The Pyramid Of Time Challenge 201 Entry :)
Here is my entry for challenge 201, i do hope this works this time! Title: The Pyramid Of Time Author: Wirral Bagpuss Summary: A Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek TOS and Dr Who crossover. Our heroes meet in a pub. You have been warned!! The Pyramid Of Time
Part One
Sherlock Holmes looked worriedly at his Boswell and friend. The case had been an exhausting gruelling affair when Holmes had gone after a particularly vicious murderer named Keefe who liked to torture his victims before killing them. The chase had ended with both Holmes and Dr Watson chasing their quarry down a myriad of London dockyards. Keefe cornered turned towards his pursuers and fired his revolver, felling one who had pushed the other out of the line of fire. A cry by an audible crack of bone followed. Keefe fell unceremoniously to the floor, holding his broken jaw groaning in pain and then succumbed to unconsciousness. The blood was seeping through his fingers as he fought to staunch the flow caused by a bullet that had been meant for him. Knight Errant indeed! Thought Holmes as he carefully began to lift Dr Watson into his arms. He recalled how he had tried to convince Watson to stay at Baker Street being mindful of the danger that this case presented. Watson of course was stubborn in his resolve to stand by Holmes no matter what the danger was. A formidable friend and colleague and loyal to the hilt thought Holmes as he stood up with his ailing load a blueish mist enveloped the pair and they melted away from the gas lit cobbled street into nothingness.
Part Two
Captain Kirk sighed as he finally lay down on his bed. It had been a long and exhausting day and the fight with the Zee’tha warlord in order to save Spock from certain death had left him mentally and physically exhausted. He flinched as the newly mended broken rib Dr McCoy had repaired earlier was determined to get in the last word despite Bones’s ministrations. He smiled as he recalled McCoy’s words “Now Jim boy don’t go doing any of those damn fool Vulcan excercises in the gymn over the next few days, I am a Doctor not a magician, and your body is not invincible”. He knew full well that despite the harsh sounding words coming from his chief medical officer, he had been desperately worried about both Spock and himself. Spock would recover within a few days McCoy has assured him, “that green blooded pointy eared walking computer could survive Dante’s Inferno!” Kirk smiled at those words as his eyes slowly began to shut and was startled awake as his door chime interrupted his thoughts.
“Hello Jim, I brought you a nightcap, you looked as if you could do with one” said McCoy as he invited himself inside Kirk’s cabin.
Kirk looked up to see McCoy standing there with a medikit in one hand and a tray in another. “
Bones if you are going to give me a sedative, I don’t need one, I just about to sleep!” protested Kirk as he struggled to rise from his bed.
McCoy laughed as he placed the tray on a nearby table and removed the cloth covering it to reveal two glasses of Saurian Brandy. “
No Jim, not a sedative, just a little something I thought you might enjoy...” Kirk laughed as he took the glass from the tray. The two friends began to drink their Saurian Brandies as the blueish mist came out of nowhere and descended upon them
“What In blue blazes...” cried out McCoy before his protests of surprise and shock were winked out in an instant as both Captain Kirk and Dr McCoy disappeared from the safety of the USS Enterprise and into the unknown.
Part Three
The Police Box looked out of place in the room it materialised in. The tall figure emerged from it with a mallet in one hand and another on the frame of the blue door with a look of confusion and surprise. He had been trying to fix his misbehaving time machine for some hours. Being stuck on Skaro, home planet of the Daleks was no place for the Tardis to breakdown and was furiously banging a control lever when he was engulfed by the blueish mist that had filled the Tardis and had thought it was just another fault that had developed and within a blink of an eye he found himself here. Wherever here was thought the tall lean figure as he hung the mallet on a nearby hook and straightened his red bowtie and stepped out of the Tardis to explore. He had not explored far when he came across a solitary man cleaning a glass with a cloth who looked intently at him and smiled.
