DOCTOR WHO: THE MYRIAD -FAN EDITION- Is a novel that MKDS has worked on for a few years now, with the intention of releasing it sometime in 2022 in Paperback Only. This is just a Sample of the novel.

1 Lonely Planet

The Consciousness

The Universe had once consisted of nothing but an expanse of darkness, like a closed empty room starved of light, and like that room, the opening of a door or window welcoming in the first wake of day, or the touch of sunlight, the universe, too, was touched by a spark. Slow at first. But then that spark came to expand, until eventually, becoming infused with a vast consciousness not unlike a young child’s mind.

The further this new consciousness moved into the center of the universe, the bigger it became, and the more it learned and the more adaptable it became to its surroundings of the darkness.
After millions of years of learning, The Consciousness, as it came to be known, realized that the darkness it was seeing was something that had no meaning, and so, creating a single body from itself, it nurtured a star that was just five times smaller. This star grew from the power of the Consciousness, but, a time came when both met a very common and very real dilemma. The Consciousness had reached a point where its need for learning was restricted by the star, and the star could not grow any further because The Consciousness could not feed it any more of its energy, because to feed would mean that it could never break free from the gravity that was now keeping both of the stars from leaving one another.

Finally, however, The Consciousness came to a decision. And, it was this decision that gave it one of two possible outcomes: If The Consciousness gave one last burst of energy, then the star would allow it to leave and continue on it’s way through the universe and some day return. But, if The Consciousness gave too much energy to the star, then together they could expand outward in a way that this whole darkened abyss of space would in a single moment become reborn in the purest of light – The brightest of light.

The ultimate decision took almost ten million years to decide, and what that decision brought was a new sequence of birth to the dark universe; the explosion alone was bright enough to light up several neighboring universes, while from both celestial bodies came a fantastical rain of debris so violent in flame, that from rock, metal, mineral and intelligence came many planets, moons, nebulas and cascading binary systems so large, that where once darkness touched the abyss of space, now came light, color and purpose. The star was no more, but The Consciousness, it had expanded a hundred fold from its pinnacle point in space. From a single spark of light, it had made itself into billions of galaxies, bringing light and darkness both across a universe that was just one of trillions.

In doing this, however, an echo, distant and almost silent cried out across time. This echo was a warning.

Abraxus 259

The baron wastelands of Abraxus 259 were silent, but for the low sound of something not of the planet. A strained whirring, both distant and near, and yet it was loudening to a single drop of echoing weight. Visually there was something almost certainly trying to materialize, transparent at first, until eventually becoming solid in front of a large group of rocks. It was dark blue in color, oblong in shape with very descriptive lettering across the top of its front that read: POLICE PUBLIC CALL BOX.

The stillness of this odd object was the fact that it did not belong to this planet, and nor did it bring any association to the inhabitants, who upon seeing it were most interested in knowing the contents as well as the reason for its sudden appearance from out of nowhere.

A few minutes past before suddenly, at the front of this strange object a door opened and from inside a man, tall, thin faced and dressed in a smart tarratet suit was seen to exit quickly. His gasping for air indicated that he was out of breath, but at the same time trying to escape something – maybe even someone – to seek some form of shelter. This he did by finding a small group of rocks just a short distance from the object.
  “I must remember to check the TARDIS before entering!” He called out between occasionally ducking behind the rocks and observing the box.

Unbeknown to this man, one of the Abraxus residents had approached him, which upon turning around and noticing them standing there at the side of him, gave the stranger to their planet a rather startled fright.

  “Whoa!” He shouted. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people like that! You could have given me a heart attack. Well, one heart anyway … Hello, I’m the Doctor.”

The Abraxan gave a smile and bow before opening up his arms in a traditional greeting manner.

  “Welcome to our home, Doctor. Is that your … Ship?”

The Doctor was lost for words, for a moment at least.
  “Well, its … Yes, it’s my ship. I call her the TARDIS, which means …”

  “It is very blue,” the Abraxan sighed, “does she fly?”

The Doctor nodded. “Well, kind of. What did you say your name was, again?”

The Abraxan turned to point at three other men before turning back with a smile, only this time he took from inside his cloak an object resembling that of a small, round steel ball. Handing it to a puzzled Doctor, he accepted it, while at the same time taking out his sonic screwdriver and scanning the object sitting in the palm of his hand.

  “Oh, very nice!” He exclaimed. “What is it?”

  “It is a gift,” said the Abraxan.

Still scanning the object, the Doctor failed to see that the other three men had walked up to join him. Looking up from the small gift in his hand, however, he managed to see that one of them was handing him another steel ball. Taking it from the man, he thanked him, too.

