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Post by ant-mac on Apr 5, 2022 6:06:35 GMT
DOCTOR WHO
ANOMALY
ant-mac
A battered blue police box, which was not a police box at all, was adrift in the continuum of space and time. It was in fact an extremely advanced space/time craft called the TARDIS - an acronym for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. The TARDIS was currently located in a potentially dangerous position, just above the outer rim of a colossal black maelstrom, which swirled forebodingly deep within the vortex of space and time. However, the circumstances of the time capsule were neither safe nor secure, because it was gradually drifting closer and closer towards the menacing whirlpool of darkness.
In the large console chamber of the TARDIS, almost everything was silent and still. The only noise that could be heard was a gentle electronic hum, which arose from the byzantine control apparatus in the centre of the room. Meanwhile, the four people who were present all lay about the cavernous, dimly illuminated area in a variety of dazed and dishevelled positions.
The Doctor lay on the floor, stretched out on his right side. His head rested upon his out flung right arm. He carefully rolled over onto his back and cautiously opened one eye. He contemplated the hexagonal central console that loomed above him. “I wonder what caused that to happen?”
Susan was the Doctor’s attractive and enigmatic teenage grandchild. She was on the opposite side of the command dais from where he lay, arched forward over a control board. She stood up and gazed about in alarm. “Grandfather? Where are you?”
“I’m over here on the floor.”
She crossed over and extended her hand down to him. The Doctor reached up and clasped it tightly. With her aid, he was able to clamber shakily to his feet.
“Are you okay, Grandfather?”
“I’ve been battered about a bit, but I’ll be all right.” He glanced down at her anxiously. “What about you, my child?”
“I’m okay. I’m just a bit battered about too.”
Ian Chesterton sat crouched over in an austere antique chair, adjacent to the big, exterior double doors of the TARDIS. He was an athletic man in his late thirties with brown eyes and brown hair, who was currently wearing a dark suit, a white shirt and sensible leather shoes. He sat up straight and looked across the dimly lit area at the Doctor and Susan, baffled. “What happened?”
The Doctor began to brush the dirt off his long black frock coat and black and white checked trousers. “Ah well, I haven’t the faintest idea, Chesterton,” he admitted. “The dematerialization phase was proceeding quite normally after we left Skaro, but then…”
“There was a violent jolt, a flash of light and then everything went dark…”
The Doctor finished cleaning himself up and started to smooth down his black cravat with assiduous attention. “Quite so.”
Barbara Wright was the fourth member of the TARDIS crew. She was a beautiful young brunette in her early thirties with dark eyes and a fair complexion. She lay on the floor, huddled up against the glass barrier, which divided the main expanse of the console room from the part that contained the fault locator. Using the transparent partition as a brace, Barbara climbed dizzily to her feet and leaned heavily against it. She left the delicate and exquisite piece of alien cloth that she had been holding on the floor as she did so. In an attempt to alleviate the pulsating ache in her forehead, she caressed the side of her temple gently.
Susan noticed her discomfort at once. She moved over to join Barbara beneath the monitor screen, which hung down from the low ceiling. “Are you all right?”
“Not really,” acknowledged Barbara. “I hit my head when I fell and now I’ve got a bit of a headache…”
“I’m very sorry to hear that, my dear,” said the Doctor benevolently. “Susan, would you take Miss Wright into the lobby and get her something for her headache?”
Susan nodded dutifully. “Okay, Grandfather.” She swung back to face Barbara. “I’ll get you some medicine.”
“I’d appreciate that.” Barbara smiled faintly. “I’m not exactly feeling my best at the moment…”
“Come with me.”
The inner double doors led deeper into the interior of the TARDIS. With the alien teenager’s help, Barbara slowly made her way over to them. When the two women reached them, they quickly disappeared from sight, closing both doors behind them.
Once Barbara and Susan had departed, Ian concentrated on the Doctor. The aged alien stood at the control console, bathed in a circle of bright light. Ian got to his feet and sauntered over to join him there. “I hope Barbara will be all right. She hasn’t been coping very well with our recent change in circumstances.”
“Yes, well, I’m sorry to hear that,” announced the Doctor, “but I’m much more concerned about the current condition of the ship.” He gestured towards the hub of technology with a wave of his arm. “Something’s not quite right. I noticed it earlier, but I thought I’d wait until the girls had left before I mentioned it.”
“What is it, Doctor? What’s the matter?”
“The time column has stopped moving, which means the TARDIS has materialized,” he answered, “but the instruments show that it’s still in the space/time vortex - and that it’s still moving…”
“How is that possible?”
“Ah, well you see, my boy, the ship must still be partially immersed within the vortex, but adrift within it…”
“Are we in danger?”
“Err, well, not necessarily,” clarified the Doctor, “but it’s not the sort of thing I’d recommend doing for too long…”
“Why not?”
“Please stop pestering me with all these questions, Chesterton!” barked the ancient alien brusquely, holding up his hand to prevent Ian from continuing. “For all we know, time might be of critical importance to us right now! I really must make an assessment of our situation without further delay!”
“I’m sorry.”
The Doctor stepped forward and activated a switch. He stared up at the scanner screen expectantly, but swirling static was the only image that appeared on it. “Oh dear - it’s not clear! It’s not clear at all!”
“What’s wrong, Doctor?”
“I had hoped to learn more from the scanner,” he complained, “but the picture isn’t clear!” He switched off the useless video monitor and straightened up. “I think we should find out exactly what has happened and if there’s anything wrong with the ship. Once we’ve done that, we can choose what the best course of action is.”
“How do we do that?”
The Doctor pointed towards an array of complex instrument panels that were beyond the glass divider. The machines he indicated were located upon a distant wall and contained a multitude of flickering lights, which glimmered dully upon their metallic surfaces. “We should consult the fault locator.”
* * *
In the spacious, brilliantly lit lobby of the TARDIS, Barbara reclined comfortably back into a modern, dark leather couch. While she did so, Susan stood at the complicated controls of the large food machine. The teenage girl reached out and operated a series of buttons. After a short interlude, the contraption emitted three loud electronic beeps and then there was silence. Susan bent down and retrieved the contents, which had appeared in the dispenser compartment. She crossed over to the settee where Barbara was resting and sat down beside the ailing woman. She emptied the contents of a little white vial into the glass of water that she carried and handed the glass to her friend.
“Take this and you’ll feel better in no time. It’s the same stuff that I gave you for your headache on Skaro.”
Barbara nodded gratefully and took a big draught of liquid from the glass. “Thanks…”
“Would you like to lie down and rest in one of the living quarters?”
“No thanks, I’ll just sit here for a while.” Barbara drained the glass empty, reached out and placed it on a white circular table in front of the sofa. “But if you could turn down the lights, I’d be grateful.”
“Okay.” Susan got up and strode across to the light switch on the wall near the double doors. She made a brisk adjustment to it and the lighting level in the anteroom decreased immediately. “Is that better?”
“Yes, that’s much better. Thank you, Susan.”