“Ahhh hello I’m the Doctor. Do you mind telling me where I am?” asked the Doctor authortively holding out his hand in a gesture of friendship. T
The Bartender’s smile widened as he put down the glass and cloth and shook the Doctor’s hand. “
You are in The Pyramid Of Time. You are the first to arrive and have been expected...” replied the Bartender egmatically.
Before the Doctor was able to answer that question he heard a groan and commotion of noise in an adjacent room and turned to investigate. The Bartender would have to wait.
Sherlock Holmes found himself sitting in an alcove with Dr Watson cradled in his arms and facing him were two strangers in strange clothes staring at him and Watson with a look of incredulously. A groan from Dr Watson broke the tension and Holmes looked down to see Watson struggling to come back to consciousness but clearly in pain from where the bullet had penetrated his side. Holmes pressed down on the wound and tried to reassure his friend. A gruff but kindly voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Sir I am a Doctor, please, let me help Dr Watson, I can have him fixed up in no time at all” said Dr McCoy gently trying not to let his voice betray his disbelief that he was speaking to the Great Detective.
Holmes looked at this strange but kindly fellow. The clothing he and his companion wore were clearly work clothes of some sort. The braiding on the sleeves signified some sort of military role, the Navy perhaps and the one in gold had more braiding than the one in blue. He must have rank over the man in blue deduced Holmes as he quickly took note of where he was and who these people might be. Holmes came to a decision and allowed the man in blue to aid Watson and by mutual consent they lay Watson out on a more comfortable chair. Dr McCoy got his tricorder out and examined his patient. Holmes looked on in fascination at the strange device being used. Clearly these people are not from my time thought Holmes as he supressed a smile at the early days of his friendship with Watson when they had argued over the science of astronomy. “But the solar system!”
It seems now to Holmes that his old adage when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth was applicable in this situation and turned to face the man in gold.
“You are in charge of him?” asked Holmes which was more of a statement than a question.
Kirk looked up from where McCoy was working on who he realised was Dr Watson, and replied “
Yes, I’m Captain Kirk from the USS Enterprise, that’s my ship. You are Sherlock Holmes and he is Dr Watson. I have read all of the stories but never imagined I would get to meet you both like this!” exclaimed Kirk who was still coming to terms with the fact that his childhood literacy heroes were here in this time and place, wherever here was.
“Ahh you must have read Dr Watson’s florid romantic writings in the Strand Magazine” said Holmes sardonically.
Before the Captain could reply they were interrupted by a third party
“Well I never! Hello I’m the Doctor… Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson! Nice to meet you. Loved your stories and played you once when I had a nasty encounter with some bad tempered snowmen…and Captain Kirk and Dr McCoy! Where’s the Vulcan? Not here? Oh very disappointing, I rather liked him. Still I expect a Vulcan would not enjoy sitting in an English pub in the early twenty first century...”
The Doctor paused and looked at one doctor treating another and dug into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver.
“Ahhh! I see we have a Doctor treating another Doctor, well now you have another Doctor in the house, I can be of assistance here, that is a nasty wound..” said the Doctor as he took in the gravity of the situation.
Dr McCoy looked up his eyes betrayed his worry as he looked up at Captain irk and then glanced at the Doctor with what incredibly looked like a screwdriver.
“Jim, I can only do so much here, I need to get Dr Watson back to the Enterprise, the bullet is in too deep for me to get out with these tools and I don’t have enough sealant to stop the bleeding…and you, if you think that thing is going to be of any help then forget it. I’m a Doctor, not a mechanic!” exclaimed McCoy in frustration.
The Doctor looked down at his screwdriver and then back up at McCoy with a look of forlornness and hurt pride. “
My sonic screwdriver has got me out of far more difficult situations than this and is a multipurpose tool, no one ever criticises my screwdriver!" Replied The Doctor dismissively as he pushed McCoy to one side and with the dexterity of a Timelord proceeded to heal the wound that cause Watson so much pain.