  “It is a gift,” he said repeating the words of the first man.
This ball he did not scan.

Suddenly, from the TARDIS, something ran out of the door. At first, the Abraxan who had greeted the Doctor looked shocked, until the second man produced a weapon of some kind. Noticing this, the Doctor begged him not to hurt the creature-like effigy that was now stood facing the five of them with a grimace.

  “It is Grib!” said the first man.

  “Well, okay, I wasn’t quite sure …”

  “Is it a gift?” asked the second man.

The Doctor shook his head. “No. Not really, it’s more of a stow-away, actually. It got inside the TARDIS and, well, kind of made it its home.”

  “It is a gift!” repeated the first man.

  “Yes, if you count Space Monkey’s as a gift … no offence”
  “It is Grib. Not a gift. Do you have a gift, Doctor?”

Now he understood. As a formal greeting of newcomers to the planet, a customary exchange of gifts was initiated as a show of peace. Though for the Doctor, he found nothing to give the four men. Checking inside each pocket of his suit jacket, he came across several things that were considered too important to give away as gifts, except for one object, of course, that now brought a smile to his face.

  “Ah, here we are,” he announced, “this is a very valuable gift that all of you can share. Now, on several intellectual planets in the universe … Ah, well, I say intellectual, but anyway. Here you go.”

The four men got together and looked at the object before the one who had first met the Doctor turned with a confused look on his face. It was this look that had the Doctor worried.
  “What do you call this gift, Doctor?”

  “Its called a pen,” replied the Doctor, “it can reveal your name, if at all you have one, or you can …!”

  “Can it bring peace?”

The Doctor nodded. “It has been known.”

Glancing back at the Grib, and then back at the four men, he saw that they were now excited about the gift that they had been given.

  “Thank you, Doctor, it is acceptable.”

At the very moment he acknowledged the gift, all four of them, including the creature sat before him were transported to a large dome-like building, it’s tall rounded roof showing a clear cerulean blue sky, while around its base, a crystallized transparent floor. For the three men this was considered normal, but to the Doctor, just the thought of having a see-through walkway with a bottomless abyss below his feet made him feel unsettled.

  “Is this safe?” he asked.

The first man turned, looked at the floor and then nodded. “It is The Vint. Much of our world here is built upon it.”

  “Right, so it is safe then?” The Doctor repeated.

  “It is The Vint.” he answered.

Continuing forward, the three men led the Doctor away from the dome and into another room, the roof of this was much different than the last. Here there stood several pillars, bright white in color, while at the sides where there should have been walls, there was just openness like he had never seen before. Was this some kind of an optical illusion?

  “Our Prefect, Nubis Khan will see you. Please, wait here.”

  “I’m sorry, did you just say, Nubis Khan? The very same Nubis Khan from …?”

  “From Abraxus, yes, he is our Prefect.”

Nubis Khan was no stranger to the Doctor, as the Doctor, too, was no stranger to Khan. In a previous encounter with him, three to be precise, it was the Prefect who had been a little lesser himself, both of mind and body. The first encounter was during the Time War, when his home planet of Gallifrey came under attack by an old and ancient enemy of the Time Lord’s. On a second encounter, the surprise was on the Doctor, while the last time he met Khan, both were equally surprised.

  “Welcome to Abraxus, Doctor!”

The very voice of Nubis Khan ran through the Doctor like a fear that had him turn slowly in an expectation of being greeted by a Dalek. But, upon turning and facing the Prefect, what the Doctor saw was not that of a metal cased slave of a self-appointed superior race resembling anything like a Dalek, nor the remains of a mad and insane servant of Skarro, but a man of flesh, blood and bone.

  “Nubis Khan, I presume? You got a lot taller since the last time I saw you. I’m the Doctor.”

Nubis was suddenly confused. “Have we met before, Doctor?”
The answer had to be made delicately, or not at all in a response that would reveal anything of a set timeline. The Doctor knew this only too well, and of the consequences in revealing anything that could change the history of either him or Khan, either in the past or present.

   “I’m sorry, wrong Khan. So, The Vint, what is that exactly?”
Khan was not distracted by the sudden change of the question, he was more eager in explaining a more relevant query that he was more than happy to answer. The Vint was something that the Doctor had never seen or heard of before, not because it was new, but because, as Khan explained, had taken centuries to perfect. But because when the very first type of it’s kind was developed, the correct structure required a substance of equal mass and weight throughout. It was only in the last century that those of the Abraxan Colonists came up with the perfect substitute.

  “Are you saying that it’s artificial?”