Susan returned to where her friend sat and rejoined her. “We’ve all had quite an adventure recently,” she commented cheerfully. “First we met those primitive savages and then we ran into those beastly Daleks…”
The pedagogue nodded. “Yes, it’s certainly been quite an experience,” she acceded dryly. “I just hope your grandfather finds out what’s gone wrong with the TARDIS…”
“I’m sure Grandfather will once he’s checked out the fault locator.”
“Then perhaps he might take us back home…”
* * *
As Ian watched impatiently, the Doctor deliberately made his way along the extensive bank of intricate machines, which were set upon the wall of the narrow section. He conscientiously analysed each control board in turn. As he moved along from one to the next, the mysterious traveller wrote annotations in his small diary with a pencil.
“Have you discovered what happened, Doctor?”
The Doctor did not stop what he was doing. “Hmm…”
“What was it?”
“Hmm…”
Ian felt rather aggravated with the Doctor for disregarding his efforts to question him. Ian had always considered himself quite a clever and erudite individual. He had always been quite capable of taking care of himself in the circumstances he had so far encountered in his life. However, the situation he now found himself in was far beyond anything he had ever dreamed of, much less dealt with. He was completely out of his depth and he knew it. Ian felt rather annoyed at the fact that he was now dependent upon another person for all the answers. Normally, he was the one who provided them to his family, friends or students. What made matters even worse, was the fact that the person he now had to rely upon was an argumentative and bizarre senior citizen who claimed to be from another world!
Ian decided to make another attempt to exert some authority over the situation. He raised his voice sharply. “Doctor!”
The Doctor stopped and turned around. “What is it, my boy?”
“Do you know what happened as yet?”
“Not as yet, Chesterman, not as yet,” replied the Doctor querulously. “However, a little composure and patience will help us immensely in this situation - ah, or rather to deal with this situation.” He adjusted his eyeglasses and focused upon the numerous display monitors and glittering lights of the fault locator again. He continued with his evaluation. “Hmm…”
“Could it have been caused by a malfunction of some sort with the ship?”
“It could be,” conceded the Doctor grudgingly, “but I think it’s much more likely to have been caused by some type of external influence. In any case, we should know for certain in a few moments.”
In a soft voice, Ian muttered: “Hopefully…”
“Eh? What was that, Chesterman?”
“Nothing, Doctor,” he said hastily. “By the way, my name is Chesterton!”
“I beg your pardon?”
“My name isn’t ‘Chesterman’,” responded Ian, “it’s ‘Chesterton’…”
The Doctor snorted loudly. “Well of course it is, Chesterton!” he retorted disdainfully. “I am perfectly aware of what your name is!”
* * *
Susan regarded the bleak look on Barbara’s face curiously. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing really,” said Barbara adroitly. She wiped her hand across her cheek to remove a tear that had formed in the corner of her eye. “I just miss London and my own time - that’s all…”
“Why don’t you and Ian stay with Grandfather and I?” asked the young girl affably. “We could all travel around the universe and explore it together…”
“Oh we couldn’t, Susan!”
“Why not?” Susan felt both confused and hurt by the other woman’s ardent rejection of her idea. It seemed apparent to her that Barbara had an intense dislike for her present company and surroundings. “Don’t you like us?”
“Yes, of course I like you,” replied Barbara candidly. “Ian and I both do. But Earth is our home. It’s where we both belong. And we just want is to get back there alive - if we can…”
“So Ian feels the same way as you?”
“Yes, he does, Susan,” confessed Barbara lightly. “I know that he’s been able to cope better than I have with everything that’s happened to us since we entered the TARDIS, but I also know that he misses London just as much as I do.”
Susan nodded slowly with dawning comprehension. “Oh, I see…”
* * *
The Doctor eventually reached the far end of the long line of machines, where he bent and closely examined the final display screen for a number of moments. In due course, he stood up and wrote one last entry in his journal. When he had finished this, he pocketed the book and pencil, took off his spectacles and folded them up. He put them away in his breast pocket and swung back to face Ian, who had been watching him diligently throughout his lengthy chore. He beamed at Ian haughtily. “Well, I’ve finished my investigation and it’s just as I thought…”
“Did you find out what went wrong with the ship?”
“Yes, I should say so, my boy.”
“Well, Doctor?”
“Nothing at all,” said the Doctor. “The ship’s in perfect working order.”
“Are you serious?!” cried Ian in disbelief. He was becoming increasingly exasperated with the old man’s insufferable attitude of superiority. “Something must have caused what happened earlier…”
“Well clearly, Chesterton,” agreed the Doctor loftily. “But whatever it was, it had nothing to do with the ship.”
“So in other words, Doctor,” articulated Ian through clenched teeth, “you’ve failed to figure out what happened?”
To the schoolteacher’s great personal delight, his criticism achieved its desired response. The expression of conceit promptly vanished from the Doctor’s face.
“No, not at all,” declared the Doctor defensively. “I’m now sure that whatever happened was caused by something outside of the ship.”
“Why were you so worried about the TARDIS drifting in the space/time vortex?”
“Because any loss of momentum inside the vortex could cause the ship to be subjected to the effects of temporal buoyancy.”
“What would that do?”
“It could make life very unpleasant for us,” said the Doctor darkly. “To be honest, I’m far more concerned about the ship running into more anomalies. The vortex is full of all sorts of anomalies and phenomena - and not all of them have been identified as yet…”
“Could any of them harm us, Doctor?”
“I’m afraid so, Chesterton,” he stated gravely. “There are some types of anomalies that could best be described as powerful whirlpools. They’re quite capable of trapping a time machine and stopping it from further time travel or returning to the normal world. Some of them are even able to affect the TARDIS. However, the navigational computer is programmed to detect such things and alter the ship’s flight path accordingly.”
“But is it reliable?”
The Doctor ran his long thin fingers through his mane of silvery hair. “Ah, well, perhaps not always…”
Ian’s apprehension grew dramatically. “Do you mean we could be stuck here forever - or even killed?!”
“It might, err… just be possible…”
“But if we’re in danger, why haven’t you dematerialized the ship yet?” inquired Ian with concern. “Why are we still here?”
“It could have been very dangerous to attempt flight if the ship had been damaged,” explained the Doctor. “So I wanted to check that there wasn’t anything wrong with it before I did anything else.”
“What do we do now?
“I think we should return to the console room straight away,” advised the Doctor. “And Chesterton, I suggest we keep this little chat we’ve had to ourselves for the time being. I don’t wish to worry the others for no reason. Hmm?”
Ian pondered the Doctor’s counsel fleetingly, then nodded. “All right.”
* * *
“How are you feeling, Barbara?”
“Much better,” she said. “That potion you gave me worked wonders - again.”
“Oh good, I’m glad your headache’s gone,” proclaimed the young brunette with deep dark eyes. “Would you like me to get you anything else? Something to eat or drink?”
“Not right now,” replied the pedagogue. “I’d much rather go and see how your grandfather and Ian are getting on.”
