Timeshare (VD short story)
Timeshare was the ninth story in the anthology Decalog 2: Lost Property. It was written by Vanessa Bishop. It featured the Sixth Doctor and Peri Brown.
Summary
Peri is searching the Doctor's coat pockets for a pen when she finds a piece of paper. It has coordinates on it, and the Doctor decides they should explore. He inputs the numbers from the paper as Peri reads them, though he insists the last number is a "6", not a "5".
They arrive at a two-story house in England. It has a sign bearing the initials H.O.P. The Doctor explains that H.O.P. owns timeshares that operate through time, and this one should not exist because the Time Lords shut them all down. He says he probably has a key for the place, and after much searching they find one and enter the house.
In the lobby is a meter and a guest book. They note that the guest book for the first week in November shows it was bequeathed to the Doctor in 1920 and it has been empty since then. Now, in 1929, the Doctor adds money to the meter to pay for his week.
They enter the house, but they are not alone. They meet a man, Godfrey Richardson, who with his sister Camilla owns the last week in October. They have noticed that the Doctor never appears for his week, so this year they decided to stay an extra week while Godfrey recovers from bronchitis. Godfrey explains that he paid for this week, but the Doctor is now worried — two weeks of payment were added to the machine for one week of time.
Strange things start happening. At first it seems that Camilla has seen a ghost, but then the others too start seeing strangers who re-enact the same scenes over and over. The Doctor sends Godfrey and Camilla away, and he explains to Peri that the other people are tenants of the first week of November from different times.
One of the strangers is a man with a gun, who finds something odd upstairs. When the Doctor and Peri finally investigate, they find the dead body of what is obviously an alien.
When the doorbell rings, they decide not to answer, but then the Doctor recognises the voice outside as that of another Time Lord. He explains that the alien upstairs was from a vampire-like race. He would come to the timeshare every year, but when he died in 1920 he bequeathed the week to the Doctor. The Doctor was supposed to remove him in 1920, but since he got the coordinates wrong (it was a "5"), he arrived nine years late.
The Doctor travels to 1920 to take the alien body away, then he returns to 1929, where he adjusts the meter and he and Peri live out two weeks worth of time in one week to return time back to normal.
Characters
- Sixth Doctor
- Peri Brown
- Godfrey Richardson
- Camilla Richardson
- Boy
- Elspeth
- Melon man
- Backgammon players
- Man with the gun
- Parlourmaid
- Time Lord
References
- The Doctor has in his possession "the most important key on the planet Zircona".
- The Doctor and Godfrey argue over whether Charlotte or Emily Brontë wrote Wuthering Heights.
- Peri mentions the Wall Street Crash and the St Valentine's Day Massacre.
- The Doctor tells Godfrey his top secret pasta recipe.
- Peri makes the Doctor his favourite sandwich.
- The Doctor and Peri try to see Steamboat Willie.
Notes
- The stories in Decalog 2 have a common theme of homes owned or acquired by the Doctor. The home in this story is the timeshare.
Continuity
- The Doctor keeps his keys in his shoes. (TV: Spearhead from Space, TV: Robot)
