Date: Mon, 21 Apr 2008 11:01:35 -0400
From: J
Subject: DOCTOR WHO, JESSE AND JEREMY 83

The sound of rumbling filled the night air. New light came from the
reoccurring moons overhead. Stars filled the sky. A slight dirt storm rose
up as the alien boar, over 100 in number, chased Jeremy and Jesse through
the forest of bare trees and less bare bushes.

The herd of boar filled the land like a swarm of ants. The shaking ground
made Jesse's feet vibrate so much his legs felt the herd's movements. Jesse
yelled, "They're actually called sounders!"

As Jeremy ran he yelled over the rumbling sound, "Who cares, they're gonna
rip us apart when they catch us!"

The sounds of alien boar came after them and were closing in. The two boys
ran and blindly, although the reappearance of the moons in the sky gave
them a better view. They ran past the tree area and out onto a flat plain
of what looked like a different type of desert from the one they were on
yesterday. "What the hell now?"  Jesse asked as they continued to run at a
great pace, despite the darkness ahead. "We might run smack into a tree."

Jeremy gasped as he fled the boar pack, "The moons have come out again or
something. It's lighter out so we can see where we're running and
that'll..."

A second later, he and Jesse plunged into a deep dark hole! They both
yelled as their bodies fell down a deep, dark hole in the ground...a pit...



JESSE MCCARTNEY



JEREMY SUMPTER



AND...



DOCTOR WHO



83--LIONS AND MONKS WITHOUT LOINS, OH MY!!!



A small trickle of water from the pit wall dripped. It hit Jeremy's
forehead. Jeremy, who was asleep before that. It was full on daytime. It
was warm but not uncomfortable. Brilliant sunshine came down, beams of
radiant life, red, white, yellow...clear all from a now blue sky. Jeremy
snuggled deeper. He moved his back further into the soft but supportive
thing behind him. He wrapped his arms around ...around? Around the small
warmth that sat on his chest. It felt so warm and so nice after the hard
night. It had also rained a bit and some mud was on his feet, his legs, but
something...something washed the mud off and clung to him almost roughly
yet serenely. He felt looked after. He opened his eyes and crust was
there. He was almost blinded by it but he blinked it away. Something was
facing him. It had a big, huge, friendly face. Big eyes. Furry nose. Furry?
That could be some monster, he thought. He almost didn't care.  He awakened
in the side of a huge lion. The beast was asleep with Jeremy's body snug
against it. The beast's tail waved a bit now and moved in front of Jeremy's
eyes. He focused. A fly? A tail? From something behind him? Under him. Then
his eyes focused. The creature looking at him was another lion. A younger
one. In his arms was a baby. A baby lion. Jeremy's eyes went wide. The baby
moved a bit out of its own sleep and without opening its eyes, licked
up. It licked Jeremy's chin and up the right side of his cheek. Jeremy
blinked. He swallowed, not daring to turn around to see what was behind and
just about under him. He looked sideways with only his pupils, not
venturing so bold as to move his head from one side or the other. Huge pads
to his left, huge pads to his right. He was resting on, slightly on top of,
the crux of a lion's body.  "Nice baby, nice baby."

A voice called to his head, "Do not fear."

"I...you spoke to my mind."

"I am behind you."

"Is this baby your's?"

"Yes."

"I...uh, uhm, I mean it no harm."

"We know. Otherwise we would not have allowed you to sleep here. With us."

"Us?"  Jeremy turned. "May I turn around to see you?"

"Yes. You may do whatever it is that you do."

Jeremy turned slightly, holding onto the baby lion, who stirred a bit. He
swiveled to see the massive lion. "Are you the father or this cub?"

"Yes."  The telepathic voice sang out to his mind. "Are you the father of
the one with you?"

Jeremy heard a familiar light snore. He looked over at Jesse who had the
tail of the mother lion on his face, two sections of the very end of the
bushy tail separated. One covered his upper lip like a moustache. The other
section covered his chin like a beard. The lion was behind and under Jesse
so as to have him have a comfortable bed to lie on. Then, the mother lion
looked at him...and smiled. The lion smiled at him.

The other one, the one had been resting on, telepathed to his mind. "He is
safe as are you."

"Thanks. I..."  Jeremy smiled now. "That's the last beard he'll ever use."

"I do not understand."

"He used to use beards a lot on Earth."

"Is that the name of the planet you are from?"

Jeremy rubbed his arm, to get circulation in it, "Yes. What's the name of
this planet, do you know? Can you tell me?"

"We call it the Homeworld."

Careful to hold the baby in one arm now, Jeremy stood up, brushing dust off
himself.  "Thanks," he stared around as he dusted himself off and looked
from side to side and up at the top of the hole he fell down.  "That helps
a lot."  He looked at the father lion. "No. I mean it. Thanks for saving
both our lives. We wouldn't..."

"Holy Narnia!"

"I think your friend has woken up."