“There. All done. Doctoring the Doctor! Ha!” said the Doctor triumphantly
Sherlock Holmes, Dr McCoy and Captain Kirk all looked at Dr Watson in surprise and wonder as they saw the wound was no longer there and Dr Watson himself began to stir himself back to consciousness. “
Holmes?” asked Watson groggily as he struggled to get up only to face a heavy but gentle hand pushing him back
“Easy Watson, you were injured but thanks to the Doctor here you will be alright now” Holmes said softly.
Watson looked up and saw the strangers around the room and shook his head in puzzlement and disbelief
“But Holmes, how did we get here? We were chasing Keefe and had him cornered, I saw a flash of something and pushed you out of the way when I realised Keefe had a weapon and I don’t remember much after that….” Watson placed his hand to his head as the strain of trying to remember caused his head to ache.
Holmes smiled grimly and faced the others.
“Watson is correct. How did we get here, and where is here. I remember seeing a blueish mist and the next I was here. And then so were you. It is reasonable to suggest that there is a greater force at work. Watson my dear fellow, I owe you an apology. It seems that the Solar System is important after all!”
Watson smiled at Holmes’s words and the reference to their early days in Baker Street.
“It’s alright Holmes, think nothing more of it, but just how are we going to find out what is going on?”
Kirk decided to take command of the situation.
“I suggest gentlemen we explore and get some answers. I don’t like mysteries; no offence intended Mr Holmes, Dr Watson...”
"None taken” replied Holmes “I concur wholeheartedly with the plan” said Holmes nodding his assent.
“Capital idea Captain!” came the reply from the Doctor who straightened up and placed his sonic screwdriver back in his coat pocket.
As the party began to move away from their chairs, the Barkeeper appeared with a tray of various drinks.
"Gentlemen ahhh! I see you have become acquainted with each other. How do you like my pub? You cannot leave yet... I have just brought over some drinks. At least share a drink with me before you do go! After all it has been thirsty work in bringing you all together and I have been very much looking forward to meet you all”
The barkeeper placed down his tray on a table and handed a non plussed Captain a beer and proceeded to do the same with the others. It was Holmes who spoke first as he took the beer and sipped it, finding it surprisingly pleasant.
“I can but conclude that you are not who you say you are. A Barkeeper’s hands would be rough and muscular from moving barrels and pumping out beer at the bar. Your hands are smooth and are more used to work of a more delicate nature. It is logical therefore to conclude that you are not the person you would have us believe to be”
McCoy stifled a laugh and turned to Kirk whispering.
"The only thing missing from Holmes are pointed ears, he and Spock would get on famously!”
Kirk smiled at McCoy, he knew that underneath the humour laid a very real concern and affection of Spock and he too hoped that Spock was alright and wished he were here with them. He could use Spock right now who would no doubt find this fascinating. Meanwhile the Doctor had been examining the walls and let out a triumphant cry as he found a switch that would never be found in a pub.
“Ahh Barkeeper, perhaps you would care to explain to us all, if we are in a pub how come there is a translucent polarity drive in place which is keeping this admittedly wonderfully created illusion in place. All I would need do is reverse the polarity drive and the true reality would make itself known!”
The barkeeper cried out in horror.
“No! Please don’t! I did not mean any harm. You are all my literacy and childhood heroes! I just wanted to bring you here to have some fun and see you all come alive! I promise I will let you go. Just stay for one drink and sign your autographs in my books!”
There was a stunned disbelief as all participants took in this revelation.
“What in tarnation is going on!” exploded McCoy whose patience had now run out. “I’m a doctor not an actor and I am dammed if I have to listen to any more of this!”
Kirk placed a restraining hand on his chief medical officer and sat down. He needed a drink. Maybe this is all a nightmare. Perhaps I will put in for shore leave after all!
Dr Watson likewise sat down and joined Kirk in helping himself to a glass of beer.
“I’ll never complain about The Strands deadlines again” grumbled Watson. Holmes joined Watson with his head in his hands and shook his head
“And I thought facing the Napoleon of Crime was hard enough” said Holmes mournfully as he too helped himself to some beer.