“Okay,” agreed Susan amiably. “Hopefully Grandfather has been able to find out what the cause of that incident was.”
The two women got to their feet and walked over to the double doors on the far side of the lobby. Susan opened them and they entered the dusky console chamber of the TARDIS. They found the two men standing at the central dais, scrutinizing the huge assortment of dials, display units and gauges attentively.
“So if there’s nothing wrong with the ship,” commented Ian, “does that mean it’s safe to take off?”
“Well, my boy, I don’t see why not...”
Ian glanced up when he heard the two women come back in the room. He grinned at Barbara happily. “How are you feeling now?”
Barbara strode over and sat down in the chair that Ian had previously occupied. She smiled up at him and nodded. “I’m much better now, thanks.”
Susan moved across and stood beside her grandfather. “Did you find out what caused that incident?”
“Oh, I should say so, my child,” he announced. “It was most likely caused by something the ship encountered during its flight through the vortex.”
“Do you know what it was?” probed Barbara.
“Err, unfortunately not, Miss Wright.” The Doctor hurriedly peered up at Ian, then turned back and beamed at her reassuringly. “However, I’m quite sure that there’s nothing to worry about - and at least you can’t say that life is ever dull or boring with me…”
Ian was acutely aware of the momentary glimpse that his fellow traveller had given him. Suddenly, for reasons he could not explain, Ian felt strangely compelled to corroborate his statement. “Yes, as the Doctor says, we should be perfectly safe now…”
“Yes indeed,” concurred the Doctor. “In fact, I was about to dematerialize the ship when you both came back in.”
The deep and ominous chiming of a bell abruptly boomed throughout the gloomy console room of the TARDIS. It was instantly accompanied by a conspicuous red light on a control panel, which began blinking on and off in harmony to it. The Doctor gaped at the flashing light in evident astonishment for several moments. Then without warning, he swiftly leaped into action and started checking the various monitor displays, indicators and meters before him with obvious agitation.
Barbara stared up at him nervously. “What’s that noise?”
The Doctor did not answer her question. Instead, he let out a loud gasp of consternation at the data that he read upon a display screen. “Good grief!”
“What’s that noise?” she repeated edgily. “What’s going on?”
“It’s an alarm signal!” stated the Doctor. “The ship’s at risk!”
Ian looked at the Doctor sharply. “What sort of risk?”
As if on cue, the TARDIS promptly heaved over onto one side, totally out of control. The time ship’s unexpected lunge caught the Doctor, Ian and Susan by surprise. They lost their balance and all collapsed onto the floor. Meanwhile, Barbara clung onto the simple chair in which she sat for all she was worth, as it began to skate across the open space.
“This sort of risk!” bawled the ancient traveller above the clamour of the clanging danger signal. “Hang on everyone!”
“What is it, Grandfather?!” howled Susan in anguish. She skidded down the precipitously sloping floor and collided with the wall. “What’s gone wrong?”
“I wish I knew!” he replied, as he climbed to his feet with agonizing slowness. He clutched onto the edge of the command hub for support. “We must still be caught up in that anomaly!”
The TARDIS lurched around brutally. The science instructor was sent sliding backward along the floor. He crashed into the corner close to where Susan lay. Arduously, he got up onto his knees and grabbed at the base of an exotic alien statue to steady himself. “Are you sure? Could this be caused by anything else?”
The Doctor bent forward over an instrument panel as far as he could stretch. He was trying to comprehend the information appearing on a tiny display unit facing him. “I’m positive!” he asserted forcefully. “Whatever’s happening, it’s being caused by something outside!”
“Well, whatever it is, just get us out of here now!”
“Yes, yes, young man, the idea had occurred to me!” snapped the Doctor curtly. He took a step back and desperately flung himself onto the top of the control rostrum. “I do happen to be trying you know!”
“Then try harder!”
The TARDIS erratically pitched itself around onto a different angle from before. Barbara lost her grasp on the antique chair as it tipped over. She toppled out of it and landed in a heap next to the command dais. “Please hurry, Doctor!”
Susan was able to grab onto a portion of the wall beside her. She held onto it for dear life. “You must do something, Grandfather!” she screamed despairingly above the echoing peal of the warning bell. “I don’t think I can take much more of this!”
“Neither can the ship!” he rejoined. “If I can’t free it from this anomaly soon, it will be destroyed!”
“Then please do something!”
“Yes, yes, my child!” grumbled the old man irritably. He struggled to study the complex collection of dials, display units and gauges that encircled him. “I’m hurrying as fast as I can! But it’s a very difficult task to perform under the present conditions!”
The TARDIS rocked over onto yet another new angle. Barbara felt herself beginning to slip down the steep incline of the console chamber floor. “Help me, Ian!” she screeched, as she slid past the control rostrum. “Help me!”
“I’m sorry, Barbara,” he responded helplessly, “there’s nothing I can do!”
Barbara could sense she was losing control of her composure. She could feel the intense dread inexorably tighten its grip upon her. The constricting sensation she felt in her chest was crushing. “Help me!”
Ian watched her dilemma in frustration. He was angry with himself for being unable to assist. “Try to grab onto something!”
The history teacher frantically scrabbled over the randomly swaying floor. She tried to seize onto the plinth of the command hub. However, at the very instance she managed to touch it, the TARDIS tilted back in the opposite direction. Barbara lost her footing and slithered away from it. “I can’t…!”
“I’ve discovered what kind of anomaly it is!” bellowed the Doctor exultantly. “We’re caught in a time eddy!”
From down on the floor near the statue, Ian gazed up at the Doctor, who was lying across two adjacent control boards. “What’s that?”
“A very rare space/time anomaly!”
Susan remained crouched down on the floor of the shadowy console room. She was clinging onto a segment of the wall next to the interior doors. “What does that mean?”
The Doctor briefly lost his hold and slipped off the multifaceted central dais. He crumpled to the floor beside it. “What?”
“What does that mean?” she repeated, hollering above the regularly resonating warning signal. “What will it do to us?”
The Doctor reached up, clasped onto the instrumentation hub and clung on with grim determination. “It means if we don’t escape from it soon, the ship will be ripped apart!”
The TARDIS commenced rotating around and around upon its own axis, faster and faster. Ian, Barbara and Susan were not prepared for this fierce new assault upon their senses. They were unable to ready themselves for the coming onslaught and were sent tumbling ferociously around the vast, dimly lit expanse, like dice rolled across a green baize gaming table by an enthusiastic gambler.
“Then dematerialize the ship!” shrieked Barbara hysterically. She hurtled into the hat stand and staggered back against the wall. As she gradually subsided to the floor beneath a clutter of coats, hats and scarves, she glimpsed up at the Doctor in fear. “And do it quickly!”
“That’s what I’m trying to do!” he shouted insolently. He scrambled back up onto his feet once again, using the central console as a prop. “But I can’t do it, because the ship doesn’t have enough power!”
“Are you telling me that the TARDIS has a flat battery?!” inquired Barbara incredulously.
