Fang Rock, 1821

The sea had never been so perilous.  Huge waves rose up like teeth and bit at the tall column of the lighthouse.  The storm lashed its fury at all it surveyed, its mighty wrath broke hard upon the jagged basalt of Fang Rock.  Inside the lighthouse the three keepers huddled around the small fire for warmth.  They felt the building swaying in the wind, but the lighthouse had been built with that in mind, still it didn’t do much for morale.  Samuel Rafferty clutched his coat even tighter around himself, trying to get warm in this cold weather.  “I hates the winter; give me warm summer any time.”

Michael Carlisle shook his head.  “Pay’s double in winter, it’s worth it.”

William Cobbler, the youngest of the three, smiled.  “This will be a good story for the grandkids when I’m old.”

“I come here to escape mine.”  Rafferty laughed.  “I hates kids, all spoiled and selfish.  Give ‘em ten years of boarding school I says.”

Their banter was cut short however when they heard the door bang open and seconds later a draft of icy cold air blasted up the building.

“Damn, it could snuff the candle out.”  Carlisle jumped to his feet.  “Billy, you go down there and secure that door.”

“I’ll gives you a hand.”  Rafferty stood up.

“I’m perfectly capable of doing it myself.”  Cobbler said to Rafferty.

“My old legs needs the walk.”  Rafferty said with a knowing smile.

Peri put all her weight into closing the heavy iron door and sighed with relief as it finally clanged home.  “You could have helped you know.”  She glared at the Doctor who seemed to have a funny look in his eyes.

“This all looks very familiar.”  The Doctor wandered around with his hands in his trouser pockets.  “I’m sure I’ve been here before.”

“It’s a lighthouse in the middle of a storm.”  Peri gasped and started to wring out the hem of her flimsy t-shirt.  “We should have gone back to the TARDIS; I’d have been in a warm bubble bath by now.”

“Oh this is far more interesting.”  The Doctor said casually.  “They don’t make them like this anymore.  By your time they’re all but automated.  These are manned with brave souls risking life and limb to save hundreds more on passing ships.”

Peri heard footsteps.  “There’s someone coming Doctor.”

“Well I said it was manned.”  The Doctor replied.

“I’m hardly in a fit state to meet people.”  Peri thought the phrase drowned rat was a charitable description of her current condition.  “You could at least lend me that coat.”

“Oh very well.”  The Doctor removed his favourite coat and handed it over to his best friend.  “Try not to spoil the lining.”

Peri pulled the coat around her shoulders as the footsteps got louder.  “I hope they have a nice warm fire.”

“Anyone down here?”  Cobbler called out.

“We heards voices.”  Rafferty added.

“Just a couple of passing strangers.”  The Doctor called out.  “We ended up on the rocks.”

“It’s freezing cold out there.”  Peri stated the very obvious.

Cobbler spotted the man and woman as he reached the bottom of the stairs.  “The sea ain’t no place to go this time of year.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more.”  Peri said quickly.  “Thank goodness we spotted this place.  Do you have a fire?  Dry clothes?”

“We’ve gots a fire alright.”  Rafferty said to the young slip of a girl.  He thought it was a shame she was one of those brash American girls, all mouth and no manners.

“We’ll be no trouble, I assure you.”  The Doctor shook hands with the two lighthouse keepers.  “I’m the Doctor and this is Peri.”

“Hi.”  Peri said to the others.  “Do you two work here?”

“One other.”  Cobbler said quickly.  “He went to tend to the oil lamp; he was worried that the draft of wind might have blown the flame out.”

“Gee, I’m so sorry about that.”  Peri winced.  “It wasn’t like we knew that would happen.”

“That’s ok Miss Peri.”  Cobbler said anxiously.  “We have plenty of spares.”

“We should gets back to the crew room I thinks.”  Rafferty said.  “This cold sea chill does nothing for my old bones.”

Carlisle was relieved that the flame was still burning; however the great black oily clouds surrounding it did nothing for his chest.  All Lighthouse keepers got one of course, because of the fumes.  It was an occupational hazard, but the money was good and his sister’s family could use what little he could afford to send them.  He never saw the shuffling shadowy monster until it was too late; he was frozen in fear as it burning his mind out, his final scream died in his throat before it reached his lips.

The Doctor walked into the crew room, its oak panelled walls did little to hide a certain sense of familiarity about the place.  “Warm yourself over here Peri.”  He pointed to the small fire.  “Don’t single my coat though, eh.”

“I should be so lucky.”  Peri sat down next to the fire.  “How long before we can get out of here?”