"What gave you that idea?"  Jeremy laughed, "Jesse, Jesse, it's okay..."
He approached his friend carefully. "They're friendly. They saved
our...saved us."

Jesse turned and looked behind him, the mustache falling off as the tail
moved.  The female lion laughed, "You gave me most comfort."

Jesse slowly stood, "I...uh, thanks...are you...are you a lion?"

"You can see that, can't you?"  Jeremy tutted, then turned to the papa who
he had been resting on.  Jesse rose carefully and as he did, Jeremy handed
him the baby cub.  He turned to the father lion. "On this world, your
Homeworld...is it normal for beings like us...with two arms and two legs
to...to communicate with the animals telepathically?"

"It was at one time. It is. It may not always be that way in the future."

"I don't understand."

"It is that way right here and now."  The lion father rose.

Jesse turned to look at the mother and she smiled at him. The one that had
stared at Jeremy moved to Jesse and nuzzled his nose on Jesse's left
hip. Jesse swallowed. "Do you want your brother?"

"No. It is good to have you to play with him now."

Jeremy smiled at the father, "This planet is strange to us. No offense."

"None taken. We couldn't let the boars of our world get to you. Those
bullies are in turn bullied themselves by others."

"We heard but didn't see them. We saw others. Cave people. Men. I don't
think I saw any women."

"Would you have noticed if you had?"

"No. Sir, you are quite perceptive."

"You may call me Agga. My wife Sart. My sons Bellow and Tibo."

Jesse bowed to Sart. Jeremy nodded to them all. "You have honor, all of
you. Thanks for saving...hey, did I land on one of you?"

"We arranged it," Agga said. "And don't look so worried, we are strong yet
soft for bodies such as you and your friend to land on."

"Then you are probably even stronger than the lions that live on our
world," Jesse smiled, putting the cub on his shoulder, the front legs on
his back shoulder and the back legs on his front. The cub nibbled, without
using teeth, on Jesse's ear lobe. He laughed, "Hey, that tickles."

"Sorry if we landed too hard on any of you," Jeremy said.

"We arranged for you to land safely," Sart offered. "It is our pleasure to
help weary travelers new to our planet and who run afoul of the many beasts
that populate it."

"Your planet. Does it ...like change a lot?"  Jesse asked her, turning back
to her.

"My dear, whatever do you mean?"

"Well, I dunno," Jesse said as the cub began to lick his ear inside and
out. He moved his head so as to avoid getting tongue in his eye. "First it
seemed to be a rocky desert. Then a kind of plateau or cliff after being a
hillside. Then it was a sort of petrified jungle and ahh, then a semi
forest of bushes and some trees. Then a different type of flat desert. It
had two moons vanish and then reappear...I'm so confused..."

"It does seem to be that something strange is happening to Homeworld," Agga
said. "We, too, are confounded by it."

Jeremy moved to Agga and put his hand to pet him, then thought better of
it. He nodded, "May I?"  Agga nodded his approval. "You're a great
friend. Thanks so much, again. Tell me, do you know...well, my friend Jesse
and I are looking for a friend of our's. He's traveled a lot to a lot of
places, planets, places, dimensions and other universes, that sort of
thing. Do you...have you seen him here? Heard anything of him?"

Jesse frustrated, "His name's the Doctor."

"The Doctor has been here," Agga said.

"What? When? How'd he look?"  Jeremy blurted.

Jesse came over to them, too. "Where is he now?"

"He's been here a long, long time ago."

"Oh," Jeremy dragged his shoulders down, disappointed.

"There are legends of him."

"Yeah, we're sure," Jesse smiled, "Probably saved the planet a couple of
times, huh?"

"More than that," the father lion told them. "More to wit, a stranger
arrived here not too long a time ago, also. The telepathic signals of his
were blocked from us. Possibly by the Monks that appeared a long time
before he did. The new one, the stranger may be staying with them."

Jeremy wondered, "What does this stranger look like?"

"I myself did not see him. The birds of the sky friendly to us, sometimes
tell us stories of planetary happenings in order for them to share our food
and water with us. I do believe he may be with the Monks that appeared on
the hill."

"Monks?"

"Yes. The old monastery on the hillside is now inhabited by monks. New
Monks."

"Can you tell us how to get there?"

"You want to go to them to see if your friend, the Doctor, is among them?"

"How long ago did he arrive?"  Jesse asked.

"It doesn't matter," Jeremy whispered, "He might have arrived thousands
years ago or..."

"The birds did not know. They guessed a few days ago."

"You see," Jesse affirmed. "The Doctor."

Jeremy grew impatient.  "Agga, we have to go there. Can you lead us?"

"We cannot go there ourselves. The birds tell us that the Monks forbid
animals. And just now our telepathic signals are distorted by...by a
something."

"That's specific," Jesse frowned.

"Jesse, don't be rude to him."

"No, that is permitted. There is something unknown to us that is happening
to our planet. We are not sure what it is."