The Doctor saw how his new companions had taken the news and the Barkeepers revelations and strode over to join them. He took up his glass of beer and raised his glass.
“Cheer up gentlemen. I have my Tardis and will have you all home in no time” announced the Doctor playfully as he rubbed his hands in excitement and proceeded to swallow the beer.
Before long everyone was enjoying each other’s company and signing books and laughing. It was the only thing they could do. The Barkeeper kept his word and everyone left in good natured spirits. Holmes had been fascinated with the Tardis as he stepped in and approved of the Victorian theme inside. The Doctor smiled and replied to Holmes’s unanswered question.
“I always had been a huge fan of yours myself and just had to have a bohemian interior for my Tardis! I believe the readers of the late twentieth century and early twenty first century referred it as steampunk. But I think it is nice”.
Watson had laughed at the irony of being taken home in a Police Box. Inspector Lestrade would never have believed him.
Captain Kirk and Dr McCoy were somewhat inebriated when the Tardis arrived in the cabin of Captain Kirk on the USS Enterprise. They were unused to real alcohol having only been used to synthehol.
“Thank you Doctor for the ride home and nice to meet you, Holmes and Dr Watson. I shall remember you” said Kirk, before tripping over only to be caught by McCoy and they both landed on a bed.
Holmes and Watson exchanged looks and smiled. A last service they could do for the two drunken starmen was to make them comfortable for the night and Holmes proceeded to undo Kirk’s boots and placed a blanket over him, whilst Watson dragged McCoy into a nearby chair and likewise placed a blanket over him. The entered back into the Tardis with the Doctor. The Tardis shimmered out of existence leaving them behind. Both Kirk and McCoy would wake up the next day with a headache and hazy memories of the whole affair.
The Tardis materialised back in the street where Holmes and Watson had chased Keefe. Keefe was still lying unconscious on the pavement. Holmes hauled him up and placed some derbies he had in his pocket onto Keefe and secured him. “Thank you Doctor for all that you have done. Both Holmes and I will remember you” said Watson with some sorrow at the prospect of parting the ways with this strange enigmatic Doctor who had two hearts instead of one.
The Doctor smiled and presented Watson with a fez.
“A parting gift from a friend to my literacy hero” exclaimed the Doctor.
Watson laughed and dug into his pocket and took out his pocket watch. “Here, since you are a Time Lord as you call yourself, you might want to use this pocket watch, and perhaps remember us whatever time you are in”. said Watson quietly.
The Doctor looked down at his gift and looked up back at Watson smiling
“I will treasure this always, thank you” said the Doctor who proceeded to place the watch and chain on his waistcoat.
Holmes exchanged words of farewell with the Doctor and watched with Watson as the Tardis disappeared from view.
"A most singular man indeed” said Holmes to Watson as they turned to walk down the cobbled gaslit street with their quarry towards a waiting cab which would take them to Scotland Yard.
Safely back in Baker Street with the coal fire crackling Holmes looked at Watson who was writing in his notebook
"Watson, I beg of you not to print this story, it is a tale for which the world is not yet prepared!” warned Holmes.
Watson smiled playfully.
“I was going to call this story A Stitch In Time, it seemed like a good title...” Watson was cut off by a flying pillow.
Another pillow flew back at Holmes and before long the famous consulting rooms of Baker Street were covered in duck feathers. Mrs Hudson would be charging double rates for chaos that ensued! But one thing remained constant. Holmes and Watson would be friends immortalised in time. The Doctor sat in his Tardis alone once more. He took out his new pocket watch and playfully open and shut the watch cover. For him he had no home. He was destined to travel in time and space forever. For him the Game would always be afoot.
