Doing Time (short story): Difference between revisions

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'''''Doing Time''''' was the eleventh short story in the [[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]] anthology ''[[Short Trips: Steel Skies]]''. It was written by [[Lance Parkin]]. It featured the [[Fourth Doctor]].
'''''Doing Time''''' was the eleventh short story in the [[Short Trips (series)|Short Trips]] anthology ''[[Short Trips: Steel Skies]]''. It was written by [[Lance Parkin]]. It featured the [[Fourth Doctor]].
== Summary ==
== Summary ==
After luring a group of Time Lords to a remote moon to investigate claims of temporal disturbances, Shepard and his associates, Adams and Morgan, steal the impellor to their TARDIS's time rotor and then make their escape.  
[[Shepard]] has a moment of panic. He and [[Adams (Doing Time)|Adams]] are in the power stacks. They carefully remove a cylinder and put it in a bag. Shepard is nervous. They head out, Shepard leading the way. They open the double doors and come out onto the moon's surface. The settlement is nearby. Their shuttlecraft is in the opposite direction, [[Morgan (Doing Time)|Morgan]] waiting at the controls. Shepard wonders if it could really be this easy, but they make it to the shuttle and take off. Adams states, "We got away with it."


But when the three crooks arrive at the space station where they are to meet with their buyer, Shepard encounters the [[Fourth Doctor]], who urges him to hand over the stolen device or suffer the consequences. Shepard ignores the Time Lord's advice, and together with his associates, he makes their rendezvous with a Sontaran, exchanging the impellor for a device that can to transmute everyday objects into gold.  
They board a warp ship and destroy their shuttle. Adams stays in his quarters to guard the bag. They change ships, then dock at Gateway Nine Zero Zero One on their way to meet their contact. As they push through the crowd, Shepard briefly loses sight of the other two. He is confronted by a [[Fourth Doctor|tall man]] and a woman. The woman calls the man "Doctor", and Shepard is afraid. The Doctor knows what he has taken, but Shepard thinks he is trying to make a deal. The Doctor tells him that if he doesn't change his ways, he will end up "doing time."


Later, Shepard meets with his woman, Celeste, and spends the night with her, but when he next wakes up he is startled to find himself back on the moon, once more stealing the impellor with Adams and Morgan. Dismissing Shepard's concerns, they escape with the device, but on reaching the space station, they again find themselves back on the moon.  
Shepard joins the other two, and they meet their contact, an alien creature. They give him their prize, the impeller for a [[TARDIS]] [[time rotor]]. The creature gives them a molecular sequencer that will change anything to [[gold]], up to the amount of their promised payment. The creature leaves, and the next day the men deposit the gold in the bank. They go their separate ways, and Shepard returns home to [[Celeste (Doing Time)|Celeste]]. The next morning, he happily realises this is the first day of the rest of his life.


As the time between each cycle halves again and again, Shepard realises that the Time Lords have imprisoned them in an eternal time loop, and the only way to break it is not to steal the device; however, this realisation comes too late, as the cycle breaks down to a fraction of a second, dooming them to an eternity of repetition...  
Shepard has a moment of panic. He and Adams are in the power stacks. They carefully remove a cylinder and put it in a bag. Shepard is nervous. He experiences a moment of [[déjà vu]]. They head out, Shepard leading the way. They open the double doors and come out onto the moon's surface. The settlement is nearby. Their shuttlecraft is in the opposite direction, Morgan waiting at the controls. Shepard wonders if it could really be this easy, but they make it to the shuttle and take off. Adams states, "We got away with it."


They board a warp ship and destroy their shuttle. Adams stays in his quarters to guard the bag. They change ships, then dock at Gateway Nine Zero Zero One on their way to meet their contact. As they push through the crowd, Shepard briefly loses sight of the other two. He has a sense of déjà vu again, but something is missing...a man and a girl.
Shepard joins the other two, and they meet their contact.
Shepard has a moment of panic. He and Adams are in the power stacks. They carefully remove a cylinder and put it in a bag. Shepard is nervous. They head out, Shepard leading the way. Shepard realises they are repeating events. They open the double doors and come out onto the moon's surface. The settlement is nearby. Their shuttlecraft is in the opposite direction, Morgan waiting at the controls. Shepard wonders if it could really be this easy, but they make it to the shuttle and take off. Adams states, "We're trapped."
They board a warp ship and destroy their shuttle. Adams stays in his quarters to guard the bag. At the station, Shepard realises that each repeating cycle is half the length of the last one. He will never see Celeste again.
Shepard has a moment of panic. He and Adams are in the power stacks. Shepard says they are being punished. They carefully remove a cylinder and put it in a bag. Shepard is nervous. They head out, Shepard leading the way. They open the double doors and come out onto the moon's surface. The settlement is nearby. Their shuttlecraft is in the opposite direction, Morgan waiting at the controls. Shepard wonders if it could really be this easy, but they make it to the shuttle and take off. Adams states, "We got away with it."
Shepard has a moment of panic. He and Adams are in the power stacks. They carefully remove a cylinder and put it in a bag. Shepard tells Adams that the next time they have to remember not to take the rotor.
Shepard has a moment of panic. He and Adams are in the power stacks. He warns Adams not to take the rotor, but it is too late. Shepard knows the next time there won’t be any time to warn Adams.
Shepard has a moment of panic.


== Characters ==
== Characters ==
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