made just temporary? Or maybe kept locally so they don’t see it?”

“Yes,” Linda answers. “I can create the wormhole around the skin of your TARDIS so that it is undetectable. And it should collapse once you are through.”

“When can you have the wormhole ready?” I ask.

“Computations have already started. It can begin whenever you like. Once your TARDIS powers up, I will start the wormhole. Ryt, it is advised that you stand clear before it starts.”

“Well, then. No better time than the present. Ryt,” I say as I turn to him and extends one paw, “thank you so much for your rescue. Under normal circumstances, I’d love to stay and chat. But, your species being rather xenophobic and secretive and all that, I think its best we get going.”

“It’s been…interesting, Doctor, Rusty,” he says as he shakes my paw and Rusty’s hoof. “Just promise that you won’t tell anyone about us.”

“We won’t…we promise,” Rusty says as he shakes Ryt’s paw. “Who would believe us anyway?”

“True. Well, good bye Doctor. So long, Rusty.”

We both wave and enter the TARDIS. I look at the controls and toggle a lever. “Rusty, around the opposite side of the control column, there’s a green switch. Flip that switch, please.”

Rusty goes to the console, locates the switch and flips it. The lights come on, the column starts moving up and down, and the TARDIS groans and shakes, then things slow down a bit. “No you don’t, baby. Don’t give up now, we’re almost home.” I turn a few dials, and give the TARDIS more power. I turn on the viewer and we see the inside of the ship with Ryt a distance away. Then after a while, there is a bright flash and everything jumps, nearly causing us to lose our balance, but we hang on to the column. The brightness fades and stars are once more visible.

I check the readings and frown a bit.

Rusty looks at me with wide eyes. “What? Don’t tell me we’re in the wrong universe or in a different time or something!”

I look at him for a few seconds, then suddenly grin and chuckle. “I’m sorry, but I couldn't pass up the chance to see a true look of horror on your face. I was wanting to mention something like...oh the end of the universe or an anti-matter dimension or something like that. But, no, we’re approximately right where we started, but just a few hundred kilometers away, so we’re safe from the black hole. And,” I check the readings on the console, “still at the same year that we left.” I turn back to him, smiling with a twinkle in my eye.

Rusty gives me a dark look. “You have a funny sense of humor, Doctor.”

I look at him with mock innocence. “What? I can’t have a little fun? Come on, where’s your sense of humor? Anyway, are you ready to get back home?”

“Yes! Most definitely. In the future, can we not do that again?”

“Yes, well, we shouldn’t have been able to do that in the first place. And we really don’t want to go back there again.”

I twist a dial, ding a bell, and throw the main lever up, the whole TARDIS tilts a bit and we head off to Earth and relative safely. On the way, I think about the Cheshires on Chessis in the Void Space and wonder where they’ll pop up next. Hopefully, they will never see either of us, or the consequences could be dire. But, with all of the universe, and (for me) all of time, chances are astronomically small. And I silently vow to never speak about their existence…to anyone. I don’t want to end up…out of time and out of space again.

THE END