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Post by Dominic Smith on Dec 2, 2006 9:27:29 GMT -5
Hello one and all,
I've put my fanfic 'Death's Lair' on hold for the moment and had a go at something a bit different. I've written a short story called 'The Last Soldier', featuring the Tenth Doctor. It's a short piece, told in five installments. Below is the first, I hope you like it.
The Last Soldier
Part One
It was a misty night in October that Alistair’s final visitor came into his small room. He had arrived nearby some time before he made his way into the giant building, but a twisted conscious had held him back, leaving him instead to sit by a nearby lake, alone with his thoughts.
Some time past midnight he made his way slowly up the damp and forgotten lane that lead towards the large stately manor house, covered in decaying ivy clinging on to the last of the summer heat. The withered leaves collected around his beaten shoes and as his lengthy coat fluttered in the gentle breeze, as slowly he reached the faded oak door at the front of the building and, taking a weary look over his shoulder, silently stepped inside.
*** All that could be heard in Alistair’s room was the rhythmic bleeping of the different machines measuring the elderly man’s heart rate, and from behind the door a whining noise issuing from the keyhole. Suddenly the heavy lock clicked open and the whining stopped, as the visitor pushed open the door and quietly stepped inside, closing it silently behind him. Slowly he approached the old man’s bed, and stood over him; glancing into his weakly closed eyelids. Slowly Alistair began to wake, opening his misty eyes that had become robbed of most of their sight, and eventually he managed to focus on the stranger before him. The man was young, with a short mop of brown hair combed roughly about his head. His warm eyes widened as his old friend began to wake and a sullen smile of love and grief spread across his face. Alistair began to panic, wondering how this man had gotten into his room without being caught, but as the intruder reached across his bed and clasped one of his hands warmly, he began to realise that he had nothing to fear.
“Doctor?”
The young man smiled.
“It’s been a long time, Brigadier.”
***
Let me know what you think.
Thanks, Dominic
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Post by Dominic Smith on Dec 3, 2006 3:59:27 GMT -5
Part Two
The Doctor checked the various medical machines as the Brigadier adjusted himself in bed, propping up his pillows and resting himself against them. The Doctor made sure he was comfortable before setting himself down on a seat by his old friend’s bedside. The two men remained silent in the dim light of the lamp in the corner of the room until the weary Brigadier took a troubled heavy breath and in a broken husky voice broke the silence.
“I thought I’d seen the last of you Doctor.”
His friend smiled weakly and blinked.
“Thought or hoped?”
The two men smiled. The Brigadier continued to look at his visitor with a muddled expression of admiration and nostalgia. The Time Lord simply glanced at the ceiling.
“Still rattling about in that old TARDIS of yours?”
“Just about, been through a few scrapes though, she’s getting old.”
“Aren’t we all?” the old man smiled. “How did you know where to find me?”
“We stopped off not far from here, there was a newspaper report about you, thought I’d better drop in for a visit.”
“We?”
“Rose…a new friend of mine”.
“You never could travel alone could you Doctor?”
“It’s more exciting with two.”
The Brigadier sighed and the broke into a cough, the Doctor poured him a glass of water and slowly he drank it, laying back into his pillows and drawing rasping breaths.
“How long have you been here?” the Doctor asked sadly.
“Just over a fortnight”, the Brigadier said quietly. The Doctor paused as his eyes fell to the floor; he blinked slowly and bit his lip.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m old Doctor. I’ve lived more years than I care to remember, stopped counting over a decade ago.”
“And you a maths teacher”, the Doctor smiled. The Brigadier’s eyes twinkled and he looked warmly at his old friend.
“My heart Doctor, it’s been beating too long.”
“I know the feeling”, the Doctor replied, and as he clasped the old man’s hand firmly a tear streamed down his dimly lit face.
***
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Post by Dominic Smith on Dec 4, 2006 13:45:40 GMT -5
Part Three
It was some time before the Brigadier spoke again. His lungs had begun to decay just as much as his heart and talking tired him greatly. Drifting off into and uneasy sleep he left the Doctor in morbid silence. The Time Lord paced the room back and forth, occasionally leaning over the old man to make sure he was still clinging on, his own uneasy breathing mixing with that of his failing friend. Distraught with knowing that there was very little left for him to do he settled himself down on a chair in the corner, the light of the lamp faintly illuminating his face, his eyes fixed on the bed.
After an hour had passed by the gentle ticking of the clock on the wall he slowly rose from his seat and buried his face in his hands. Pacing the room he ran his fingers roughly over his hair and let his arms fall down to grab hold of the bed frame as he came to a halt, and as the wind blew the ivy against the windowpane, he felt alone.
Moments later his phone began to buzz silently in one of the pockets of his long brown overcoat, and as he glanced over the Brigadier once more to ensure he was still okay, he took it in his hand and put it to his ear.
“You’re taking your time”, sang a cheery voice on the other end, rising above a distant whirring he recognised as the TARDIS console.
“Nice to know you miss me”, he replied wearily as he glanced over at the sleeping Brigadier once again.
“You said you’d only be a while, it’s been hours”.
“I shouldn’t be long”, he sighed and dabbed his eyes with his shirtsleeve, “You keeping yourself entertained?”
“Just about, there’s a Little Britain marathon on UK Gold, better than nothing.”
“Just make sure it’s out of your system before I get back, if you say “I’m a lady” once more, I swear I’ll dump you out of the airlock.”
A spurt of laughter rang in his ear like reassuring music and as he peered out of the window at the cloudy night sky the voice spoke to him again.
“Well just make sure you pick up my packet of Malteasers, I’m fed up of this alien stuff you keep the fridge.”