  “No, Doctor, it’s real. The Vint, long ago were made of organic material. That which originally made up The Vint, is no longer found here on our home planet …”

  “So it was alien technology that was moved here?”

  “Yes. You see, Doctor, many centuries ago, it was those of my people, who travelled the universe in search of other races and species. Only in our lifetime have we successfully made contact with several, and of these, successfully managed to exchange technologies. The Vint was one of our greatest achievements. We are the only race who has developed this anywhere in the known universe.”

Khan’s tone told the Doctor that he was a proud man, though at the back of his mind, there was something about him that didn’t make sense. But, whether this was because he knew what Khan would become, or maybe because of something to do with The Vint, he had to find out.

  “If you don’t mind me asking, where exactly is The Vint?”

Khan avoided answering the question.

  “Maybe I can show you something that is more our own technology, that created by the Abraxan people themselves, perhaps?”
The Doctor was more interested in The Vint, though to see any new race advancements would not only be a privilege, but a pleasure. It was an invitation that could never be turned down.
With a nod, the Doctor put out a hand for Khan to lead the way.
Meanwhile, not far from where the Doctor had landed the TARDIS, several continuous tremors shook the ground and tore away a large part of the mountain. What remained after the last tremor was a vehicle of some sort, ionic silver phased in a green break, its spearhead top connected to a bulbous mass with several engines just visible from its base. With no markings or any way of identifying this big ship, the Abraxan people had no idea whether its original presence was of peace or hostility. To make any sudden assumptions now, would be foolish in itself, especially as to those who didn’t know that this was The Myriad; ancient, dangerous and the one race that were as mysterious as they were deadly.

The Myriad Tale

The Consciousness of the universe and its accompanying Star spun in perfect unison for ten millennia, each day, month and year they would talk of divine creations that each would make between many billions of other stars that they would name Galaxies, and how Quasar’s would illuminate so brightly that no longer would darkness overshadow and block out the light. In fact, with their landscapes of this new and wondrous Cosmos, infant worlds would bring that of both mortals and immortals together in perfect harmony. A Utopian haven.
  “The stars will shine in their moments between birth and death,” said the Consciousness, “which upon their very bodies will exist life. Each life will hold a tiny piece of my intelligence and from one star to the next, it will be their purpose that will be to seek out other vast regions to turn all the darkness to light.”
  “And what will you call those that fill the stars with life?” Asked the star.

  “I shall call them Myriad,” answered the Consciousness, “for they will be many, and together they shall converge in our Utopia a place worthy of all majesty and beauty absolute.”
The Star, now entering its final phase of Nova whispered, “I wish that I could witness these great stars, and look upon the creation of all those lives that they carry. But now I must leave …”

It was then that the Star exploded, its brightness illuminating thousands of billions of light years in every direction. As for its lifelong partner The Consciousness that held fast to see the magnificence of this brilliant magnificence, tiny fragments of sparks followed each trailing splinter of rock from The Star, smashing together and fusing into them as they disappeared from sight. And, by the time the explosion had ended – 10 millennia – The Consciousness was left in awe at the beauty that it had created. An entire endless ocean of stars that were now those of beacons across the vastness and gulf of space. At last the emptiness that had given The Consciousness reason, now gave it meaning.

Abraxus 259

Nubis Khan had shown the Doctor many things that he considered both brilliant and fascinating, but most of all, the Time Lord himself thought only of knowing about The Vint. He was feeling annoyed that he didn’t know anything about this race. That there was a species in the galaxy he had never heard of, or that they existed at all.

  “All of this technology is very impressive, but, I found The Vint more …”

  “Confusing, maybe?”

  “Well … yes, of course, as there is no history of them … if indeed they are a ‘them’, or in fact they are an ‘it’, which begs the question. If in fact The Vint are as intelligent as I see they are … !”

Nubis Khan put up a silencing hand. “Alright, Doctor, maybe if I was to tell you that The Vint were here well before your race even existed, that may surprise you, yes?”

The Doctor frowned. “Highly doubtful. My race have been around since the Dawn of Time, not to mention Space. What is interesting, is that The Vint have never been known to my race, until now. How can that be?”

Khan became silent for a moment before waving the Doctor to follow him into another room, one which had no door, just a holographic wall of a strange type, which again, had the Doctor at a disadvantage. Once on the other side, however, what stood before both men, was something so beautiful, so majestic and spectacular, that for just one moment, there was an absolute feeling of calm within the Doctor.

  “It’s so beautiful. What is it?” The Doctor asked.

Before the two men was a sphere of white light, but not just that of light. In the center sat a crescendo of colorful lines, each rotating, spinning and traversing into one another. Its glow had a radiance, somehow it had the ability to reach out, to touch and to interact.