“I dares say we’ll have to ride the storm out till morning comes.”  Rafferty replied.  “I’ll go check on Carlisle, why don’t you stay with our guests, Billy?”

Peri sensed that the youngest lighthouse keeper seemed downcast about being stuck with her and the Doctor.  She tried to cheer him up.  “You must be very brave, that’s the most fearsome storm I’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve seen worse.”  The Doctor muttered.  “I remember a night where the whole sky was a constant display of lightning and the wind would blow you over like you were a piece of straw.”

“How comforting.”  Peri snapped.  “How long have you been a lighthouse keeper Billy?”

Cobbler smiled.  “This is my third season Miss Peri.”

“So you’ll be used to the weather then?”  Peri asked, trying to take an interest in Billy’s job.

“Yes, it was frightening at first, I don’t mind telling you, but like you said, you get used to it…”  His words were cut off by the ghastly shriek from above.

“Stay here.”  The Doctor said to the others as he dashed out the door and up the wet stone staircase to the lamp room above.

Rafferty gibbered as the water monster extinguished the flame.  “Forgive me, master, have mercy on me.”  However the shadowy shape ignored him as footsteps approached.

“Rafferty?”  The Doctor entered the lamp room to find it was in darkness.  “Are you hurt?”  He spotted the crumpled elderly man on the floor.  “It’s me, the Doctor.”

“Devil in the dark, the teeth, those eyes, the thing that should not be!”

“Poor chap.”  The Doctor put his hand on the old man’s forehead and quickly he fell asleep.  He heard a shuffling of feet.  “Come on out, I know you’re there.”

“You are not like the others?”

“Hardly, I am known as the Doctor.  I can help you, if you’ll let me.”

“Doctor?”

“Yes, I know who you are.  I’ve encountered your kind before.”

“Your words are meaningless, you have nothing.”

The Doctor recoiled as a beam of heat tore across the place where he had been standing a fraction of a second ago.  He lost balance and his head hit the floor with a whump.

Peri stood up.  “I’d better check on the Doctor.”

“Maybe we should both go?”  Cobbler stood up too.

“I can manage a few flights of stair by myself.”  Peri laughed.

“There’s no need to be like that.”  Cobbler glared at the floor.  “I’m only being polite.”

“Hurry up then.”  Peri stifled a giggle.  Men could be such children if they didn’t get their own way.  However something huge and alien shoved her back into the room and her shoulder exploded with pain as it hit the far wall.

“Leave her alone!”  Cobbler picked up a bill hook and charged at the monster.

Peri watched as the creature blasted Billy in the face with some sort of heat disc.  She forced herself to her feet and picked up the cahir she had been sitting in.  She brought it crashing down on the creature’s arm and it dropped the disc with a scream of pain.  Quickly she picked its weapon up and aimed it at the former owner.  “I’ll use this, I swear I will.”

“She means it.”  The Doctor added.  “Remarkably territorial species, Homo sapiens.  Clever, intelligent, loyal and utterly ruthless.  You should make peace with them, this is their planet too.”

“It is ours, we are the true rulers of Earth.”

“What’s it talking about Doctor?”

“He’s a Sea Devil, an elite amphibious sub-species of the Silurians.  Their kind was around when dinosaurs still walked the Earth.”

“We will reclaim our world from these apes.”

“You can both share it.”  The Doctor retorted.  “Humans live in less than half the areas of this world, areas where your kind could live and thrive in.  They don’t have any underwater settlements, that’s a huge proportion of this world where you could easily set up home.”

“He killed Billy.”  Peri said to the Doctor.  “You want to make peace with a murderer?”

“He tried to kill me, it was self-defence.”

“Monster, demon, unholy abomination!”  Rafferty drove the metal spear through the body of the creature.  “May God have mercy on your soul.”

“There could have been peace.”  The Doctor lamented.  He looked at Rafferty.  “We should dispose of this body.”

“You should burn it.”

“Perhaps.”  The Doctor agreed.

Later, on the rocks, the Doctor cast the body into the waves.  “There, that should do.”

“Two men are dead and another man.”  Peri said to the Doctor as she handed his coat back to them.

“Yes, I remember now, that was all in the past, fifty years from now.”

“I do wish you wouldn’t mix your tenses up like that.”

“Part and parcel of being a Time Lord my dear Peri.  We should leave, now that the storm’s over they’ll send boats to investigate why the light went out.”

Peri looked over at the TARDIS, lying on its side.  “Poor TARDIS, even you didn’t come out of this unchanged.”

The Doctor unlocked the doors and scuttled inside.

Peri went inside and seconds later they were no longer even on the planet anymore and a legend was about to be born…