Needle Point (short story)

Summary
Martha Jones, getting a bit tired of walking around in circle with the Doctor who is using a small hand held device to track an etheric beam in a busy town high street, decides to take a beak and grab a coffee. It’s a beautiful summer’s day and the Doctor is happy to head off on his own leaving Martha to take a seat. As Martha sits with her coffee and cake she watches the people going about their everyday lives and happens to notice the frequent appearances of an old lady. Nothing special – an old lady, white hair tied up with a pin, brown cardigan and black handbag. But whenever she sees her, the same old lady is somewhere else, walking one way then the other, going in shops, and out of others. At one point she sees the Doctor nearly knock her into the road as he blindly tries to track his signal. Martha decides to follow the old woman into the back of an antiques shop, where she finds a whole room full of the same little old woman, about twenty of them, all sitting around knitting with ‘invisible’ wool! As she is about to leave her way is blocked and one of the old lady’s pulls a gun on her. They are aliens in disguise, using their ‘needles’ to generate etheric energy. With their energy levels low after landing, they were forced to decide on one common disguise, their analysis of human behaviour indicated that, little old lady’s were the best choice as they all looked the same and so were unlikely to be spotted. The knitters continue to create their etheric energy as the old lady with the gun prepares to fire at Martha. Martha ducks and is able to knock the gun flying. A stray shot, shooting blue lightning, causes chaos, one of the old lady’s drops her needles, as they roll to the floor, the ends touch and as a green glow spreads to the other needles The old lady’s cry out as their power fades. The light spreads and the creatures true form begins to show; spindly front legs, segmented eyes, like giant grass hoppers. Then they all disappear. Without having submitted their report their overhead fleet passes by the Earth. Martha rejoins the Doctor who is disappointed that the etheric beam seems to have disappeared. As they head back to the TARDIS the Doctor sees a baby in a pram left outside a shop, as they pass he comments on how strange it is that all babies look the same!

Characters

 * Martha Jones

Continuity

 * An etheric beam locator was a device frequently carried by the Doctor.

Timeline

 * Needle Point occurs after:
 * Needle Point before: