‘The Two Sarah Janes’

‘THE TWO SARAH JANES’

By Tim Bradley

Featuring the Fourth Doctor, Private James Darby and Sarah Jane Smith.

Set between ‘Lady and the Soldier’ and ‘The Face of Evil’.

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For Timelord007 and Elisabeth Sladen

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Night-time! It was pretty stormy. I felt the cold rain on my skin.

I didn’t know how I had got here and what planet I was on. All I knew was; I had to find shelter. The Doctor wasn’t even around. Where was he when you needed him? Last thing I remembered was being in the TARDIS. We were on our way to 21st century Earth in our home universe. I was hoping to find Lady Christina – the love of my life. Or rather she would be the love of my life! Instead, I found myself here, on a rocky cliff-top where thunder and lightning echoed in the air. I’m sure the thunder and lightning was getting worse. It was like being in one of those Hammer Horror films I used to watch when I was a kid. Good old Hammer Horrors. Though I’d rather watch one of them and not be in one of them.

“Doctor! Doctor!” I called out loud. There was no response. I even shouted, “Bazooie! Bazooie, where are you, you little mite?”

There was no response from the Miggie either. Like the Doctor, he wasn’t around. I was alone – cold, wet and fed up. I wondered if the rain was drowning out my words as I trudged on. The storm seemed to be getting worse by the minute.

Eventually, I heard someone cry out in distress. It was a female voice. A delightfully pleasant female voice at that. Not like Lady Christina’s, but still pleasant.

“Help! Help!” the voice cried out. “Is anyone there? Please help me!”

I ran to follow the sound of the woman’s voice. I wondered where it was coming from.

“Hello,” I called out. “Who’s there? Where are you? I can’t see you!”

“I’m down here,” the voice answered. “Dangling from a cliff. Please help me!”

A cliff! The woman in distress was dangling from a cliff?! I had to find her! I had to, or else my name wasn’t Private James Darby!

I soon found the cliff where the woman was dangling from. She was a young thing, dark haired and quite pretty. She wore a white outfit of some kind. At present, she was terrified.

“Help me,” she cried. “Please! Help me to get back up onto firm ground!”

“Hang on a minute,” I replied, getting down on my hands and knees as I reached out to her. “Take my hand!”

The woman gradually took my right hand and I held it tight.

“Right, give me your other hand and I’ll pull you up. Don’t worry, I’m quite strong.”

The woman seemed nervous. She shouldn’t be. Eventually she gave me her other hand and I took it, attempting to pull her up. There was a moment where we both lost our balance. She screamed and I saw rocks falling down from the cliff where she dangled.

“Don’t look down!” I called out to her. “Just keep looking at me!”

The woman looked at me. She was pretty terrified.

“That’s right,” I reassured her. “Now, we’re going to do this in one go. I’ll pull you up and you’ll be back on firm ground. Okay?”

The woman shook her head vigorously, unable to speak.

“Okay,” I said satisfied. “Now, on the count of three, I’ll pull you up.” I didn’t need to check with her if that was okay. She got the idea. It was lucky for me I was able to concentrate, despite the pouring rain and harsh wind.

With that, I counted, “One, two, three…”

And then, with all my might, I pulled her up. She screamed a bit, but it was soon over. Once I had got her on firm ground, I took her a few metres away from the cliff-top. We thankfully got under what I considered to be shelter, though there were drips of rainwater coming down above our heads.

Under our shelter, the woman breathed deeply and sighed with relief. She was also laughing. Hysterical laughter I think it was. I eventually laughed with her. I think we must have been very relieved that we were both safe and all in one piece.

“I don’t know who you are,” the young woman said, “but you saved my life. I never thought I’d be so pleased to see anyone.”

“It’s my pleasure,” I said modestly. “Anything I can do to help a young lady in distress.”

“Oh thank you, kind sir,” she said. “Though, I usually am capable of looking after myself.”

“I don’t doubt it,” I told her. “How did you end up dangling from the cliff in the first place?”

“I was just walking along trying to find my way out of this place,” she explained. “With all the rain and wind, I somehow slipped and ended up dangling from the cliff. Could have happened to anyone.”

“Indeed, no doubt.”

“Look, it’s all very well you saving me like this. But do you think we could get out of this hellish storm? I could do with some warm clothes and a warm fire somewhere.”

“There must be some way out of this place. If we walk close to these walls, we might come across an exit.”

“That would be ideal,” the young woman said. “Sorry, I didn’t get your name. I’d like to know who my saviour is.”

Ah yes! Introductions. I cleared my throat and said, “Darby. Private James Darby. Of the Seventh Division of Space Fleet 920.”

“Ooh, how grand,” she remarked. “You’d do well being one of the U.N.I.T. boys.”

I was puzzled. U.N.I.T. boys? I shook the thought out of my head. “And you are?”

The young woman smiled. She had a nice smile. Then she answered, “My name is Sarah. Sarah Jane Smith.”

And suddenly, she vanished!

---

Or rather, I vanished. I think that’s what happened. One minute, I was standing facing Sarah Jane in the cold storm out in the open on a cliff-top. The next minute, I was enveloped in a bright white light and ended up here. In a corridor! Fire-lit torches were situated along the walls. Taking in my surroundings, I came to the conclusion that I was in a castle. It must have been a castle. As well as the fire-lit torches, there were also shields and swords on display. The wall’s stonework was also a good indicator. How did I end up here? At least it was warmer than being outside in the wind and rain.

Carefully, I walked along the corridor. As I walked, I heard the pouring rain and the harsh wind echo outside. The storm was still happening whilst I was inside the castle-like building. And that dear young woman I had just met, Sarah Jane, must still be out there. She was wet and cold whilst I was in here getting warm and dry. I wondered what was going on. How did I end up in this corridor? If only the Doctor was around. He’d be able to explain things.

Just then, I heard someone call out, “Hello! Is someone out there? Luke, Rani, Clyde? Are you there?”

I made my way forward, getting closer to the sound of that voice. It sounded familiar. It was also female.

“Hello,” I replied. “Who’s that? Where are you?”

“I’m in a gaol cell. Please let me out of here.”

Gaol cell! I must be down in the dungeons then. I walked a little faster, trying to follow the female voice as she spoke. As I progressed forward, there was less light in the corridor. I was moving away from the fire-lit torches on the wall. I stopped for a moment.

“I can’t see you,” I called out. “It’s quite dark in here.”

Suddenly, I felt something touch my back. I jumped out of my skin, startled. I turned round and saw a hand reaching out through a barred window. She must have touched my back. And this must be the gaol cell she was in.

“Here I am,” the female voice answered.

I sighed with relief. “Thank goodness.” I stepped forward, trying to see if I could find the woman inside the gaol cell. It was difficult to make out.

“Please help me,” the woman said. “I don’t know how I got here. I just woke up and found myself in this gaol cell.”

“I don’t have the key,” I told her. “I don’t know where to find it.”

“Not to worry,” the woman reassured me. “Here! Take this!”

The woman pushed something through the barred window of her gaol cell door. I faintly saw it and managed to take it from her.

“Good. Open it. It’s quite easy to open.”

With a little effort, I managed to open whatever the woman had given me. As my eyes adjusted, I could see what the item was.

“Is…is this a lipstick dispenser?” I asked her.

“It’s more than that,” she assured me. “Press the little button on its side and apply it to the lock-pad of this gaol cell door. It works on a sonic frequency.”

“I can’t see the button in this light.”

“Don’t you have a little pocket torch on you?”

Pocket torch? Why would I…? I then realised. Yes, of course! Why didn’t I think of that?! I searched through my pockets.

Very soon, I gladly said, “Yes! I have one! I should have remembered that I had a pocket torch in one of my pockets. I am a soldier after all. A good soldier always carries a pocket torch with him.”

“How come you forgot?”

“It’s been a weird day for me so far. Besides, it’s darker in this part of the corridor compared with the other part. Once I have you out, I’ll take you to the other part of the corridor where I can see you in a better light.”

“Wonderful,” the woman said, relieved. “Now please get me out of here!”

I happily obliged. I switched the pocket torch on and then I applied the lipstick dispenser to the gaol cell door’s lock-pad. I was able to see the button on the lipstick dispenser’s side whilst I aimed the torch at it.

Checking, I asked, “Point and aim?”

“That’s right!”

With that, I pressed the button on the lipstick dispenser. A sonic buzz echoed. I jumped back startled. I couldn’t believe it. The woman’s lipstick dispenser was sonic! Did she say so?

“Hey! This lipstick dispenser’s…”

“Please, get me out of here!” the woman said impatiently. “I’m sick of being stuck in this gaol cell. Hurry up!”

Right, right! Questions later! First, get the woman out. I applied the sonic lipstick dispenser to the gaol cell door’s lock-pad again. This time, I didn’t jump back once I’d pressed the button and the buzz echoed from the dispenser. It took a little while, but thankfully the lock broke and the gaol cell door opened. The woman was able to get out.

I stepped back, allowing the woman to push open the gaol cell door and get out. Once she was out, she pushed the gaol cell door closed and used her lipstick dispenser to lock it.

She turned back to me. “Safety measure,” she said. “In case someone suspected the door was open and they raised the alarm before we had a chance to get away.”

“That lipstick dispenser of yours…” I had so many questions, as she and I walked back to where I had come from in the corridor where the fire-lit torches were situated.