“No, of course not!” countered the Doctor crossly. “All of its power banks are fully charged! But it will require more than the normal energy output of the ship to escape because this anomaly is very big and very powerful!”
“But if we don’t escape,” sobbed Barbara desolately, “the ship will be destroyed and we’ll all be killed!”
“Thank you for the situation report, young lady, but I am perfectly well aware of the facts,” enunciated the Doctor with exaggerated care. “What do you think I’ve been doing during this emergency? Hmm? Catching forty winks?”
“Well what are you going to do, Doctor?”
“Ah, first I have to power up the power… err… output,” he explained. “Then I can dematerialize and pilot the ship out of here and back into the normal space/time vortex - I hope…”
Susan lay on the floor in front of the external doors. “Then do it!”
The Doctor reached out towards a certain switch on the neighbouring instrument panel. Unfortunately, he could not quite touch it. He banged his fist down upon the control board in front of him in annoyance. “I can’t reach the required switch! The dematerialization lever is right in front of me, but the power boosting switch is on the master control panel!”
“How long do we have?”
“Another minute or two,” he answered, “and then we’re done for…”
The TARDIS continued to spin around and around, but suddenly it started to shake savagely as well. The control dais began shuddering wildly, due to the intolerable force of the vicious convulsions that came from deep within. Meanwhile, thin columns of smoke started to emerge from the base of the time rotor.
“Please hurry!”
“Very well!” With enormous difficulty due to the turbulent chaos that enveloped him, the aged alien twisted away from her. He focused on Ian, who now lay on top of Barbara’s fragile piece of alien fabric. He was underneath the video screen, hunched up against the transparent barrier. “I need your help, Chesterton!”
“What was that?” Ian struggled bravely to his feet. An extremely violent lunge from the TARDIS suddenly hurled him across the open area. He slammed into the outer doors on the other side and slumped down onto the floor close to Susan, stunned and winded. “What did you say?”
“Help me!” roared the Doctor with authority, above the thunderous reverberations of the alarm signal. “Otherwise we shall all die!”
“I’ll try to…” With steadfast courage and some help from Susan, the science teacher doggedly got back up onto his feet once more. He grinned down at the teenage girl appreciatively. “Thanks, Susan…”
She smiled up at him and nodded grimly. “You’re welcome…”
“I do apologize for being so impatient, young man,“ stated the Doctor with acerbic courtesy, “but if you’ve quite finished exchanging social pleasantries with my grandchild, do you think I could possibly have your assistance for a few moments? If it’s not too much bother…”
“All right!” Using the double doors behind him for leverage, Ian launched himself across the murky space in a huge leap. He landed on the floor beside the command hub. Clinging onto its edge with one hand, he stretched upward with the other and clutched at the facade of the instrument board above him. He pulled himself upright and squinted at the Doctor through the clouds of dark smoke, which curled up from the bottom of the time column. The older man still held on tightly to the other side of the technological rostrum. “Okay, Doctor, what now?”
The Doctor leaned forward and indicated a small switch on the control panel between them with his outstretched finger. “Do you see the switch I’m pointing at, Chesterton?”
Ian scanned the area that the Doctor was pointing to. “Do you mean that little one?”
The Doctor let out a sigh of exasperation. “Do you see me pointing at any other switches, young man?”
Feeling slightly embarrassed, Ian shook his head. “Well, no,” he mumbled, “just that one…”
“That’s the one! Can you reach it?”
Ian bent forward as far as he could across the control console. At full stretch, he could just place his hand upon the regulator in question. “Yes, but only just…”
“Splendid, my boy, absolutely splendid!” declared the Doctor delightedly. “Now I want you to get a good firm grip on it, because when I give you the word, I want you to operate that switch for me.” The ancient alien braced himself against the side of the command dais. He reached out and took hold of a big lever on the instrument board facing him. Once he was ready, he looked back at Ian expectantly. “Are you prepared?”
Ian nodded and tightened his hold upon the small switch. “Just say the word.”
“Was that yes or no, young man?” the Doctor rebuked him peevishly. “Do try to make sense…”
“Yes!” he retorted.
“Then switch on the power booster!”
Ian did as he was told and activated the energy regulator. “I’ve done it!”
“Excellent, my boy!” The Doctor gazed down at a specific meter in front of him eagerly. “Now hold it there, because the power level is rising…”
“I’m happy to hear it!” bellowed Ian. “I just hope it doesn’t take too long!”
The old man drew deep within himself, searching for the inner serenity and strength he knew he would need if he were to achieve his goal. Somehow, he managed to stand erect at the wildly quaking control rostrum without losing his balance. While confusion reigned all about him and a cacophony of sound filled the console chamber, he was able to centre himself and focus upon his task. For several long moments, he calmly surveyed the huge array of display monitors, indicators and meters before him. Then he made a series of rapid adjustments to a number of buttons, knobs and switches and operated the dematerialization lever. He pulled it over until the lever touched the surface of the control board and would move no further. “I think that should do it!”
“And not before time!” replied Ian. “I don’t think the ship can last much longer…”
An elephantine trumpeting began to emanate from deep inside the interior recesses of the TARDIS. It gradually escalated in intensity and volume, until eventually, it challenged the tolling of the warning bell for supremacy. The polygonal central hub continued to tremble furiously under the ruthless onslaught of the potent paroxysms taking place deep inside it. The grinding roar of the time vessel’s engines screeched higher and higher until it seemed certain that they would explode.
“We’re not going to make it!” squealed Susan above the shattering crescendo of the wailing motors. “We’ll all be killed!”
“Patience child!” commanded the Doctor thunderously. “Patience! All we need to do is hold on for a few seconds more…”
“I hope so…”
The throbbing whine from the engines momentarily levelled off in their progressively increasing uproar and the time rotor abruptly commenced oscillating up and down. The TARDIS dematerialized and the deafening sound from the alarm signal ceased, as the red light stopped flashing and the warning device deactivated itself.
The Doctor let go of the large lever and breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m glad that’s over and done with!”
The erratic shaking and swaying that had previously affected the TARDIS promptly vanished. The brightness of the lighting in the console room returned to its usual level and the insubstantial tendrils of smoke, which drifted above the command dais, began to disperse. Gradually everything started to return to normal inside the time capsule.
Ian carefully slid himself back off the edge of the instrumentation hub. “Are we safe now, Doctor?”
“Yes, it’s all right now, my boy,” he proclaimed jovially, “we’re quite safe.”
Ian released his grip on the power booster switch. He straightened up and grinned wanly at the Doctor. “I’m very pleased to hear that…”
“So am I.” Barbara painfully picked herself up off the floor. “But you’ve said that before…”
“This time I’m quite certain, my dear.”
“I hope so,” commented Susan. She stood up and began to smooth out her plain grey dress. “That wasn’t very nice at all!”
The Doctor looked around at his three fellow travellers anxiously. “Are any of you hurt?”
The unearthly child walked across to the control console. “I’m okay, Grandfather.”