The Doctor smiled and with a hushed voice replied, “I’ll remember.”
“You alright? You sound chocked up”.
The Time Lord made to reply but a hacking cough from his side cut him off. “I’ll be fine. Look, I’ve got to go. I’ll be back soon, I promise”. He clicked off the phone and dropped it in his pocket, before rushing to the Brigadier’s side.
“Doctor”, he coughed as the Time Lord dropped to his knees beside his bed, “I’ve not got long”.
***
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Post by Dominic Smith on Dec 5, 2006 2:24:33 GMT -5
Part Four
“You know in recent years I’ve found myself rather missing having you around Doctor”, the Brigadier said after he had settled down once more, “My days have been too long to stand.”
“I’ve often thought about you, I just never managed to get round to visiting. You know me, always on the go.”
“That spaceship on Christmas day?”
“Of course”, the Time Lord smiled, “then there was the one that hit Big Ben”.
“How could I forget, I had Colonel Lydner calling me up to help with the staffing problem.”
“The UNIT line still rings then?”
“Non stop. But I’ve lived out those days Doctor, sometimes you just have to accept it’s time to let go.”
The Doctor remained silent. The Brigadier could see the anxiousness in his face and to try and relieve him he began to confess.
“All this started a year ago, been getting worse ever since. Doris swears it’s the old days catching up with me, says I’ve fought too many battles. Looks like she could be right.”
Again the Doctor was lost for words. He tried to think of a reply but in his heart he knew that there was nothing he could say to try and help. At last he managed to mutter a reply, now chocking back the tears.
“I met Sarah a while back, she’s still out reporting.”
“Indeed, she came to visit a few days ago, she’s not aged,” he smiled.
“She got me wondering, about the old days,” he paused and gazed down at the floor, “The ones I left behind.”
The Brigadier pondered and looked at him warmly.
“That’s the talk of a soldier.”
“Perhaps. But still I remember.”
“A guilty conscious?”
“Yes”, the Doctor said weakly. As he got up and started to pace the room again with great unrest. His voice began to break into dismay, the tears filled his eyes and his heart beat with the guilt of terror. “I left you. I left Sergeant Benton, Captain Yates, Jo, all of you.”
“You’ve nothing to regret.”
“But I do. I leave you. By choice or not we all part in the end and I can’t face going back. You live on, you carry on and in the end…” He looked around the room, the medical machines still beeping away; he couldn’t bring himself to say it.
The Brigadier spoke in a soft warming tone, as spatters of rain beat gently against the window and the Doctor sat down like a man defeated.
“This isn’t your fault, we all die…in the end. But when we do we know that there’s nothing to fear. You’ve shown us that. You’ve shown me that. Don’t dwell on the past Doctor, Just let us be memories, we don’t regret it and neither should you. Go on, show more people that there’s more to life than clinging onto a routine day after day, that there’s more to be seen than one man could ever dream of, that life is worth living, right till the end.”
The Doctor’s tears streamed down his face and then to the floor, and as he leaned forward in his seat, grasping the wrinkled hand of the Brigadier his old friend breathed deeply, and all went silent. Everything turned cold.
***
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Post by Dominic Smith on Dec 6, 2006 11:27:16 GMT -5
Well it's time for the epilogue to the story, I hope anyone who's read it has enjoyed it, it's certainly been fun to write.
Part Five
“TOP MILITARY MAN DEAD.
Early yesterday morning top military advisor Brigadier Alistair Gordon Leftbridge Stewart passed away. The ex-leader of top security organisation UNIT retired from service over twenty years ago but has remained a key advisor to the outfit, and has been called upon many times to aid difficult situations.
Stewart, who lived with his widow Doris in the country, has been the focus of a flood of tributes from many who have worked with him over the years. He died last night in the hospital after extensive heart-treatment following a heart attack last year. He entered cardiac arrest at around three o’clock on Thursday mourning, but by the time Doctors and Nurses arrived at his bedside he had passed away…”
The Doctor could read no more. His eyes filled once more with tears and as he set down the newspaper on the TARDIS console he began to set the ship in motion. The ancient engines roared to life, each groaning whine soothing his sorrow. Across the room Rose entered from the inner rooms of the ship, and stood by his side.
“Onwards and upwards”, she said cheerily, watching the central column rise and fall in sync with the engines. She noticed the folded newspaper and picked it up. As the Doctor stood in sullen silence she looked up at him. “Someone you knew?”
“A long time ago”, he replied.
“Hold on…” she said as she read on, “Sarah Jane’s in here, she knew him as well.”
The Doctor smiled and looked up at the column.
“We worked together, a long time ago. By the looks of it they’re all still around; Benton, Yates, Jo, Liz.”
“Do you miss them?”
“Sometimes, but they’ve moved on. They all do, at least they should. They carry on living their lives, and I come and go. Just a memory.”
Rose spread her arms around him and he returned her gesture. Arm in arm they watched the console do it’s work, as the TARDIS sped into the time vortex, away from Earth, away from the past, and off to face the future.
***
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Post by The Thinker on Dec 6, 2006 14:31:29 GMT -5
Let me know what you think. Thanks, Dominic Will do, but I thought I'd let you finish first. Anyway, I thought it was quite good to be honest. Very descriptive and...ooh...anyway, wonderful job!
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Post by Eryx on Dec 8, 2006 13:11:10 GMT -5
Nice. Quite the tear jerker.
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tractator
Brigadier
Currently reading State Of Change
Posts: 144
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Post by tractator on Jul 16, 2007 17:12:09 GMT -5
Not been around for a while so only just catching up.
Thought this was very good stuff. Very emotive and thought-provoking.
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