“Sonic lipstick,” she elaborated. “Always keep it handy in my pockets or my handbag. It’s got me out of a lot of scrapes.”

“Yeah, I know, but…it’s very much like a device a friend of mine uses,” I told her. “Except his is a sonic screwdriver. You wouldn’t happen to know a…”

“Goodness,” the woman interrupted me. We were in the lighter part of the corridor now and I could see her face more clearly. She was quite pretty. Older than me, but still pretty.

It then dawned on me. “Wait a minute. You seem familiar. Have we met before..?”

“It’s you!” the woman exclaimed, amazed. “After all these years, it’s you. And you still look the same as ever.”

“You…you know who I am?”

“Of course, I do. You’re James Darby, aren’t you?”

I was startled. Didn’t jump back this time. “Yes, that’s right. How did you…?” Then it clicked in. I’d met this woman before. Except she was younger. And I’d only met her recently outside, hadn’t I? “Wait! You’re…you are, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” the woman smiled at me. It was that same nice smile she had all those years ago. “Hello, James Darby. It’s me! Sarah Jane Smith.”

Then it happened again!

---

I was enveloped in a bright white light and then I found myself back in the open again. It was still raining and windy outside. Also, it was still night-time. Except this time, the rain had died down and the wind wasn’t so severe now. The moon came out as well. I wasn’t standing near the edge of a cliff either. I was up a hill. At least I think it was a hill. It was still rocky where I was, but yes, I was halfway up the path of a hill. How did I end up here? Why did I end up here? I was previously inside the corridor of a castle. Would nobody explain to me what was going on?

Just then, someone called, “Hey, you!”

I turned back to look. It was Sarah Jane. The young Sarah Jane I had met and rescued at the cliff-edge. She looked drenched and fed up. I couldn’t blame her.

“Sarah Jane,” I called out. “Are you alright?”

I managed to meet up with her. She didn’t look happy.

“What’s going on here? I find myself out on a cliff on a stormy night in the middle of nowhere; then I end up accidentally falling over and dangling from the cliff; then I have you rescuing me; and then you disappear in a bright white light.”

“I’m really sorry about that.”

“Where did you go? That’s what I want to know.”

“I was inside the corridor of a castle, I think. I don’t know how I got there. Then I rescued a woman who was locked up inside a gaol cell.”

“You seem to make a habit of rescuing women in danger.”

“The woman was you!”

Sarah Jane became startled. “What?”

“Yes, believe me, she was you. Except you were older. About 30 years older if I’m not mistaken.”

“30 years older?”

“I’ve no idea what’s going on. I don’t know how I’m jumping back and forth to this place and inside that castle, and I don’t know how it is I’ve met two of you today – one younger and one older. I’m just bamboozled.”

“All I want is a hot bath or a shower after all. I’m drenched right through!”

“If only the Doctor was here, he could explain what was going on.”

Sarah Jane looked at me, amazed. “The Doctor? W-What…you know the Doctor?”

“Of course, I do.” Then I realised. “You know him?”

“Yes!” she replied. “The Doctor’s my best friend!”

“Really?” I was astonished. “The Doctor’s my best friend too!” Then I became puzzled. “Wait a minute? Where did you come from? How did you get here?”

“I was sleeping in my bedroom aboard the TARDIS,” she explained. “The Doctor and I, we’d been tackling Sutekh and a bunch of robot mummies.”

“So, you’re still travelling with him then?”

“Yes.”

“This must be before I came along and met the Doctor then.” Then I recalled. “Wait a minute! You’re Sarah Jane Smith! The Doctor talks a lot about you.”

“Does he?” Sarah Jane was amazed.

“Of course, he does. He rates you very highly as one of his best friends.”

“He does?” she smiled happily. “Well, that’s good to hear!”

“But you were saying about being in your TARDIS bedroom.”

“Yes. Like I said, I was sleeping and then I found myself here. It was a shock being out here drenched to the skin. It’s just as well I kept my shoes on.”

“But why would you have been brought here? Wherever here is, that is.”

“I don’t know.”

I began to think for a bit. The cold weather was getting to me by this point.

“Look, it’s no good discussing it out here. Let’s try going on a bit further up this hill. Hopefully we’ll find the castle I was talking about. It might be up the top of this hill.”

“I’m game for that. Anything to get out of this wretched place!”

“Good! Let’s go then.”

With that, we began climbing up the hill. It was a slow climb up at first.

“So, you’re travelling with the Doctor then.”

“Yeah, I came after you, I think.”

“Is the Doctor the same as ever? Does he still wear the floppy hat and the long scarf?”

“And hands out jelly babies? Yes, that’s him alright!”

“That’s a relief. I thought he might have changed his face if you’re from his future.”

“Changed his face?”

“Oh yes! The Doctor can do that. Didn’t he tell you?”

“No, he didn’t. There’s a lot the Doctor hasn’t told me.”

“Ah well, don’t worry,” Sarah Jane tried to reassure me. “He’ll probably tell you things you don’t know about him yet in his own time.”

“He can be so frustratingly elusive mind.”

“Yes, I’ve had that with him.”

“I’m still trying to work out how it is we’re both here in this place and how come he’s not with us. And how come I’ve met two of you today. One here and one in that castle.”

“I haven’t changed my face, have I?”

I reacted, puzzled. “No, I don’t think so. You look about the same. Just older that’s all.”

“Oh thank goodness. I travelled with two Doctors and they both had different faces when I met them.”

“Yeah, this Doctor changing his face thing…” I began but then I was interrupted. I was being enveloped in a white light again. “Oh no,” I cried. “Not this again!”

“James!” Sarah Jane cried out, panic-stricken. “Don’t leave me like this again! James!!!”

“I can’t!” I told her anxiously. “It’s not me who’s doing this! I’m being pulled away and…”

But it was no use. The young Sarah Jane vanished from my sight once the white light enveloped me.

---

I found myself back in the castle again. Except this time, I was in a hallway. It was a very grand hallway. Empty, but I still liked the cosy layout of the place. There were more fire-lit torches compared to the dungeon corridor and there was a table placed in the centre. A vase of flowers was on the table. The flowers could have seen better days. There were also some nice pictures on the walls, making the place more colourful. Most of the artwork I didn’t recognise. It looked as if it came from ancient times.

I grumbled. “I’ve got to stop appearing and disappearing out of places like this.”

At that moment, someone entered on a balcony behind me.

“James!” she cried.

I turned round to look. There was Sarah Jane – the older Sarah Jane – coming down the stairs towards me.

“Sarah Jane!”

“Thank goodness you’re alright.”

“Me? Thank goodness you’re alright! You haven’t been harmed at all.”

“No. Mind you, there doesn’t seem to be anyone about. No guards or anybody like that.”

“An empty castle? That’s pretty weird.”

“Where did you go? Once you vanished, I tried to find you.” By this point, Sarah Jane had met me at the foot of the stairs.

“I was back outside,” I explained. “Where there was rain and wind. Though it seemed to have died down the second time I was out there.”

Sarah Jane seemed to recall. “Yes! It’s all coming back to me. I remember what happened.”

“You do?” I couldn’t help be puzzled.

“Yes! I was with you. Back when I was young, I met you out on the rocky cliff-edge. You saved my life. We then journeyed up the top of a rocky hill to see if we could find a castle. This castle!”

“Except I tend to keep popping in and out of places to meet your younger self as well as your older self.”

“It does seem peculiar that; doesn’t it?”

“Do you remember how or why we ended up here? Whatever this place is.”

“No. I’m sorry. It’s all hazy at the moment. Bits of what I can remember are coming back to me, but it’s not very clear.”

I sighed, frustrated momentarily. “Well, do you remember how you came to be here? Were you asleep before you arrived by any chance?”

“No. I was with my son Luke and our friends Clyde and Rani. We had just sorted out some Slitheen-Blathereen at my house on Bannerman Road in Ealing. We were having an outdoors picnic to celebrate. Before I knew it, I ended up here.”

“And this is what…after being with the Doctor, I take it.”

“Yes. I haven’t travelled with the Doctor in a long while. I’ve been keeping busy protecting the Earth from alien invaders along with my friends.”

“Yeah, well, I’m still travelling with the Doctor. Last time, we were on our way to 21st century Earth where I was to meet the love of my life. I don’t know what’s become of him or where he is at the moment.”

“Don’t worry,” Sarah Jane reassured me. “I’m sure we’ll work out what it’s all about.”

“Are you sure? I find this all very baffling. I mean, more baffling than usual.”

“If my younger self is outside, maybe we should try to find a way out in order to signal to her where this castle is.”

“That might be an idea,” I agreed keenly. “The next time I’m back with your younger self, I can direct her and me to where the castle is and meet up with you.”

“Yes,” Sarah then became worried. “Although, would it make things worse if two of us are meeting us at the same time? That shouldn’t happen ordinarily.”

“Well, we’ll worry about that when we cross that bridge. The important thing is that we all meet up as a threesome so that I can stop jumping in and out of places.”

“Fair enough,” Sarah nodded. “Well, we’re in the hallway, so the front door exit must be around here somewhere…”

At that moment, a teleport took place. At least I think it was a teleport. A beam of light appeared. Sarah and I became startled as appearing in the hallway was a Rednarog! The Rednarog snarled and hissed as it turned to face me and the older Sarah Jane. Cripes, I thought I’d seen the last of these goons. This was the third time already.