He gazed down at her affectionately. “I’m very relieved to hear that, my child,” he said, “I was very worried about you.”
She nodded glanced up at him and nodded. “I know you were…”
“Well I’m not fine!” snapped Ian indignantly. “I’m black and blue all over.”
“Yes, err… I’m very sorry to hear of your discomfort, Chesterton,” said the Doctor airily, “but if you’ll excuse me, I really must check that the ship is all right…” He promptly shifted his attention to the technological rostrum. “Hmm…”
“I know how you feel, Ian,” murmured the history instructor quietly. “I’ve become quite familiar with being black and blue ever since I stepped into this strange nightmare…” She picked the fallen pieces of clothing up off the floor and turned to the hat stand with them.
Ian went over and looked down at her ashamedly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you before, Barbara…”
She shook her head. “That’s okay,” she interjected hurriedly, “I know you would have if you could.”
“But are you okay now?” he asked with concern. “You seemed quite distressed earlier…”
Barbara’s face flushed red. “I lost my composure,” she said awkwardly, “but I’m all right now.”
Ian realized he had caused her yet further discomfort. He resolved to make immediate amends. “I don’t blame you for losing your calm,” he mumbled clumsily. “It was a terrifying ordeal…”
Barbara found herself genuinely heartened by Ian’s gauche yet gallant effort to comfort her. She completed her task of hanging the clothing back up on the hat stand and swung back to face him. She gazed up at him warmly and smiled. “Thank you for being you...”
“How are you, Grandfather?”
The Doctor nodded absently as he continued with his examination of the dials, display screens and gauges facing him. “I’m a bit sore here and there,” he responded ruefully, “but I’ll be all right…”
“For some reason, Doctor,” muttered Ian wryly, “that doesn’t surprise me…”
The older man chortled mischievously. “Well, like I said earlier, my boy,” he countered gleefully, “at least you can’t say that life with me is ever dull or boring! Hmm?”
Ian groaned at his comment. “Yes, well…”
The Doctor straightened up from his inspection of the control dais. He glanced around at his three companions and beamed broadly at them. “Well, despite everything we’ve been through, it seems that all is well with the ship.”
“Is that supposed to cheer me up?” griped Ian.
The Doctor looked up at him sharply. “Be grateful, Chesterton,” he commented sternly. “Just you remember that if the ship had not survived, than neither would have we…”
Ian nodded meekly as the full implications of the Doctor’s words registered with him. “Point taken…”
“So what happened, Doctor?” inquired Barbara. “Did something go wrong with the TARDIS?”
“No, not at all, young lady.” He dusted the dirt off himself once more. “The ship became caught in a space/time anomaly. Or to be more precise, it was a time eddy inside the vortex. It was a very large and powerful one and if we hadn’t escaped from it when we did, we would have ended up floating about in a void beyond space and time in several million separate bits!”
Barbara may not have fully grasped the specifics of the Doctor’s account about what had happened, but she was perfectly capable of understanding the basic crux of it. “Well, I’m very glad we did escape. I’d like to remain in one piece thank you very much!”
The pitch and tempo of the time machine’s engines suddenly changed into a fanfare of wheezing and groaning. The familiar noise filled the interior of the TARDIS. The Doctor instantly began to dash around, adjusting a multitude of buttons, knobs and levers. The time column eventually came to rest and the sound of materialization faded away.
Susan watched him with interest. “Do you know where we’ve landed this time?”
The Doctor glimpsed up at her briefly. “Not just yet,” he answered politely, “but if you’ll give me a few moments, I’m sure I can find out.” He returned to surveying the forest of advanced instruments in front of him.
Barbara twisted around to face Ian. “Do you think the Doctor will be able to return us home, Ian?”
He shook his head sadly. “I’m afraid I don’t know, Barbara,” he admitted gently. “I get the impression that the camouflage device isn’t the only thing on the ship that doesn’t work properly.”
She gazed at Ian, perplexed. “What do you mean?”
“There’s also something wrong with the guidance system, so I doubt the Doctor is able to accurately control the flight and final destination of the ship,” he explained. “When I was with him in the fault locator section earlier, he told me that the navigational computer isn’t always completely reliable…”
Barbara looked at him in anguish. “Do you mean he might never be able to return us home…?”
“I’m afraid there is that possibility,” he acknowledged reluctantly, “but we might yet be lucky…”
Barbara could feel herself slipping down into a bottomless pit of despair and misery. “I see…”
“Good grief!” exclaimed the Doctor suddenly. He straightened up from the hexagonal central hub and shook his head in wonder. “I simply don’t believe it!”
Susan gazed up at him, intrigued. “What is it, Grandfather?”
“I’ve just found out where we’ve landed!” he announced dramatically. “We’re back on Skaro!”
“But we’ve only just left there,” said Susan. She shook her head in amazement. “I don’t believe it…”
“That’s what I just said,” replied the Doctor drolly, “but it’s true!”
“Are you sure the instruments are accurate, Doctor?” probed Ian cynically.
“Well, if you don’t believe me, young man,” he said disdainfully, “perhaps you’ll believe the evidence of your own eyes…”
He leaned forward and activated a switch. The viewing screen lit up and showed the image of what was immediately outside the TARDIS. The Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan gathered around the command dais and studied the picture with intense interest. On the little monitor screen, they could see a small fraction of a massive and majestic city, which stretched away in every direction for as far as the eye could see. Up close, they could clearly discern the rooftops, walls and doors of nearby buildings, while in the distance they could just make out tall slender spires, graceful soaring towers and magnificent symmetrical domes. However, it soon became apparent to the four time travellers that everything they could see had one important aspect in common. It was all constructed out of metal.
The science teacher turned away from the scanner screen. “Well, it certainly looks like the city of the Daleks out there…”
The ancient traveller nodded. “It is,” he verified. “I checked all the instruments very carefully. It would seem that when we escaped from that anomaly, we reversed direction and travelled back along our own space/time trajectory so that we could return to the normal world…”
“So we ended up right back where we started…?”
“Quite so.”
“Back on Skaro…”
“Well, what do we do now?” queried Barbara.
The Doctor held up his hands with his palms facing outwards in an amenable gesture. “I’m open to any suggestions, my dear.”
“I think we should leave straight away,” she said firmly. “Considering what we went through the first time…”
The Doctor pondered her proposal for a fleeting moment, then nodded in agreement. “Yes, I think you might be right, Miss Wright!” He chuckled at his own little pun. “Hmm…?”
The history instructor sighed inwardly at the old man’s feeble sense of humour. “Let’s just leave…”
Realizing that he was the only one laughing at his joke, the Doctor suddenly stopped and let out an awkward cough. “Ah, yes… well, it’s not quite as simple as that, young lady,” he mumbled indistinctly. “The take off phase uses a great deal of power. In fact, it needs the most power of all the ship’s phases, ah… functions.”
“And why is that relevant?”
“Well, the ship’s power banks were severely drained during our escape from that anomaly,” he revealed. “That means we simply don’t have enough power at present to take off again.”