"Maybe these landscape changes are part of it," Jesse guessed. "And I'm
sorry, we don't mean to be rude."

"Well, I don't anyway," Jeremy smiled. Jesse made a face but Jeremy nudged
him playfully in the ribs. Jesse laughed.

Jesse puffed, "Well, it could be the Doctor. It might not be. But we have
to go find out. Look, do you have any furs you can lend...uh..."

"We have clothes found in the desert," Agga said, "That can be worn by the
human types such as yourselves. You will need them to journey to the
Monastery in the South Mountains. The weather is very, very cold and
icy. We shall fetch them..."

As the lions moved off to get the huge fur coats, Jeremy whispered to
Jesse, "Monks. You know who I'm thinking of, don't you?"

"That old freak, the Meddling Monk?"  Jesse murmured. "It can't be
him. Besides he's just one person."

"Well, he's a Time Lord. What if...well, what if he copied himself, cloned
himself, or made more of himself somehow. Or even...more regenerations of
himself?"

Jesse nodded negatively. "No, it can't be him. He was put under arrest in
that elevator room by those blue boys guards thingo's on New Earth."

"Yeah but what if that was a later version of himself?"

"I don't know," Jesse nodded and rubbed his face on the baby cub, which was
asleep in his arms. "It's just...hey, I do remember him telling the Doctor
that he had more news about the Time Lords and Gallifrey. What if...what
if, well what if he was able to remake himself as the Time Lords? He could
be all the Monks!!!"

"There's a lot to learn," Jeremy stated. "And the only way to do that is to
go there."

The lions returned with the fur coats. Big huge affairs when dropped from
the mouths of the two parent lions, knocked both boys over.

The mother allowed Jesse to ride her while the father allowed Jeremy to
ride him. Jesse joked to Jeremy, "Not the first time I've ridden a female
but the first time I actually like it."

"Shut up," Jeremy said as the lions took the two as far as they could take
them. The landscape changed. The grass that they saw was soon covered with
a light snow, patches of it. The blue sky has given way to a gray
unfriendliness coating the horizon. Looming ahead was a huge mountain and
half way up was a huge monastery. "I can see it."

"Me too," Jesse said.

It looked, from this point, more like a castle city than anything
else. They could three towers, all dissimilar in with slight architectural
differences. The towers, although a bit larger looked somewhat like this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Prokudin_solovki.jpg

They also saw several gates and didn't know that some were out of their
sights. There were seven in all. One less than the amount of towers. There
were roofed and arched passageways, some of them with strange cult edifices
and statues of alien beasts and beings. Household living quarters seemed to
be missing but there was a gigantic cathedral-like structure to the left
side and a huge refectory area with half dome shaped windows, high up on
two of the tower tops, connecting the tower just before the points at the
tops. It looked not unlike this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Trapezna_lavra.jpg

The entire monastery was gray, brown, and brick. Snow laced across the top
of the towers, whipping past the refectory, as if trying to escape. Snow
that had already fallen on the roofs. For now, the snow had stopped.  It
all looked very imposing and very high up to the boys.



One small section resembled this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Mont_Saint_Michel_bordercropped.jpg

...stuck half way up a mountain and surrounded by even more structures and
buildings.

The one thing that struck the two most was the odd twisted giant knarled
tree that overhung the entire monastery. The crooked tree started in the
lower cruxes beneath the structure but grew thick and hard and tall, so far
above the monastery to look like a different mountain altogether. The
branches reached out sideways for miles...reaching out at the monastery as
if to either protect it or attack it. It was a creepy tree and reminded
Jesse of a movie he once saw.

"Talk about your trees from Poltergeist."

The father lion stopped and reared up a bit.  "At this point we must leave
you but the walk to it is not far. There is something that interferes with
our thought processes at this point. We believe it has something to do with
the Monks but cannot be sure."

The mother added, "We are sorry we cannot bring you to the doorstep."

"But if we do, we may revert to the manners of our ancient ancestors
and..."

"...eat us," Jesse nodded yes to understanding why they couldn't bring them
further. He jumped down off the mother. Reaching inside his fur, he took
out the baby cub, "Here, I think this belongs to you."

"He wasn't supposed to come."

"I'm sorry. I...I sorta forgot he was there."  Jesse kissed the cub's nose
and handed him to the mother who opened her mouth and took the baby by the
scruff of the neck.

"We should get him home at once," the father said, "Good luck on your
search for the Doctor."

"Thanks for all your help," Jeremy hugged the large neck of the father and
patted the mother before she left.

Jesse saluted them as they rode off. "Well, that was nice. A nice friendly
alien family for once. Makes a nice change."

"Let's get going," Jeremy nodded and turned.

"Are you crying?"

"No, what me? Crying? Of course not. It's you and the Doctor who cry the
most."  Jeremy turned to hide his tears from Jesse.

Jesse knew he was crying anyhow and smiled at that. He followed his lover.

