We Can't Stop What's Coming (short story)

 was the ninth short story in The Target Storybook.

Plot
When the TARDIS is drawn to a planet riddled with time distortion, the Doctor and Fitz set off to investigate, while Trix chooses to remain in the ship. When the Doctor and Fitz are captured by Neanderthals and put in their larder, the Doctor notices the creatures are tagged by DNA markers. Meanwhile, Trix meets a group of alien accountants who have been sent on a mission to the planet, testing out a variety of new weapons on the cave-people. Enlisting the combatants’ help, Trix rescues the Doctor and Fitz. Learning that the accountants’ employers have created a testing range on the planet, the Doctor demands an end to the slaughter. As several of the accountants collapse and start fading in and out of existence, the Doctor checks their DNA markers and realises they have killed their own ancestors, creating a paradox. After a robot appears and teleports the bodies away, the Doctor deduces the accountants have been deliberately set up as part of a plan to weaponise their anomalous bodies - the perfect weapons for use in a time war. Using the TARDIS, the Doctor returns the surviving Neanderthal to her proper time and place, then takes the accountants’ leader to somewhere safe to live out the rest of her life in hiding. The Doctor then pays a visit to the Company head office – only to find the boardroom has been destroyed and the board members murdered.

Characters

 * Eighth Doctor
 * Fitz Kreiner
 * Trix MacMillan
 * Glory Jakarta
 * Marchett
 * Bacchari
 * Thredmeyer

Continuity

 * The Doctor notes that time scoops are banned. (TV: The Five Doctors)