Barbara glanced at him apprehensively. “Do you mean that we’re marooned here?”
The Doctor shook his head with conviction. “Oh certainly not,” he responded with assurance. “The power banks just need a bit of time to recharge.”
“How long?”
“About twelve or thirteen minutes at most.”
“So we’re stuck here until then?”
“Ah, well, yes, young lady” admitted the Doctor hesitantly, “but there’s nothing to worry about.”
“What makes you so sure?”
“Well, we’ve already helped the Thals to defeat the Daleks,” he stated, “and the high level of radiation out there can’t harm us if we stay inside the ship.”
Barbara considered his words for a brief moment. “I suppose you have a point, Doctor,” she conceded. “I just hope you’re right…”
“Trust me, my dear,” he said confidently, “we have nothing to fear…”
* * *
Two identical machine creatures glided down a narrow metal alleyway, which ran between numerous low buildings. Both were silvery grey and squat in appearance, with rounded edges and domed apexes. Two small lamps sat atop their hemispherical peaks - one on either side. Three long thin appendages projected from the front of their metal casings. One was near the top of their domes, while the other two were midway down their metal carapaces. Their topmost protrusion was a single lens on a long cylindrical stalk that served as an eye. Lower down, the telescopic arm on the right ended in a small, circular black sucker, while the shorter limb on the left was clearly intended to be a weapon of some kind. Neither being possessed any perceptible humanoid features at all.
The pair of Daleks reached the end of the metal side street. They exited it and entered a large sweeping plaza, which was set between several small structures. It was a vast, rectangular area, which was about twenty metres in width and fifty metres in length. Both Daleks came to an abrupt halt when they saw the odd spectacle of a tall, blue oblong box with a lamp attached to its very top. This strange puzzle sat on the far side of the otherwise empty quadrangle.
The first Dalek moved forward and focused its eyestalk upon the intriguing article for a brief moment. Then it suddenly pivoted about and faced its junior associate. “Alert! Alert! Alert!” it grated in a harsh mechanical voice. “Alien artefact has been detected within the perimeter of Metropolis One!”
The other silvery grey being took up the cry. “Intruder alert! Intruder alert! Intruder alert!” it droned, as the two small lights on top of its domed crown flashed on and off simultaneously with its words. “There is an alien device within the city perimeter!”
“You will report this to the supreme council immediately!”
“I obey!” The second Dalek reeled around to one side. It began sending its newly acquired data to its superiors on the supreme council.
* * *
The Doctor decided he had finally had enough of the silence that had reigned inside the time ship for the last couple of minutes. Straightening up from his surveillance of the complex array of instruments facing him, he cleared his throat out loudly. “I must say that I look forward to leaving this wretched planet again!”
Ian glanced up from his own musings. He gazed across at the Doctor and nodded. “Yes,” he concurred, “I’ll be glad to leave here too…”
“Those metal monsters were damned difficult to defeat. Hmm?”
“Although we could have left Skaro much sooner the first time around,” continued Ian, “if you hadn’t let your curiosity get the better of you and insisted upon exploring that city!”
The aged alien coughed with embarrassment. “Yes, well I’m sorry about that, my boy,” he murmured under his breath. “Still, at least you can’t complain that your time with me has not been exciting…”
“Excitement is all very well, Doctor,” countered Ian seriously, “but danger is quite another matter.”
“Oh please, Ian, let’s not argue about that now,” proposed the history instructor tactfully. “Let’s just put all of that behind us…”
Encouraged by Barbara’s effort to maintain harmony and order, the Doctor allowed himself a roguish smile. “It seems that curiosity was my downfall...“
“Your curiosity was very nearly the downfall of us all!” retorted Ian angrily. After everything he had been made to endure since he had first set foot in the TARDIS, Ian’s patience with this patronizing and quarrelsome old tyrant had finally expired. He felt it was time that someone reprimanded him for his behaviour and held him responsible for his actions. “You endangered us all by sabotaging the fluid links so that we couldn’t leave!”
“Yes, well… I -“
“Stranding us on this planet was a foolish prank!”
The Doctor’s face promptly contorted with fury and began to turn red. “How dare you accuse me of being a fool, sir!” he roared with outrage. “I will not tolerate such disrespect from someone who forced their way into both my ship and my private life!”
“It is not disrespect, it is fact,” rejoined Ian resolutely. “And it is also a fact that while Barbara and I may have trespassed in your ship, you committed the much greater crime of kidnapping us…”
“I would not have kidnapped you if you had not first interfered in something which did not concern you!” thundered the Doctor fiercely. “I simply did what I had to do to protect myself and my grandchild!” He slammed his fist down upon the instrument panel. “How was I to know of the dangers that awaited us out there on that planet?! Hmm? Answer me that!”
“Ignorance is no excuse, Doctor,” replied Ian staunchly. “The fact that you had no idea of what awaited us out there only makes your actions all the more reprehensible because of their rashness. You simply should not to have put our lives at risk in the first place…”
The older man began to shake with intense rage. Under the bright glow from above, his face visibly started to change colour from red to purple. “Young man,” he croaked, his voice choking with immense wrath, “you have no right to say such things…”
* * *
“The supreme council has responded to my report,” intoned the second Dalek.
The primary unit rotated its eyestalk away from the TARDIS. It focused upon the other inhuman creature. “What are our orders?”
“We are ordered to approach and investigate the device,” responded its subordinate. “They want us to conduct a thorough scan of it.”
“Understood.”
“When the scan is completed,” continued the junior Dalek, “they want the results transmitted to them for full analysis.”
“Understood,” grated the first Dalek. “Caution is advised until the nature of the device has been determined.”
“Confirmed.”
“I will provide security for you,” rasped the senior Dalek, “while you conduct your scan.”
“Confirmed.”
“Proceed.”
“I obey.”
The two evil machine beings rolled cautiously across the plaza towards the waiting police box.
* * *
Barbara thought that it was time she intervened in the argument between the two men, before verbal disagreement developed into physical violence. “Oh Ian, we simply couldn’t have left Skaro straight away!”
Her gambit worked exactly as she hoped it would. Ian swung away from the Doctor and looked at her in shock. “What?”
“Well, if we hadn’t helped the Thals,” explained the history teacher, “the Daleks would have exterminated them with a neutron bomb!”
Ian pondered her contention fleetingly. “I know we had to get the fluid link back,” he replied doubtfully, “but was it really up to us to take up the fight on their behalf?”
Barbara shrugged her shoulders. “Maybe not,” she conceded, “but could you really have abandoned them to their fate once you knew what that fate was?”
After a short interval of further thought upon the subject, Ian shook his head. “No, I suppose I couldn’t…”
Barbara quickly glimpsed across at the Doctor, then turned back and stared at Ian again in an intent manner. “Exactly…”
The purpose behind her actions was quite clear to Ian. He nodded in submission to her and turned back to face the Doctor once more. “I’m sorry if I was unfair to you just now, Doctor,” he said in a conciliatory tone. “I suppose it’s all been getting a bit much for me lately…”
The Doctor glared angrily at Ian for several long, tense moments, but did not reply. Instead, he promptly transferred his attention to the control console. “Now let me see,” he muttered to himself vaguely, “where was I…?”