Part Four
The last page of the book was turned and the Reader closed the book and placed it down on the table. The cover of the book read simply The Pyramid Of Time. A most entertaining read, He thought as he finished the last of His beer. One of my better ideas He thought wirily. Perhaps there will be a sequel who knows He thought. The Reader got up and proceeded to walk out of the pub and looked at the sign that had attracted him in the first place, it read simply, The Stargazer. He would come back here someday. But for now it was time to go. People to see, worlds to save. A Universe to look after.:)
Part One
Sherlock Holmes looked worriedly at his Boswell and friend. The case had been an exhausting gruelling affair when Holmes had gone after a particularly vicious murderer named Keefe who liked to torture his victims before killing them. The chase had ended with both Holmes and Dr Watson chasing their quarry down a myriad of London dockyards. Keefe cornered turned towards his pursuers and fired his revolver, felling one who had pushed the other out of the line of fire. A cry by an audible crack of bone followed. Keefe fell unceremoniously to the floor, holding his broken jaw groaning in pain and then succumbed to unconsciousness. The blood was seeping through his fingers as he fought to staunch the flow caused by a bullet that had been meant for him. Knight Errant indeed! Thought Holmes as he carefully began to lift Dr Watson into his arms. He recalled how he had tried to convince Watson to stay at Baker Street being mindful of the danger that this case presented. Watson of course was stubborn in his resolve to stand by Holmes no matter what the danger was. A formidable friend and colleague and loyal to the hilt thought Holmes as he stood up with his ailing load a blueish mist enveloped the pair and they melted away from the gas lit cobbled street into nothingness.
Part Two
Captain Kirk sighed as he finally lay down on his bed. It had been a long and exhausting day and the fight with the Zee’tha warlord in order to save Spock from certain death had left him mentally and physically exhausted. He flinched as the newly mended broken rib Dr McCoy had repaired earlier was determined to get in the last word despite Bones’s ministrations. He smiled as he recalled McCoy’s words “Now Jim boy don’t go doing any of those damn fool Vulcan excercises in the gymn over the next few days, I am a Doctor not a magician, and your body is not invincible”. He knew full well that despite the harsh sounding words coming from his chief medical officer, he had been desperately worried about both Spock and himself. Spock would recover within a few days McCoy has assured him, “that green blooded pointy eared walking computer could survive Dante’s Inferno!” Kirk smiled at those words as his eyes slowly began to shut and was startled awake as his door chime interrupted his thoughts.
“Hello Jim, I brought you a nightcap, you looked as if you could do with one” said McCoy as he invited himself inside Kirk’s cabin.
Kirk looked up to see McCoy standing there with a medikit in one hand and a tray in another. “
Bones if you are going to give me a sedative, I don’t need one, I just about to sleep!” protested Kirk as he struggled to rise from his bed.
McCoy laughed as he placed the tray on a nearby table and removed the cloth covering it to reveal two glasses of Saurian Brandy. “
No Jim, not a sedative, just a little something I thought you might enjoy...” Kirk laughed as he took the glass from the tray. The two friends began to drink their Saurian Brandies as the blueish mist came out of nowhere and descended upon them
“What In blue blazes...” cried out McCoy before his protests of surprise and shock were winked out in an instant as both Captain Kirk and Dr McCoy disappeared from the safety of the USS Enterprise and into the unknown.
Part Three
The Police Box looked out of place in the room it materialised in. The tall figure emerged from it with a mallet in one hand and another on the frame of the blue door with a look of confusion and surprise. He had been trying to fix his misbehaving time machine for some hours. Being stuck on Skaro, home planet of the Daleks was no place for the Tardis to breakdown and was furiously banging a control lever when he was engulfed by the blueish mist that had filled the Tardis and had thought it was just another fault that had developed and within a blink of an eye he found himself here. Wherever here was thought the tall lean figure as he hung the mallet on a nearby hook and straightened his red bowtie and stepped out of the Tardis to explore. He had not explored far when he came across a solitary man cleaning a glass with a cloth who looked intently at him and smiled.
“Ahhh hello I’m the Doctor. Do you mind telling me where I am?” asked the Doctor authortively holding out his hand in a gesture of friendship. T
The Bartender’s smile widened as he put down the glass and cloth and shook the Doctor’s hand. “
You are in The Pyramid Of Time. You are the first to arrive and have been expected...” replied the Bartender egmatically.
