The Littlest Timelord: The Death of the Doctor

Chapter 29

"What?" Amy snapped.

"I'm kidding." He turned to Rita and made a telephone gesture, mouthing, "We'll talk." The Doctor turned to the alien. "I take it from the pathological compulsion to surrender, you're from Tivoli."

"Yes. The most invaded planet in the galaxy. Our anthem is called Glory To Insert Name Here. I'm Gibbis, by the way."

"You with the face, Howie, you said you were surprised to be back in reception."

"The walls move. Everything changes," Howie explained.

"You, clever one. What's he talking about?"

"The corridors twist and stretch. Rooms vanish and pop up somewhere else. It's like the hotel's alive," Rita told him.

The Doctor walked over to the radio and turned the music off. "That's quite enough of that."

"Yeah, and it's huge, with, like, no way out," Howie said.

"Have you tried the front door?" Rory asked.

"No. In two days it never occurred to us to try the front door. Thank God you're here," Rita deadpanned, causing Amy to laugh.

The Doctor soniced the doors before opening them. "They're not doors, they're walls. Walls that look like doors. Door-walls, if you like, or dwalls. Woors even, though you'd probably got it when you said they're not doors. I mean, the windows are..." He pulled back the curtain to reveal more bricks. "Right, big day if you're a fan of walls."

"It's not just that. The rooms have...things in them," Rita said.

"Things? Hello! What kind of things?" the Doctor asked, "Interesting things? I love things, ask anyone."

"Bad dreams."

"Well, that killed the mood. How did you get here?"

"I don't know. I'd just started my shift. I must have passed out, because suddenly I was here."

"I was blogging. Next thing, this," Howie said.

"Oh, I was at work. I'm in Town Planning. We're lining all the highways with trees so invading forces can march in the shade," Gibbis explained, "Which is nice for them."

"So, what have we got? People snatched from their lives and dropped into an endless, shifting maze that looks like a 1980s hotel with bad dreams in the bedrooms." The Doctor took a Rubik's cube from his pocket and tossed it. "Well, apart from anything else, that's just rude."

They made their back down to the first floor landing.

"We'll pop back to the TARDIS, I'll do a planet-wide diagnostic sweep, and then we'll have a sing song," the Doctor told them.

They stopped when they realized the TARDIS was gone.

"Where's the TARDIS? You parked it there, didn't you?" Amy asked.

"What's a TARDIS?" Howie asked.

"Our way out. And it's gone," Rory said.

Elise opened her mouth to say something, but the Doctor hushed her again.

Suddenly, the radio started up again.

"Okay, this is bad. At the moment, I don't know how bad, but certainly we're three buses, a long walk and eight quid in a taxi from good," the Doctor said pacing, "Are there any more of you?"

"Joe. But he's tied up right now," Rita said.

"Doing what?"

"No, I mean he's tied up right now."