“Not so fast,” the Rednarog hissed viciously. “Don’t think you’re going to get away from me that easily!”

“Rednarog!” I cried, panic-stricken.

I could sense Sarah Jane was terrified nearby, but she knew how to keep her cool. “You know this…person, I take it.”

“The Doctor and I have had dealings with these guys before.”

“That’s right!” the Rednarog continued to hiss viciously. “And all because of you, our great Rednarog Empire will crumble to pieces. You shall pay for your crimes against us!”

As you probably know, I didn’t like it when an alien creep like this one was being mean to me or anyone else. I took my stand. “Look, mate. I don’t know who you think you are, but what do you think you’re…”

“I am Vicarcus,” the Rednarog snapped, interrupting me. “Loyal servant to the mighty Rednarog Empire!”

Wow! The Rednarogs have names. That, I didn’t know. The previous Rednarogs I met didn’t have names.

“Loyal servant?” I enquired, confused.

“And I shall exact my revenge by killing you, soldier!” Vicarcus hissed.

“Revenge?! Killing me?! Now wait a minute…”

“Do not reason with me! I will kill you! I won’t be persuaded otherwise! I hate you and despise every part of your being!”

“Those two words literally mean the same thing.”

“You shall die in this place! And once I’ve killed you, then I will have shown the Doctor what it means to mess with us Rednarogs!”

“The Doctor!”

“Prepare to die, human! Die horribly!”

The Rednarog hissed again as he swished his snake-like tail back and forth. Suddenly, Sarah took the vase of flowers from the nearby table and threw it at the Rednarog in an instant. Once hit by the vase of flowers, Vicarcus recoiled and fell to his knees on the ground, hissing angrily.

“Quickly! Run!” Sarah Jane cried, as she took my hand and pulled me along with her. We headed out of the hallway.

“That was quick thinking, Sarah Jane,” I said. “Well done! I thought that Rednarog was going to kill me.”

“No time to lose,” Sarah Jane told me as we ran. “We must get outside. My younger self is out there. If we can signal to her with whatever we can use out there, we’ll all meet up as a threesome like you said.”

As we were getting away, Vicarcus the Rednarog was getting up behind us, slowly in pursuit.

“You can’t escape from me,” he cried, as he headed off down the corridor out of the hallway. “I’ll come after you, soldier! You can’t escape from me! What the Doctor has in mind to save you won’t be enough to fulfil my revenge!”

Before I knew what was happening; a white light enveloped all around me.

---

I was back outside again. I was getting fed up with this. But now I knew what the two Sarah Janes and I were up against. There was a Rednarog out to kill me and possibly the two Sarah Janes. It was important that I unite the two Sarah Janes with me in order to prevent me jumping from outside to inside to outside and so on. There was also something that the Rednarog had said that surprised me. The Doctor was going to save me. What could that mean? Well, wondering about it out here in the cold weather won’t help. I had to find the younger Sarah Jane and fill her in on what was going on.

It was then I realised that I was on top of the hill. And there was the castle right ahead. I knew it was a castle! It had the feel of it, right? It was still bitterly cold out in the open as a mild wind was in the air. The moon still shone brightly in the sky. Where was the younger Sarah Jane when you needed to find her?

Thankfully, I didn’t have to ponder on that for too long. Coming up behind me was the younger Sarah Jane herself.

“There you are,” she called out. “I wondered when you’d get back.”

“Yeah,” I tried to joke. “We need to stop meeting like this.”

“Back inside your castle with the older me, I take it.” She smiled, placing her hands on her hips, looking squarely at me. She almost had a tone that she didn’t believe my castle was real all along. I was about to prove her wrong.

“Yes! And there’s the castle right before you.”

I pointed and Sarah Jane looked. She became surprised, dropping her hands to her sides. She stepped forward to study the castle.

“Goodness!” she exclaimed. “It’s a big castle, isn’t it?”

“And it turns out there’s more to this situation than we thought.”

She looked back at me. “What do you mean?”

I filled her in on what had just happened with me and her older self when we met the Rednarog inside the castle. Sarah Jane hung on to my every word.

“So, it’s important I get you up to that castle so that we can meet up with your other self. That way, we’ll stop me jumping back and forth outside and inside meeting the pair of you.”

“You said the older ‘me’ suggested that you’d signal to me ‘me’ to come to the castle.”

“That’s right. Though now I’ve found you and you can see the castle for yourself, once I get back to your other self, I can tell her to signal to you so that you know where to meet us at the castle. Maybe at the front door or by the rear entrance or something.”

“You’re right, James. This is a baffling situation we’re in.”

“I just wonder what the Rednarog meant about the Doctor trying to save me. Is he trying to reach me on this planet? If this is a planet we’re on.”

“And what did you mean about the Rednarog getting his revenge by killing you?”

“Well, the Doctor and I thwarted the Rednarogs’ plans in breaking down the dimensions of this universe. The Rednarogs weren’t too happy about that.”

“It could be just this one Rednarog who’s not too happy about it. The rest of them could have nothing to do with our predicament.”

“Possibly,” I thought about it for a little while. “But querying that won’t help us much. It’s important I get you to the castle so that I can have you two Sarah Janes together to make life difficult for the Rednarog Vicarcus.”

“Am I part of Vicarcus’ plan then? The two of us being here, I mean.”

“I don’t know. I wouldn’t think so. He didn’t register your presence much when he faced me.”

“Charming.” I could easily hear the sarcasm in her voice.

“Come on. Let’s get a move on! The sooner we’re at the castle then…”

At that moment, Vicarcus the Rednarog appeared before us again in a beam of light.

“Aha!” he cried. “I’ve found you again! Think you can escape from me with your jumps from outside to inside and back again. Well, think again! I’m always following you!”

I groaned. “Oh give it a rest, will you?”

“Never! You shall die by my hands! You shall pay for crimes against the Rednarogs!”

“You’re the ones who wanted to break down our universe’s dimensions, you know!” I pointed out, protesting.

“We have every right!” Vicarcus spat. “It is part of our being!”

“Others would have done the same thing as me and the Doctor did in thwarting your plans!”

“Uh, hello!” Sarah Jane butted in. “Me here! I’d like to know what my part in all of this is.”

“Silence!” Vicarcus hissed. “Too much time has been wasted! Die down, human! Die like the dog you are!”

Vicarcus was about to charge straight at me with his snake-like tail swinging to and fro. He also had a laser pistol in his hands. I hadn’t seen that before. Sarah Jane and I held each other tight as the Rednarog charged towards us.

At that moment, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something appear. I recognised him.

“Bazooie,” I cried.

That’s right! It was Bazoon the Miggie! I couldn’t be happier to see him at a time like this. Once he appeared, he saw Vicarcus charging towards us. Bazooie growled and leapt up at the Rednarog from behind. He was quite a little thing, but very strong indeed. Vicarcus snarled as he was being pulled back by the Miggie. The Rednarog dropped his laser pistol as it fell to the ground. Thankfully he didn’t use it on Sarah Jane and me. Both he and Bazooie ended up on the ground together. They wrestled it out with each other.

Sarah Jane was surprised to see this happen. “What just happened? What is that thing?”

“That thing,” I said pointedly, “is my little mascot and best friend – Bazoon the Miggie!” I called out to him. “Good on you, Bazooie!”

“You have a little mascot?” Sarah Jane was astonished.

“Hey, give me some credit. I recently found him. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

As Vicarcus was pinned to the ground, hissing out, “Get off me, little creep! Let me go so I can have my revenge,” Bazooie looked up at me and grunted feverishly.

“What is it, Bazooie? What’s up?” I asked.

Bazooie then wailed excitedly, as if he was telling me to get a move on.

“Alright, alright,” I said, taken aback. “I get the point!”

“What is he saying?” Sarah Jane asked, clearly not understanding Miggie language.

“He’s telling us to get going whilst he has our friend Vicarcus down on the ground. This is our chance to get to the castle as soon as possible.”

“But where did he come from?” Sarah Jane wanted to know.

“What does it matter?” I argued. “The point is he came to rescue us. Let’s take the chance while we still can. Come on!”

I took Sarah Jane’s hand and we both ran off, heading towards the castle.

As we ran, I called back, “Bazooie, if I should happen to disappear and Vicarcus chases after me, you keep my new friend Sarah Jane safe and get her to the castle. You get me?”

Bazooie honked and hooted, acknowledging my instructions whilst pinning our Rednarog creep down on the ground.

“Good on you, Bazooie. See you later!”

Sarah Jane and I continued making our way to the castle.

Vicarcus called out to me whilst pinned to the ground by Bazooie. “You won’t be able to outrun me forever, soldier! Very soon, I shall have you in my clutches and you shall die horribly! Never doubt that! NEVER EVER DOUBT IT!!!”

But the Rednarog’s words were soon echoes in my ears. I found myself being enveloped in a white light again. I still held young Sarah Jane’s hand whilst the white light enveloped me.

---

Sadly, I didn’t take young Sarah Jane with me as I hoped. It would have made things easier had the white light taken me and the younger Sarah Jane to meet up with the older Sarah Jane in the castle. Why didn’t it work like that? This place I was in continued to baffle me more and more. Who or what was making me jump back and forth from outside to inside and back out again? Where was the Doctor when I needed him? What part did he have to play in all of this?

I seemed to be in a corridor inside the castle this time. I eventually heard buzzing echoing nearby. It sounded familiar. It came from around the corner. I made my way forward, following where the buzzing came from.