Before the Doctor was able to answer that question he heard a groan and commotion of noise in an adjacent room and turned to investigate. The Bartender would have to wait.
Sherlock Holmes found himself sitting in an alcove with Dr Watson cradled in his arms and facing him were two strangers in strange clothes staring at him and Watson with a look of incredulously. A groan from Dr Watson broke the tension and Holmes looked down to see Watson struggling to come back to consciousness but clearly in pain from where the bullet had penetrated his side. Holmes pressed down on the wound and tried to reassure his friend. A gruff but kindly voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Sir I am a Doctor, please, let me help Dr Watson, I can have him fixed up in no time at all” said Dr McCoy gently trying not to let his voice betray his disbelief that he was speaking to the Great Detective.
Holmes looked at this strange but kindly fellow. The clothing he and his companion wore were clearly work clothes of some sort. The braiding on the sleeves signified some sort of military role, the Navy perhaps and the one in gold had more braiding than the one in blue. He must have rank over the man in blue deduced Holmes as he quickly took note of where he was and who these people might be. Holmes came to a decision and allowed the man in blue to aid Watson and by mutual consent they lay Watson out on a more comfortable chair. Dr McCoy got his tricorder out and examined his patient. Holmes looked on in fascination at the strange device being used. Clearly these people are not from my time thought Holmes as he supressed a smile at the early days of his friendship with Watson when they had argued over the science of astronomy. “But the solar system!”
It seems now to Holmes that his old adage when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth was applicable in this situation and turned to face the man in gold.
“You are in charge of him?” asked Holmes which was more of a statement than a question.
Kirk looked up from where McCoy was working on who he realised was Dr Watson, and replied “
Yes, I’m Captain Kirk from the USS Enterprise, that’s my ship. You are Sherlock Holmes and he is Dr Watson. I have read all of the stories but never imagined I would get to meet you both like this!” exclaimed Kirk who was still coming to terms with the fact that his childhood literacy heroes were here in this time and place, wherever here was.
“Ahh you must have read Dr Watson’s florid romantic writings in the Strand Magazine” said Holmes sardonically.
Before the Captain could reply they were interrupted by a third party
“Well I never! Hello I’m the Doctor… Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson! Nice to meet you. Loved your stories and played you once when I had a nasty encounter with some bad tempered snowmen…and Captain Kirk and Dr McCoy! Where’s the Vulcan? Not here? Oh very disappointing, I rather liked him. Still I expect a Vulcan would not enjoy sitting in an English pub in the early twenty first century...”
The Doctor paused and looked at one doctor treating another and dug into his pocket for his sonic screwdriver.
“Ahhh! I see we have a Doctor treating another Doctor, well now you have another Doctor in the house, I can be of assistance here, that is a nasty wound..” said the Doctor as he took in the gravity of the situation.
Dr McCoy looked up his eyes betrayed his worry as he looked up at Captain irk and then glanced at the Doctor with what incredibly looked like a screwdriver.
“Jim, I can only do so much here, I need to get Dr Watson back to the Enterprise, the bullet is in too deep for me to get out with these tools and I don’t have enough sealant to stop the bleeding…and you, if you think that thing is going to be of any help then forget it. I’m a Doctor, not a mechanic!” exclaimed McCoy in frustration.
The Doctor looked down at his screwdriver and then back up at McCoy with a look of forlornness and hurt pride. “
My sonic screwdriver has got me out of far more difficult situations than this and is a multipurpose tool, no one ever criticises my screwdriver!" Replied The Doctor dismissively as he pushed McCoy to one side and with the dexterity of a Timelord proceeded to heal the wound that cause Watson so much pain.
“There. All done. Doctoring the Doctor! Ha!” said the Doctor triumphantly
Sherlock Holmes, Dr McCoy and Captain Kirk all looked at Dr Watson in surprise and wonder as they saw the wound was no longer there and Dr Watson himself began to stir himself back to consciousness. “
Holmes?” asked Watson groggily as he struggled to get up only to face a heavy but gentle hand pushing him back
“Easy Watson, you were injured but thanks to the Doctor here you will be alright now” Holmes said softly.