The pair walked on and on. The snow, that had stopped during the ride,
began again. It was light and it was not accumulating. "Do you think they
were just scared of the place? I mean, I wouldn't blame them. I am."

"No, you're not."

"Uh, yeah, yes I am. I'm just going for the Doctor..."

Jeremy turned to look at him.

Jesse added, "And for you..."

Jeremy smiled at him for that and then turned but let Jesse catch up.
"They might not be telling us the truth."  He shrugged and put his hands
out, "After all, they are lions..."

"Haha, very funny," Jesse said as he put his gloved hands into his
pockets. The fur coats were warm. They also had fur lined boots and long
john type pants, blue in color. "You know, these jackets seem awfully
familiar."

"I don't think the lions are lying," Jeremy said.  "They're very sincere."

"Yeah," Jesse said absent mindedly, rummaging around in the fur coat
pockets.  "Look at this..."  he took out a flute, a
recorder. "Jer...e...my."

"It is familiar."  Jeremy took it and smelled the playing side. He tasted
it, too. "It...it has his smell all over it."

"Then the clothes the lions found in the desert..."  Jesse gulped. "They're
from the TARDIS...they're the Doctor's! That means the TARDIS ...might have
let these fly all over when it...it..."

"Don't jump to conclusions. We don't know what's going on here yet."

"But if these jackets are the Doctor's...they must have come from the
TARDIS...and if that's so..."

"They're in one piece so maybe he is, too."  Jeremy put his hands on
Jesse's shoulders. "Let's keep going."

As the continued, Jesse ran his hands through the pockets, "I wonder what
else is in these pockets? The Doctor's always keeping all kinds of shit in
his pockets."

They finally arrived at the foot of the mountainside. They started up it,
staring at it first to decide what parts were easiest to climb and which
ways didn't dead end on them. "Say," Jesse stated, "This is like the LORD
OF THE RINGS trilogy..."

Jeremy nodded, "Yeah without the long boring parts...or the talking,
walking ...."  He stared up at the huge branches that seemed to stretch
across the sky, "...trees..."

"Yeah, better keep the tree jokes to a minimum before we find out if that's
one those things that, like so many things on this planet, is also gonna
attack us..."

"That not funny," Jeremy said in his best Short Round impersonation. "That
way..."  They moved on upward, careful to climb rocks that they could cling
to or get a good footing on. They passed a flat topped area but from there,
the side of the mountain was a wall upward. The snow picked up again and
came down harder. They reached a flat open area but from there, the
mountain side went straight up with only cracked rocks and boulders to
climb up. The wind began to pick up also. As they made their way, a good
twenty five minutes later, they came to a hole in the side of the cliff.
Jeremy pointed to the hole, hoping for a quick way in.  "Hey, what
about..."

"Nuh uh," Jesse nodded.  "Who knows what kind of..."

As the snow worsened in intensity with the wind, Jeremy gasped, "Get back!"
Something large came out of the cave. The snow was so intense that it was
difficult to see it and because it's body was white. They saw large leather
like claws. The thing roared and seemed to rear up at them. Jeremy turned
and pushed Jesse another way but there was another roar. More claws, fur,
and a snow covered snout, dripping snot and a mouth of teeth dripping
drool. The eyes seemed to glow red out of the whiteness of fur around
it. Jesse gasped, "Yeti! They're the Yeti the Doctor's always going on
about!!!"  The two beasts moved at each other...with Jesse and Jeremy in
the middle.

Jeremy squinted, "Hang on a minute. Calm down...I think..."  He pushed
Jesse back to the wall of the rock face of the mountain. The one on the
side where Jesse was, walked past them on all fours.  The two met in the
middle with the boys backed to the wall.  Jeremy closed his eyes.

"They're going to fight!!! Like in those old dinosaur movies!!! One against
the other!!!"

"They're against the other all right," Jeremy opened one eye. "But I don't
think they're fighin."

Jesse gasped, "Then what are they....AGRGGHHHHH!"  He turned his head
away. "I'd rather they were tearing me apart!"

Jeremy opened both eyes wide, "You mean rather than each other's..."

"Don't say it, just don't say it. Let's get outta here while they're
f....busy."  Jesse ran off.

Jeremy watched and followed, snickering. "Hey, don't go too far from me..."

Jesse was making his way up a new boulder. Jeremy put his hand on his right
butt cheek to steady him. Jesse called back, "You keep doing that, we'll
never get up..."

"Speak for yourself...I already am."

Soon, they found a new niche upward but the snow came down heavier. "Where
are you?" Jeremy called and put his hand out. Jesse reached for it. They
were in a wide open area again, rocks all around and a cliff face above.

"I don't know! I can't see you! I can't see around me. Fuck! I can't see
me!"  Jesse yelled. He reached in his pockets and took out snow
goggles. "Jer, if you can hear me, inside your pockets are snow goggles!"