Eventually, I came across Sarah Jane again – the older Sarah Jane – at the castle’s front door. She was using her sonic lipstick at the front door’s lock-pad. It seemed to be a struggle for her to get the front door open.

“Sarah Jane,” I called out to her, making my way forward.

She looked back at me, startled for a bit. “James! I wish you wouldn’t come up on me like that. I nearly had a heart attack.”

I apologised before saying, “You seem to be having a fight with this door. Is this the castle’s front entrance?”

“Yes,” Sarah Jane replied. “And it’s refusing to open. I’ve managed to weaken the lock picks with my sonic lipstick, but it’s taking time.”

“I met up with your younger self outside,” I told her. “We were attacked by Vicarcus the Rednarog again.”

“And Bazooie came to rescue us.”

“You remember Bazooie?”

“Of course,” she replied sharply. “Things are gradually coming back to me. I haven’t lost my marbles, you know.”

“Did I suggest you had lost your marbles?”

“What’s the latest plan then?”

“Well, Bazooie is guiding your younger self to the castle. Once we’ve opened this front door; I suggest we shine a torch light for your younger self to see it in order to come here. We can use my pocket torch.”

“Or mine. Looking through my handbag, I had one on me this whole time.”

“So, you approve of the plan?”

“Sounds reasonable to me,” the older Sarah agreed. “It saves going out of the castle grounds to go looking for the younger me.”

“How many lock picks do you have to open with that sonic lipstick of yours?” I asked.

“There’s about five in the lock,” she answered. “I should be on the last one.”

I decided to keep quiet and let her get on with it.

But then, we were interrupted by Vicarcus, who appeared in his beam of light. We turned to face him. He had a vicious hungry expression on his face.

“Told you that you wouldn’t get away from me that easily, human soldier,” he hissed, swishing his snake-like tail to and fro. He retrieved the laser pistol in his hand. Or it could have been a different one. I didn’t dare ask him.

I took a step forward, protecting Sarah Jane and said, “I’ll handle him. You keep focusing on unlocking that front door.”

“He’ll kill you,” she warned me. “You can’t handle him by yourself.”

“I’m a soldier,” I replied valiantly. “It’s my job to handle him.”

“But you don’t even have a weapon on you,” she pointed out. “No laser pistol.”

“Don’t need one,” I answered knowingly. I then grabbed one of the swords and shields on a wall nearby. I took the sword in my right hand and the shield in my left hand. I faced Vicarcus boldly and said, “Come on, Rednarog! If it’s me you want, come and get me!”

Vicarcus snarled viciously as he raised his laser pistol and opened fire. Protecting myself and Sarah Jane who continued to work hard on unlocking the front door with her sonic lipstick, I raised the shield in my left hand and deflected the blast fired by Vicarcus’ pistol. He opened fire again, but I continued to deflect the shots he kept firing from his pistol. As he kept on firing, I made my way forward towards him, still holding the shield in my left hand.

Once I got close to him, the energy packs in Vicarcus’ laser pistol had been completely drained. He tried pulling the trigger, but nothing would come out.

I laughed at him and said, “Not so tough now, are you, Vicarcus?”

Vicarcus became angry and started to strike me with his long snake-like tail. My reflexes were quick however, as I raised my sword into the air and slashed at him, cutting his tail off. Vicarcus howled out loudly when his tail had been cut off. I hadn’t even intended to cut his tail off. It was a fatal blow on my part.

I felt no remorse though. “You asked for it,” I told him.

Vicarcus grunted, tending to his severed tail and shouted, “You’ll pay dearly for that! Don’t think you’ve heard the last of me!”

With that, he teleported out, vanishing in his beam of light.

“Yeah, they always say that,” I said.

Well, that sorted him. I dropped the sword and shield to the floor.

I turned back to Sarah Jane, who thankfully managed to open the front door with her sonic lipstick with all the lock picks broken.

“Done it,” she cheered. “I’ve finally managed to open the door!”

“Great!” I cheered back. “Now we can go outside and signal to your younger self and Bazooie to come here.”

“Wait,” Sarah Jane stopped me as we were about to head out. “You’ll need this.”

She then tossed me her sonic lipstick. I grabbed it in my right hand.

“What do I need this for?”

“You’re about to go back to my younger self and Bazooie at the castle gates. I remember now. You need the sonic lipstick to break open the lock-pad at the castle gates.”

“Ah, I’ve got you! So, you’ll be using your pocket torch to signal to us when we get through.”

At that, I found myself being enveloped in a bright white light.

The older Sarah Jane called out to me, “Remember! Point and aim when you use my sonic lipstick. It’s very straightforward. And I expect you to give me my sonic lipstick back.”

Her words were soon drowned out, as I found myself being taken out of the castle corridor.

---

I was standing outside the castle gates. Just as the older Sarah Jane had said. The rain had definitely stopped, though it was still feeling cold with the wind.

“James!” I heard the younger Sarah Jane call out to me. I turned round to see young Sarah Jane running towards me. Bazooie was running beside her.

“Sarah Jane! Bazooie! Thank goodness you two are alright!”

Sarah Jane caught her breath once she and Bazooie met up with me. Bazooie panted heavily after running for some time.

“Well done, Bazooie,” I told him. “Thank you for looking after Sarah Jane for me.”

“You got to the castle gates before us then,” Sarah Jane remarked, quite haughtily.

“Yes,” I replied. “And I’ve got this to help us open the locked gates.”

Young Sarah Jane looked at the sonic lipstick in my hand, bemused. “What’s that?”

I told her what it was.

She laughed, “That’s ridiculous! Who’d use a lipstick dispenser like that and call it sonic?”

“You. Or rather will do,” I told her. “It’s yours. Or rather will be yours.”

“What?”

“Never mind,” I said. “I’ll tell you later.” I then turned to my little mascot. “Bazooie, you keep watch. I’m going to use this sonic lipstick to get these gates open.”

Bazooie honked appreciatively, as he moved into position to keep watch.

“Good boy,” I told him. “Right, let’s get these gates open.”

I made my way forward. Sarah Jane joined me at my side. I applied the sonic lipstick to the castle gates’ lock-pad and pressed the button on it. But once I pressed it, I didn’t get the loud buzz it would usually make. All I heard was a faint whir. I became puzzled. Trying a couple of times, it still didn’t work. I examined the sonic lipstick in my hand.

“That’s odd,” I remarked. “It was working fine before. I’m sure I’m doing this right. Point and aim; like the older Sarah Jane said!”

“Here, let me,” the young Sarah Jane said, snatching the sonic lipstick from me.

I was about to protest, but then saw how she was using the sonic lipstick at the door. She pressed the button and the buzz that came from the lipstick dispenser was loud and clear as day. The castle gates’ lock-pad was soon broken and we were able to get in. I was surprised. How come it didn’t work for me and yet it worked for young Sarah Jane.

She gave the sonic lipstick back to me. “You should have pressed hard on the centre of the button,” she told me and then she teased, “That’s the trouble with men. You never know how to use a woman’s lipstick dispenser!”

“Give me some slack,” I told her. “I don’t use these things all the time.”

Sarah Jane smirked. I smirked too. The easing of tension occurred between us.

Anyway, we were able to push our way through the castle gates and get in. The gates opened inwardly as we made our way forward.

“Come on, Bazooie,” I called to the Miggie. “Catch up!”

Bazooie whimpered as he caught up with us, still keeping watch as we entered the castle grounds through the castle gates.

Once we had arrived at the castle grounds, we took in our surroundings. Sarah Jane then pointed to something up ahead in the distance.

“Hey look!” she cried. “There’s a torch light up ahead.”

I looked to see. Indeed there was. It was shining brightly as far as I could see. Then I realised what it was.

“It’s Sarah Jane!”

“You mean the other Sarah Jane. My older self?”

“Yes! She’s signalling to us at the castle’s front door. We were trying to get out of there when Vicarcus the Rednarog attacked.”

“Is he still causing us trouble?”

“Yes. Thankfully I managed to fend him off with a sword and shield, severing his tail. He’s probably tending to his wounds wherever he is.”

“That was pretty drastic.”

“Hey, it was either him or us. I couldn’t see any other way of getting rid of him. Besides, I was defending you and me. The other you, I mean.”

“Anyway, what are we doing standing about here? Let’s go and make our way up there and meet my other self.”

“Agreed! Bazooie, you come with us.”

Bazooie giggled happily as he followed us.

I continued, “Keep Sarah Jane company as well. Especially if I should happen to….”

But I was in mid-sentence when the bright white light enveloped me again.

---

I was back with the older Sarah Jane at the castle’s front entrance. It had to happen like that, didn’t it? Hopefully this would be the last time I would jump from place to place again once I united the two Sarah Janes together.

The older Sarah Jane reacted. She was surprised to see me. She stopped flashing her pocket torch to her younger self and Bazooie. “You’re back with me.” She became puzzled. “But I just saw you running with me – my younger me – along with your Bazooie creature.”

“Yes. Annoying, isn’t it? Hopefully once the two of you are together, there won’t be any more of this jumping from place to place for me again.” I looked out to the open. “Look, Bazooie is guiding your other self on their way to meet us at the castle front entrance.”

“We’d better keep flashing this torch light of mine in order for them to come to us.” The older Sarah Jane continued to flash her pocket torch at her younger self and Bazooie to come towards us.

“Right,” I agreed. “I’ll use my pocket torch as well.”