  “This, Doctor, is The Vint. For centuries our race sought out one of the biggest questions of the universe: Where did life begin? And, after so long, we found it on the furthest planet at the end of the universe. Taking more than a thousand years to return it here to Abraxus, we managed to negotiate some kind of monologue. Over time we found common ground, that of our fascination with the stars, and so, eventually, it was The Vint that shared the secrets of its technology.”

Nubis Khan enjoyed sharing this information with the Doctor. It was as if he knew that on this very day the Doctor would arrive, and it was this that had the Doctor worried. Worried for the fact that nobody, especially those of The Abraxan race should possess such technology as he was seeing.

  “When you say secrets, what do you mean?”

Again, Khan fell silent. The Doctor asked again.

  “Tell me, Doctor, do you ever ask yourself where it is that you actually come from … where we all actually come from? I mean, we look up to the stars from our planets and see this immense, endless ocean of planets, but what we don’t know, is how all of these stars in the sky became what they are now.”
The Doctor stepped forward. “There are many things that we shouldn’t  know, Khan, surely you know that?”

Khan laughed. “I disagree. We should know all that there is to know about our universe. Everything, and more. We thirst to know exactly what is out there. We need to know what to expect, when to expect it … ”

  “But if we knew everything, which by the laws of the universe we really shouldn’t, where would be the fun of surprises?”
Khan wasn’t a man who liked surprises, he considered himself that of a scientist, one who found pleasure and excitement in knowing how one thing or another worked, functioned and existed.
  “Such a limited mind you have Doctor, no offense,” Khan whispered.
  “On the contrary, Khan, I like to think that I have an ample sized mind, one that allows me to be one step ahead of anything that I come to face. Of course, in this case, I do rather feel like the man who missed the big meeting … ”

  “Yes, Doctor,” Khan said arrogantly, “it is almost as if you are no longer the smartest person in the room, is it not?”

It was now, right at this very moment, that the Doctor began to feel the sudden urge to return back to the TARDIS, to take flight and leave this planet that was a conundrum to him.

But just then the light flickered suddenly. Its pulse steady glow emitting a bright and direct beam of solid light that hit Khan directly in the chest.

  “How extraordinary,” said the Doctor, taking out his sonic screwdriver and scanning both the light and Khan, “that light seems to be transferring some kind of information. Of course, the question is, what information is it sending?”

After a few seconds, Khan began to move his head, only slight movements at first, and then more freely as the light returned to its original source.

  “Fascinating!” Khan exclaimed.

  “Are you alright, Khan?” The Doctor asked.

  “On the contrary, I feel marvelous. Tell me Doctor, the ship you arrived in, how does it travel through the Vortex without splintering time?”

This was new. Never had anyone asked about the TARDIS, except for the Dalek’s, but their interest was much more in knowing how to destroy it. Even so, the question being asked right now by Khan, had the Doctor wonder.

  “Sorry, what?”

Khan laughed. “Oh, come along Doctor, there are no secrets between friends, surely? I believe it is the Type 40 TARDIS: Time And Relative Dimension In Space, if I’m not mistaken?”

The Doctor was more surprised by the information given than who was asking it, for the simple reason that nobody, except a Time Lord would or should know this information.

  “That’s a very neat trick, Khan, maybe you can tell me how you know that?”

Khan walked slowly over to the sphere of light before turning to face the Doctor with a strange smile, a smile that had his guest feeling even more uncomfortable with the situation.

  “Knowledge, Doctor. Knowledge is the new future … and the past, if you look at it from a Time Lord’s point of view. Here, with The Vint, nothing is unknown. Could I see your ship?”

The answer to the question was going to be “No”. The answer was always going to be “No”, due to the person asking. More to the point, was the fact that Khan and his new found friends The Vint, were up to something other than providing and taking information from one another.

  “I’m sorry, Khan, I’m afraid the TARDIS is out of bounds to anyone who is not a Time Lord. It’s a strict rule I have.”

Of course, Khan wasn’t happy with the reply.

  “Well, maybe there is something we have that will change your mind? Information, perhaps? Maybe the one question of many that you want to know more in the whole universe?”

  “Your fishing, Khan,’ the Doctor spoke up dryly.

  “Imagine, the Doctor, a mystery within the Cosmos trying so desperately to find out where he really comes from? The one answer that has been burning his curiosity since … well, since the start of your long journey from Gallifrey?”

Nobody knew about the Doctor, about the people of his world or that of the Time Lords, either. It would be very interesting to find out the answer, however, especially as he was the last of his kind. The last of the Time Lord’s of Gallifrey.