"Yeah, I got em!"  Jeremy said, "Keep talking. I can hear you. Just keep
talking."

"I just wish I was warm again. When I get the Doctor, I'm gonna so tell him
off and give him a piece of my mind... I know, I know, don't give em the
last piece. The last time I go tramping around time and space after him,
through the 1970s of all fucking places. Not something hip like the 60s or
the late 80s...mind you, I could have met myself if I we was in the 90s..."

"Fuck head, you were born in 87..."

Jesse nodded, "Oh yeah, right...can you see me now?"

Jeremy squinted, "No, but I can hear you. Keep spouting shit..."

"I don't know...hey, you were born in 89..."

"Yeah, yeah."

"You know of all the things we've never done, I didn't think mountain
climbing without a rope and hook would be..."

Jeremy came up behind Jesse and hugged him. They laughed. Jeremy took him
from behind and squeezed.  "Very good..."

"That was scary..."  Jesse gasped, "I thought I'd lost you..."

"Never..."  The wind hit them hard and threw them back, Jesse's back to
Jeremy's front. "This wind is picking up again. I don't think....where are
you?"

"Not again," Jesse yelled and turned into him. He hugged him, front to
front. "I'm right here!"

"I can't see..."  Jeremy yelled. "I think we'd better stay down until..."

"No, we should keep moving..."  Jesse yelled. They had to yell to hear each
other as the wind picked up. Jesse reached up for a ledge. "Give me a boost
up..."

Jeremy did so and Jesse climbed up. He then reached down and put his hands
out. Jeremy took them and Jesse pulled him up. They looked up. They saw
nothing but whiteness. "I thought I saw..."  The wind hit them and they
fell. They grabbed each other and knelt down. A full fledged storm took
over and the snow swirls hit them and made several feet of snow around
them.

In a stone walled room, two men in monk robes watched a screen, backs to
us. A voice, cold and hard said, "They will never reach us."

"They will die."

"It was-is-will be--- what they deserve."

The wind zoomed in on the two lovers. Jeremy and Jesse put their arms
around each other. Snow covered their arms, heads, back. Wind whipped
through their hair and snow and ice formed on it. Their eyebrows, even
partly shielded by the goggles, were filled with flakes. Huge drifts formed
around them.  Jeremy could feel his teeth chattering as he clung to
Jesse. Jesse shivered, "This can't be how it ends. It just can't be."

"This may be. This may be it..."

Whipped up by wind, more snow covered them.

A harsher voice. "What is the meaning of this?!!!"
Authoritative. Deep. Sounding not unlike Patrick Stewart from STAR TREK THE
NEXT GENERATION. "Are you trying to kill them?"  No answer. "NO answer!? NO
answer!? No answer!!!! How dare you! Stop that at once!"

"As you wish."

"If you wish it!"

"Turn that confounded contraption off now! You will not kill them! Not
them! I want them..."  the voice controlled himself. "I want them here. I
shall deal with them in my own way, in my own time..."

"...with all due respect..."

"There is no due respect. Murder is not to be respected..."

"Surely we...you...I...we've done it before."

"Not these two. Make sure they get here unharmed...if so much as a hair on
their head is harmed..."

"Your desires..."

"My what?"

"Your desire for their safe arrival shall be heeded...oh late one."

"Make it so."

On the screen the trio watched as the huddling boys were hip deep, still
kneeling. They had shut their eyes and were basically going to sleep in the
snow. Kneeling, heads in each other's chest, Jeremy's a bit higher than
Jesse's.

"They are practically dead already!!!"  snarled the Patrick Stewart voice
with a deep gruff sound.

"Give a moment."

"There...there. I saw one of them move."

"I should..."

"Do not worry. They are alive."

On the screen, Jeremy put his hand along Jesse back to warm him. Jesse
reached his hands further up Jeremy's back. He picked his head up.

"You see. It is a mistake to let them come here. Even now, they think only
of sex."

"They love each other, you imbeciles!!!"

The snow fall had stopped. The storm subsided. The wind died. Jeremy
cleared his throat and looked at his companion's lips. They were dark
purple. He put his to them and pressed.

"Is that love? Look at them. You make yet another mistake!"

"It is my mistake to make!!!!"  The yelling took it out of him.  "And
now...I must go lay down. If they are harmed, remember what it is I have
said."  The Patrick Stewart figure turned and, dressed in a white-gray
robe, walked out.

"What is it...he...has said?"

"I don't know. I don't think...I truthfully don't think he's said
anything..."

It took a few minutes but the two boys regained some feeling in their
limbs. Jesse had the compunction to jerk himself but he couldn't move just
yet. A few more minutes and they could move their fingers and toes
again. Jeremy cleared his throat. Both of them felt they couldn't
talk. Their purple lips started to move...

"What...the...hell?"  Jesse looked up and around. The snow had stopped
falling. The fallen snow seemed to be melting around their bodies. They
could feel the solidness of the accumulation beginning to soften, misform,
become water and even vapor.  "That made me really hard."