With that, I took out my pocket torch and flashed it brightly in order for the younger Sarah Jane and Bazooie to come towards us. It was good for me and the older Sarah Jane to have pocket torches to flash to young Sarah Jane and Bazooie, wasn’t it?

“Can I have my sonic lipstick back please?” the older Sarah Jane then asked. “You still have it, haven’t you?”

“Of course.” With that, I passed the sonic lipstick back to her.

As she took it and I continued to flash my torch light at the younger Sarah Jane and Bazooie, the older Sarah Jane examined the sonic lipstick whilst holding it in her hand. “You haven’t broken it by any chance, have you?”

The cheek! “Don’t ask me. Ask your other self. She used it at the castle gates, not me.”

“What?” the older Sarah Jane became surprised. “But she’s not supposed to use it yet.”

“She did just then. And quite well, I might add. It got us in through the castle gates, didn’t it?”

“I suppose so,” the older Sarah Jane mused, before she placed the sonic lipstick back in one of her jacket pockets.

The older Sarah Jane resumed flashing her pocket torch at her younger self and Bazooie at the same time I flashed my pocket torch at them. We looked to see the younger Sarah Jane and Bazooie make their way towards us at the castle’s front entrance. They would have to go up a flight of steps first before they met us.

“Do you have any idea what we’re to do once we meet my younger self and your Bazooie?” the older Sarah Jane asked.

“Nope, not at all” I answered. “Do you?”

“Hey, I didn’t ask to be invited here twice over as my younger and older self. I’m curious as to how that seems to be the case for me but not for you.”

“Yeah, that is puzzling,” I pondered. “I wonder why I haven’t met another me with a long flowing beard or something. Would I look good as Gandalf?”

“Perhaps that snake-like Rednarog has some answers to questions we need answering. Once he appears again, maybe he’ll be forthcoming when we ask him.”

“I doubt it. He’s very keen to have me killed, remember?”

“Well, perhaps we should ask him whether he wants me to kill me – both as my current self and my younger self.”

Eventually, the younger Sarah Jane and Bazooie came up the flight of stairs to meet us. When we saw them coming, the older Sarah Jane and I switched off our pocket torches. We didn’t need them anymore and we put them back in our pockets. Panting for breath, the younger Sarah Jane and Bazooie reached the top of the stairs. Both caught their breath, though Bazooie was quicker catching it than the younger Sarah Jane.

Bazooie jumped up into my arms and I cradled him appreciatively. “Good work, Bazooie! I knew I could rely on you to look after young Sarah Jane for me.”

The Miggie whimpered appreciatively as I dropped him back on the ground again. He then looked to see the older Sarah Jane. He reacted with a grunt when he saw her in surprise.

“Hello, Bazooie,” the older Sarah Jane said with a smile. “It really is good to see you again.”

She then looked to see her younger self. The young Sarah Jane recovered as she looked up to see her older self. Both were astonished to see each other. I didn’t want to disturb the moment between them.

“You’re…” the younger Sarah Jane stammered. “You’re…”

“Yes!” the older Sarah Jane confirmed. “I’m you.”

“And I’m…” young Sarah Jane pondered for a bit. “I’m you too, aren’t I?”

“Yes!”

A moment of silence ensued.

“This is…” the younger Sarah Jane began.

“You’re telling me,” the older Sarah Jane finished.

Just then, I began to convulse for a bit. Almost as if something was trying to come out of me. My head was hurting me quite a bit, I can tell you. The two Sarah Janes and Bazooie looked at me surprised.

“What’s…what’s happening to you?” young Sarah Jane asked.

“I…I don’t know,” I answered, struggling to cope with the sudden pain I was receiving. “It’s almost as if…as if I’m about to have a seizure.”

Just then, I saw the white light envelope me for a bit. But once I came to, I found myself still at the castle entrance with the two Sarah Janes and Bazooie. All became quiet for a moment. All became relaxed and calm. I was still in one piece. In one place! The pain I had was gone. The seizure I thought I was having subsided.

“Did you see that?” I asked. “Did you see the bright white light?”

“Yes,” the older Sarah Jane answered. “Just for a moment.”

“Does that mean it’s gone,” the younger Sarah Jane asked. “Does it mean you won’t be jumping back and forth to places now that you’ve united us two Sarah Janes together?”

I thought about it for a moment. “I suppose it does.”

Bazooie jumped up and down excitedly, grabbing at my left leg. I didn’t shake him off.

“Don’t get your hopes up too soon, Bazooie,” I told him. “We’re not out of the woods yet, I’m afraid. We’re still here in whatever place we are.”

“Well, let’s hope we’re on the right track and that things will stay stable from now on,” the older Sarah Jane said.

“And hopefully you won’t have to disappear now and again,” the younger Sarah Jane added.

---

Eventually, the two Sarah Janes, Bazooie and I went inside the castle. We returned to where the castle’s main hallway was. The vase of flowers wasn’t there on the table in the centre of the hallway. That had been used by the older Sarah Jane to sort out Vicarcus, remember? After we had cleaned up the mess, we got ourselves four chairs to sit on. We sat around the table. I sat facing Bazooie whilst the two Sarah Janes sat opposite each other. The younger Sarah Jane was on my left and the older Sarah Jane was on my right. It was so surreal to have two Sarah Janes in the same room as me. I’m glad the two of them meeting like this didn’t end up destroying the universe. At least not yet! You know, how Doc Brown put it to Marty McFly in ‘Back to the Future, Part II’. The Doctor said something similar about the Blinovitch Limitation Effect or something like that.

Once we gathered, I asked an important question to my mascot. “Bazooie, do you have any idea what’s going on here?  Do you know where we are?”

Bazooie shook his head vigorously and gurgled. He seemed to have no idea of what was going on or where we were either.

“But you must know something,” I insisted. “Why else would you be here to help me out as well as the two Sarah Janes?”

Bazooie whimpered and shook frantically; exasperated as I put these questions to him.

“Okay, okay! Pipe down,” I told him, raising my hands to calm him. “We’ll find out how we got here some other way.”

At that, Bazooie piped down.

The younger Sarah Jane then had a question. “What’s going to happen when that Rednarog Vicarcus comes back? He won’t be happy now that he’s got a severed tail.”

“Tell me about it,” I replied. “He’s mad with me though, not with you two. He might spare you two rather than spare me.”

“Maybe that’s why we’ve been brought here,” the older Sarah Jane suggested. “To distract him from killing you? Perhaps reason with him.”

“Yes,” the younger Sarah Jane agreed. “We’re to ask him questions as to why we’ve been brought here and we have to persuade him not to kill you.”

“You could be right,” I said. “Maybe the Doctor summoned you both here.”

“The Doctor?” both Sarah Janes echoed.

“Yes! Maybe he used his TARDIS to summon you to me to wherever this place is in order to stop the Rednarog from killing me.”

“How would the Doctor be able to do that with his TARDIS?” the younger Sarah Jane asked.

“I don’t know,” I replied. “There’s a lot about that TARDIS that flummoxes me.”

“Indeed,” the older Sarah Jane agreed. “Even after leaving him, I still find his TARDIS extraordinary and hard to understand.”

“Yeah, how come you left?” the younger Sarah Jane challenged her older self. “I thought I was going to be travelling with him forever.”

“Spoilers,” the older Sarah Jane said knowingly, tapping the end of her nose.

“Aww come on,” the younger Sarah Jane complained. “That’s not fair. At least give me a few pointers.”

“Could we discuss this another time?” I interrupted them. “You know, after we’ve dealt with the Rednarog and everything.”

“Yes, of course,” the older Sarah Jane agreed. “Sorry. Our mistake.”

“What are we to do when Vicarcus comes into the room?” the younger Sarah Jane repeated the question. “Are we supposed to hide or do we go out there fighting?”

“Well, I’d prefer to go out there fighting,” I said. “It’s in my nature. I’m a soldier, you know. But I wouldn’t like to put you ladies in harm’s way.”

“We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much,” the younger Sarah Jane retorted.

“I’m sure you can,” I said a little warily.

“He’s just being kind to us,” the older Sarah Jane told her younger self. “That’s all.”

“Mind you,” I continued. “I am happy to be in your company.”

“Steady on, soldier,” the older Sarah Jane said cheekily. “I’m old enough to be your mother.”

I couldn’t help blush at that. “Give over!”

“I’m still amazed I happen to be talking to my older self,” the younger Sarah Jane remarked. “I never thought about what it would be like to meet an older me.”

“And I’m already spoken for,” I went on. “My lady’s waiting for me back on 21st century Earth.”

“Well, the sooner we get out of this place and back to your lady, the better I say,” the older Sarah Jane said.

“So we stand and fight,” the younger Sarah Jane confirmed.

“Yes,” I agreed. “You two can do your stuff and reason with the Rednarog whilst I take up the rear.”

“You just want us as shields to protect you from Mr. Meanie Weanie Rednarog,” the older Sarah Jane said cheekily.

“Charming,” the younger Sarah Jane remarked wryly.

“And you Bazooie,” I said to my mascot, ignoring the two Sarah Janes teasing me. “You can go and hide somewhere in this hallway and watch what goes on and perhaps provide a backup defence. You know, come up behind Viarcus in case something goes wrong. What do you say? Hmm?”

Bazooie grunted and whined agreeably. He then went away to hide behind a curtain. I could see he had got my message.