Watson looked up and saw the strangers around the room and shook his head in puzzlement and disbelief
“But Holmes, how did we get here? We were chasing Keefe and had him cornered, I saw a flash of something and pushed you out of the way when I realised Keefe had a weapon and I don’t remember much after that….” Watson placed his hand to his head as the strain of trying to remember caused his head to ache.
Holmes smiled grimly and faced the others.
“Watson is correct. How did we get here, and where is here. I remember seeing a blueish mist and the next I was here. And then so were you. It is reasonable to suggest that there is a greater force at work. Watson my dear fellow, I owe you an apology. It seems that the Solar System is important after all!”
Watson smiled at Holmes’s words and the reference to their early days in Baker Street.
“It’s alright Holmes, think nothing more of it, but just how are we going to find out what is going on?”
Kirk decided to take command of the situation.
“I suggest gentlemen we explore and get some answers. I don’t like mysteries; no offence intended Mr Holmes, Dr Watson...”
"None taken” replied Holmes “I concur wholeheartedly with the plan” said Holmes nodding his assent.
“Capital idea Captain!” came the reply from the Doctor who straightened up and placed his sonic screwdriver back in his coat pocket.
As the party began to move away from their chairs, the Barkeeper appeared with a tray of various drinks.
"Gentlemen ahhh! I see you have become acquainted with each other. How do you like my pub? You cannot leave yet... I have just brought over some drinks. At least share a drink with me before you do go! After all it has been thirsty work in bringing you all together and I have been very much looking forward to meet you all”
The barkeeper placed down his tray on a table and handed a non plussed Captain a beer and proceeded to do the same with the others. It was Holmes who spoke first as he took the beer and sipped it, finding it surprisingly pleasant.
“I can but conclude that you are not who you say you are. A Barkeeper’s hands would be rough and muscular from moving barrels and pumping out beer at the bar. Your hands are smooth and are more used to work of a more delicate nature. It is logical therefore to conclude that you are not the person you would have us believe to be”
McCoy stifled a laugh and turned to Kirk whispering.
"The only thing missing from Holmes are pointed ears, he and Spock would get on famously!”
Kirk smiled at McCoy, he knew that underneath the humour laid a very real concern and affection of Spock and he too hoped that Spock was alright and wished he were here with them. He could use Spock right now who would no doubt find this fascinating. Meanwhile the Doctor had been examining the walls and let out a triumphant cry as he found a switch that would never be found in a pub.
“Ahh Barkeeper, perhaps you would care to explain to us all, if we are in a pub how come there is a translucent polarity drive in place which is keeping this admittedly wonderfully created illusion in place. All I would need do is reverse the polarity drive and the true reality would make itself known!”
The barkeeper cried out in horror.
“No! Please don’t! I did not mean any harm. You are all my literacy and childhood heroes! I just wanted to bring you here to have some fun and see you all come alive! I promise I will let you go. Just stay for one drink and sign your autographs in my books!”
There was a stunned disbelief as all participants took in this revelation.
“What in tarnation is going on!” exploded McCoy whose patience had now run out. “I’m a doctor not an actor and I am dammed if I have to listen to any more of this!”
Kirk placed a restraining hand on his chief medical officer and sat down. He needed a drink. Maybe this is all a nightmare. Perhaps I will put in for shore leave after all!
Dr Watson likewise sat down and joined Kirk in helping himself to a glass of beer.
“I’ll never complain about The Strands deadlines again” grumbled Watson. Holmes joined Watson with his head in his hands and shook his head
“And I thought facing the Napoleon of Crime was hard enough” said Holmes mournfully as he too helped himself to some beer.
The Doctor saw how his new companions had taken the news and the Barkeepers revelations and strode over to join them. He took up his glass of beer and raised his glass.