"The wind blowin the wrong way makes you really hard."

"I...I am."  Jesse shifted and the snow that was around him, on his back,
shifted with him, fell off his back and moved. He was able to stand. He
rubbed his gloved hands together and blew on them. Jeremy stood up, snow
cascading down his jacket front. As the spoke the white puffs from their
mouths continued. They took off the snow goggles and put them in jacket
pockets.  "I...am...I mistaken or does it seem to be getting warmer?"

"Naw, you're just hot," Jeremy joked and moved Jesse off of him. He opened
the neck of his jacket a bit. The snow began to turn to melted water...they
heard drippings of water off the cliff.

"I know that," Jesse said, in a matter of fact fashion.

"We'd better get moving again," Jeremy looked up, "Before the water melts
so fast, it knocks us off the mountain..."

Jesse put his hands out, "Leg up?"

Jeremy nodded and put his foot in Jesse's hand and was hoisted
upward. Jesse strained. Around them, the snow turned to water and then a
thin veil of smoke rose up. "What's happening?"

Jeremy put his hands out, leaning down on the ridge, "Just come on up
here..."  He pulled Jesse up and they laid on their bellies for a bit.

"We've..."  he puffed, "We've come a long way."

Jeremy turned onto his back, "And we'll go even a longer way...I have no
intention of giving up looking for the Doctor. Do you?"

Jesse turned onto his back and then rolled onto Jeremy's front, so that
they were front to front. He kissed Jeremy on the mouth, ever so deeply. He
parted his lips long enough to huff, "Does that...that answer your
question?"

"Yeah, but let's pretend it didn't."

They kissed again. Then, they stood up and looked at the monastery just a
few more rock levels above, it dwarfing them even those few levels above.


The two continued up the mountainside, the giant monastery looming over
them and the giant tree over that. They felt miniscule next to all three:
mountain, monastery, and tree. The sounds of dripping water filled the
area. They looked all around the monastery and this took some time. In the
last of their circling the domicile, they heard the dripping echo as snow
and ice melted from window sills of the monastery and rained down on the
cobble stones of a huge open area. There were vaulted walls on either side
with overhead domes but a huge iron gate had been open at the front of the
wide spaced courtyard which was within the walls but not encompassed by the
overhead roofs.

"It looks like it's been opened for us," Jesse pointed and nodded sideways.

"Looks like we have no choice," Jeremy frowned, "We have to go in. I mean
where else can we go?"

Jesse looked up. So did Jeremy. From inside, a hooded figure watched them
both. Curtains moved. A window held the hooded figure. Jeremy pointed
upward, "Hey!!!!"

"What is it?"

"I thought I saw a man at that window!"

The hooded figure stepped back.

"The Doctor."

"The Doctor?"  Jesse frowned, "That's pretty high up, are you sure?"

"Yeah," Jeremy said, then touched his head, "At least...I think...I thought
I saw..."

Taking off his gloves, Jesse came behind him and put his hands on the back
of Jeremy's head, "Hey, don't sweat it."  He rubbed the head from both
sides and moved his fingers to Jeremy's ears. He rubbed there and blew in
them.

"That feels sooo good. But we have to get inside."

"Okay," Jesse said. He looked up at Jeremy moved ahead of him.  Jesse
stared. He whispered, "Doctor, is that you? You'd better be worth this, if
you've changed..."


They moved out of view of the window watcher. It was the bald man watching
them. Jesse moved ahead of Jeremy, who hesitated again. As they passed
under the opening where the gate usually closed over, they noticed within
were stone gates, much stronger. These were inside the doorway and usually
closed over the iron gates from the inside. Water dripped down and caught
Jesse's face. He licked some off. "A planet of drips."

"I wonder what kind of people we'll find inside that live in this monastery
of drips."

"Drips?"  Jesse smiled as he lead the way, for a change.

Jeremy smiled, "What kind of drips?"

Jesse smiled, "The Doctor's people probably. From everything he told us
about them and everything we read on the TARDIS data bank, they seem a
pretty stiff bunch to me...and I don't mean stiff in a good way. In a
drippy way."

They walked down a long corridor which opened up and out into a huge stone
chamber, elaborately decorated and furnished. Next to them was a staircase
of stone with a thick vertical column that rose about five feet with a lit
up lamp structure on top, smaller versions of the stone column lining the
sides that held up the stone railing above. Another vaulted entrance led
into a higher topped roofed area ahead. Further down they could see another
vaulted half dome shape leading to another larger room. Beneath the end of
the "corridor" was another, smaller but thicker staircase with two other
staircases coming off of it at left and right. Above the ending of the
middle of the main staircase was a balcony with a small carpet like rug
hanging from a rod. On it seemed to be a huge Liberty Bell shape. Above
that was a half circle painting that seemed to show a yellow sky, a green,
yellow and orange desert with plants with silver leaves, apparently the
plants having mouths and opening them as if in song. To the left of the
painting were men in robes, tall ones, short ones and they seemed to be
offering their hands to taller white alien creatures. Behind them was a
great orange tree. Jesse and Jeremy walked past taller columns than the
ones on the steps to their right. These columns went to the ceiling which
curved, also held windows, and was dark in nature, despite the hanging
light circles from above.