“Good thinking, Bazooie,” I said. “Now we’re ready to deal with this Vicarcus chump!”

“Let’s hope he plays fair,” the older Sarah Jane said.

“Yes,” young Sarah Jane said nervously. “I hope so too.”

Just then, Vicarcus the Rednarog appeared in the castle hallway via a beam of light. We turned to face him. He was clearly not happy, as his severed snake-tail had been bandaged. There was a little bit of dry blood oozing out from the bandaged tail. He snarled and hissed, as we took up our positions. The two Sarah Janes stood in front of me and I took up my defensive position, clenching my fists.

“Hello,” the old Sarah Jane said cheerfully. “I’m Sarah Jane.”

“And I’m Sarah Jane,” the young Sarah Jane added, also cheerfully.

“Look, do we mind if we can talk this over?” the older Sarah Jane asked, quite reasonably.

“Yeah,” young Sarah Jane said. “I’m sure we can come to some arrangement.

Suddenly, the two Sarah Janes and I found ourselves caught in electrified whip-like coils. They had been latched onto us by Vicarcus, who swung them out from his cloak without warning. We found we couldn’t move. I struggled to break free from my whip-like coiled prison. The two Sarah Janes tried to do the same. Vicarcus laughed out loud viciously whilst we were held in these coils.

“Hey! That’s not fair,” young Sarah Jane protested.

“We’ve barely had the chance to talk,” old Sarah Jane added.

“Talk is for stupid people like you three,” Vicarcus hissed. “Did you really think you could win me over by talking to me and changing my mind? Not going to happen!”

It was then that Vicarcus grabbed Bazooie from the curtain he was hiding behind in a tight grip. Bazooie wailed and whined as he was being held by Vicarcus. Bazooie tried to break free from his grip, but Vicarcus was too strong for him. He must have learnt how to overcome Bazooie’s attack the last time.

“And is your little friend is going to help you, soldier?” he said bitterly to me. “Not now that I’ve caught him!”

He must have overheard what the two Sarah Janes and I had been saying.

“Listen to me!” I cried, whilst trying to break free from my coils. “Let these two women and my little Miggie go! They mean you no harm. They were only trying to help me…”

“Precisely,” Vicarcus hissed. “You shall get no help from anyone now! You are mine to deal with as I please. And I shall see to it that you die in the most horrendous way possible!”

Vicarcus cackled out loud whilst the two Sarah Janes, Bazooie and I were caught in his clutches. I wondered how were going to get out of this one.

---

Still in the hallway, it took some time for Vicarcus to tie the four of us onto some fire poles, as if he was going to burn us up like witches. In fact, that’s precisely what he was about to do. Vicarcus was going to burn me, the two Sarah Janes and Bazooie up on the fire poles. Would it be instantaneous, I wondered. How could we get out of this mess? I wondered if either of the two Sarah Janes had seen Laurel & Hardy, since neither of them said to me, “Here’s another fine mess that” I’d “gotten them into”.

Soon, Vicarcus finished the preparations for burning us four alive.

“There,” he declared. “Now I will have the satisfaction of killing you and giving the Doctor tremendous pain. This is what happens when you defy the Rednarogs and their great quest for power.”

“You were going to destroy the universe with your dimension breaking?!” I protested, louder than I should have.

“Don’t you understand?!” the Rednarog spat viciously back at me. “It’s in our nature! We have to destroy the dimensions! We go to every universe we know and destroy them by breaking down the dimensions! Nothing else is better for us!”

“You’re like a virus that wants to kill people because it’s in your nature,” the older Sarah Jane commented. “You must have a sad life.”

“Yes,” the young Sarah Jane joined in. “The sooner you’re got rid of, the better.”

“Enough!” Vicarcus shouted angrily. “You shall all die! All who oppose the Rednarogs in their journey across the dimensions shall be wiped out! I shall see to it that it’s done!”

“You can’t have done this on your own,” I told him. “You must have had help of some sort to go to all this trouble.”

“We Rednarogs are far superior in intelligence compared to you humans,” he hissed. “You’re so puny and insignificant that I can’t bear to be in your presence!”

“You also seem very young,” the older Sarah Jane remarked, “like you’ve barely come out of your teen years.”

“Do other Rednarogs know what you’re doing?” the young Sarah Jane challenged him. “If they don’t, you’ll be in a lot of trouble.”

“SILENCE!!!” Vicarcus shouted again. “I shall burn you all until you’re dust! Die, all four of you! No-one is coming to help you now!”

Bazooie whimpered frantically. I tried to calm him down with my words, but it was no good. The Rednarog began to lift one of the torches and was about to make his way to Bazooie. Bazooie was the first to be burned! The monster! I couldn’t bear to look. Neither could the two Sarah Janes. I wished the Doctor was here to stop the madness.

Suddenly, a familiar booming voice echoed in the hallway. “Hello,” he called cheerily. “Hello! Is anyone home?”

The Rednarog stopped in his tracks. Thank goodness the fiery torch didn’t touch Bazooie. He was safe for the time being. Vicarcus turned at the sound of the voice.

“Who’s there?” he demanded. “Show yourself! I’m not afraid of you!”

At that, someone appeared in the room. Vicarcus staggered back. Thankfully he didn’t drop the torch. The person who appeared seemed holographic. He looked faint and not fully formed. I recognised who it was. He wore the long scarf after all.

“Doctor,” I cried. It wasn’t just me who called his name. The two Sarah Janes saw him too and we called out in unison. They must have been pleased to see the Doctor as well as me.

The Doctor put on his big toothy grin. “Hello everyone,” he chuckled. “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

Vicarcus snarled viciously. “You dare to come to defy me, Doctor! You won’t outwit me! I’ll finish what my kin started before you get the chance to…”

“Yes, yes, shut up, Vicarcus,” the Doctor said rather impatiently. “I haven’t time to waste words on you. I only came in here to speak to two people.” He then called out, “James; Sarah Jane? Are you in here?”

The two Sarah Janes and I answered instantly.

The Doctor became pleased and surprised. “Oh good; good! Two Sarah Janes, hey? The TARDIS’ telepathic circuits worked out better than I thought.”

I was puzzled by that, so I asked out loud, “Doctor, what’s going on? Why am I in this place as well as Bazooie and these two Sarah Janes? They’re the same person, aren’t they?”

“Ah, yes, James,” the Doctor answered. “A lot of questions. I see you’ve been thrown in at the deep end. Sorry about that, dear chap. This is all for your own good.”

“It’d better be,” I retorted.

“Now just hear me out and listen, James,” the Doctor interjected. “It’s all perfectly simple. The castle you’re in. The mountain range you were on. It’s all been inside your head.”

I became perplexed by that. So were the two Sarah Janes.

“What?!” we all asked. Bazooie queried too by gurgling.

“So, I’ve been asleep?” I asked. “Have I been dreaming?”

“In a way, yes,” the Doctor grinned and then continued. “You see, James, you and I were on our way to meet up with your Lady Christina friend on Earth. As soon as we were on our way, the TARDIS got infiltrated by an external force. That external force turned out to be a Rednarog. This Rednarog here named Vicarcus. He snapped you right out, James, and you ended up on the TARDIS floor.”

“And I would gladly snap him out again and again,” Vicarcus snapped bitterly. “Just so I can see you suffer, Doctor, for the crimes you’ve committed against us…”

“Shut up, Vicarcus,” the Doctor snapped. He continued, “Once you were knocked out, James, and once I realised Vicarcus’ revenge plans for us, I decided to call for help using the TARDIS’ telepathic circuits. First of all, I had to place a headset on your head to connect you to the telepathic circuits. That’s happening to you now. Your mind is linked to the TARDIS’ hard-drive.”

“So, wait,” I interrupted. “I’m lying on the TARDIS floor and you got me wired up to the TARDIS with a headset.”

“Spot on,” the Doctor confirmed. “I considered putting you in a chair, but I didn’t want to risk damaging your mind whilst you were unconscious on the floor. I hope you don’t mind all that I’ve done with connecting you to the TARDIS’ telepathic circuits.”

“Not at all,” I answered. “If you think it will help me escape death from this Vicarcus creep, I’m all for it.”

“Splendid,” the Doctor said approvingly. “Anyway, once I connected you to the TARDIS’ telepathic circuits, I gained access to them at the console and called out for help. I received two answers to my call. They turned out to be from my dear friend Sarah Jane – Hello, Sarah Jane! Both of you! One from the past and the other from the future. They were both asleep, but their subconscious answered. I thought I’d be able to summon just one, but I’m lucky in having two Sarah Janes helping me out.”

“So I did end up asleep whilst I was having my picnic with Luke, Clyde and Rani,” older Sarah Jane realised. “K-9 was there too.”

“Right,” the Doctor confirmed. “I had to get you two Sarah Janes inside James’ mind to assess what was going on and what Vicarcus had in mind to exact his revenge. Your brain patterns directed to me when I connected to the TARDIS telepathic circuits. And it turned out to be a haunted house scenario. Or in this case: a haunted castle.”

“It was the best I could come up with,” Vicarcus said rather smugly. “They were based on the soldier’s memories of watching horror films when he was young. So fitting for his death to have meaning, don’t you think?”

“Yes, well, you won’t be ending my friend’s life anytime soon, Vicarcus,” the Doctor told him. “I won’t have you kill James so easily.”

“And who’s going to stop me?! You?”

“Yes! I will!”

