The Doctor was moving rapidly around the console, checking that all was in order. "It was a living thing," he said, "re-engineered as an instrument of war and sent here to clear the way for an invasion."
"What went wrong?" Turlough wanted to know. "Why didn"t they invade?"
"I don"t honestly know," the Doctor confessed. "I must check to see if there"s anything in the computer about it."
Turlough wasn"t satisfied with that. Frowning, he indicated the now very subdued Will Chandler standing beside him. "If the Malus is destroyed, why is Will still here? You did say he was only a psychic projection."
The Doctor frowned. "Ah ... yes," he hedged. "It seems I was mistaken. The Malus was able to intermingle the two time zones for a living man to pa.s.s through. It must have had incredible power."
That"s putting it mildly, Tegan thought, as she moved to her grandfather"s side. "This is the last time I pay an unexpected call on you," she smiled.
The tired old man shook his head. With a rueful expression he took her hands in his. "As a rule," he said, "the village and I are much more welcoming."
It was a time for making peace, Ben Wolsey realised. He turned to Joseph Willow and held out his hand. "There"ll be a lot of clearing up to do, in more ways than one," he said. "We"ll need all the help we can get."
Willow took his proffered hand and shook it willingly.
"And with no recriminations?" he asked.
"None," Wolsey said. "Not on my part."
"Nor mine," Jane Hampden added, and shook hands too.
The Doctor, well pleased with developments, rubbed his hands with satisfaction. "Well, that seems to be it," he said.
"We"ll drop you all off and then we can be on our way."
"Er..." Turlough dropped his head to one side and indicated the quiet Will again. "What about our friend here?"
"Ah, yes," the Doctor nodded. "Well, him too. 1613 isn"t all that far away."
Will"s mouth dropped open. Hope sprang back into his heart.
But Tegan had something to say before the Doctor started his jaunts through time and s.p.a.ce again. "Aren"t you forgetting something?" she asked him.
The Doctor stared at her, unable to think what it could be and unwilling, for the time being, to make the effort.
He"d just begun to relax. "Probably," he admitted. "It isn"t unusual. I"ve had a very hard day."
"We came here correction, I I came here to visit my grandfather," Tegan reminded him. "It would he nice to spend a little time with him." came here to visit my grandfather," Tegan reminded him. "It would he nice to spend a little time with him."
Turlough spoke up immediately in her support. "I must admit that I wouldn"t mind staying for a while."
Jane smiled at the dumbfounded Doctor. "You"re outnumbered, seven to one," she laughed.
The Doctor stared at them, lined up in opposition to his plan. "I"m being bullied, coerced, forced against my will,"
he complained. "I"ve had enough for one day."
Verney grinned. "Even if you have, agree, man," he pleaded.
"Oh, all right," the Doctor gave in. "But just for a little while. We"ve a great deal to do."
"Good." Now it was Turlough"s turn to rub his hands with satisfaction. "I quite miss that brown liquid they drink here."
Will Chandler"s eyes widened in a second bout of optimism. Things really were looking up. "Ale?" he asked hopefully.
"No," Turlough smiled. "Tea."
Will frowned. "What be tea?"
"A noxious infusion of oriental leaves, containing a high percentage of toxic acid," the Doctor explained.
Will turned up his nose and looked at Tegan. "Sounds an evil brew, don"t it?" he grimaced.
"True," the Doctor said. Then he smiled and added; "Personally, I rather like it."
And with that he flicked the last switch which would bring the TARDIS and its pa.s.sengers back to the village of Little Holcombe, and a holiday deep in the peaceful English countryside, where nothing out of the ordinary ever happens.