(Some of this can be seen in DOCTOR WHO-REGENERATION by Phillip Segal on
page 72)

"What's with the color orange on this planet?"  Jesse shrugged, annoyed by
the color and the reverence shown to it.

Jeremy kept walking but said, "You know, this looks vaguely familiar..."

"What? Next you'll be telling me, you've been here before?"

"No, not really but someplace just like it."

"I've never been."

Jeremy turned to him and looked at him, "The TARDIS then. Remember, that
short stop over we had..."

"Where?"

"The Doctor was most annoyed...."

"As I am now," Jesse looked around and stopped walking, having once again
passed up Jeremy. He turned back to him.



The TARDIS appeared after a long groaning, grinding sound. The door creaked
as it opened up fast. The Doctor came barreling out. He wore a floppy hat
this time, a long cardigan sweater of brown patches on the sleeves, black
and gray as the main colors. He also wore a long, multi colored scarf. "Why
are you wearing those?"  Jeremy came out of the TARDIS with him.

"It's supposed to be cold where I...oh bloody hell!"

"What's wrong?"  Jeremy asked.

"The Ship, it did it again! Bloody hell, this isn't where I want to be!!!"

"The Ship? You mean TARDIS?"

"THE TARDIS, yes!"  He whirled, "C'mon back inside!!!"

"No," Jeremy turned back to him as the Doctor moved to the doors.

"What?"  The Doctor asked.

"Why are you wearing those clothes?"

"For old time's sake. Sometimes it pays to go back to one's roots and I
thought this time..."

"You've been here before?"

"Yes and it's bloody boring...BORING...BORING!"  The Doctor spat, "Now back
inside before I really lose my temper! C'mon!"

"But where is it?"  Jeremy asked.

"The blood boring Utah State Capital Building in Salt Lake City!!!! Of all
the places to see and go to and enjoy this IS NOT ONE OF THEM!!! DAMN IT
ALL TO BLOODY HELL!!!"

"I quite like it," Jeremy looked up, "The architecture's incredible, the
place clean, the floors are marble and waxed...it's beautiful..."

The Doctor considered what Jeremy had said and turned, "Huh?"  He made some
sounds as if he were detecting something. "It's not," he hissed, "Not where
I want to be!"  He stormed at the TARDIS doors again and as Jesse was
making his way out...

Jesse said, putting on a scarf and a cowboy hat, "Sorry I took so
long...I...waaaaa!"

"Get inside! Don't bother with that boring place! Inside I say! Boring,
boring, boring! Like Anthony Quayle! It can go on forever!"

"Doctor," Jesse's voice echoed from inside, "Take your hands off me!!!"

Jeremy smiled and looked around. He heard the TARDIS start to take off. He
turned to it and raised one side of his lip. He put his hands in his
pockets. "Doctor..." he said, patronizingly.

"Jesse, take that ridiculous get up off!"

"Look who's talking, lookatwhat you're wearing. Besides, I have nothing on
underneath..."

"Since when did that stop you. You naked, I don't mind. I want your clothes
off now!"

"You're acting crazy," Jesse said, "Even for you..."

The Doctor snarled.

Jeremy moved to the door. The Doctor stuck his head out, the hat fell off.
Jeremy picked it up and fumbled it from hand to hand. "Are you coming or
not!?!"

"Why are you so bad tempered? Even for you, this is over the top bad
tempered..."

"Very funny! Get in!"  The Doctor came out bodily again and fully.

"Wait but..."

"If you wait any longer, they'll come and let them! LET THEM! LET THEM! LET
THEM! GO ON! LET THEM! They'll ask me to put my hands up, point their guns
at me, arrest me and accuse me...it's just better to avoid any
questions....all that boring stuff I've been through a hundred times over!
LET THEM!!!"

"In Utah?"  Jeremy pointed the hat at the Doctor.

"Yes, even for them they're taking a long time to do all that guffle."

"Okay, I don't want to get arrested," Jeremy moved to the door, "They must
have us on security cameras that have seen us, though..."

"After all that trouble in 2782, I set the TARDIS disabler to disable
anything like that before we landed..."

"You're amazing," Jeremy put his nose to the Doctor's shoulder, having to
lower himself to the shorter Doctor's level. He rubbed on the Doctor's
shoulder.

"I know," the Doctor intoned loudly and then added, much more quietly, "If
it works," and much more loudly, "...NOW, can we go..."

"That rhymes," Jeremy said, moving into the doors again. "Are you mad
because it's not where you want to be? Did you think we were going
someplace else?"