Vicarcus laughed at that. “Fat chance! You’ve got nothing to stop me with! I’m inside the soldier’s mind, remember. Even with your limited access via the TARDIS telepathic circuits and using two versions of your friend Sarah Jane Smith, you Doctor, cannot hope to save Private James Darby with the barriers I’ve placed to prevent his escape from death.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Vicarcus,” the Doctor said. “You see; those barriers you mentioned. I’ve already weakened them.”

Vicarcus scoffed. “You can’t have!”

“I have!” he corrected him. “With this!” The Doctor produced from one of his coat pockets a syringe containing something purple inside.

Even though I was still tied up, I could tell from Vicarcus’ expression that he was panic-stricken. “Where did you get that? How did you come by it?”

“I created it in my TARDIS lab whilst my two Sarah Janes were protecting James and distracting you in his mind,” the Doctor told him. “It’s easy when you know what to look for in the TARDIS data banks.”

“Give that to me, Doctor,” Vicarcus demanded, as he held out his hand before shouting, “Give me the syringe! I won’t have you spoil my revenge! GIVE IT TO ME!!!”

“And I sent Bazooie into your death trap for a very good reason,” the Doctor continued, ignoring him. “Whilst I had you distracted of course.”

It was then that the two Sarah Janes and I noticed that Bazooie had cut himself free from his fire pole. He also cut us free from our fire poles. The two Sarah Janes and I had no idea that this had happened. Neither did Vicarcus.

“We’re free,” the older Sarah Jane cried joyously. “We’re all free! Aww thanks, Bazooie!”

“Yes, well done, Bazooie,” young Sarah Jane cheered.

I congratulated my little Miggie. Bazooie blushed as if to say “Shucks!” Vicarcus wasn’t happy though. He glowed purple more than the syringe in the Doctor’s hand.

“No!” he shouted. “You can’t outwit me! This isn’t fair! I want you all dead! YOU SHOULD ALL BE DEAD!!!”

The Doctor then called out, “James! Catch this!”

At that, the Doctor threw the syringe with the purple stuff inside to me. I reached out and managed to catch it in my hands. Thank goodness it was real and not some holographic illusion like the Doctor appeared to be. Vicarcus did try to grab it on its journey towards me, but he wasn’t so lucky and wasn’t fast enough.

“Now, James,” the Doctor then said. “Inject yourself with the serum. That way you’ll be free and able to escape from the trap Vicarcus has put you in. You, the two Sarah Janes and Bazooie will be able to return home! Quickly now! There’s very little time.”

With that, the Doctor’s holographic image vanished.

“NO!!!” Vicarcus howled. “You won’t escape me! I’ll get that syringe off you before you have the chance to use it!”

“Bazooie, at him,” I cried.

Bazooie needed no telling twice. Growling, he leapt up at Vicarcus, pushing him to the ground. Bazooie and Vicracus wrestled with each other on the ground.

“Get off me, you little pipsqueak!” Vicarcus hissed. “GET OFF ME!!!”

Despite Bazooie wrestling with him, he was tossed aside by Vicarcus like a rag doll. The two Sarah Janes and I saw him end up at one side of the hallway. Bazooie whimpered in pain once he’d been tossed aside.

Gradually, Vicarcus got up and was about to make for me again. The two Sarah Janes realised what was happening and they knew what to do.

“We can’t let him kill James,” the older Sarah Jane said.

“Quick! You on the left; I on the right,” the younger Sarah Jane cried. “We’ll pin him down!”

At that, the two Sarah Janes charged forward and grabbed Vicarcus, preventing him from getting at me. They pushed him down to the ground, Vicarcus tried to shake them off, but thankfully the two Sarah Janes were strong enough to keep him down.

“Off me, you females!” he shouted. “Get off me this instant! You’ve no right to interfere!”

The two Sarah Janes wouldn’t let go. Good on them! I’m lucky to have had my life saved by the two Sarah Janes.

“Quick, James,” the younger Sarah Jane called out. “Inject yourself with the serum like the Doctor said!”

“Yes!” the older Sarah Jane joined in. “Hurry now! There’s no time to lose!”

Nodding and agreeing, I rolled up the sleeve of my left arm. I applied the syringe to my left arm, feeling the needle prick against my skin.

“NO!!!!” Vicarcus screamed. “WAIT!!!”

“I’d rather not wait since you want me dead,” I told him defiantly.

It was too late for Vicarcus. I injected myself with the serum as it oozed out of the syringe. Vicarcus howled enraged. Once injected, I dropped the syringe to the floor. Silence fell. Nothing seemed to happen for a moment. But very soon, I noticed Vicarcus vanishing from the two Sarah Janes’ grip. Both Sarah Janes were surprised by this. Vicracus was definitely gone. Bazooie gradually recovered and got up from the floor by this point. Soon, everything happened all at once. I found myself engulfed in a bright white light again.

---

Except this time, I wasn’t outside in the cold weather. I appeared to be in what looked like a white void. The castle was gone as well as Vicarcus. All that remained was me, the two Sarah Janes and Bazooie as we stood in the void. Bazooie made his way over to us, still weak from being tossed aside by Vicarcus.

I checked on the two Sarah Janes. “Are we all alright?”

“I think so,” the young Sarah Jane replied.

“Nothing bad has happened to us yet,” the older Sarah Jane said. “I mean, we’re still here. All four of us are in one piece.”

“Wherever this place is,” I remarked.

Bazooie grunted, curious about what was going on as well.

At that moment, the Doctor appeared. He was still a hologram, I think, but he seemed to be fully formed now. Actually, since this was a dream I’m having, I’m not sure whether to consider the Doctor a hologram or not. Should I call him a vision or perhaps a memory?

“James; Sarah Janes, Bazooie,” he greeted. “Are we all alright?”

That’s what I asked earlier. Uncanny, isn’t it? We all told him that we were alright and he was clearly relieved about that.

“Excellent! The serum seems to be working like a treat! You should all be able to return home now.”

“Home?” the younger Sarah Jane reacted surprised.

The older Sarah Jane was pleased. “You mean; I’ll be back with my dear friends at home on Bannerman Road?”

“And will I be back in the TARDIS still travelling with you, Doctor?” the younger Sarah Jane asked.

“Yes indeed,” the Doctor confirmed. Then he seemed to be sad. “It really has been nice seeing you again, Sarah Jane. And you Sarah Jane. I’m sorry we haven’t had a chance to have a proper chinwag.”

“We understand,” the younger Sarah Jane said.

“You’ve a lot on your plate,” the older Sarah Jane joined in. “You always had when I used to travel with you.”

“I hope you’ll be able to visit me someday,” the younger Sarah Jane said. “Now I see myself being older, I’d hate to think you didn’t check up on me now and again.”

“Oh don’t you worry about that, Sarah Jane,” the Doctor assured her. “I’ll see to it that I’ll pay you a visit very soon.” He then turned to the older Sarah Jane. “Bannerman Road, you said it was.”

“Yes,” the older Sarah Jane confirmed. “13 Bannerman Road in Ealing actually.”

 “Thanks for the address,” the Doctor grinned at her. “I look forward to paying you a visit.”

The older Sarah Jane smiled. The younger Sarah Jane smiled too.

The Doctor then turned to me. “James, I’m going to disconnect you from the TARDIS telepathic circuits now that the Vicarcus threat is over.”

“Where’s he gone, Doctor?” I asked him.

“He’s in the TARDIS where I left him. Don’t worry. I’ll see to it that he’s locked up before he wakes up and has a chance to escape. But I need to disconnect you from the TARDIS telepathic circuits as soon as possible. Once I’ve sent the two Sarah Janes back to their homes and times as well as sending Bazooie back in the TARDIS console room, I’ll attend to you in order for you to wake up.”

“Fair enough,” I replied. “Thanks for rescuing me, Doctor.”

“You’d better say your goodbyes to the two Sarah Janes before you go. I’ll see you back in the TARDIS. Cheerio!”

With that, the Doctor vanished. A moment of silence ensued before I turned to look at the two Sarah Janes. It was sad to be saying goodbye like this. I hadn’t really had a chance to get to know these two ladies. And they were both the same person.

“Well,” I began, feeling rather awkward. “I guess this is goodbye.”

I reached out a hand for them to shake. But the younger Sarah Jane came forward and embraced me in a hug. This was amazing. I was never this lucky with women when working in the space fleet’s seventh division. To receive affection like this!

“I’ll never forget you, dear James,” the younger Sarah Jane said. And then she kissed me on my left cheek. I blushed as she stepped away.

Then the older Sarah Jane came forward and gave me a hug too. To be hugged twice by the same woman is quite a novelty, I think.

“I’ll see to it that I’ll never forget you,” the older Sarah Jane said. And then she kissed me on my right cheek. Wow! Hugged twice and kissed twice by the same woman. I never felt this lucky before joining the Doctor.

“You both saved my life,” I told them. “Thank you for that. I hope you’ll both be alright when you get back to your homes.”

“I’m sure we will,” young Sarah Jane said.

“Otherwise you’d better make sure the Doctor checks up on me to see whether we both ended up alright,” the older Sarah Jane teased.

Bazooie came forward to say goodbye to the two Sarah Janes. They both embraced Bazooie and said their farewells to him. For a little while, we all looked at each other affectionately. And then, the two Sarah Janes vanished from sight. The same thing happened to Bazooie, as he waved his little paw at me before vanishing. It was my turn soon. I’d be happy to be back in the TARDIS console room and leave this nightmare behind forever. Eventually, I found myself fading away from the void. Darkness took me and it felt like I was falling asleep.