“Doctor…”
He continued to ignore the science instructor as he fussed about over his beloved instruments. He made adjustments to various knobs, levers and switches before him. “Hmm, that is most interesting…”
“Have it your own way, Doctor,” said Ian fatalistically, “I know when I’m beaten.” He turned away from the multifaceted central hub and strode over to the antique chair that still lay on its side. He picked it up, set it down the right way up and sat in it. “I give up…”
Barbara felt she should try to break down the barrier that the Doctor had erected between himself and Ian. “May I ask a question, Doctor?”
“Oh very well, if you must,” he replied, without looking up from his task. “What do you want to know?”
“Why won’t you accept Ian’s apology?”
“I don’t have the time to spare,” he responded perversely. “I’m busy…”
“You’re too busy to accept an apology?”
He nodded stubbornly. “Yes!” He stabbed vigorously at several buttons with his finger. “Now if you’ll kindly refrain from wasting my time with foolishness, I have work to do!”
“What are you doing?”
“You’ll find out soon enough!”
Barbara let out a sigh of frustration. “Oh, I give up!”
“That is a wise choice, Miss Wright.”
She walked over and perched herself upon the armrest of the chair, next to Ian. “Why must he be so difficult?”
“I wish I knew,” said Ian.
* * *
The junior Dalek swung away from the TARDIS and confronted its superior. “I have completed my scan of the object.”
“What do your results reveal?” droned the other Dalek. “What have you learned?”
“My scan has only revealed minimal data about it.”
“Explain,” commanded the senior Dalek.
“My sensors could not penetrate its outer shell,” reported the second Dalek, “but my scan of its exterior did not detect armaments of any type.”
“So the nature of its interior remains unknown?”
“Correct.”
The first Dalek briefly considered this information. “You will transmit the results of your scan to the supreme council,” it grated, “and request further orders.”
“I obey.”
* * *
Susan had become very tense due to the aura of enmity that had manifested itself inside the TARDIS over the last few minutes. She gazed across at the two schoolteachers who were seated on and in the antique chair, then glanced over at the Doctor. He stood on the other side of the command dais from her, absorbed by his task of attending to his precious instruments. “Grandfather…”
He did not look up from his work. “Not now, my child, I really am most busy…”
Susan loved him very much and always obeyed his requests without question, for he was her entire world. However, her distress at the present circumstances was so great, that she gathered together all her courage and set herself to persist with her endeavour. She looked up at the Doctor earnestly and said: “Please don’t be so angry with Ian. He’s only trying to say he’s sorry…”
“Why should I accept that young man’s apology?” he demanded imperiously. “He was rude and insulting towards me!”
“Please be reasonable, Grandfather.”
He glanced up from his task and silently regarded his grandchild for what seemed like an eternity. She felt the intensity of his gaze sweep over her like a searchlight, as he scrutinized her closely. It left her feeling extremely uneasy and vulnerable. “It’s too late for that,” he replied at length. “He’s tried my patience once too often…”
“But I’m sure -“
“No, Susan!” interrupted the Doctor firmly. “I’ve already decided what must be done!”
“What do you mean?”
“If I can set the controls of the ship correctly,” he explained, “I shall return Miss Wright and that young man home once the power banks have been fully recharged!”
“Can you actually do that, Grandfather?” asked Susan timidly. “I thought you were having trouble with the guidance system?”
“Well, I can certainly try!” he responded spiritedly. “In any case, it’s what they both want.” He returned his attention to the sophisticated array of buttons, knobs and levers in front of him. “So kindly don’t interrupt me while I’m busy!”
“I’m sorry…”
One look in Susan’s clouded eyes told Ian that she was on the verge of tears. In an effort to dispel her misery, he smiled up at her. “Never mind,” he said chirpily, “at least you tried…”
Susan glanced over at him glumly. “I’m only sorry I didn’t succeed.”
“It can’t be helped,” said Ian, “but thank you for trying.”
“But if Grandfather can do what he says,” she continued reflectively, “at least you and Barbara will be happy.”
“That’s true,” confessed Ian slowly, “but it’s nothing personal against either of you…”
“I know.” Susan smiled at him. “I think I’m starting to understand how the two of you feel.”
“I’m glad…”
She casually gazed back up at the video monitor and instantly emitted a piercing scream that echoed around the expansive room and startled the Doctor, Ian and Barbara. “Grandfather!”
“Oh, my dear child,” he admonished her in a flustered manner, “you nearly frightened the life out of me! Whatever is the matter? Hmm?”
Barbara jumped to her feet and raced across to where the Doctor and Susan stood. She looked down at the young girl uneasily. “What’s wrong, Susan?”
“Look at the scanner!”
The Doctor glanced up at it expectantly. He gasped in dismay when he saw the two menacing machine creatures. “Daleks!”
Barbara looked up at the two Daleks on the viewing screen in horror. She could not resist the compulsion to stare at the metallic monsters. “How can there be Daleks here? We destroyed them all!”
“Well, it is quite clear that we haven’t landed in the same place as before,” reasoned the Doctor. “So who’s to say that we’ve arrived in the same time either? Hmm?”
Eventually, with a great deal of effort, Barbara managed to tear her concentration away from the two Daleks and trained it upon him. “Do you mean that we’ve arrived a couple of hundred yards off target and a couple of weeks before last time?”
The Doctor nodded vigorously. “Yes, my dear,” he declared decisively, “that must be it! I mean, what else could it be? Hmm…?”
“But you don’t realize the danger, Grandfather!” cried Susan desperately. “We must get away from here at once!”
“I am perfectly well aware of the circumstances, my child,” he proclaimed calmly. “However, we cannot depart until the power banks have finished recharging. In any case, I feel sure that we’re quite safe inside the ship.”
“How long before we can take off again?”
The Doctor glanced down at a gauge facing him. “Five or six minutes…”
“And how can you be so sure that those two Daleks out there can’t harm us?” inquired Ian.
“Well, err… I don't know, really…“ stammered the Doctor uncertainly. “But I seem to remember that the ship is impervious to attack from the outside…”
“I hope you’re right.”
“But what if the ship was damaged earlier when we ran into that anomaly?” probed Barbara. “Could its defences have been weakened?”
“Oh no, my dear,” answered the Doctor quickly. “I’m certain that everything is quite all right with the ship…” He casually folded his hands behind his back and surreptitiously crossed his fingers.
* * *
“The supreme council has completed its analysis of the data I sent them.”
The first Dalek trained its eyestalk upon the other Dalek. “What conclusions did they reach?”
“As the device is not a product of Dalek technology,” replied the second Dalek, “they assume it is of Thal construction.”
“That is a logical assumption.”