"Don't trouble your pretty little blond head about it another moment,
Barbarella," the Doctor took another look and pushed him inside.

Jeremy put the hat on himself. "Okay..."

The Doctor took a long look outside before slamming the doors shut. The
TARDIS took off, shooting like a rocket at the roof, vanishing before
hitting it and zooming off into outer space, reappearing on the other side
of the roof. It went into space and then into the time vortex.



"Yeah," Jesse said, "I remember that now. I didn't get even a brief glimpse
as to what's out there. I didn't get a chance, did I? He rushed me inside
so fast...so what are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking," Jeremy ushered Jesse to start walking again, "...I'm
thinking that this is the place, the planet the Doctor thought we had
landed on. Either the state capital Utah is patterned after this place
or..."

Jesse broke in, "I see...or these aliens know about Earth, saw the Utah
State Capital and liked it so much, they made this part of their monastery
just like it."

"It's not just Utah. Not just this room. The whole outside reeks of
different Earth styles. Not just one either."

"Yeah, it looked like parts of Italian, Greek, Asian..."  Jesse agreed.
"Almost as if they saw and used different bits of Earth styles..."

"They must have watched Earth for years," Jeremy added. As they reached the
end where the triple steps were, Jeremy found himself blocked by Jesse
putting up his arm and hand to his chest. The pair started up the first few
steps.

Hundreds of men in robes, all different colors, different styles, came down
the steps. Several wore only the flowers called chrysanthemums, themselves
all different colors. Jesse strained to see if the men's dicks stuck out of
the flowers at their crotches and found none. Perhaps these poor saps were
all dickless aliens. All seemed to be between the ages of 25 and 60. Most
but not all were bald. Jeremy thought the ones with hair seemed be wearing
wigs. A long black haired member seemed to be from 1727 dressed in the
style of a French nobleman (and not unlike one of the Clockwork Men in THE
GIRL IN THE FIREPLACE). Others seemed to be generic monks, bald, looking
like they stepped out of the original KUNG FU tv series. Yet others wore
robes and hoods.

"Run?"  Jesse asked.

"No, not this time. Stand your ground."  Jeremy murmured to him.

"We're here to see the Doctor."  Jesse stated loudly. "Is he here?"

"No, and we want you to leave. Outsiders are not welcome here."  Jeremy
squinted at the monks nearest him. They seemed to be ...wearing make up.

They couldn't tell which of the monks said this. They backed up a bit as
the monks reached them.  Jesse moved Jeremy back down the first few steps
they had started up. Jesse looked behind them, "Jeremy!"

Behind him, from the first staircase of stone and marble, came more monks,
of the same type of groupings they had seen with the first group. "We're
surrounded..."  Jeremy turned to look at them.

Jesse grabbed his arms, "Perhaps we were wrong. Maybe we're invading their,
I dunno, their sanctities."

"Sanc--tit--titties?"

"No, their sanctitude..."  Jesse shook his head.

The monks surrounded them. "Leave..."

"I want them to have a room here!"  A commanding voice boomed. "I insist
they get some rest before we turn them out!!!"

"Who's that?"  Jeremy turned to look at the first staircase.

Monks were shoulder to shoulder with each other...and with the two
stars. "We cannot allow that. We cannot allow them to live..."

"What???"  Jesse turned around to find out which one of them said that,
"Which one of you threatened us? Who said that?"

"They will not be allowed to live..."

"Live..."

"Jeremy, look!"  Jesse pointed to a bald man who was taller than most of
the monks. The monks from the first staircase were crowding into him as he
tried to protest. They crowded him down the steps but then away from Jesse
and Jeremy. Some of the crowd of monks filled the area between the crowd
with the bald man...Patrick Stewart...and Jesse and Jeremy. Jesse jumped
over two of the monks' arms that held him away from the man, "Is that the
Doctor??? Jeremy, I think that one's the Doctor...."

The impassive faces of the monks came closer and closer....hands out..."You
will not be allowed to live..."

"Doctor!!!!"  Jeremy and Jesse both yelled... "Doctor!"

"They must be allowed to live!"  The Patrick Stewart Doctor yelled.

"Doctor!!!!"

The eyes of the monks filled Jesse and Jeremy's vision as they were
completely pressed by the throng

"...not allowed to live..."



NEXT TIME...



Jeremy and Jesse run through an old monastery. Jesse opens a door and a man
inside had on a hood. "Doctor?!!! Is it you...it's me, Jesse..."

Voice: I don't know any Jesse...

Jesse: (trying to turn the brass door knob): They've locked me in!

Jeremy: Tie these bed ropes around me...

Jesse: Shouldn't we do that later, when we're alone in the same bed...

Jeremy: Doctor, I will find you if...( He's out on a ledge climbing on the
outside of a huge monastery) it's the last thing I do...

Jesse: Jeremy, get back inside the monastery!!!!

A giant reptilian bird monster flies at him, screeching!!!! Jeremy
screams!!!