Doctor Who_ The Edge of Destruction Part 4

'I don't believe you,' Susan continued. 'You lied to me.'

'Lied to you? What are you talking about, Susan?'

'I overheard you and Mr Chesterton. You said there was something in the Ship, something you didn't want me to know about...'

Realisation suddenly dawned for Barbara. 'I see-you just overheard a few words and you-'

'No,' interrupted Susan. 'You lied to me. You cannot be trusted.'

'We wouldn't do a thing to hurt you, Susan,' insisted Barbara. 'Surely you know that by now?'

'No. You're frightened of us, Grandfather and me. You're different from us. How can we know what you're thinking, what you think of us?'

'Susan, don't you see it's the same for all of us? You and your grandfather are as alien to us as we are to you. Maybe there are times when we don't know where we stand with you; yes, maybe there are times when we are frightened of you, uneasy and uncertain. I know we're all unwilling fellow travellers, and the only thing Ian and I really want to do is go home. But, Susan, we're all in this together whether we like it or not and we have to learn to trust each other. Besides, why should we hurt you and your grandfather? Without the Doctor how can we ever hope to return to Earth in our own time? We might not understand you all the time, but we need you. Can't you see that? Why should we ever try and hurt you?'

Susan lowered the scissors slightly as she considered Barbara's words. Taking advantage of her hesitation, Barbara darted forward, and wrenched the scissors from Susan's hand.

For a few brief moments Susan struggled, hitting at Barbara with her fists in frustration. Then she burst into tears, falling into Barbara's welcoming arms.

Sitting on the edge of the bed Barbara comforted Susan, holding her in her arms and rocking her back and forth like a little child. After a few minutes Susan's weeping subsided and she raised her tear-stained face to look at Barbara. There was no need for words; Barbara recognised the contrition in Susan's eyes; but she also saw the terror.

'Barbara, what's happening to us?' Susan sobbed. Susan's use of her first name no longer upset Barbara.

'I really don't know, Susan. We're... we're all just a little upset, that's all. But don't worry. Your grandfather will find out what's wrong with the TARDIS soon, and then we'll be on our way.'

Susan nodded, and then looked around her room. On the bedside table the oil lamp was flickering low. 'I've never noticed the shadows before,' Susan said. 'It's usually so bright... But in these shadows there could be anything... there are parts of the TARDIS which even I haven't explored properly yet...'

'Don't be silly, Susan,' Barbara chastised gently. 'You're tired and you're letting your imagination run away with you. There's nothing to be afraid of in the dark.'

'It's so silent in the Ship,' continued Susan. 'Apart from the breathing.'

'The breathing?'

'Listen-the life support system. Its just like someone breathing, isn't it?' she said darkly.

Barbara hushed her. 'We're imagining things, we must be.' Susan looked at her oddly, almost challenging her to provide an explanation. 'Let's be logical about it, Susan,' continued Barbara. 'I mean, how could anything get into the Ship anyway?'

'The doors were open,' Susan reminded her. 'In spite of what Grandfather says, they were open.'

'But where could it hide?'

'In one of us.'

Barbara shivered as Susan expressed her unvoiced fear. They had all been behaving oddly; could it be that some unknown alien intelligence had penetrated the TARDIS's defences and possessed one of them?

Once again she remembered Ian's words: like is person possessed like is person possessed.

'Don't be silly, Susan,' she said weakly. 'We must stop talking like this. Can you imagine what the Doctor and Ian would say if they heard us talking like this? They'd laugh at us. There must be a rational explanation.'

'But supposing there isn't a fault...' wondered Susan.

'You must be clairvoyant!'

Barbara and Susan turned nervously round to see the figure in the open doorway who had come upon them silently. Each of them breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that it was Ian.

'What do you mean?' asked Susan.

'We've just checked everything and according to the Fault Locator the TARDIS is functioning perfectly,' he explained and then looked at Susan. 'How are you feeling now?'

'I'm all right... What's my grandfather doing?'

'That's what I came to tell you both. As there's nothing wrong with the TARDIS he's decided that the only fault must lie outside the Ship. He's going to turn on the scanner.'

Susan's face blanched in terror and she leapt out of bed. 'No! He mustn't! He mustn't!' she screamed and ran out of the room.

6

The End of Time

Susan burst into the control room where the Doctor was about to move to the central control console to operate the scanner.

'Don't touch it!' she cried.

The Doctor stopped and looked at his granddaughter curiously. 'Are you all right, child?' he asked.

'Yes, Grandfather,' she replied and indicated the control console. 'I tried to touch it before and it was like being hit...'

'Hit? Hit where?'

'The back of my neck hurts,' she explained.

The Doctor nodded sagely. 'Rather like mine, in fact...'

Ian and Barbara had entered the control room to hear the final part of this conversation. 'Funny it didn't affect me and Barbara like that,' said Ian.

The Doctor looked at him strangely.

'No, it didn't, did it?' His voice was full of suspicion. He considered the two schoolteachers warily and then beckoned Susan over to his side.

Susan considered her grandfather's words and then regarded Ian and Barbara through narrowed, suspicious eyes. 'Yes... Grandfather's right. Nothing did happen to you, did it..?'

'What are you implying, Susan?' asked Barbara sternly. 'Surely we've just gone through all this?'

The girl didn't reply. Sensing Barbara's unease, Ian put a rea.s.suring arm around her shoulders.