“They believe it might be a new Thal weapon.”
“Explain.”
“An identical Thal device was detected outside Metropolis Three shortly before contact was lost with that city.”
“Do they know the cause of the communications failure with Metropolis Three?”
“Negative,” reported the secondary Dalek. “All attempts to reinstate contact have failed. However, they believe that whatever has happened to Metropolis Three may have been caused by the other Thal device.”
“Has the supreme council issued orders regarding it?”
“Yes. They have ordered us to destroy it immediately.”
“Understood,” intoned the primary unit. “Take up firing position in front of the device.”
“I obey.”
The two Daleks swivelled towards the time vessel and glided over to it. They came to a halt two metres away from the tall blue box and brought their weapons to bear upon it.
“Target the Thal device,” rasped the senior Dalek, “and increase energy yield to maximum.”
There was a brief pause while the other Dalek complied with this directive. “Weapon targeted on Thal device and energy yield set to maximum.”
“Prepare to fire on my command.”
“Confirmed. I await your order.”
* * *
Inside the TARDIS, the four time travellers watched the scene unfolding upon the little monitor screen with mounting dread. They saw a pair of bright blue beams of light suddenly burst forth from the guns of the two Daleks. They watched in terror as the duel rays of death streaked forth and made contact with the outer surface of the TARDIS.
“They’re shooting at us, Grandfather!” screamed Susan. “They’re trying to destroy the ship!”
“Yes, yes, I had noticed that, my child,” he responded dryly. “I’m not a halfwit!”
“Are you sure they can’t damage or destroy the TARDIS?” asked Barbara apprehensively.
“Well, um, I shouldn’t think so, young lady…”
“You’re not sure?!”
“Oh dear… well, not exactly…”
“Then you must do something quickly!” urged the history instructor. “Just in case you’re wrong!”
The Doctor stood momentarily transfixed in thought, as he examined the large bank of instruments in front of him. For one horrifying instant, it seemed to his three companions as though he was at a lost for what to do next.
“Hurry, Grandfather!” shrieked Susan. “Before it’s too late!”
“Eureka!” bellowed the ancient traveller jubilantly. “I have it!” He sprang forward, flicked a switch and then operated the dematerialization lever. “That should do the trick!”
A sudden surge of power flowed into the polygonal central dais and the time rotor began to rise and fall once more. The familiar sound of the time capsule’s engines filled the console room as the TARDIS took flight…
* * *
“Cease firing,” ordered the first Dalek.
“Firing ceased.”
The two Daleks deactivated their lethal weaponry and the arcs of destructive blue light vanished. They briefly examined the area of bare metal where the TARDIS had once sat, then pivoted about and faced each other.
“What was the source of the noise that arose during the destruction process?”
“Unknown,” answered the second unit. “It appeared to emanate from within the object.”
“Scan for any trace of Thal device.”
“I obey.” The junior Dalek turned back to where the time machine had stood and scanned the empty space with its sensors. After a few short moments, it completed its task and turned back to its superior. “No trace of the Thal object can be detected. It has been completely destroyed.”
“Excellent,” grated the senior unit approvingly. “Report our success to the supreme council.”
“I obey.” The other Dalek carried out its superior’s command with calm efficiency. When it was finished, it rasped: “I have transmitted the report.”
“We shall return to our patrol route.”
“I obey.”
The two silvery grey machines were satisfied that they had discharged their duties fully. They wheeled about and glided away across the flat and featureless plaza.
* * *
“I’ve done it!” announced the Doctor, feeling very pleased with himself. “Yes indeed, I’ve done it!”
“Done what?” inquired Barbara.
“I’ve dematerialized the ship!”
“Thank goodness!” she said, relieved. “I thought we were done for!”
“Not at all,” answered the Doctor. “We weren’t in any real danger…”
“Then why did you take off?”
“Well, although I’m quite sure we were perfectly safe, I saw no reason to take unnecessary risks…”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
“How did you do it?” queried Susan. “I thought the power banks weren’t fully recharged yet?”
“They weren’t,” admitted the Doctor. “I switched on the influx power boost mechanism.”
“What does that do?”
“It can harness the inherent energy available in all the different types of radiation that constantly bombard the ship,” he explained. “So I was able to gain the extra power needed from the energy weapons of those two Daleks!”
“Oh Grandfather, you are wonderful…”
The Doctor smiled down at his grandchild. “Thank you, Susan,” he said tenderly. “Having both your faith and trust are very important to me.”
“You will always have them.”
Recognizing that he would never get a better opportunity than right at this moment to achieve reconciliation with the Doctor, Ian decided to attempt it. From what he had learned about the old man during their brief acquaintance, he had a pretty shrewd idea about what he had to do. Ian leaped up, rushed forward and took the Doctor’s hand in his. He shook it energetically. “Absolutely brilliant, Doctor!” he enthused. “You’re a genius!”
Ian’s plan worked perfectly. The Doctor reacted to his comment like a peacock displaying its plumage. He drew himself up to his full height and grasped the lapels of his long, black frock coat between his fingers. His chest expanded with pride and a smile appeared on his face that stretched from ear to ear. “I must say, young man,” he declared delightedly, “it is most kind of you to say so.”
“Not at all, Doctor,” continued Ian ingratiatingly, “not at all. Credit where credit is due…”
“Well thank you, Chesterton,” said the Doctor. “Thank you very much indeed.”
The science teacher stared down at him solemnly. “I’m so very sorry about our spat before, Doctor…”
The Doctor waved a dismissive hand at him. “Oh don’t worry about that, my boy,” he stated generously. “I’ve completely forgotten about that trivial silliness already…”
Ian smiled with relief. “Thanks, Doc…”
“But kindly refrain from addressing me as ‘Doc’!”
“Sorry, Doctor,” replied Ian swiftly. “My mistake…”
“Indeed.”
Barbara stepped away from the others and wandered listlessly over towards the delicate piece of material that she had left lying on the floor beneath the monitor screen. She stooped down, picked it up and folded it carefully over her forearm. She gazed down at it for a long moment and thought wistfully about the man who had given it to her. The man she had grown so fond of during her stay on Skaro. The man she had chosen to leave behind. She stepped back, looked up at the swirling pattern of colours upon the scanner screen and smiled to herself sadly. “Goodbye again, Ganatus…”
“I just hope our return to Earth is as fast as our return to Skaro was,” said Ian.
Susan glanced up at him and nodded. “Perhaps it will be…”
“I hope so.”
The Doctor glanced up from his task at the central control console. “Eh? What was that?”
“I was just saying to Susan that I’m hoping for a fast return back home.”
“A fast return…?” echoed the Doctor thoughtfully, as he reflected upon Ian’s words. “Hmm, I wonder…”
“What is it, Doctor?”
The Doctor smiled at him mysteriously. “I’ve just had a rather interesting idea...”
“What?”
The Doctor did not respond. Instead, he reached forward and activated a small switch on the control board before him. The TARDIS lurched violently and the four time travellers lost their balance once more...
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