“Cheer up gentlemen. I have my Tardis and will have you all home in no time” announced the Doctor playfully as he rubbed his hands in excitement and proceeded to swallow the beer.
Before long everyone was enjoying each other’s company and signing books and laughing. It was the only thing they could do. The Barkeeper kept his word and everyone left in good natured spirits. Holmes had been fascinated with the Tardis as he stepped in and approved of the Victorian theme inside. The Doctor smiled and replied to Holmes’s unanswered question.
“I always had been a huge fan of yours myself and just had to have a bohemian interior for my Tardis! I believe the readers of the late twentieth century and early twenty first century referred it as steampunk. But I think it is nice”.
Watson had laughed at the irony of being taken home in a Police Box. Inspector Lestrade would never have believed him.
Captain Kirk and Dr McCoy were somewhat inebriated when the Tardis arrived in the cabin of Captain Kirk on the USS Enterprise. They were unused to real alcohol having only been used to synthehol.
“Thank you Doctor for the ride home and nice to meet you, Holmes and Dr Watson. I shall remember you” said Kirk, before tripping over only to be caught by McCoy and they both landed on a bed.
Holmes and Watson exchanged looks and smiled. A last service they could do for the two drunken starmen was to make them comfortable for the night and Holmes proceeded to undo Kirk’s boots and placed a blanket over him, whilst Watson dragged McCoy into a nearby chair and likewise placed a blanket over him. The entered back into the Tardis with the Doctor. The Tardis shimmered out of existence leaving them behind. Both Kirk and McCoy would wake up the next day with a headache and hazy memories of the whole affair.
The Tardis materialised back in the street where Holmes and Watson had chased Keefe. Keefe was still lying unconscious on the pavement. Holmes hauled him up and placed some derbies he had in his pocket onto Keefe and secured him. “Thank you Doctor for all that you have done. Both Holmes and I will remember you” said Watson with some sorrow at the prospect of parting the ways with this strange enigmatic Doctor who had two hearts instead of one.
The Doctor smiled and presented Watson with a fez.
“A parting gift from a friend to my literacy hero” exclaimed the Doctor.
Watson laughed and dug into his pocket and took out his pocket watch. “Here, since you are a Time Lord as you call yourself, you might want to use this pocket watch, and perhaps remember us whatever time you are in”. said Watson quietly.
The Doctor looked down at his gift and looked up back at Watson smiling
“I will treasure this always, thank you” said the Doctor who proceeded to place the watch and chain on his waistcoat.
Holmes exchanged words of farewell with the Doctor and watched with Watson as the Tardis disappeared from view.
"A most singular man indeed” said Holmes to Watson as they turned to walk down the cobbled gaslit street with their quarry towards a waiting cab which would take them to Scotland Yard.
Safely back in Baker Street with the coal fire crackling Holmes looked at Watson who was writing in his notebook
"Watson, I beg of you not to print this story, it is a tale for which the world is not yet prepared!” warned Holmes.
Watson smiled playfully.
“I was going to call this story A Stitch In Time, it seemed like a good title...” Watson was cut off by a flying pillow.
Another pillow flew back at Holmes and before long the famous consulting rooms of Baker Street were covered in duck feathers. Mrs Hudson would be charging double rates for chaos that ensued! But one thing remained constant. Holmes and Watson would be friends immortalised in time. The Doctor sat in his Tardis alone once more. He took out his new pocket watch and playfully open and shut the watch cover. For him he had no home. He was destined to travel in time and space forever. For him the Game would always be afoot.
Part Four
The last page of the book was turned and the Reader closed the book and placed it down on the table. The cover of the book read simply The Pyramid Of Time. A most entertaining read, He thought as he finished the last of His beer. One of my better ideas He thought wirily. Perhaps there will be a sequel who knows He thought. The Reader got up and proceeded to walk out of the pub and looked at the sign that had attracted him in the first place, it read simply, The Stargazer. He would come back here someday. But for now it was time to go. People to see, worlds to save. A Universe to look after.:)