  “Oh, I don’t know, Khan, I’m kind of an open book. I know where I come from. The question here, of course, is where you are headed? You see, I’ve seen the future. I know your fate. It is the future that … ”

Khan raised his hand silencing the Doctor suddenly, not by a gesture, however, but by some other forceful means. By some form of hidden power emitting from The Vint Sphere that had taken a hold of every atom and molecule in the Doctor’s body.

  “Fate. Destiny. Time does not write these things, Doctor, only The Vint. For they are the beginning, the end, and all that is inbetween. There are no rules, no laws, no governing of who or what can go through the multiversal  vortex. You may be a Time Lord in the moments  that you remember, but what about those that you do not? Those creeping memories of fade, where from a simple smell, to a simple touch, to a simple act burns your thoughts on how can you have experienced something without having ever experienced it in the first place? You limit your expanse of knowledge through fear of a knowing … a memory of Sardalier and the five Moons of Vill.”

The Doctor was starting to get worried.

  “Release me, Khan, or I will … ”

Suddenly, rushing up to his captive with a look of triumphant accomplishment, he gave a smile of absolute madness.

  “Or you will do what, exactly? You came here to Abraxus 259 for answers, did you not? The calling brought you here, to The Vint, and yet, you doubt yourself on asking the one question that for so long you have always wanted to hear.”

The invisible snare of entrapment released the Doctor from his restraint, forced or otherwise, it finally let him go. What came to pass now, was the predicted move of a Time Lord.

  “I’ve heard enough of this, Khan, I’m leaving.”

Leave he could, if he so wished, but leave he didn’t through the truth that Khan spoke. He now needed to know more – he now needed to know the one thing that he had traveled so far to find out. This, he thought, could be his one and only chance to know the truth!

  “You, Doctor, are the one who even before time was given its primitive name, travelled the stars and oceans of space with no boundaries. Only when you came here, to this universe, the last corner of darkness and chaos, did you see something to stay for. Had the Shabogan mother who adopted, cared and looked after you not taken you under her wing of protection, then that of the Timeless Child would never have become trapped!”

Hearing Khan out, the Doctor started applauding. This was seen as confusing, if not strange to the host.

  “Oh, Khan, I have to say you are good! No, better than good, you are brilliant!’ the Doctor exclaimed.

Khan couldn’t see why the Doctor was congratulating him as he was. After all, he had just told him that he knew of his origin. Of how, through history, the one known to The Time Lord’s, as well as a select few, as “The Timeless Child”. So what did the Doctor find so fascinating and not worrying about knowing his biggest secret?

  “Brilliant, Doctor?”

  “Yes, well, it’s not every day that someone who is as brilliant as The Vint can gain information more valuable than … ?”

The Doctor fell silent.

Khan became agitated, enough to rush up to his guest and stand expectantly for him to continue, to finish what he was saying. But, the Doctor didn’t continue. He didn’t end the sentence, nor did he show any emotion on his face while he stood there silent.

  “More valuable than what, Doctor? There is nothing that The Vint doesn’t know. The Vint knows everything, and more.”

The Doctor knew better. He knew that there was nothing in the universe that could possibly store that much information, not the Daleks, not the Cybermen, not even The Great Intelligence. The variables were so vast and unobtainable to such minds that of happening, happened, done, not done, taken, not taken, it all needed something that all alien forms lacked – Emotion and the act of emotion.

  “Do you really think that The Vint know everything, Khan? Or do you think that The Vint believe that they know everything? Or, it could be that The Vint don’t know everything, they just know everything that they don’t really know!”

Repetitive speaking, the speed of speech, and the contradictory fail of conclusion made Khan fall to his knees. His trying to work out one sentence took him to the next and the next, until he could no longer establish meaning with one or the other.

  “What is the answer, Doctor? What is the question?” Khan demanded.

Walking past his host, the Doctor paused and turned to Khan.

  “I’m The Doctor, I’m twelve hundred years old. The Vint may be older, much older, but there is one thing that they don’t have that I do … ?”

Khan lifted his head. “And that is, Doctor?”

Continuing on his way through to the next room, the Doctor gave a smile. “Time, of course.”

Returning back to where he had left the TARDIS the way he came in, he received no resistance from Khan’s people, or from anyone that may have stopped him from leaving. This was seen as strange. It was only when arriving at the location he had landed, that he knew that his only hope of leaving Abraxus 259, was putting a stop to both Khan and The Vint. Unfortunately, however,  the Doctor came to find the TARDIS had been stolen. He didn’t know how exactly how the TARDIS had been seized, but it had, and he had to find out where it had been taken.

  “Khan,” the Doctor sighed.