Ante Bellum (short story)

Ante Bellum was the fifth short story in the Short Trips anthology Short Trips: Past Tense. It was written by Stephen Hatcher. It featured the Seventh Doctor and Ace.

Summary
After detecting a massive energy burst through the TARDIS sensors, the Seventh Doctor and Ace arrive in Constantinople in June 1914. Here they learn that a small, golden cup, recently unearthed at a nearby archaeological site, caused the power surge, resulting in the incineration of the excavation team and the surrounding area. The Doctor realises that the cup is in fact a camouflaged interstellar drive propulsion unit from a crashed Krivani exploration vehicle, and unless found in time, will become so unstable that it will destroy the planet.

However, the cup has now fallen into the hands of Underwood and Fenton, two members of the British Secret Service who plan to use the device’s awesome powers to ensure that the British Empire will win the imminent war with Germany. The Doctor and Ace infiltrate the house where the cup is being kept and manage to escape with it, only for the local police force to capture the Doctor, while Ace is taken captive by Underwood and Fenton and subjected to interrogation.

The Doctor is brought before the police chief and handed over into the custody of Herr Gerold Rösler of the German Embassy; the Time Lord convinces Rösler of the seriousness of the situation, and together they set about rescuing Ace so that the Doctor can then take the device away in the TARDIS so that it can be disposed of safely.

The Doctor attends a rendezvous with Underwood, who demands that he agree to exchange the cup for Ace; meanwhile, Rösler breaks into the safehouse and rescues the Doctor’s companion. They then join the Doctor at the meeting, but a gun battle then breaks out between both sides; in the confusion, Rösler shoots the goblet, which explodes, killing the two secret servicemen. The Doctor and Ace hastily bid farewell to Rösler and leave in the TARDIS, only just managing to throw the cup into the Vortex in time for it to explode harmlessly.

Characters

 * Seventh Doctor
 * Ace
 * Maurice Bernard
 * Andrew Underwood
 * Fenton
 * Gerold Rösler
 * Colonel Çelebi

Continuity
to be added