'I must discover what is outside the Ship,' the Doctor determined and, ignoring Susan's warning, he approached that part of the console which contained the scanner controls. Gingerly he operated a small lever, and jumped back, as though expecting a shock of some kind. Nothing happened.

He looked back at Ian. 'Well, I didn't get a shock this time, did I?' he said meaningfully.

'What are you trying to say, Doctor?' asked Ian but before the old man could reply Susan turned their attention to the scanner screen set high in the wall.

The scanner lit up, casting an eerie light around the control room, and an image began to resolve itself on the screen.

The picture was one of a pleasant wooded landscape of oak and birch trees. Beyond them gently rolling hills rose up to a brilliantly blue sky, flecked with wisps of snowy white clouds. Over the audio circuits they could hear the sound of birdsong.

So convincing was the image that Ian and Barbara could almost taste the country freshness in the normally antiseptically clean air of the TARDIS.

'That's England !' Barbara said delightedly, and pointed to the hills in the distance. 'Look, those are the Malvern Hills ! I used to spend my summers there as a child!'

'Well, what are we waiting for?' asked Ian, his disagreement with the Doctor suddenly completely forgotten. 'Open the doors and let's see for ourselves! I don't know what's been going on, Doctor, but it looks as though you've brought us home!'

The Doctor considered Ian and Barbara's eager faces and then turned back to the scanner. The schoolteachers frowned as they sensed his puzzlement.

'What's wrong, Doctor?' Barbara asked, and felt her heart sink.

'This is all very curious,' the Doctor muttered and pointed to the picture on the scanner. 'That can't be what's outside the Ship.'

'What do you mean?' asked Ian.

'Use the intelligence you were born with, Chesterton!' he said irascibly. 'Look at the clouds, the trees. Not one of them is moving-it's merely a photograph!'

As the Doctor spoke those words the doors to the TARDIS suddenly opened and the control room was filled with a searing white light.

'Close the doors!' commanded the Doctor as he covered his eyes from the glare.

Ian moved towards the light but as he did so, the double doors closed of their own accord.

'You see,' said Barbara to the Doctor. 'We were telling the truth before. They did open by themselves. You saw us: neither of us touched the controls!'

'Look!" said Susan and pointed up at the scanner. 'There's another picture now!'

The picture of the Malvern Hills had vanished and had been replaced by one of an alien jungle, full of enormous and weird barbed plants. In the background impossibly huge mountains towered into a savagely orange sky; the cries of wild and ferocious beasts echoed around the control room.

'Where's that?' asked Barbara.

'The planet Quinnius in the fourth galaxy,' replied the Doctor.

'Yes, it's where Grandfather and I nearly lost the TARDIS four of five journeys ago,' offered Susan. 'But that's not what's outside either...'

'Can you explain it, Doctor?' asked Ian.

The Doctor crossed the floor of the control room and settled himself in his Louis XIV chair. 'Did I ever tell you that my Ship has a memory bank, hmm?' he asked.

'It records all our journeys,' added Susan helpfully.

'No, you didn't, Doctor,' said Ian.

'Are you absolutely sure, Chesterton? I thought I did...'

Before Ian had time to reply Barbara pointed to the scanner. Yet another picture had formed.

This one was of an unfamiliar planet set in the vast darkness of s.p.a.ce. As though the scanner was zooming out, the image was quickly replaced by a picture of the same planet, this time much smaller and surrounded by other planets.

This in turn vanished and a picture of a spiral galaxy of countless thousands of stars appeared in its place. Then the screen was filled with a blinding flash of light, before it went blank altogether, plunging the control room once more into shadow.

During this sequence the exit doors had remained firmly closed.

Then after a pause the image of the Malvern Hills reappeared and the sequence began again. The Doctor turned off the scanner.

'Well, what was all that about?' asked Ian, not really expecting an answer from anyone.

The Doctor trained two steely eyes on the figure of the schoolmaster. 'Don't you know?' he asked accusingly. 'I thought you might be able to tell me.'

Ian shook his head. 'Why me?'

The Doctor allowed himself a self-congratulatory chuckle. 'You won't confuse me, you know, no matter how hard you try.'

Ian was beginning to get annoyed. 'Just what exactly are you getting at, Doctor?' he demanded to know. The Doctor snorted contemptuously and turned away from Ian. He put a protective arm around his granddaughter.

Barbara crossed over to the Doctor and Susan. 'Look, why don't we try and open the doors and see for ourselves?' she said.

The Doctor dismissed her suggestion. 'What is inside my Ship, madam, is more important at the moment!'

'Inside?'

'But you've only just told us that the only people inside are ourselves,' protested Ian. 'You said that nothing could get inside the Ship.'

Precisely!' said the Doctor. 'Nothing can penetrate my Ship, and all the controls are functioning perfectly. Ergo the fault must lie with one of us!'

'Just what are you trying to say, Doctor?' asked Ian warily.

The Doctor pointed a long accusing finger at the two schoolteachers. 'You two are the cause of this disaster! You sabotaged my Ship!'

Barbara tensed and held Ian's arm. 'No, Doctor, you know that's not true...' she said.

'You knocked me and Susan unconscious!'

'Don't be ridiculous!' cried Barbara, rising to the defensive. 'We were all knocked out!'

'Grandfather, she is right,' said Susan slowly. 'When I came to, Mr Chesterton was still unconscious.'

The Doctor dismissed Susan's comment curtly. 'A charade! They attacked us!'