---

I woke up to find myself back in the TARDIS. All was well for me. I was still in one piece. I checked to be sure. Thankfully, the Doctor had placed a cushion underneath my head whilst I’d been lying on the floor. Gradually, I started to get up. I was soon helped up by the Doctor. Bazooie was there too. Both Bazooie and the Doctor helped me up onto my feet.

“There you are, James,” the Doctor said cheerfully. “Back in the TARDIS safe and sound. Both you and Bazooie.”

Bazooie grunted happily.

“Doctor, is this…?” I began, struggling to find the worlds at first. “Am I really back…?”

“Yes, James,” the Doctor assured me. “You’re not in a dream anymore. You’re back right where you were before you were knocked out by Vicarcus. Bazooie and I were quite worried about you. We had a feeling we were going to lose you forever.”

Bazooie snorted. The Doctor ignored him.

I then asked, “What about that Rednarog Vicarcus? Are you sure you’ve locked him up?”

“Yes,” the Doctor assured me again. “I’ve placed him in a stasis container aboard the TARDIS. He’s asleep now. Once you’ve fully recovered, we’ll make our way back to the Rednarogs using the fast return switch, sending him back to the proper authorities.”

I groaned. “I thought we had seen the last of those goons.”

“Never assume that we’ve seen the last of people,” the Doctor told me. “I’ve fallen into that misconception myself with Daleks, Cybermen and the like.”

To be fair, the Doctor had a point. I couldn’t argue with that, so I shrugged.

“After we’ve seen to the Rednarogs,” he continued, “we can keep your appointment with Lady Christina. We’ll end up on 21st century Earth sooner than you think.”

I became thoughtful for a moment. It must have shown on my face as the Doctor noticed.

“Doctor…” I began.

“Something wrong?” the Doctor interrupted.

“No, no,” I assured him. “There’s nothing wrong at all.”

“I thought you wanted to see Lady Christina.”

“I do, yes,” I told him. “But…I feel there’s something we should do first before we cross the bridge on 21st century Earth.”

“There is?” the Doctor became surprised.

Bazooie reacted surprised too with an “Ooh-aah.”

Trying to find the words, I eventually said, “Doctor, I hope you don’t mind, but after we’ve seen to the Rednarogs, can we go and visit Sarah Jane? The older Sarah Jane, I mean.”

The Doctor looked at me for quite a bit, almost as if he was about to reject the idea.

Eventually, he said, “Yes, of course, if you like. Of course we can go and see Sarah Jane.”

“It’s just…” I started, before finding the words again. “She saved my life when her two selves were inside my mind. She stopped Vicarcus trying to get at me when I had the syringe containing the serum in my hand to free me from the nightmare world he put me in.” Pausing for a moment, I continued, “I want to make sure she’s alright. And I want to say thank you to her in person.” After another pause, “And I think she would like to see you again, Doctor.”

Quite a while passed before the Doctor said anything. Bazooie pulled at my leg. He was curious about the Doctor’s musings.

I told him, “Not now, Bazooie. The Doctor’s thinking, okay?”

Thankfully, after thinking on what I said to him, he put on his toothy grin and said, “Yes, indeed. She would like to see me again. Well, of course it’s natural, isn’t it? I’m irresistible, aren’t I? Irresistible!”

“That I won’t argue with,” I smirked.

At that, the Doctor made his way to the TARDIS console. Bazooie and I joined him at his side, as we watched him press some buttons on the console.

“First stop: back to the Rednarogs,” he said as he pressed buttons. “Next stop: 21st century Earth where we visit Sarah Jane. And Lady Christina afterwards.”

I smiled at that.

After the Doctor had pressed buttons on the console, he turned to me and said, “Perhaps you’d better get some rest, James. After all, you’ve had quite an ordeal. Hopefully no more Rednarogs will put you into dream states like Vicarcus did.”

That, I couldn’t argue with. Very soon, I made my way out of the console room with Bazooie tagging along at my side. I pushed my way through the door out of the console room and entered the corridor, heading for my bedroom aboard the TARDIS. As I looked forward to some peaceful sleep for a change, I wondered what would happen when I met Sarah Jane in person and not in a dream. What would I say to her? Would she be very pleased to see me and the Doctor after the experience we’d had?

---

Sadly, we didn’t get to meet Sarah Jane on 21st century Earth as we hoped. By the time the TARDIS arrived on Bannerman Road in Ealing and the Doctor, Bazooie and I found No. 13, we found out that dear Sarah Jane had died. This was a shock for me as it was for the Doctor and Bazooie. And we just missed her funeral. I was so upset about this.

We were met by three youngsters – Clyde, Luke and Rani. These were the friends Sarah Jane had talked about when living on Bannerman Road. There was also a little metal dog with them. K-9, I believe he was called. Sarah Jane had mentioned him too. Apparently he was a gift from the Doctor to Sarah Jane, but the Doctor didn’t seem to recognise him.

After telling the three youngsters that we were friends of Sarah Jane’s, they directed us to the shrine outside No. 13. We went there and saw many flowers had been placed. Lots of people knew Sarah Jane apparently. And they clearly loved her judging by all the flowers that were there.

The Doctor, Bazooie and I stood there for quite some time. We didn’t say anything. We were reflecting on how much Sarah Jane meant to us, especially when Bazooie and I had met her on that dark world the Rednarog created in my mind whilst sleeping. I don’t know what the Doctor was thinking. He must have been heart-broken though. He had known Sarah Jane far longer than I had. I know Bazooie was upset as he sobbed away whilst clinging to my leg. I didn’t shake him off. I knew how upset he was. I couldn’t hide my tears either, as the two Sarah Janes I met were both lovely and wonderful to meet. And she was the Doctor’s best friend for a time. What an honour it was to meet one of the Doctor’s greatest friends.

After what seemed like a couple of hours, though it must have been shorter than that, of standing at Sarah Jane’s shrine, I wiped my tears and began to speak. “Surely if…”

I struggled to find the words. I was still feeling upset.

“What were you going to say?” the Doctor asked quietly.

“It doesn’t matter,” I sniffed. This was very hard-going I’m sure for both me and the Doctor.

The Doctor breathed out before saying, “You were about to ask whether we could go back in time to meet Sarah Jane before she died.”

“Would it be so difficult to do?” I challenged him, not unkindly.

Bazooie whimpered eagerly, feeling hopeful as I was.

“I can’t change the course of history,” the Doctor argued. “Not like that. I can’t prevent dear Sarah Jane’s death.”

“I’m not asking you to,” I told him. “I just want us to meet her before she passed away so that we can say a proper goodbye to her.”

“I can’t risk damaging the timelines by meeting her earlier before she died,” he told me. “Besides, I don’t know what would happen if we met up with her and interrupted her at a fixed point in time in her life.”

I didn’t feel like arguing. I couldn’t argue with the Doctor at this moment. There was so much to take in. The revelation that Sarah Jane had died on 21st century Earth was too much to bear. Maybe after a while, the Doctor might reconsider and change his mind. I had to say my peace though.

“I just wish we could meet her before she died,” I said. “It would have been very nice to say goodbye to her.”

Bazooie gurgled, agreeing with what I said.

“I know,” the Doctor said consolingly. After a moment’s silence, he went on. “I regret not reuniting with Sarah Jane again in this current life.” Another pause. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get to reunite with her in one of my future lives.”

For a while, it seemed like nobody else was with us.

But then somebody spoke, “Oh but you did, Doctor. You certainly did.”

Puzzled and curious, the Doctor, Bazooie and I turned to see someone standing right there beside us.

“And it was absolutely brilliant meeting up with her again,” the newcomer said.

He was dressed in a brown pinstripe suit and he wore a brown trenchcoat. He seemed youngish, had spiky hair and wore white trainers. He smiled, but there was also a hint of sadness in his smile.

I was surprised and wondered who this newcomer was. When the Doctor told me who he was, I was even more surprised. So was Bazooie, as he gurgled quite excitedly. The man then told us about Sarah Jane Smith and how we – the Doctor, Bazooie and I – could meet her again.

---

‘James Darby’ and ‘Bazoon the Miggie’ created by Tim Bradley
‘Sarah Jane Smith’ created by Barry Letts and Terrance Dicks
‘Luke Smith’, ‘Clyde Langer’ and ‘Rani Chandra’ created by Russell T. Davies
‘K-9’ created by Bob Baker and Dave Martin

 © Tim Bradley, 2022

---

The previous story For the Fourth Doctor was ‘Lady and the Soldier’ For James Darby was ‘Lady and the Soldier’ For Sarah Jane was ‘Pyramids of Mars’ (TV) ‘The Gift’ (SJA) (TV) ‘Farewell, Sarah Jane’ (SJA) (Webcast)  For K-9 Mk IV was ‘Farewell, Sarah Jane’ (SJA) (Webcast)  For the Tenth Doctor was ‘The Prime Factor’	The next story For the Fourth Doctor is ‘The Prime Factor’ For James Darby is ‘The Prime Factor’ For Sarah Jane is ‘The Duke of Dominoes’ (VD) ‘Deadly Download’ (SJA) (Audio) For the Tenth Doctor is ‘The Jago & Litefoot Revival’ (ST/Audio)
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